Applying to college with just a cellphone video
Can you imagine getting into college by simply creating a two-minute video with your cell phone?
There isn't much else that a teenager, who applies to Goucher College this fall, has to do to get admitted.
The liberal arts college, which is located just outside Baltimore, announced last week that it has made the application process nearly as simple as that. Goucher will no longer require applicants to submit their high school transcript for admission, nor do they need to bother with recommendations or an essay. Goucher also doesn't require students to turn in their SAT or ACT test scores either.
In addition to the video, an applicant would have to submit a graded assignment and some other piece of work from high school.
"At Goucher, we believe students are more than the numbers and other data on their academic records," explained José A. Bowen, the college's new president. "Access to higher education should be about potential and not just previous achievement. With the Goucher Video App, we want to attract capable, passionate students who want a liberal arts education that leads to solid careers and sustains a lifetime of learning."
Before the video application roll-out, Goucher was already a test-optional school. It stopped requiring students to submit SAT or ACT scores back in 2007. At least a third of the 100 or so top liberal arts colleges are test optional. One reason that schools cite for ditching their testing requirement is that these standardized tests are highly correlated with income.
A surprise move at Goucher
It is surprising, however, that Goucher decided to ditch the transcript requirement. In college circles, it's widely agreed that students' academic performance in high school -- grade point average and the rigor of their high school courses -- are the strongest indicators of whether a student will end up succeeding academically in college.
Goucher won't know if an applicant who submits a video application coasted through high school taking easy classes while barely getting by. Students, however, will have to submit a high school transcript to be considered for merit scholarships. As for that video, teenagers won't be penalized if the production isn't slick for the video that is supposed to answer this question: How do you see yourself at Goucher?
In an interview, Bowen acknowledged that the new admission policy will attract some slackers. "There will be more noise in the system and we will have to determine if we can filter out that noise," he said. "I'd rather try than not try. Doubt kills more ideas than failure. "
Like many liberal arts colleges across the country, Goucher finds itself in a difficult competitive landscape and needs to be creative in how it attracts students, observed Jonathan Epstein, vice president of enrollment strategies at Whiteboard Higher Education, an enrollment consulting and services firm in Pennsylvania.
"An admissions process that removes any necessity for the typical academic achievement -- demonstrated by grades and/or test scores -- will undoubtedly increase applications for admission and is surely intended in part to do just that," Epstein said. In fact, increasing enrollment is one of the school's stated goals in its strategic planning effort that it launched a few years ago.
Goucher's move could also end up being a way to address the gender imbalance at Goucher, which used to be a women's college. Women tend to earn better grades than men, which would suggest that the video application could draw in more males.
In its announcement, Goucher called its move a "groundbreaking modernization of the college admission process." Bowen said he expects to receive hundreds, not thousands, of video applications.
Goucher's move is unlikely to start a groundswell.
When asked if others would follow Goucher's lead by offering a stripped-down application process, Epstein replied, "In short, no. I think more schools will frown at this than copy it."
