U.S. college accepts YouTube applications

In a first of its kind, the Boston-based Tufts University, known to be one of the best post-secondary schools in the U.S., is accepting one-minute YouTube videos that “say something about you” as entries along with student applications this year.

And it is drawing quite a response as around 1,000 of the 15,000 applicants have submitted clips that feature descriptions in card tricks, horsemanship, jump rope, stencils — and even rap songs.

The Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Lee Coffin said that the idea struck him as he watched a YouTube video someone had sent him. “I thought, ‘If this kid applied to Tufts, I’d admit him in a minute, without anything else,” he said.

There are a whole range of videos from directly talking to the camera to high-tech animations. Some even have got thousands of hits on the website, the New York Times reported.

Mr. Coffin said the videos were a unique way of getting to know their applications in a more personal way than a standard college application could facilitate. “You see their floppy hair and their messy bedrooms, and you get a sense of who they are. We have a lot of information about applicants, but the videos let them share their voice.”

But the dean also said that Tufts would never replace the traditional essay for videos. “We will never abandon writing ... No matter what, it’s important to be able to express yourself elegantly in writing”.