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NYU Applicant Video

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2011 5:05 pm
by dasgut
How many of you are planning on submitting the optional applicant video they seem to want? How are they going to use it in the admissions process?

Re: NYU Applicant Video

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2011 6:43 pm
by castlevania87
saw that email today. :?

It will make the application more personal,

It's like an interview, the questions asked are those generic questions in a telephone interview. They don't need to arrange time to call, efficient for the committee.

The bad part is our video will be mostly likely on youtube, and it's kinda awkward.........

Re: NYU Applicant Video

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2011 6:50 pm
by dasgut
Think you're going to do it?

I'm considering it, but not sure how I feel about the whole process.

What's the reason for this video? What exactly are they looking for? Do you they want to get a sense of who we are as people?

Re: NYU Applicant Video

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2011 10:40 pm
by castlevania87
not sure yet. I am not an expert on video and youtube posting, may take me a lot of time to figure out, don't think that's worth my time

I can see a number of reasons why the committee want to do so.
(1) as I mentioned, it serves the purpose of an interview
(2) unlike the traditional application (photocopies of documents), there is a vivid person, bring some life to the application
(3) get an idea of what kind of students they are recruiting, (can they communicate)
(4) there may be some fun in viewing these videos (I always anticipate some fun drawings when marking students' midterm papers)

I am not here to defend for them, just to think that it's of their great interest to do so.

but I have my concern, shouldn't all the application material be somewhat confidential, if the video is on youtube, then everyone can see it. I don't feel comfortable broadcasting myself to the public: "hey, I am applying to NYU Courant......"

Re: NYU Applicant Video

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 1:43 am
by metalshredder
I'm going to do it. I think it's a good idea because the admissions committee will be able to see how you present yourself as a person. I really wish that graduate applications involved some sort of interview.

Re: NYU Applicant Video

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 3:13 am
by quinquenion
I'm planning on making a video. One of the things that really struck me about math PhD applications is that unlike nearly all the other graduate and fellowship applications I've done (I sort of switched fields in the past couple years), they don't have interviews, and this is a partial remedy.

Re: NYU Applicant Video

Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2011 2:40 pm
by quinquenion
Addendum for the paranoid: Upon looking through Youtube's options, it's apparently possible to upload an "unlisted video", which is only accessible to those with whom you share the URL.

Re: NYU Applicant Video

Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2011 7:34 pm
by goombayao
Anybody NOT doing this video?

Re: NYU Applicant Video

Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 6:06 pm
by dasgut
How humorous is everyone making their video? I'm thinking about kinda going all out.

Re: NYU Applicant Video

Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 7:48 pm
by goombayao
dasgut wrote:How humorous is everyone making their video? I'm thinking about kinda going all out.
The thing you risk is if the person watching your video has a vastly different background/sense of humor than you and doesn't find you funny. It is probably easier to get your application throw in the bin with a video that the admission committee finds "annoying" than impress the committee so much that the video really helps your admission chances.

I'm still not sure how I feel about this video and don't see a lot of value in it.

Re: NYU Applicant Video

Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 8:21 pm
by dasgut
I'm sort of the
goombayao wrote:
dasgut wrote:How humorous is everyone making their video? I'm thinking about kinda going all out.
The thing you risk is if the person watching your video has a vastly different background/sense of humor than you and doesn't find you funny. It is probably easier to get your application throw in the bin with a video that the admission committee finds "annoying" than impress the committee so much that the video really helps your admission chances.

I'm still not sure how I feel about this video and don't see a lot of value in it.
I'm on the same page you are. However, I feel if I'm gonna do it I might as well be so different I stick out. Yes, it's a risk, but the reward COULD be tremendous.

Plus, when else will I get to have a vid featuring me w/ the Superman or Indiana Jones theme? 8)

Re: NYU Applicant Video

Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 8:54 pm
by owlpride
What is this video that people keep talking about? Can someone post a link?

Re: NYU Applicant Video

Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 9:00 pm
by quinquenion
owlpride wrote:What is this video that people keep talking about? Can someone post a link?
They sent us an email mid-November linking to this page: http://gsas.nyu.edu/object/grad.app.page1-video

Re: NYU Applicant Video

Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 12:15 am
by owlpride
Hmm, I do wonder what they hope to accomplish with these videos. Are they trying to sort out (foreign) applicants who cannot communicate effectively, or is the adcom just tired of reading countless personal statements that all look alike?

I think I would start my video with a ten-second clip of me giving a lecture about some obscurely advanced topic in front of a (fake) captivated audience. :D

Re: NYU Applicant Video

Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 12:59 am
by goombayao
owlpride wrote:Hmm, I do wonder what they hope to accomplish with these videos. Are they trying to sort out (foreign) applicants who cannot communicate effectively, or is the adcom just tired of reading countless personal statements that all look alike?
Besides communication skills, I don't see a lot of point to making a video that basically involves restating your SoP and then telling them about your favorite theorem, which is itself a strange question...

Re: NYU Applicant Video

Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 1:01 am
by dasgut
owlpride wrote:I think I would start my video with a ten-second clip of me giving a lecture about some obscurely advanced topic in front of a (fake) captivated audience. :D
LOL. I'm trying to decide which of these two I want to use as my template:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmYEahxWDyA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4QAHzwAqIM

Re: NYU Applicant Video

Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 1:09 am
by owlpride
Besides communication skills, I don't see a lot of point to making a video that basically involves restating your SoP and then telling them about your favorite theorem, which is itself a strange question...
Maybe they want to watch the video instead of reading your personal statement?

Re: NYU Applicant Video

Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 1:53 am
by castlevania87
I remember the STRONGLY recommended deadline for financial support is Dec 18.

http://gsas.nyu.edu/object/grad.app.ins ... #deadlines

So you might submit your videos soon.

Re: NYU Applicant Video

Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 3:19 am
by goombayao
castlevania87 wrote:I remember the STRONGLY recommended deadline for financial support is Dec 18.

http://gsas.nyu.edu/object/grad.app.ins ... #deadlines

So you might submit your videos soon.
Wish they had posted that date on the math application and admission webpage...

At this point there is no rush to get the application in before the new year since faculty are officially on vacation starting Saturday.

Winter Recess Saturday, December 24 -Monday, January 2
http://www.nyu.edu/registrar/calendars/ ... endar.html

Re: NYU Applicant Video

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 12:27 pm
by goombayao
So, people who made videos: what was your approach and how did they turn out?

Re: NYU Applicant Video

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 12:30 pm
by dasgut
goombayao wrote:So, people who made videos: what was your approach and how did they turn out?
I ended up not doing it, but I thought this guy's was pretty awesome:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBurfhmTBkM

Here are some other ones ppl did:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shBhebPm ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIMbVuwn ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycSLmDHU ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2002CTTY ... re=related

Re: NYU Applicant Video

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 2:49 pm
by quinquenion
dasgut wrote: I ended up not doing it, but I thought this guy's was pretty awesome:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBurfhmTBkM
::bashful:: :D

Though more seriously, it's really weird talking to your computer. Also need to get a better mic so I don't sound quite as monotonic next time.

Re: NYU Applicant Video

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 5:35 pm
by goombayao
It will be interesting to see (speculate) if these videos have any effect on admissions.

Re: NYU Applicant Video

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 6:47 pm
by quinquenion
I'm actually more interested in seeing next year's batch if NYU does this again. Given the extra time, I could easily see some applicants going all out, despite NYU's assurances that they don't care about production values.

As for my approach, I really had no idea since there weren't any templates online to follow. It also didn't help that searching for "NYU application videos" gave a long list of semi-professional video applications by film students! Ended up just trying to emulate the style of some math Youtube channels I follow.

Aside: I have been spending too much time thinking about math-y things. Evidence: use of the word "monotonic" instead of "monotonous" in my previous post. :P

Re: NYU Applicant Video

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 3:49 pm
by quinquenion
One interesting side-effect of having an application video is it potentially provides a hint of when one's application is being reviewed. My Youtube analytics shows a sudden spike in views on Feb 3 of direct traffic from New York.

Someone with more foresight than I could easily set up a unique URL given only to NYU. Something to think about for future applicants.

Re: NYU Applicant Video

Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 5:23 am
by Gasquet
Anybody else NOT submitting a video?

Re: NYU Applicant Video

Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 9:28 pm
by castlevania87
Gasquet wrote:Anybody else NOT submitting a video?
don't bother, in my year, most admitted students did NOT submit.

Re: NYU Applicant Video

Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2012 2:09 pm
by quinquenion
Gasquet wrote:Anybody else NOT submitting a video?
On the one hand, I did receive positive comments about my application video from nearly all the professors and staff I talked to when I visited Courant back in March, so it at least made me memorable. However, I don't believe that the video was the determining factor for my application.

Castlevania87 obviously knows more about this than I do, but if you like making videos anyways, it probably won't hurt. Having said that, it's probably not important either way.

Re: NYU Applicant Video

Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2012 3:09 pm
by marco
Im doing it but I am really only focusing on the answers. Im not going to put any effort on production, it will just be me and a camera. I don't think its going to be a deciding factor in the end but I guess it will have some value.

Re: NYU Applicant Video

Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2012 8:01 pm
by ReneMagritte
I made a video and, like marco, put no effort into production values: just stuck a camera in front of a white-board. Of the 3m30s I spent about 30 seconds talking about my motivations and career plans and 3 minutes about a subject in mathematics that particularity interests me. Compared to the videos above my mode of talking is far more mundane!