This new Penn admissions video delivers a similar message: that Penn is a university of “firsts”, one that emphasizes interdisciplinary study, and one with a vibrant student community.
Prospective students still in high school: check it out!
This kind of violence on a defenceless victim should be condemned and strictly prosecuted. The Chicago police and prosecutors have a responsibility to bring those involved to justice.
I was working a gig in Vegas with a brand new Phantom Flex high speed digital cinema camera. I had to try it out. In fact, I never did go to bed that night. I opened up a wormhole shooting at 2,564 frames per second. (via Vimeo)
A device that shoots at 2564 fps in 1080p? I want one.
Update (July 24, 2012): This post has consistently remained one of the top visited posts on this site. While I haven’t removed anything from the selection below, Columbia moved their video to YouTube, so I’ve updated the embedded player to reflect that. I also wanted to disclose that I am now a content undergraduate student at the University of Pennsylvania, which is why I’ve added a second Penn video to the Most Inspiring section. I know — I cheated. It’s 6 videos now.
I’ve been watching a lot of promotional videos for universities, generally published by their admissions offices to attract students, and some really stood out. Many are quite long, but they’re definitely worth watching in full.
The opening might be boring and conventional, but watch past the first minute — a pleasant surprise awaits.
Beautiful cinematography, great music… Yale’s video is a true piece of art, all the more so because it was produced by undergraduates at the university.
Penn’s 2009 admissions video starts off serenely, and soon crescendos into a deeply moving profile of the students’ lives. The scenery is beautiful, and the music is suited.
The University of Pennsylvania’s video is filled with a sense of purpose, of motivation and of inspiration.
As part of my July 24, 2012 update, here’s a video from Penn meant to raise money rather than attract applicants. I’m sure it would do a great job at attracting applicants, too. With its exciting music, and faster-paced narration, this new video, too, deserves the title of “Most Inspiring” — if anything, this video is even more engaging than “True Learning” above.
This is one of the most beautiful promotional videos I’ve ever watched. Harvard did a splendid job of presenting all the awe-inspiring statistics about the school in a way that is both simplistic and informative. On YouTube, Harvard has combined all its videos into one long video, but the specific segment I am referring to starts at 13:50.
Honestly, though, Harvard doesn’t need advertising.
Although Columbia’s video is heavily dominated by interviews and speaking, in stark contrast to the dynamic singing of Yale’s student-produced video, and even though it doesn’t carry the same wow factor of Harvard’s video, the words spoken in this video are the most moving.
Columbia’s video seems very genuine. Moreover, in the context of Columbia’s status as a world-class Ivy League university, its promo video, juxtaposed with the videos of Harvard and Yale, is unpretentious.
It’s probably a testament to the West Coast lifestyle. Stanford’s video made university seem fun and playful, rather than studious.
Notable Mentions
UPenn’s older video, “There’s Nothing Stopping Our Students” is also an inspirational work of beauty. It does focus more on students’ admission experiences, rather than how great the university is. That’s worth appreciating.
Google has been posting “Search Stories” videos on its YouTube channel since November 2009 and they’re really quite touching. The original search story was “Parisian Love“, about a man who apparently finds love in Paris while studying abroad.
Although I’ve seen Parisian Love before, some of the newer search stories are just as moving.
I just discovered this amazing series of music videos, created by running catchy quotations from notable scientists through Auto-Tune. They seem like a new generation of religious art.
The Symphony of Science is a musical project headed by John Boswell designed to deliver scientific knowledge and philosophy in musical form.
With Carl Sagan, David Attenborough, Jane Goodall, Richard Dawkins among many, these inspiring videos communicate the value of science.