I don't think the video 'essay' changes the efficacy of this test. As a self-assessment tool, you can still rate your strength on it just like your written essays but you won't be able to go back and change anything. Or can you? Can you do a test run of the video essay without submitting it?

It seems that you cannot do a test run. What you can do is practice with a friend to get feedback about how you look and sound and whether anything you do is off-putting. You can prepare your clothes, for example, and get the background right with no noise to distract and no glare from other lights in the room. Make sure you have it all set up properly for the actual event.

I've done job interviews online and they weren't too bad. The problem with these video essays (?) is the huge range of questions. If you can get a sample of the kind of questions they might ask then you can be better prepared. Maybe.

You can get an idea of what kind of questions they might ask in the forums. They want to know about you personally - likes, dreams, influences, where you've been, what you've seen, what it meant to you. I think you should prepare in the same way you would for a face-to-face interview.

Looks like this is the last year applicants will be able to avoid doing some part of the process without video. Harvard made a big change with the single essay and it remains to be seen how successful that is, but my bet is that all the schools will go to video, as a requirement, after next year. Ultimately, it's the best way for them to get that feel for who you are.

Good luck getting on and in with no problems. I hear it doesn't always go smoothly. Maybe that depends on where you're calling from.

Where are the samples of these - the video essay and the single essay? YouTube doesn't count for me - I'm looking for something on an official site or that's been vetted by an admissions board.

Hey, I haven't been able to find anything either. All sites are hopelessly behind on this. Lots of info about what to and how to but nothing concrete. I bet the admissions consultants will have them but that doesn't do most of us much good.

I wonder what the mystery is. It's too late to help with a Round 2 application so I guess next years applicants will reap the benefits.

It'd be nice to have examples but since they're not available I say just jump into the water. Most of us have enough experience to be able to do either and not sweat it too much. Where's the confidence we need to be showing?!

Its not so much a question of confidence as knowing what's OK to do and what's not. The confidence comes in where you don't want to sound like everyone else but you don't want to trigger any turn-offs either. Its a delicate balance and I think there are rules here.

Rules is not the right word for the single essay. There must be guidelines, though what they are I don't know. I think it boils down to choosing a theme (a personal one) and showing development towards your already stated goal for doing an MBA. How to get your preference for the school in to that is another problem, or challenge, I should say. Successful samples would definitely be appreciated.

Getting your preference for HBS in is a good point. There might be ways to show a fit in your resume if you're creative but basically we want HBS because.... its Harvard! Duh.

Something tells me you shouldn't be thinking about sucking up to the school with the single essay. It's not about why you want to go to Harvard (as already said, that's obvious). Maybe Harvard is the only school that can get away with assuming everyone wants to go there, but if they say they want to hear something personal, that's what you should give them, and not try to fit anything else in to this essay.

We're in to the second round of applications already. What about trying to contact someone who was a (successful) applicant in the first round to ask what they did and how they handled the essay? They would have gotten some feedback on it.