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It all started when Jeremy Gelbart, one of the founders of Ultrinsic, made a bet with Steven Wolf, the other founder, that he would make an A in a college class. After they graduated, they decided to see if this scheme could work on a larger scale:
Ultrinsic, currently in beta form, allows students at 37 colleges to gamble on their grades in each of the classes they take. The student hands over money to Ultrinsic–as well as access to his or her official school records–as a wager that they will attain a certain grade. If they get it, Ultrinsic pays out on a sliding scale.
A pilot scheme in place at both Penn and NYU over the last academic year had some takers, including one guy who won $150, although the serious money is to be made by high schoolers as they head off to university. Then, if you bet $20 on getting a 4.0 GPA, then you’ll walk away with $2,000 should you succeed. That, apparently, is what motivation looks like.
Link via Marginal Revolution | Photo by Flickr user banspy used under Creative Commons license
Some American colleges and universities now allow prospective students to submit videos instead of or in addition to written essays. The above video is one that Amelia Downs sent with her application to Tufts University. In it, she demonstrates dances that she invented that reflect mathematical functions. The New York Times wrote about this trend:
Even without prompting, admissions officials say, a growing number of students submit videos. Maria Laskaris, the dean of admissions at Dartmouth, noticed the trend last year, and said this year had brought even more videos, mostly showcasing music, theater or dance talents.
For Tufts, the videos have been a delightful way to get to know the applicants.
“At heart, this is all about a conversation between a kid and an admissions officer,” Mr. Coffin said. “You see their floppy hair and their messy bedrooms, and you get a sense of who they are. We have a lot of information about applicants, but the videos let them share their voice.”
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