Can Facebook hurt a teenager’s chances of getting accepted to colleges?
Specifically can the stuff that students post on Facebook impact their chances?
Unigo, the popular college research website, recently posed that question to admission experts from around the country. Unigo offered to share some of the responses with my college blog visitors. You can find the rest of the answers on Unigo’s website.
Question: Can what I post on Facebook affect my chances of getting accepted?
Answers:
Carolyn Blair, Counseling Services Director, Clayton High School
Anything that is in the public domain is fair game, just be careful.
As the age of the admissions officers become younger and younger, Facebook and other social networks are simply part of their culture. It used to be that admission offices would have a lot of hoops to get through to even access this information. Now many grandparents have a Facebook account.
While there aren’t many schools actively searching students facebook accounts for incriminating information, when you look at who is working in admission there are often many students. Some student could be from your school of hometown. Play this out and it wouldn’t take much for inappropriate behavior to reach the eyes of someone in an admission office. Best case scenario is to play it safe!
Stephanie Meade, Owner, The Collegiate Edge
Would you let your grandmother see your Facebook page?
College admissions officers are generally way too busy for Facebook but, if they have a question or concern, they may look you up. Since many young, tech-savvy people work in admissions, and because you don’t know who your Facebook friends know, you should never have a comment or photo visible or linkable that does not pass “the grandma test.” That means no pictures, links, or posts (even as a joke) about partying, drugs, sex, guns or anything else that could be misinterpreted by someone who does not know you. Keep it clean. An admissions officer (or grandma) may be checking!
Gwyeth Smith, President & CEO, College Quest Inc.
Facebook can show both the best and worst of you.
Be smart, be vigilant, and be mature as you post on Facebook. It is important to know that many admission counselors are just a few years older than you. All are members of the technology generation which make lives very public. It is a wonderful vehicle for illustrating contributions you’ve made and special accomplishments you’ve enjoyed with organizations. Keep the information current and consider postings that might reflect the kind of involvement the college might expect from you as a member of their community.
Deborah Shames, Transfer Admissions Advisor, Kaplan Leadership Program
Don’t expect privacy when posting online, everything can be found. You should have absolutely no expectation of privacy online.
Your words and pictures should not portray unethical, illegal, or unflattering behavior. Even with the privacy settings you (hopefully) place on your own account, when posting on another wall, you don’t know who might read it, save it or maliciously use it against you.
While I doubt admissions officers have the time to look you up on Facebook, why risk it. As my mother always says, don’t put anything in writing that you would be embarrassed to have your grandmother read 10 minutes, 10 weeks, or 10 years from now!
I agree. Make sure you screen your wall regularly because once it is cached online, it is hard to get off.
Facebook shows what kind of person you are the true person, who you really are! I have learned things about my friends from there that has changed my whole opinion of them. I do not have a facebook i think that it is a very bad idea.
You really have to be careful here. You need to take advantage of FB’s privacy’s settings. Overall, I would say if people have been denied jobs for content left of FB, your admission might be at risk, As yourself, would you want your mother to see the content you put on FB? If so, I think your OK.