Confession time: I am extremely jealous of Syracuse University’s incoming freshman class.

No it’s not because in just a few months they will get to travel to Hartford, “bleeding orange” and yelling profanities at UConn as our football team takes to the turf. And no, it’s not because they will soon be able to brag that they too can survive the most inclement and traumatic of weather. But rather it’s because they found out that they got accepted to Newhouse in a way that puts to shame all previous classes.

Receiving my acceptance letter to the Newhouse School of Public Communications at the ’Cuse was perhaps one of the most exciting days of my life. I still vividly remember my Dad calling me while I was out at shopping with my mom and uttering those five scary words, “You admissions envelope has arrived.”

My mom and I rushed home, and all the while I wondered whether my ’Cuse dream would come true. After tearing open the envelope and reading that I had been accepted, I re-read the “Dear Carrie” about 7,000 times to make sure the letter was, in fact, meant for me.

You know what five words this year’s freshman class got to hear from their Dads? “Your video message is here.”

Throw out the acceptance letters signed from the dean as this September’s freshman class received customized video messages from either alumni Contessa Brewer, MSNBC anchor, or Dennis Crowley, co-founder of foursquare, welcoming them to the ’Cuse family. Newhouse made this possible by teaming with StarGreetz, a company that takes the voices and video images of celebrities and brand personalities and transforms them into personalized, rich-media messages sent directly to consumers via Facebook, Twitter, web pages, banner ads, QR codes, email, mobile and digital devices, even personalized audio on land lines.

Through StarGreetz technology, the two alumni were able to tailor each video to the student who was on the receiving end, meaning that 300 lucky freshman just got a pretty nice initiation.

Makes my acceptance letter seem a little weak, right?

Putting my sour grapes aside, I have to say kudos to Newhouse for being a leader when it comes to education technology.

It’s not only Newhouse who should be receiving accolade, however.  Just the fact alone that technology exists so that schools can put together personalized video messages to let kids know they have been accepted to college is a glowing example of how far education technology has come. Like businesses, schools are catching on to the benefits of video messaging as a cost effective, efficient strategy. Moreover, this type of education technology helps schools remain competitive in an increasingly technology-centered world.

So, Newhouse incoming freshman – enjoy your moment of acceptance. And, of course, be sure to brag to all those snooty upperclassmen on campus and put them in their place!