(Thumbnail image: YouTube)

College admissions officers wade through thousands of applications every year, so how do you make yours stand out from the rest? One way might be YouTube.

"I'm a fine-tuned mathematician, A+ geek, always good at math, no matter day or week."

"Next we're going to do a Kool-aid race, 3-2-1 Go!"

Tufts University is the first to allow students to submit a public video as part of a traditionally private application process.  The new admissions process allows students to display their talents – in theory.  But in case it doesn’t turn out exactly as planned, ABC News reports the videos won’t be judged too harshly.

“The videos are not required and the only instruction is send something that says something about you. ... The good news is that the school won’t hold bad videos against the student, unless it’s something really disgusting.”

Some people have raised concers over privacy, but The New York Times reports Tufts’ dean of admissions isn’t worried about that.

“These kids blog, they tweet, they don’t seem to worry about privacy... Maybe I was naïve, but it didn’t occur to me that these videos would be so public, and so followed.”

The Boston Phoenix pokes fun at the process, saying it looks like they ripped off the 2001 comedy "Legally Blonde".

"Oh, hi, my name is Elle Woods and for my admissions essay I'm gonna tell all of you at Harvard why I'm going to make an amazing lawyer."

“When Reese Witherspoon’s ultra-ditzy, fashion obsessed character woos the admission officers at Harvard Law School with a home video in which she prances around in a bikini, she’s really just making a preemptive and highly savvy parody of what’s happening at Tufts this year.”

But Harvard's admissions dean frets that video applications may give an unfair edge to students from affluent families. 

“Harvard College has for decades asked students to submit any supplementary materials…that display exceptional talent.  But Harvard's admissions dean frets that video applications may give an unfair edge to students from affluent families.”

Tufts dean of admission says not to worry - more than 60 percent of the video submissions were from applicants for financial aid.

Meanwhile, it remains to be seen whether other colleges will use YouTube to find the perfect freshmen. And now, without further ado, Newsy present more of Tuft's greatest YouTube hits.

Writer: Alyssa Caverley

Producer: Newsy Staff