How the Internet is killing the dreaded admissions essay

Yahoo ^ | September 5, 2013 | Rob Walker

[EveningStar]

Five years ago, Tufts University was among the first higher-education institutions to accept short-form videos, perhaps shared with the school via YouTube, as an alternative or addition to a written application essay. Lee Coffin, the school's dean of undergraduate admissions, recalls that there was some drop-jawed skepticism about the legitimacy of this option at the time: To some the notion sounded not only less than credible, but downright silly.

But in 2013, it seems clear that technology shifts are reshaping the parameters of venerable admissions rituals at many schools. George Mason, William and Mary, and St. Mary's College of Maryland have all accepted video and multimedia materials; traditional essay-question prompts are changing to reflect the reality of Internet culture.

[Tanniker Smith]

Talk about making a hard sell in about 10 seconds. How much time do reviewers have to watch all this videos? How much of each do you think that they will watch?

Applications, like resumes, get a very brief glimpse in the first-round, separated for a longer look.

Even granting that every entire essay gets read, reading time is liable to be one-tenth of the time it would take someone to recite it -- and that's without dramatic pauses or cutaways to video clips and montages.

Just silly. If you're applying for some honors program in media arts, then, hey, great! More power to you. If you're pursuing something else, it's ridiculous.

[Tax-chick]

They don’t want to be accused of discriminating against potential students who may not be able to express themselves in standard written English.

[Verginius Rufus]

With videos it’s easier to weed out the white males.

[kevkrom]

The point of the essay, in theory, is to see how capable the student in expressing himself. A video of the student speaking should in theory be sufficient, especially when paired with his academic record and test results.

[9YearLurker]

I school like Tufts is very likely discriminating in favor of males these days.

[married21]

Well, that should weed out the non-telegenic kids pretty fast, even if they are decent scholars. This is awful.

Also, a slick production can be hired, so you shouldn’t necessarily credit the student himself for a charming presentation.

And a puff-piece can become meaningless. I’ve been told that, in college sports recruiting, nobody watches the lovingly-prepared video presentation of a high-schooler making great plays. Anybody can stitch together their greatest plays and look great. The recruiters still have to watch how the player does in real time, with no editing. I think this trend could end up re-emphasizing grades and test scores.

[I want the USA back]

The internet is not killing anything. The internet is a network of interconnected computers, using various protocols to communicate. The internet doesn’t DO anything.

American students graduate high school with a very low level of English ability. They can not read or write coherently.

The internet doesn’t make them illiterate; it makes it easier to be illiterate.

I hate stupidity.

[reformedliberal]

It seems that these days, people grow up in front of video recorders. I look at the pictures on Facebook and everyone is beautiful. Those who aren’t go to lengths to photograph themselves in some quirky manner that emphasizes personality and creativity. As an elder, of course, everyone below the age of 40 looks young and beautiful, but peers have different criteria.

I know an elder adult, not exactly photogenic, but with a long standing career in live theater production. For some reason, perhaps the presence of so many gorgeous young actors on his FB page, he felt constrained to have a formal studio glamor shot done. Only one of his *friends* snarked about it.

It’s just the way of the world. People will now seriously consider cosmetic procedures beyond braces and rhinoplasty for their children with the excuse that they need them to get into college. Elocution lessons will return, with an emphasis on appearing on camera. Those who deny their children these advantages will be made to feel guilty. The procedures will likely be covered under zer0care.

Only those of us from the last *natural* generation will even notice what is taking place.