In a college decision reaction video, a student records themselves opening their college decisions. The audience gets to see the student’s reaction to each school’s decision, whether it be cries of happiness from an acceptance or tears from a rejection. These videos are becoming increasingly popular on YouTube, with over 100 videos in the category already published this admission cycle.
Kate Li – 6/10
Kate Li’s reaction to each decision letter is very exciting while still being genuine. She opens most of her decisions while sitting next to her parents, and their reactions add another layer of depth to the video. It added authenticity and it was cute to see how her parents celebrated each acceptance and supported Li after rejections. Throughout her entire video, Li maintained a positive attitude. However, Li added long, unnecessary commentaries between each decision. These interrupted the flow of the video, causing it to feel even longer than it already was. Most college decision reaction videos range from 10 to 15 minutes; Li’s is 20. If the overly long and repetitive commentary was trimmed down, the video would be much smoother and shorter. Because of this, I give Li’s video a 6/10.
Patrick Navarro – 7/10
Most college decision reaction videos begin with a long introduction about how the creator watched many videos in that category in the past and is now so excited to produce their own. Thankfully, Patrick Navarro’s college decision reaction video does not begin this way. Similar to Liu’s video, Navarro reacts to some of his decision letters instead of just his decisions on his online portals. Most college decision reaction videos are created by women, so it was nice to see more gender diversity and get Navarro’s perspective. The pacing of his video is very good. However, there is background music that was distracting at times. Navarro’s video is very entertaining but the music could use some adjustments, so I rate it 7/10.
Melanie Locke – 8/10
Melanie Locke’s personality makes her reaction video very engaging and interesting to watch. She is skilled at editing, and the video flows smoothly. Additionally, her reaction to each college decision is very genuine and the audience can feel her excitement. Though her reactions are not always dramatic, they are realistic and still interesting to watch. Her smile and happy shriek at each acceptance is heartwarming. Additionally, the video has good pacing. Locke’s video could be a little bit shorter, but the length is bearable. All in all, I give Locke’s college decision reaction video an 8/10.
Sienna Horvath – 8/10
Sienna Horvath’s video was very interesting to watch. She had an extremely quick transition between each decision reaction. While this editing style was nice at times, she could have given a little more time to each reaction. It felt like some of her reactions to her college decisions were cut off too quickly. However, each decision was entertaining. The best college decision reaction videos are the ones with a surprise acceptance at the end, and Horvath’s had that. Throughout the video, she opens many deferrals and waitlists. At the end of her video, she gets accepted to the University of Pennsylvania. Her excitement is inspiring, and it was gratifying to see her be accepted to a top-tier school after her many waitlists. I rate Horvath’s video 8/10.
Lauren Liu – 8/10
Lauren Liu’s college decision reaction video was very unique. Instead of viewing all of her decisions online through her college portals, she incorporated reactions to opening physical decision letters from some schools including Wellesley and Carnegie Mellon University. Seeing this surprised me, because I didn’t know that some schools still sent out letters. This added some variety to her video, which was nice. Liu’s acceptance to Dartmouth at the end of the video, after being rejected from every other Ivy League university, was inspiring to watch. However, her video was very long, which could have been fixed by cutting down on unneeded footage. Watching her log into her portals is boring and unnecessary. Despite the video’s length, I rate Liu’s college decision reaction video 8/10.
Ben Sperber – 10/10
This reaction video features Ben Sperber and his friend Emily. I have not seen any other college decision reaction videos created by two friends. That twist worked out very well, and it added a lot of depth to the video. Both Sperber and Emily have great personalities, and I loved seeing them interact throughout the video. Their reactions to each college decision were very funny, and it helped lighten the mood after each waitlist or rejection. They celebrated with each other after each acceptance, which was very heartwarming to watch. The two friends offer each other so much support throughout the video, adding to the video’s quality. Sperber and Emily’s video is a good pace. They give each reaction the perfect amount of time. This video was my favorite out of the college decision reaction videos I watched, and I rate it 10/10.
