Yale Applicant

Yale Applicant March 1, 2012 YouTube music videos arent always the best supplemental material in college admissions. Be mindful of what is included in these videos should you choose to post one! Each and every year, students post videos on YouTube in the hope that itll help their case for admission to the college(s) of their dreams. Sometimes, the videos get quite a bit of traction online, though its the exception to the rule when such a video leads an admissions committee to change a denial into an admission. Remember Grace Oberhofer? She didnt end up getting into Harvard, in spite of all of the hits to her YouTube video in which she sings to implore Harvard admissions officers to admit her. This year, Yale applicant Jackie Milestone has given the YouTube music video a try as she tries to turn her Early Decision deferral into a Regular Decision greenlight. The daughter of an alumnus, Jackie has dreamed of attending Yale since childhood. In the video, she wears about a dozen Yale t-shirts and amusingly strips each one off (except the last). Her singing and lyrics are actually quite good (better than Graces for sure) and shes definitely got some spunk to her. In a funny moment of the video, she called a local pizza place in New Haven to see if theyd deliver to her Philadelphia home. They wouldnt. Will this video that has attracted almost 12,000 hits already lead Yale admissions officers to admit her? Probably not. The video shows that shes wealthy. Her bed is a king! And its a water bed. Her room is very nice as is the rest of her house. If anything, the video shows that shes wealthy and privileged. A Yale admissions officer isnt going to go to advocate for someone who sleeps in a nicer bed than he or she does. The fact is that many applicants do.   Take this lesson from Jackie Milestone. Also, one should definitely be proactive if deferred. And be strategic. Maybe she could have left out the fancy bedroom with the huge bed in the video after all!