The social networking presence of college applicants on websites like Facebook and Twitter is playing an increasingly important role in determining whether the candidate will be accepted to the school of their choice. The Student Advisor website described the case of one student whose application was rejected because of something they had posted on their Facebook page, and an admissions officer said her opinion of the candidate is definitely affected by what she sees online about them.
Allison Otis, who interviews candidates for Harvard College, responding to this user question on Quora – “Do High School student’s Facebook profiles affect their college application?”, said it is always better to be safe than sorry, because “when you apply to college you spend such a long time crafting an image through your applications and essays, that to be careless about your online data is just silly.”
Otis said she sometimes Googles a candidate and this will bring up anything the have on Facebook or Twitter, and Harvard does not instruct admissions to exclude this information from their review process.
Answering her own question, “Does a Facebook profile or a website prejudice me before I meet a candidate?” Otis said “Yes, absolutely”.
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If I had a nickel for every class in which I’ve preached/taught/mentioned/pleaded that “what you have on your Facebook page will have an impact on your chances for a job [or, as in this fine example, your chances for admission to the college of your dreams], I would not still be sitting here in the Massachusetts snows dreaming of a warmer future.
Social media as a means of communicating with and reaching audiences unimaginable in my college years can be marvelous…and deadly. As I tell my undergrad students at Curry College, before you post that photo of you with the hose from the beer keg in your mouth, THINK! Do you want ME, as the professor who you will ask to provide a recommendation for your job application or internship, to see it? Because I WILL…and I WON’T.
Think about it. Enjoy life; do fun things. Just don’t share every little tidbit with the universe where it will live forever!!
Great post, and spot on.