Guides · Updated 4 November 2026

Glimpse Video for College Applications: Which Colleges Use It and How It Works

Glimpse by InitialView is an optional 60 to 90 second unedited video supplement that eligible domestic applicants can record once and send to multiple universities, including Vanderbilt University, Rice University, and Washington University in St. Louis (WashU), according to their undergraduate admissions pages. Glimpse requires a one-time fee (with fee waivers available on the Glimpse website), does not allow editing or postproduction tools, and is paired with InitialView video interviews for international students at Vanderbilt and Rice.

What the Glimpse Video Is and How It Works

AdmitMock is an AI mock interview app for Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, UCL and US college alumni interviews: an AI interviewer asks the questions out loud, follows up, and shows you what to fix.

Glimpse is a short video platform run by InitialView that gives admissions officers a direct look at who you are beyond your written essays and transcripts. Both Vanderbilt University and Rice University specify that a Glimpse submission is a 60 to 90 second optional video.

According to Washington University in St. Louis (WashU), Glimpse requires a one-time fee, and you can visit the Glimpse website to learn about qualifying for a fee waiver. Once you record your video in your Glimpse account, you can select as many participating colleges as you choose to receive it.

The format is built to be spontaneous and natural rather than a rehearsed audition. WashU notes on its optional video supplement page that Glimpse does not allow editing or the use of any postproduction tools. Because you cannot cut clips together or add effects after recording, you need to deliver your thoughts clearly in a single continuous take.

• Length: 60 to 90 seconds (Vanderbilt and Rice admissions pages).
• Editing rule: No editing or postproduction tools allowed on Glimpse (WashU admissions page).
• Cost and sharing: One-time fee to send your video to multiple schools, with fee waiver details on the Glimpse website (WashU and Rice admissions pages).
• Admissions impact: Optional at every participating school. WashU explicitly states that applicants will not be penalised for opting not to submit a video.

Colleges That Accept Glimpse Videos (2026-27 Comparison)

Universities use Glimpse in different ways. At Vanderbilt, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions does not offer admissions interviews at all, making Glimpse or InitialView the only spoken video option for applicants. At Rice, the optional Glimpse video sits alongside optional virtual interviews conducted by current seniors or Rice Alumni Volunteers for Admission (RAVA) for the 2026-2027 cycle.

WashU gives all applicants two ways to submit a 90-second video: paying the one-time fee to send a Glimpse video, or uploading a self-recorded 90-second video for free directly in the WashU Pathway portal. WashU instructs applicants not to submit more than one video. If you upload a free self-recorded video to the WashU Pathway instead of using Glimpse, WashU allows editing and accepts standard video file formats (excluding Apple ProRes).

Applicants often search for the University of Chicago alongside Glimpse schools. The University of Chicago does not mention Glimpse on its optional materials page. Instead, UChicago offers a recommended two-minute video introduction in lieu of a traditional college interview, and states that you may record your two-minute introduction using the platform of your choice without needing editing or extensive rehearsal, uploading either a file or a link directly into your UChicago Account.

If you are also applying to universities that conduct live alumni conversations instead of short video clips, check our guides to the Harvard interview, the MIT interview, and the Georgetown alumni interview.

Glimpse vs InitialView: Domestic and International Eligibility

Glimpse and InitialView are partner services, and colleges divide them by citizenship and high school location. Before you create an account, check how each university on your list defines domestic and international status.

At Vanderbilt University, both first-year and transfer applicants who are US citizens, including undocumented students, attending high school in the United States may submit a 60 to 90 second video through Glimpse. Students attending high school internationally, or non-US citizens attending high school in the United States, may schedule a video interview with InitialView instead.

At Rice University, first-year domestic applicants may record and submit a 60 to 90 second video via Glimpse. Rice defines first-year domestic applicants as students completing high school by the end of the current academic year who hold US citizenship, Permanent Residency, DACA, undocumented status (for students who do not hold DACA status but have resided in the US for an extended period of time), or Refugee/Asylee status. Rice designates foreign nationals living outside or inside the US on visas (such as F-1, J-1, H-1, or H-4) or pending Permanent Residency as international applicants. International students applying to Rice may submit optional interviews from InitialView by the same dates as Glimpse: 10 November for Early Decision and 12 January for Early Decision II and Regular Decision.

At WashU, all applicants have the option to submit a video supplement, whether through Glimpse or through the free upload link below the Application Checklist in the WashU Pathway.

Deadlines and Grace Periods: How Many Days You Have After Applying

Colleges that publish separate video supplement deadlines give you a short window after the main application deadline to finish recording. Across the official admissions calendars of Rice University and WashU for the 2026-27 cycle, you get a 7 to 9 day grace period between submitting your written application and completing your video.

At Rice University, the Early Decision I application is due on 1 November and the Glimpse or InitialView deadline is 10 November, which gives you 9 extra days after the application deadline. For Early Decision II and Regular Decision at Rice, the application is due on 4 January and the Glimpse or InitialView deadline is 12 January, which is an 8-day buffer.

Note that if you also want a live virtual alumni interview at Rice, the interview request deadline is much tighter: 3 November for Early Decision I (2 days after the application deadline) and 6 January for Early Decision II and Regular Decision (2 days after the application deadline), with a priority Regular Decision interview request deadline of 16 December (after submitting the application by 14 December).

• 2 November 2026: WashU Early Action and Early Decision I application due. UChicago Early Decision I and Early Action application due.
• 9 November: WashU optional video supplement due for Early Decision I and Early Action (7 days after the 2 November application deadline).
• 10 November: Rice Glimpse video and InitialView interview completion deadline for Early Decision I (9 days after the 1 November application deadline).
• 4 January 2027: Rice Early Decision II and Regular Decision application due. WashU Early Decision II and Regular Decision application due. UChicago Early Decision II and Regular Decision application due.
• 12 January: Rice Glimpse video and InitialView interview completion deadline for Early Decision II and Regular Decision (8 days after the 4 January application deadline).
• 13 January: WashU optional video supplement due for Early Decision II and Regular Decision (9 days after the 4 January application deadline).

What to Talk About: Official Brainstorming Prompts and Strategy

Admissions offices use your video to hear your natural voice and see what matters to you in daily life. Vanderbilt states that the 60 to 90 second Glimpse video is meant to give a glimpse into your life and who you are, and recommends submitting optional materials if you feel they provide valuable information not captured in the required application materials. UChicago gives similar guidance for its two-minute video introduction, asking applicants to share important information relevant to their candidacy that they were unable to address elsewhere in the application.

WashU states that its video supplement is not intended to be a professional-quality production or a rehearsed audition, and publishes three brainstorming questions on its optional video supplement page:

1. Do you have a hobby? Show us how you spend your free time.

2. How do you express your most authentic self? Through art, cooking, poetry, stand-up comedy?

3. What do you most want to experience at WashU?

When you plan your topic, keep one operational rule in mind from WashU's Glimpse guide: Glimpse lets you send your recorded video to as many schools as you choose. If you plan to send the same Glimpse video to Vanderbilt, Rice, and WashU, pick a general personal topic (like how you spend your free time or how you express yourself) rather than naming a specific university on camera. If you want to answer a school-specific prompt such as what you want to experience at WashU, use WashU's free portal upload for that video instead.

How to Structure a 60 to 90 Second Unedited Video

Because Glimpse does not allow editing or postproduction tools, speaking for 60 to 90 seconds without rambling or running out of time takes structure.

Instead of writing a word-for-word script that makes your eyes dart across the screen, break your recording into four clear beats and practise speaking from three short bullet points.

• Introduction and context: Smile, say hello, and introduce the object, place, or routine you are talking about right away.
• The story in action: Show or describe one specific example of how you spend your free time or express yourself, rather than listing your school clubs.
• Why it matters to you: Explain what this routine or interest has taught you about how you work, learn, or connect with other people.
• Clean wrap-up: Connect that trait to how you hope to contribute to your future college community, and finish before the 90-second cutoff.

Timed Practice Run and Checklist

Before you open Glimpse to record, run through this 15-minute practice routine using your phone or computer timer. Practise your interview out loud on AdmitMock.

If you are also preparing for live virtual alumni interviews at schools like Rice, read our guide on questions to ask your alumni interviewer so you are ready for the end of your conversation.

• Check your eligibility first: Confirm whether your target colleges classify you as a domestic Glimpse applicant or an international InitialView applicant.
• Keep it school-neutral if sharing widely: If you are sending one Glimpse video to multiple universities, make sure you do not say a single college's name out loud.
• Do a timer drill: Set a stopwatch on your phone. Practise answering one prompt out loud three times without stopping, aiming to finish naturally within the 60 to 90 second window.
• Verify your portfolio requirements separately: Remember that a short video introduction does not replace required academic or artistic portfolios, such as WashU's SlideRoom portfolio for the College of Art, Vanderbilt's Blair School of Music prescreening video, or Rice's School of Architecture portfolio.

Practice question

Question in this style (written by our team, based on WashU and Vanderbilt guidelines): Show us how you spend your free time or share a glimpse into your everyday life that is not captured in the rest of your application.

Example written by our team. The applicant is invented. Every Sunday morning, I repair broken vintage mechanical alarm clocks at my kitchen table using a small jeweller's screwdriver set my grandfather gave me. Most of the time, a clock only stops because a single brass gear tooth is bent by a fraction of a millimetre, and finding that tiny fault taught me how to slow down and troubleshoot physical systems patiently without forcing the mechanism.

This teaser immediately puts a concrete object and routine on screen, shows how the applicant thinks without repeating a high school resume list, and stays completely college-neutral so the same Glimpse recording can be sent to Vanderbilt, Rice, and WashU.

AdmitMock is not affiliated with Oxford, Cambridge or any other university.