<p>^People might put their true feelings and thoughts on their facebook page though.</p>
<p>My facebook page is clean, so I'm not to concerned about what people may find there. I am far more concerned, however, about what comes up when I googled my name. Evidently I share a name with someone who makes less than wholesome movies. Googling my name evidently reveals me to be a ghost hunter, "interesting actress" with a revealing youtube video, and a facebook profile that isn't mine. You hear so much about people looking you up these days for work- how do they know that the person that they are looking up is actually you?</p>
<p>The worst that's on my Facebook page is swearing, so I'm not worried.</p>
<p>Do you know how long it would take Admissions to creep through every single applicant's Facebook page? (especially the state universities level, where they may receive 20,000 applicants) I mean, it's just not believable that Admissions would do that. Maybe small, private colleges.</p>
<p>In any case, I don't think it's a good practice for colleges to do that. Facebook is not part of our application, so it shouldn't be treated as part of the admissions process. It's really unfair to attach a supplemental "facebook page" to a student's application since it can't be done for everybody. What about applicants who don't have a facebook page? They don't have an extra, UNKNOWINGLY evaluated supplemental information... so then they're just let off the hook? And what about the facebook kids that still drink/do drugs, but just don't have a picture of it on facebook? Granted, they are smart to do so. But is it fair that one silly picture on Facebook defers one student even though both students are doing THE SAME THING? Plus, there's always joking around/inside jokes on facebook walls and stuff. It's not always prevalent whether statements are made in a serious or joking manner on the internet. Who gets to decide that? Admissions? Students don't even have a way to justify a joke - they are simply denied. Since when did inside jokes with friends defer one from being admitted to college? Kind of ridiculous.</p>
<p>I'm worried about this as well. I don't even have a Facebook/Myspace page, but somebody with my same (pretty unique) name does, and a Google search reveals somebody with my name (not me) drinking a beer with a guy. How would adcoms know that this isn't me? If I've visited, it should be easy enough, as I don't resemble the other two. But I can't visit every school I'll be applying to...</p>
<p>Angram if you can't visit the school, then you probably shouldn't apply.</p>
<p>I think that is perfectly reasonable. I honestly think that Harvard deserves to know if one of their applicants is stupid enough to post pictures of themselves holding beer.</p>
<p>I'm a senior with a social life, yet I realize how stupid it is to post anything like that on the internet. Shoot, it's not just admission counselors that you have to worry about. Many people post stuff that would get them expelled from school. The president of the NHS at my school had pictures of herself playing beerpong on her facebook. Talk about blackmail material! People will friend anyone. That weird person in your grade might be downloading those pictures just in case they ever need to black mail you.</p>
<p>I honestly cannot understand why people post those pictures. Are they proud of that image? What if your parents saw them? Stupid. Stupid.</p>
<p>As I said earlier, I want colleges to find out that their "perfect" applicants are actually idiots. There are enough strong applicants that are smart enough to not post that stuff to fill up the class.</p>
<p>Anything is fair game. If colleges care enough to do some research to break past the image that you wanted to project to them then fine.</p>
<p>As for the people worried about google searches, I wouldn't worry. Colleges are not going to hold stuff against you if they can't be sure that the stuff is actually yours. Facebook pages are different, because people give the name of their school. </p>
<p>The top students at my school with bad stuff on their profiles have changed their last names.</p>
<p>Fake ones scare me.</p>
<p>country day - i don't think it's unreasonable to apply to a school you haven't visited. i've applied to 7 schools and i haven't visited 5 of them. some people just don't have the financial amenities or time to visit schools that are far away/OOS. with the cost of plane tickets for my parents and i as well as the cost of one or two overnight stays at hotels, each visit to a school would cost me around $1500. multiply that by 7 and i just spent $10,500 on visiting alone. and if i don't like the school, then i just wasted $1500. it's much more worth it to spend $30-$75 on an application fee to see if i get in first before visiting. if i get accepted to the schools i haven't visited, then i will definitely visit to see if i like/fit into the environment. but for now, i am applying based on the school's academic program in my related major since that is first priority for me.</p>
<p>I had a touch-and-go experience in the app process (sometimes they recruit students for help) and I doubt the admissions staff, as swamped with work as they are, will have time to idle around and look up their applicants' facebook profile.</p>
<p>Just one word of caution that I would like to throw out there to the students who think that if their pages are set to private, then no one can see them. </p>
<p>Well, I work in Admissions and I was interviewing current students for office jobs. While looking at one student worker applicant's Facebook page (yes, I looked up the applicants who would be representing my school) I recognized a kid who had posted on this student's page - he was a freshman applicant who happened to be the brother of the kid who was applying for the job. Because I am in the same network as his brother, I could read whatever is posted on his wall. Personally, I would not use what he wrote against him, and I wasn't even actively trying to look up this kid. But if he had written something like "I had such a great time visiting you this weekend, bro, but I still can't remember Saturday night!" I don't think it would help his chances of getting in if he were borderline.</p>
<p>I would advise any student to think twice before making a wall post to any friend or relative who goes to the schools you are applying for. As I said, I wasn't even trying to look up this kid, I just stumbled across his post. Obviously, the Admissions Counselors would be considered in-network for the school they work for. I won't use the information against a student, but it is hard to get rid of a first impression once you get it.</p>
<p>My daughter didn't think it was an issue at all to accept the friend request of an admissions rep she met on an overnight visit. In her words, "I've got nothing to hide". I hope she's right, there are a few expletives here and there, but no drunken pictures or anything hateful. I hope this doesn't usher in an era of "how to make your facebook work for you in the admissions process", uggh.</p>
<p>country day- I don't think that's true. Just to take one personal case, I live in the northern Midwest. Buyign a plane ticket to, say, Houston to visit Rice would cost several hundred dollars, and that would most likely be the ONLY point to that trip. My family cannot afford this. A road trip would be even more expensive. There are plenty of other sources of information about the campus, and some schools even offer "virtual tours" which show you the campus (not sure if Rice is one, but whatever, it's just an example). I can easily coordinate an off-campus interview. And if I visited and decided I didn't like Rice after all? The cost of transportation suddenyl becomes money down the drain. If it's the only school in the region which I'm interested in, it's just financially not worth visiting. Would I be more informed about my choice if I had visited? Perhaps. Would I have a better chance of admission if I had visited? Perhaps. But it's just not worth the financial cost, especially if I visit before application and thus have no idea whether I will even get accepted.</p>
<p>It's called the private setting honestly. If your profile's not on private, you have far bigger problems than colleges (<em>pedophiles</em>)</p>
<p>Are you only rejected for illegal activity?
Is there anything legal that can get you in trouble?</p>
<p>This post is just ridiculous! Since when does facebook or myspace carry any weight when it comes to college? Next thing you know acceptance rate to college will be based on your eye color. </p>
<p>First of all, isnt it a rule not to post stuff on facebook or myspace that is shall we say "bad"? Why would you trash talk your boss or take nude photos and PUT THEM ON THE INTERNET? That is just stupidity but it happens...I have highschool teachers on facebook and I believe you get to a point your life, when you become a professional such as a teacher, dentist, doctor or whatever that your need to give up facebook or myspace and just be content doing online billing on a computer and nothing else. </p>
<p>And EVERYTHING on the internet is fair game. Even the DEAN of a college is not oblivious to facebook so beware college party animals...</p>
<p>" have highschool teachers on facebook and I believe you get to a point your life, when you become a professional such as a teacher, dentist, doctor or whatever that your need to give up facebook or myspace and just be content doing online billing on a computer and nothing else. "</p>
<p>LOL! Presumably being on-line to pay bills would be allowed so as to be able to pay for one's kids' education. After all, after entering full adulthood, one might as well be dead because one is so old, boring and decrepit.....</p>
<p>"What if a person has that he or she is gay? Or for the "Interested In" question is blank (which others interpret that you're gay)? Some of the religious schools discriminate or are homophobic against homosexuals."</p>
<p>Being rejected by such a school would be a good thing, far better than attending a school where people of one's sexual orientation aren't made welcome.</p>
<p>One caveat: If one has something to hide, be careful about facebook. If one joins groups for causes that may indicate things you don't want people to know about you, be aware that your FB friends can see what groups you joined.</p>
<p>I learned that way that one of my former college students is gay. Doesn't matter to me since I have lots of gay friends and am a gay rights advocate, but her sexual orientation and membership in a group that is strictly for lesbians may cause problems for her with people who are less accepting.</p>