<p>Do college admissions officers really check things like facebook?
Can they even see my profile if I have it set to private?</p>
<p>The reason I'm concerned is that a few friends have tagged pictures of me holding a beer. It's not even my beer, I don't drink (whether you believe me or not, whatever) and moreover, it's legal here in Germany to drink when you are 16.</p>
<p>BUT, I'm concerned that if my profile is checked in any sort of depth, these pictures may pop up and, out of context, it could look bad for me.</p>
<p>So: can they even SEE these if my profile is set to "friends only"? Should I not take the risk and untag these photos, at least for now?</p>
<p>Well, if your profile is set to private, other Facebook users should only be able to see your default profile picture. I don't think you should have any problems unless you let the college adcom become your friend, which I don't think you would anyway! ;-)</p>
<p>you could untag yourself just to be safe, but they would only check your facebook if you were up for a REALLY prestigious scholarship or on recruit, and it wouldn't really matter anyway because you are in germany</p>
<p>i don't think they can see your profile if it was set for friends only, but even if they could i don't think it would make much a difference</p>
<p>my personal philosophy is untag yourself in anything incriminating- i've known people who find information on students through their daughter/sons facebook, and it never works out well for college, jobs, or internships</p>
<p>They have clever ways of checking it, by using friends of friends in admission so to speak. It happens, though it is not universally checked. Frankly, given what I hear about what is posted on Facebook, maybe they should. But in your narrow situation coming from Germany, I dont think its a problem.</p>
<p>Even schools that have so called "peer reviews" like Dartmouth miss the mark sometimes on "character and integrity", because kids pick someone who will say something nice and not report their bad behavior if they have any. Ditto in interviews. Sometimes kids with the brightest smiles and sweetest faces have some of the biggest "issues" when they arrive on campus. </p>
<p>Kids think they are "adults" as soon as they turn 18. But they dont want the "responsibility of adults" such as taking the consequences of their bad behavior.</p>
<p>Or just make pictures "only visible to me" or "not visible to anyone" if you don't want to untag them.</p>
<p>Either way, it's not illegal for you, so I wouldn't lose sleep over it. A college will not expect you to have lived by their country's rules instead of your own, especially before you even attended it.</p>
<p>Untag the pictures. Even better, ask your friends to take them down. They can't possibly help you, and there is a (small) chance they might hurt you.</p>
<p>yes, officers look at facebook...and college confidential (obviously). and myspace. and friendster. etc...they aren't fishing on there for particular students or incriminating evidence (lol at least i don't), but it is always fun to look at the new class's facebook page!</p>
<p>Colleges know that all of the students have been up to hi-jinks of one kind or another. But if you really have something you would be ashamed of were an adult or college person to see it, you should reconsider your behavior, and why you want to appear in a negative light.</p>
<p>I've heard employers can check your Facebook even if it's set to be a private profile. Set your search setting to "Only your friends." This way, anyone who's not on your friends list can't find you on Facebook, but you can search for others if you want to add new friends.</p>
<p>Also, if you go to a really cutthroat high school, I'd take down/ask people to take down any questionable pictures of you even if they aren't tagged..I've heard of people who try to ruin their competitors chances by emailing admissions officers directly.</p>