<p>So, I was listening to the radio one day, and I heard a report saying that 1 out of 10 colleges check Facebooks of applicants, and out of those that do, 38% said that what they see significantly affects admissions decisions. This spurred me to change around all the privacy settings on my facebook page a few weeks ago, and I was pretty satisfied. </p>
<p>But then I remembered...I'm friends with Elihu Yale!!!! Which is code for Yale! I'm wondering if this "friend" could turn out to be a secret way for Yale to be able to check out a bunch of applicants Facebook pages and make things easier during the elimination...I mean, admissions process. </p>
<p>I'm not going to lie...I have some iffy things on my facebook page. No nude pictures or notes about neo-nazi meetings, but there are some racy quotes and pictures of me acting crazy with my friends and joking around that I wouldn't want an admin to see. I know the most sensible thing to do would be to delete all these things...but I don't want to if I don't have to. I'm not the biggest fan of censoring myself...The only problem I can think of right now is Elihu, considering I tighted up all of my security settings so that no other college can check out my page.</p>
<p>Is Elihu Yale a big risk? Should I defriend the friendly bulldog? What are your thoughts on the matter?</p>
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I'm not the biggest fan of censoring myself
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<p>You may want to reconsider this, particularly when it comes time to look for a job. It's not censoring yourself so much as it is using some discretion and common sense.</p>
<p>fantastic idea hellosail! i completely forgot about that function...good old facebook. i'll do that right now.</p>
<p>booklady, I know what you're saying. When I typed that sentence, I knew someone would say something about it :) I know it's a terrible mindset, and i'm workin' on it! lol...</p>
<p>I doubt that statistic. It would be nice to see how they did the math on that one. Furthermore, that statistic could imply that 38 percent that affected their decision were favorable. I don't have the things you mentioned since I do presume and act with some decency on my social pages. Personally, if I were an adcom, I would like to see that my applicant is involved and not a grade grubber who sits at home all day</p>
<p>im woderig this too
i mean i dont have any pics drinking
the worst i have are bikini pics, and people asking what colleges im applying to (answering all ivys), ummmm maye some swear words, protests against isreal, for palestine, my groups and stuff.</p>
<p>Ehh, I mean, it doesn't seem that a handful of people are going to be checking for 26,000 possible compromising facebook/myspace/friendster(ahahahha, just kidding, no one uses friendster, lol) accounts.</p>
<p>I think that when an account is looked for/checked on, it's for those "Holy Crap this kid is too good to be true..." types. </p>
<p>It might be the way Yale makes sure they don't admit a kid that is a detriment to their community who seems otherwise perfect.</p>
<p>Just put your privacy settings on 'Dick Cheney' as I like to call it, and put Elihu on a limited status.</p>
<p>For the most part, my facebook would show me as a fun, interesting person. However, maybe I should delete the banner that says "Save Water Shower Together."</p>
<p>the yale admissions office released a statement somewhere (in a newspaper article?) saying that they have an official policy against checking applicants' facebook pages</p>
<p>Just put your privacy settings on high and don't friend Elihu Yale...not that hard. I have several different 'layers' of friends on Facebook, and only about twenty out of my 500 FB friends can see all my pictures, etc. I can't imagine how adcoms get around this, as they would have to friend me to see anything about my profile.</p>
<p>I always find threads like this disheartening. You shouldn't have to manipulate your profile, or live in fear of an adcom. They know teenagers swear, and they damn well are aware we have strong feelings on issues. Live your life the way you live your life, and be proud of it. I would love for an adcom to see my Facebook, I feel as though it could only help me. But, if I remember correctly, they seemed to imply they don't do so in the New York Times Question & Answer session.</p>
<p>I wouldn't think that adcoms really care. They know that the drinking policy at Yale is "don't be stupid" and they're looking for some sort of personality (otherwise, Yale would be Harvard or Princeton, haha). They all love adolescents; that's why they do their jobs. I'm sure if they see a few hormonally-charged things they're not going to care. I wouldn't want photos of me smoking pot anywhere, though.</p>
<p>I would be wary of what you put online. Yes, it's absolutely true that colleges can check on your social networking. There's nothing wrong with pictures in general, but if they're irratic, wild, beer-laden, etc. I highly suggest that you remove them, along with the "racy" quotes.</p>