Universities across the United States are now accepting video applications in their admissions processes.
In an application for Goucher College, Baltimore, Emunah Serman included a hand-shot, self-edited video, telling admissions staff about her love of drawing and writing, and why she thought she'd fit in.
"It was really different and it really called out to me. It was a way to show who I am," she says.
Goucher hopefuls only need to send in a two-minute video and two works from their high school -- one of them graded. In the tradition-bound world of college admissions, it's a radical idea.
"I think for a lot of people, college admissions is broken. We're not finding all the talent and we're not reaching the talent and letting them know they have opportunities to go to college," Goucher President Jose Antonio Bowen told CBS News.
Goucher applicants who choose to apply by video no longer have to submit sat or act scores, or even a high school transcript to be admitted to the college.
Mr Bowen believe his university's innovation, so far, is getting a passing grade.
"The only real test will be if in four years, these students are graduating at the same rate as everybody else."
Social media has also become a big part of US university admissions.
TCU, Morehouse, and Tulane are among other universities now using the social media app Zeemee, where students can create a profile for admissions officers.
US universities have a history of what New York Times columnist Frank Bruni calls an "admissions arms-race".
He says scholarships for children of alumni, athletes, and similar types of subjective admissions have been a detriment to the education system.
"It means they're not doing some sort of objective assessment of every applicant's merit, they're looking at who will be of greatest use to the school, including in terms of present and future donations," he says.
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