Facebook shouldn’t affect college decisions
One picture represents one moment of a person’s life. If you saw a picture on Facebook of someone in your grade holding a red cup, standing next to a table of beer cans and alcohol bottles, would you jump to a negative conclusion about them, or would you acknowledge that their inappropriate behavior is widespread among your peers? For some college admissions officers, inappropriate pictures that are posted on Facebook can influence their overall view of an applicant.
College admissions officers who search applicants’ Facebook profiles to evaluate them further shouldn’t let images of inappropriate conduct influence their admissions decisions. One image on Facebook that depicts a student partying with their friends doesn’t necessarily reflect the student’s other qualities.
An article in the Wall Street Journal reported that in a survey of 500 top schools, 50 admissions officers said they look at their applicants’ social networking profiles. Of those colleges, 38 percent reported that what they saw negatively impacted their view of the applicant.
Some colleges enact policies that support the theory that Facebook content can indicate superficiality or a lack of seriousness on the part of a student, or that their values may be inconsistent with those of the school. But it’s important for them to realize that Facebook presents the social habits of a student that should not be connected back to the student’s academic qualities.
Students don’t create Facebook profiles with the thought that adults will be monitoring them. Facebook is just another venue for students to interact with their peers and friends. While there are many students who may make the mistake of posting inappropriate pictures from parties, this act of misjudgment is so common among high school students that it shouldn’t be enough to change an admissions officer’s view of any applicant.
Colby College, whose website includes a list titled, “Facebook Do’s and Don’ts,” advises their applicants not to post inappropriate material on their Facebook profiles. This list includes a warning: although they aren’t monitoring applicants’ Facebook profiles directly, if information is brought to their attention about something inappropriate, they might investigate it. In an interview, an admissions officer from Colby said that on rare occasions they do look at Facebook profiles. Usually, this occurs only if the admissions officers get a sense that some of an applicant’s submitted information is false, and they want to confirm it without asking the applicant directly.
Facebook presents an unreliable way for colleges to evaluate qualities that an applicant can bring to a school. Most teenagers use Facebook as a tool to communicate with friends and to open a window into their social lives, which is only one dimension of their personality. Colleges need to recognize that a Facebook profile isn’t necessarily a true profile of the student.
R. Kerr
Monday, December 7, 2009 @
Jobs often look up applicants on social networking sites. The way I see it, you’re going to get burned sometime, so may as well learn the lesson early on and set things as private.
Anonymous
Tuesday, December 8, 2009 @
I hate that they do it, but it is necessary– especially at top schools
Ryan H.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009 @
@ Anonymous. How is it necessary? Your comment doesn’t make any sense. Please tell me what would happen in the cataclysmic event that a college -especially a top school, of course- doesn’t scour a potential student’s Facebook page for innapropiate pictures.
Lauren H
Wednesday, December 23, 2009 @
It’s a good lesson to learn- don’t ever put anything on the internet that you aren’t proud of. Not only will future jobs look at it, but in a few years you’ll go back through your facebook pictures and delete them–trust me. R Kerr is right; it’s good to learn early. However, what a lot of people don’t realize is that even if it is private or even if it has been deleted, people can still find it…just don’t put it up in the first place.
To the author: sometimes justifying an action by being in a group (as demonstrated with the beer pong reference) is no justification at all. Just think of Elizabeth Eckford and the Little Rock Nine. Her iconic picture with Hazel Bryan yelling at her forever changed Hazel’s life…do you want that to be you? It was just one picture.
Drew S.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010 @
Im a high school student junior so i think i can go ahead and be concerned about this. First of all, I know exactly what I put up on facebook. Now I might have a bit of a prejudice as I go to TJ, the number one high school in the country, and therefore labeled as someone who would be concerned with getting into college. However, I still aspire to enjoy a social life, and so I have a facebook, to keep in touch with my friends that aren’t there to talk to at the moment. Now i’ve heard this advice early, so I have some headstart on others who haven’t but the idea that FB profile material shouldn’t be connected to college admissions is a fallacy. Your social life is intimately connected with your academics. If your a party-er and your not applying to a school know for their partying than its going to hurt your chances of admission. The reason that the admissions process is so thorough in the first place is to judge not only the academic merit of the individual but also the character of the individual. Thus what they do in their social life would be incredibly applicable. Facebook profiles are a tour of someone’s social life so If a college judges you by your facebook ‘cover’ than they are judging your social habits, which is what they are trying to do in in the first place.
Judy
Friday, February 12, 2010 @
Drew S.- who cares if you go to TJ, great for you you have your life all figured out and you can write a long paragraph about facebook safety…wooohoo!!! you dont even go here! i suggest you stop being so full of yourself and get on with your life
rosie j
Sunday, April 4, 2010 @
wow i was randomly searching on google about this topic for my research paper and clicked this article as one of the links… very very random considering i went to whitman. i may actually use this as a source for my paper