<p>I have NO idea! Many or even most employers would certainly do so these days when assessing job applicants. But college admissions officers when they're assessing applicants? If they ever do so, could that maybe, just maybe, answer the question 'why didn't I get in with these stats?' for at least a few?? Half joking here.... but half not (I had a few surprises myself looking my kids name up on the internet. Not bad surprises, but surprises nonetheless).</p>
<p>I don’t think they have time. And that kind of urban myth that the’re stalking your FB - first, people have FB set to friends only, and no admissions person is going to waste time trying to create a fake FB account that 1) would obviously look fake and 2) would not be able to access anything as they aren’t familiar with the person they’re requesting to be friends with. A business might do a google search.</p>
<p>I worked for a small company and heard the hiring manager ask for applicants FB password to log in and look. I couldn’t believe it but he did and some people said “you’re kidding right” but seems most or all gave it. Ug. I would have told the company president but I left that job.</p>
<p>FB and web searches by HR people to whittle down 5 to 1 is a little different than 31,000 to fill 2000 slots.</p>
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<p>@T26E4 - I did use the word ‘EVER’ in my question. Of course admissions officers wouldn’t/couldn’t web search 31,000 applicants, that just wouldn’t be possible. </p>
<p>However I recently read (I can’t remember where unfortunately), that admissions officers may read a student’s SAT essay to compare it to the student’s application essay to see if the 2 essays match in style. That’s got to take a lot more time, and is going a lot further, than just typing a student’s name into Google…?</p>
<p>Ever, sure. How many, how often, is it sanctioned by the school? All questions that one might ask that tells more.</p>
<p>Many college admissions officials do check
<a href=“http://m.deseretnews.com/article/865591641/More-colleges-checking-online-footprints-but-most-students-not-too-concerned.html?pg=all&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%26source%3Dweb%26cd%3D5%26ved%3D0CDMQFjAE%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.deseretnews.com%252Farticle%252F865591641%252FMore-colleges-checking-online-footprints-but-most-students-not-too-concerned.html%253Fpg%253Dall%26rct%3Dj%26q%3Dcollege%2520admissions%2520social%2520media%2520check%26ei%3DxDWcU7enLsPIuATLo4HIDA%26usg%3DAFQjCNE53H730jkoP2_xiAmNr9q_MDCFIg%26bvm%3Dbv.68911936%2Cd.c2E%3Fref%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%26source%3Dweb%26cd%3D5%26ved%3D0CDMQFjAE%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.deseretnews.com%252Farticle%252F865591641%252FMore-colleges-checking-online-footprints-but-most-students-not-too-concerned.html%253Fpg%253Dall%26rct%3Dj%26q%3Dcollege%2520admissions%2520social%2520media%2520check%26ei%3DxDWcU7enLsPIuATLo4HIDA%26usg%3DAFQjCNE53H730jkoP2_xiAmNr9q_MDCFIg%26bvm%3Dbv.68911936%2Cd.c2E”>http://m.deseretnews.com/article/865591641/More-colleges-checking-online-footprints-but-most-students-not-too-concerned.html?pg=all&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%26source%3Dweb%26cd%3D5%26ved%3D0CDMQFjAE%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.deseretnews.com%252Farticle%252F865591641%252FMore-colleges-checking-online-footprints-but-most-students-not-too-concerned.html%253Fpg%253Dall%26rct%3Dj%26q%3Dcollege%2520admissions%2520social%2520media%2520check%26ei%3DxDWcU7enLsPIuATLo4HIDA%26usg%3DAFQjCNE53H730jkoP2_xiAmNr9q_MDCFIg%26bvm%3Dbv.68911936%2Cd.c2E%3Fref%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%26source%3Dweb%26cd%3D5%26ved%3D0CDMQFjAE%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.deseretnews.com%252Farticle%252F865591641%252FMore-colleges-checking-online-footprints-but-most-students-not-too-concerned.html%253Fpg%253Dall%26rct%3Dj%26q%3Dcollege%2520admissions%2520social%2520media%2520check%26ei%3DxDWcU7enLsPIuATLo4HIDA%26usg%3DAFQjCNE53H730jkoP2_xiAmNr9q_MDCFIg%26bvm%3Dbv.68911936%2Cd.c2E</a></p>
<p>Oh my! And here’s the link to an Oct 2013 Kaplan Test Prep press release, titled ‘More College Admissions Officers Checking Applicants’ Digital Trails, But Most Students Unconcerned’</p>
<p><a href=“Kaplan Test Prep Survey: More College Admissions Officers Checking Applicants’ Digital Trails, But Most Students Unconcerned | Kaplan Test Prep”>http://press.kaptest.com/press-releases/kaplan-test-prep-survey-more-college-admissions-officers-checking-applicants-digital-trails-but-most-students-unconcerned</a></p>
<p>“Despite the growth in online checking, however, there’s been a dip — to 30% this year from 35% in Kaplan’s 2012 survey — in the number of admissions officers reporting that they’re finding something that negatively impacted an applicant’s admissions chances.”</p>
<p>So, 30% of admissions officers reported in 2013 that they found something online that negatively impacted an applicant’s admission chances!!</p>
<p>Here’s some advice from the press release that all would do well to heed:</p>
<p>“Our advice to college applicants is to run themselves through online search engines on a regular basis to be aware of what information is available about them online, and know that what’s online is open to discovery and can impact them,” said Basili. “Sometimes that impact is beneficial, if online searches turn up postings of sports scores, awards, public performances or news of something interesting they’ve undertaken. But digital footprints aren’t always clean, so students should maintain a healthy dose of caution, and definitely think before posting.”</p>
<p>Since obviously we cannot know who will/will not take a look at a student’s on-line presence, agree that is ts best to keep it pretty sanitized during the application process. One can set up private groups on facebook, or use their first and middle names as their facebook names for better privacy. Side story, but a friend asked if my son could help her son with an introduction to the company he then worked for, for possible employment opportunities. My s pulled up his facebook page, and his photo was of him wearing a beer cardboard case box on his head, holding a beer can and making a silly facial expression. Need I say more?</p>
<p>And that would be the benefit of having a common name… :)</p>
<p>Spoke to a woman at Tufts School of Medicine when DD was a freshman. The topic of FB came up…they do check the pages of those who they will be sending acceptance letters to. They will deny those with FB pages that raise an eye brow. This was 4 years ago. I also read somewhere that random checks are done. </p>
<p>Isn’t there a way that they can check for different social media accounts by checking your email address? I can’t think of how it’s done but I did notice that different SM sites link up to one another & automatically pull in all of your email contacts. Or even those that you have emailed on occasion, i.e. Adcoms.</p>
<p>I don’t think its worth it to put each and every gory detail of ones life online for all to see. You never know who is watching you. </p>
<p>Even if your FB page is set to friends only, there’s nothing to stop a frenemy (and application rival) from screenshoting your pages and sending them to admissions - or tagging you on their own pages in full Mardi Gras mode.</p>
<p>Yes, some do, definitely. Usually if some reason makes them curious. They do not on a routine basis for time reasons. </p>
<p>The scholarship board that I served on routinely googled the names of the final candidates. I can recall one student who would have been selected, but the racist and sexist comments on his Facebook page killed his chances.
Dean J in the University of Virginia subforum wrote that she sometimes looks up applicants on the Internet, but usually because she is interested in some item in their file (example-one girl’s cupcake company).</p>
<p>If your child has joined the college’s FB group, the college will have access to their page, even if it is set on Friends Only. We learned this when my son and I both became members of a college related group. Son was surprised because I could see his page and I’m not a “Friend”. I believe there is a FB filter to remedy this problem, but I’m not tech savvy enough to figure it out.</p>
<p>im sure if you claim to have won a major award, they will look it up.</p>
<p>Probably if you make some fantastical claim that is easy to search. </p>
<p>I attended a presentation by an admissions officer from a respected liberal arts college at my sons’ school. She said that they do not have time to stalk thousands of applications on-line, but that they will typically get one or two “tips” each year regarding applicants, which they will follow up on. The college understands that these tips might not be provided for benign reasons, but they can affect an admissions decision. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/10/business/they-loved-your-gpa-then-they-saw-your-tweets.html”>http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/10/business/they-loved-your-gpa-then-they-saw-your-tweets.html</a></p>
<p>Due to news articles like the one above, the guidance staff at my son and daughter’s high school recommended that students change their social media name for the admissions cycle to something innocuous. I’m not sure how it started, but most of the seniors in my son’s graduating class three years ago changed their names to traditional American Indian names. So, for senior year, you could only find my son on facebook, Instagram and twitter by looking for “White Oak Standing.” Only after he was accepted, did he feel secure enough to change his name back.</p>
<p>Well, it is true, twitter is more open, @gibby 
Another way might be to just make it private during the application window.</p>