Admissions Officers Check Social Media Pages, Students Don't Care
More college admissions officers are looking at
applicants'
social media pages, but students don't care, according to both
admissions officers and high school students who responded to Kaplan
Test Prep surveys
earlier this year.
Kaplan polled 403 admissions officers last summer and
found
that 35 percent of those who responded said they had visited applicants'
pages
to learn more about them. That is the highest percentage since Kaplan
started
tracking the issue in 2008. Six years ago, only 16 percent of admissions
officers who responded said they checked social media pages.
Meanwhile, a second e-mail survey of 520 students in
October
found that 58 percent of those who responded described their social
media
activity as "fair game" for admissions officers. More than a third
said they thought
their chances of getting into a college would be enhanced if admissions
officers visited their personal sites while only 3 percent thought it
would
hurt their chances. Nearly two-thirds of the students who responded said
it
wouldn't matter much one way or the other.
Kaplan officials said the survey results indicate
that, as
social media use becomes more ubiquitous, there is a greater acceptance
of it
is as a tool by college admissions officers. At the same time, students
are
learning that they will be held accountable for the "digital trails"
they leave
behind.
In fact, 18 percent of the students surveyed said
they plan to
use their social media channels to enhance their chances of college
admission.
Paralleling that survey finding is the discovery that
only 16
percent of the admissions officers surveyed reported finding things that
would
negatively impact applicants' chances of admissions — compared to 30
percent
last year and 35 percent two years ago.
Still, Kaplan Test Prep representatives said social media
activity
is not playing any kind of significant role in the decisions admissions
officials make.
"Admissions chances are still overwhelmingly decided
by the
traditional factors of high school GPA, standardized test scores,
letters of recommendation,
personal essays and extracurricular activities," said Christine Brown,
executive director of K-12 and college prep programs for Kaplan Test
Prep. "The
bottom line for student is that what you post online likely won't get
you into
college, but it just might keep you out."
The college admissions officers surveyed by Kaplan
Test Prep
were from colleges and universities mentioned in the U.S.
News & World Report's
most recent survey of higher education. Students surveyed had all
taken Kaplan's
SAT prep course.
About the Author
Michael Hart is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and the former executive editor of THE Journal.