What to do if you have been invited to join the FB group of a school who has made you an offer? Maybe you aren’t sure yet and are still waiting to hear from other schools? It seems to give the impression you are planning to attend. But if you don’t join when invited does it look rude?
Most of those groups are for everyone who has been accepted, not everyone who has committed. Lots of people are in the same boat, including myself! It can’t hurt to hook up with some current students and get ideas about the program.
Agreed. When they start putting together the “class of 2019” photo collage for U of X" that’s the time to politely decline. I don’t think joining a group now is a big issue.
My D found these groups to be helpful for getting more of a “feel” for the school/program while trying to make her final decision. I’m not 100% sure… But I think another group was started for those who committed… So she didn’t even have to politely decline… She just didn’t get invited to the committed group.
This is one change in the admissions process since my kids went through it. FB didn’t exist when they were in high school. However, these groups seem like a great way to interact with current students and others interested in possibly attending. It seems that today, kids “meet” incoming freshmen online before they ever set foot on campus, which was not the case when my kids started college, not too long ago.
My experience last year was the same as @kategrizz.
My daughter joined two groups before accepting and got a real sense of the types of kids that were going to that school. One group talked only about where the parties were and how to score alcohol. It was a huge turn off for my daughter and it quickly helped steer her away from that school.
Anyone using these groups or staying away from joining until final decisions? Trying to get a sense of what the norm is as we get closer
My daughter (3 years ago) would not join until after she commited, and even then she kept a pretty low profile and lurked for the most part. And then a couple years later when it was my sons turn, although he felt a little nervous and weird about joining the FB groups, he ended up joining several. It did help somewhat to get a further sense of the schools and students. I think it helped emotionally to get a sense of where his heart was too. Where he felt the strongest connection. (Of course you do have to take it all with a grain and be careful not to judge the school or student body by the individual posts of other accepted students. They are not necessarily representative.) Also my son definitely felt a little traitorous when he dropped out of the groups of the schools he ended up declining. In the end it’s a personal choice, but I’d say join, and then it’s up to you how much you engage or lurk.
Just to add a little note about the Facebook groups…
I can’t speak for everyone (obviously, LOL) but if a student is inclined to join them I think they are a positive thing. They do indeed give the student an idea of the program and whether it is a fit. The best predictor of academic success is a sense of connection and these groups allow those connections to begin to form. Everyone- faculty and other students- understands that no commitments have been made and that applicants have multiple offers. Also, there is no need to feel awkward when leaving a group because of committing to another school- everyone understands. More importantly, all the current students at a school know that they will be working with these people in summer stock…in New York in four years… on tour… This is really the beginning of collegiality and networking.
-Michele
Very well said Michele. Thank you for your input.