Video Application Essay

Set Yourself Apart with a Video Application Essay.

Video application essays are the burning subject nowadays in the college admissions discourse. There is an increasing trend among numerous colleges, especially Liberal Arts schools, to accept video application essays either a supplement or a replacement for the statement of purpose or application essay required by most universities as part of the admission application.

In recent news, Goucher College, a private liberal arts college in Baltimore County, is now accepting video application essays in place of the Common Application. The 2-minute vignette must answer the question of how the applicants see themselves at Goucher. The school also requires a graded writing assignment along with another work sample from high school, which can range from anything between lab reports and artworks.

The other two forerunners in perpetuating this change are Tufts University, George Mason University and St. Mary’s College of Maryland, which, it should not be overlooked, are considerably selective schools, although they are only accepting videos as supplemental material.

In terms of what a video application can do to help you outshine the others, here is an extensive (but not exhaustive) list:

– Showcase a variety of skill sets (video production, interpersonal communication)

– Build the confidence you are going to need going into college

– Help you display this confidence to those who matter (in this case, the application examiners and college faculty)

– Advance a more casual, and hopefully more transparent, interaction with the colleges you seek the acceptance of

– Save you the time and energy that is funneled into completing the sometimes excruciatingly long Common App

– Save you the stress of misrepresenting your personality and values to your dream college

– Replace a collection of empirical data with a mirror image of you as a person, a student, and an aspirant

These initiatives are a strong push in the direction of de-emphasizing the value of standardized testing in admission decisions and rectifying the blatantly severe flaws of the current system.