<p>Hey. So Ive heard and read this a lot lately and just wanted to ask you guys if this really happens!
Do admission officers really check you facebook accounts and photos? What exactly do they hope to find there? I was just curious. (if yes then i gotta clean up :p )</p>
<p>Any anecdotes and/or word from someone related to the admission committe will be appreciated. Thanks!</p>
<p>P.S. Im talking about the Ivies and the like here.</p>
<p>There have been a number of rumors about this issue, but I don’t know that anything has specifically been confirmed. If there is anything on your FB page that you would not want an admissions officer or potential employer to see, then take it off that page.</p>
<p>Google yourself and see what comes up. FB posts do show up and if you wouldn’t want Grama to see it, then you probably shouldn’t have it out there. Electronic media NEVER goes away, even if you delete it and you have no idea who already has your images. I am surprised you have not heard this before.</p>
<p>happymomof1 and marybee333 : Thanks! Im an international so im fairly new to all this . sorry .
I dont have any embarassing/offensive photos, just a few posts from my friends and stuff. So I just wanted to know if i should delete it or not.
Also, im not a frequent fb user. :)</p>
<ol>
<li><p>What are your privacy settings? If your photos, etc., are open only to your friends, then there won’t be a lot of information about you available to strangers.</p></li>
<li><p>What kind of free time do you think admissions officers have? Particularly at “Ivies and the like,” where they receive tens of thousands of applications annually. Any admissions office where the staff have time to pore over the Facebook pages of applicants is overstaffed, and should be laying people off.</p></li>
<li><p>If you don’t do embarrassing things–and if you say you don’t, I believe you–then you have little to worry about.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I know they do this more for employment, not sure about college. Maybe if its an Ivy League school</p>
<p>Tufts does not, as stated in this article “Urban Legends and Old Wives’ Tales
The Dean Dispels the Myths” - [Apply</a> Tufts University Admissions Department](<a href=“http://admissions.tufts.edu/apply/]Apply”>Apply | Tufts Admissions)
I seriously doubt any top school has the time to hunt for FB pages of all their thousands of applicants.
An employer might do it at some point during the hiring process though.</p>
<p>Even if university admissions is not going to go over your social media with a fine tooth comb at this stage it’s a good idea to get it cleaned up, tighten your security settings, and keep tabs on what is posted on your page, as well as any photos you are tagged in (you can set up email alerts). If you’re not familiar with fb settings get a friend to walk you through it. Something you or a friend may think is funny may be offensive to a future employer for an internship, and they WILL be looking at all areas of social media prior to hiring. Interested in greek life? Many greek orgs now check out social media prior to putting out their final bids. You are going to be representing them and they want an idea of who you really are. You don’t want anything out there that you wouldn’t feel comfortable saying in a new bf’s/gf’s parents home (or your grandmother…but my grandmother was pretty progressive so that’s not always such a great test 
).</p>
<p>Two words: privacy settings.</p>
<p>No info about admissions, but I have heard from several res life staffers that they do, in fact, check facebook to see if students are drinking etc. And it’s well documented that employers use facebook and google to search info about candidates/employees.</p>
<p>I don’t know about adcoms, but I personally know of people who go over the FB accounts of potential employees.</p>
<p>there’s a solution to this.</p>
<p>no facebook account</p>
<p>So I read this on About.com by Allen Grove that some top universities (especially Ivies) may sometimes choose to do a Facebook check, not as a part of the admissions process but after they’ve gone through the piles and piles of applicants and shortlisted the few lucky ones.</p>
<p>From other more inaccurate sources(logical though) - it seems they resort to this to sort out wait list candidature or random background checks!!</p>
<p>It is a known fact that - once in college, anywhere you apply to for a job/internship - they WILL check your FB account.</p>
<p>Coming to the privacy part of it - If your profile is secure - no one can see it (other than the hacker kinds), but I doubt colleges are as desperate as that!! But what usually happens is that the applicant likes the FB page of that college and gives them access to their profile(standard FB privacy settings). So if need be, they can check up on your profile!! :)</p>
<p>My profile’s usually clean, not that active. Only thing I fear is my random rants related to soccer!! :p</p>
<p>Thank you everybody! </p>
<p>I had just heard it so I wanted to clear up my doubts. </p>
<p>rishav17 - I read it at a few more places. Jobs / internships will come up later so plenty of time to worry about those!</p>
<p>Haha, yeah my profile is secure. There’s not much really on my profile, not really active either. Just some rants and stuff related to school life and sports 
Some might find it offensive so just wanted to know.</p>
<p>What I’ve heard is that they would make you log into your account, then have you go to your profile; if this is the case, then they’d be able to view your profile no matter the privacy settings…
But unless the college has a really small applicant pool, I don’t think they’d bother.</p>
<p>And IMHO as long as your profile has rants related to school/sports, it’s probably not a big deal as long as you avoid touchy subjects (e.g., religion and politics). Also, keep an eye on your posts - my friend almost never logged onto Facebook and had multiple people hack into her account and post spam on her wall. Just my two cents :)</p>
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<p>This has happened–famously, the Maryland Department of Corrections did it–but it is widely thought that the practice is an illegal violation of a job applicant’s privacy, and the number of states that specifically prohibit such a practice is growing. As of the first of the year, it is now illegal in California and Illinois.</p>
<p>Don’t expect it to be an ongoing practice. Which, of course, it shouldn’t be!</p>