Bogus Facebook Class of 2013 groups….BEWARE

<p>It has come to the attention of several members of the Admission Community- both here and elsewhere- that a group of people have created bogus Class of 2013 sites on Facebook for well over 300 colleges and universities. In all of these cases, the moderators or group creators aren’t actually accepted students, applicants or even prospective students at the college; but, rather, a group of individuals employed by outside organizations posing as students. The purpose of these groups isn’t clear but it certainly seems odd to us. </p>

<p>In order to protect the identity of those students within our applicant pool, we are asking that students remain vigilant when sharing information within various Facebook communities so that their data or identity isn’t compromised through these bogus groups. Again, this group, Richmond Class of 2013: Campus Residents, is not run by or populated with students associated with the University of Richmond. </p>

<p>We believe that Facebook is an excellent tool for students to begin networking with potential classmates and to dialogue about life at Richmond. We’ve encouraged current UR students to create “official” Facebook pages so that prospective and/or accepted students can discuss Richmond. And, while we do, in some case, join these groups ourselves, we are only present to answer questions related to the admission process or an applicant’s decision. </p>

<p>So, bottom line, please be careful what you’re posting online. We’re sorry that people are taking a great social networking tool, like Facebook, and using it to gather information or data about thousands of students at UR and at hundreds of colleges across the country. But, we encourage you to still check out Richmond’s official page: Richmond Class of 2013.</p>

<p>For more information on this topic, read our Admission Blog! </p>

<p><a href="http://admissionsblog.richmond.edu/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://admissionsblog.richmond.edu/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>