College students who offer campus tours for the admissions office may seem like confident ambassadors, but sometimes they have their own doubts about whether they have chosen the right college or are on the right path in life.
That dramatic tension drives an independent mockumentary called “Accepted”, created by a group of undergraduate students from Boston University.
The five-episode web series, whose final episode is scheduled to appear later this month, involved the work of more than 20 students, some crowdfunding and the use of free study space on campus. And he ends by making some timely observations about college admissions and about student life after the pandemic, when students sometimes struggle to make social connections after high school experiences during lockdown. It is set in the fictional Beacon Hill University, not to be confused with a nearby rival university in the world of the series, Beacon Hill University.
A student who directs and stars in the production, Maggie Borgen, has spent a lot of time thinking about issues surrounding college choice. When she was a high school senior in New Jersey during the pandemic, she made a podcast designed to provide advice to other students navigating the college admissions process during the health crisis, which limited campus tours and many of the usual high school rituals. (EdSurge spoke with her about that project at the time.)
Since starting as a student at BU, he ended up working in the admissions office there leading information sessions. And he thought it would be a great setting for a sitcom in the style of his favorite sitcoms, including “Parks and Recreation” and “Abbott Elementary.”
“A college admissions office seemed like a really good way to explore coming of age in college through a work environment, but also in a way that is relatable to a general audience, because most Americans are thinking about university in a sense because it’s just something like that. a big part of the zeitgeist,” says Borgen.
I was excited to try to examine that environment from the perspective of today’s students, during this unusual time. The high cost of college these days provides plenty of material for satire. In one scene, Borgen’s character, MC, gives a tour of the campus and describes the new 10-story engineering building with a food court and a shiny library. She tells the students, “I figure if you’re going to go into student debt, you might as well declare bankruptcy for Beacon.”
The students began production last fall and met two to three times a week to write and film the series. She’s starting to get some recognition: She was recently named a finalist at the Houston Comedy Film Festival.
EdSurge recently connected with Borgen to ask what insights he gained from taking the program and how students continue to struggle with the lingering impact of COVID-19.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts, or use the player on this page.
