I was very happy to hear that my Alma Mater, Tufts University in Boston (I went to the Fletcher School at Tufts back in 2001), has been exploring the power of social media in order to identify best applicants for its top-ranked undergraduate education.

As part of their application package (which includes academic test results, essays and other quite elaborate  things that require a lot of effort and preparation), Tufts candidates are now encouraged to submit videos that shed light on their personalities.  Since a decision was made to allow YouTube video submissions as part of the application package, Tufts has received 1000 videos. Interestingly, 60% were female, and two thirds of the applicants submitting videos were seeking financial aid. As already mentioned in my previous blog post, Digital Anthropology, women are most active users of social media, and the Tufts University applicant videos suggest the same.

When I was a student at Tufts back in 1999-2001, I was frequently amazed at a large number of very strong and individual personalities there. My feeling is that this will improve even further! Equipped with the encouragement of the Tufts Admissions team, bright candidates will be given an additional incentive to demonstrate their unique skills, interests and passions. In the SCHMOOZY FOX language, these students will have a great opportunity to make their personal brand stand out from the crowd. And by the way, it’s not only unique and original products and services that can be funky brands, it’s also people!

Related posts:

1. Building personal brands through photography
2. Flirting with your customers: funky, cool and seductive brands on Twitter
3. The power of personal branding
4. Artists and brands
5. Funky personal branding