Last Tuesday, high school senior Jackie Milestone released a music video about her hopes to attend Yale after being deferred early action. Her video racked up over 10,000 views and has been featured on CBS News. The News got in touch with Jackie at her home outside Philadelphia.

Dan Stein: How did you think of doing a video?

Jackie Milestone: Well I guess it was that I’ve been songwriting for a while. It’s one of my biggest hobbies. When I got deferred, I was upset for a while but I wanted to do something that would make me stand out. I figured there were a couple ways that I could go with it when I decided to write a song. I didn’t want to come off as pompous, but I wanted to feature my creative ability.

DS: Where did all that Yale swag come from?

JM: Every single piece of that belongs to my sister or my dad. My sister did a summer session at Yale — she filmed and edited the video for me. She’s a junior at Bennington College up in Vermont. I actually don’t own any Yale paraphernalia. But I asked my dad to bring out his stash and 21 shirts later, there it was.

DS: What’s your favorite lyric in the video?

JM: My favorite lyrics are the ones that reference the summer that I was there, my memories from Yale are at the top of my all time list. When I reference those experiences they make me smile.

DS: What classes did you take during your summer at Yale?

JM: I took two courses, a modern American literature class and the “Art of Poetry.”

DS: What’s your favorite part of Yale that made you apply?

JM: If I had to pick one thing, I find the academics to really be a perfect fit. Something my dad (a Saybrook alum) talked about a lot was that he learned just as much from his peers as his teachers. So I want to feel inspired.

DS: Do you think the video will help you get in?

JM: I’m hoping that this video will give me that extra standout factor, but the fact of the matter is that there are so many qualified people who applied. Hopefully it will show that I’m a unique and creative individual.

DS: Fun fact?

JM: Whenever I hear some bad things about the video — whenever you make something public like this, that happens — I put on the song “Up, Up and Away” and brush it off!