Almost everyone has social media accounts (and an extensive social media footprint) these days, and many college-bound kids make these profiles public so that anyone can look at them, including admission officers. While we are certainly free to post almost anything on our Facebook and other pages, students pursuing future higher education degrees and jobs have to keep in mind that once you put information online, it will stay there forever – even if you personally remove it, much of that posted content is saved and accessible somewhere. This is why it’s imperative for young people, college applicants, and job seekers to pay attention to what you’re posting, even if you never anticipated college admissions using social media to qualify – or disqualify – a prospective applicant.
Do College Admissions Officers Look at Social Media Pages?
College admissions officers and guidance counselors do indeed look at prospective students’ social media pages, which can significantly impact a student’s chances at admission, even for infractions as small as offensive language or problematic posts surrounding controversial topics. In fact, reviewing applicants’ social media profiles is a great way for counselors to get to know you a little better, which is especially important if you’re applying to colleges that are very competitive with their admissions process.
The more competitive the school is, the more likely admissions decisions may be swayed by small factors, including what an applicant’s social media page looks like, as many admissions counselors may be splitting hairs between highly impressive and qualified candidates when recommending students for acceptance. A dodgy or inappropriate social media profile could easily be the deciding factor in choosing one more clean-cut student over the other with questionable posts that might compromise the student’s – or in the future, the university’s – reputation.
How often does this happen? No studies or recent surveys have been conducted that give us exact numbers, but it’s been uncovered that as a good rule of thumb, we can assume the most selective colleges, like Harvard University and the other Ivy League schools will look at the social media posts of prospective students as part of the admissions equation. This is because schools such as this look at the character of a potential student just as much as they do the grades of that person. In fact, while it isn’t that common, some college students have even been rejected by certain schools or had their letters of acceptance rescinded due to things such as inappropriate behavior identified on their social media outlets.
Some of the less-competitive schools, including many state schools, may not look at applicants’ social media pages unless a third party anonymously contacts them and alerts them to a problem or a reason to probe. That said, you should assume the admissions decision-making process is a holistic one and that any and every piece of information you share publicly can be a factor considered in your admission decision. While that might feel like an invasion of privacy, you have to remember is that anyone with an online presence is fair game because as an applicant, you’re requesting admission into their university, so they want to make sure your acceptance wouldn’t present a liability or welcome negative effects onto the school’s reputation.
What Do Recruiters Look for in Social Media?
Recruiters know that a holistic approach usually works best when recruiting students, and they know that students are more than just their test scores and GPA. In other words, admissions counselors look at the entire person and not just a handful of aspects. Social media helps them do this. And while the college admissions process doesn’t specify looking at social media “officially,” this is a simple way for counselors to look at applicants and decide which one has the character they’re looking for, or at least to weed out those that clearly don’t.
Keep in mind that social media platforms can have a negative impact or a positive impact on an admissions counselor and the admissions process itself, depending on your use of social media and what you choose to portray publicly, versus keep behind strict privacy settings for close friends and family only. Though a teen’s social media use increase may feel innocent given the pervasiveness of social media today, it’s important to remember that college admissions offices and potential employers have been known to rescind offers of enrollment and employment when problematic posts have surfaced on an applicant’s Facebook or Instagram account. If you look at recent statistics, roughly 25% of counselors look at the social media pages of applicants, so the best way to avoid worries during the college admission process is to keep your public content clean, non-controversial, and professional. Like it or not, your digital footprint says a lot about you, and it isn’t going away anytime soon.
Not Like It Used to Be
Of course, nowadays, tech-savvy prospective and current students are a lot more careful about what they post on social media, as they’re often aware that prospective college may include a digital search as part of the admission process. While one solution is for students to maintain a private account, another solution is for students’ social media pages to reflect their positive and professional accomplishments, and a thorough and up-to-date LinkedIn profile is a great way to do this.
LinkedIn is a little more professional in image than other accounts, simply because it is business-centered and not centered on the personal attributes of the user. Furthermore, populating an impressive LinkedIn page with your accomplishments, extracurricular activities, certifications, top test scores, and talents is a great way to accelerate your future job search process, whereas peers who wait to start LinkedIn until after college may find themselves scrambling to make connections and round out their profile ahead of application due dates and interviews.
What Should You Do?
If you have numerous social media sites or profiles under various topics and more eclectic interests, keep them tame, at least until you’re finally admitted into a college. Until then, concentrate on getting great SAT or ACT scores, excellent letters of recommendation, and some experience in volunteer work. You want admissions officers to be so impressed with these things that they don’t even think about digging up your Facebook posts or Instagram page.
Today’s college applicants should be prepared to provide personal information on their college application far beyond a name, phone number, and email address; instead, these admissions requests may also include providing access to the student’s social media information, which essentially gives college recruiters “permission” to review these accounts. If getting into a particular college is important to you and you’re worried that your social media pages aren’t as squeaky clean as you’d like, you might want to set them private or take a brief pass through them and remove any public content you wouldn’t want a university admission officer or future employer to see. You don’t have to go overboard with your efforts, but make sure nothing objectionable is on them, and this includes not only content and posts but also photos, GIFs, and even emojis.
At the end of the day, as university admissions become more competitive and more social media scandals arise, we need to be comfortable with college admissions using social media as a means of applicant culling, and the last thing you want is for an incidental post taken out of context to stand between you and your dream school.
