<p>Aright so i heard some horrific news that most universities nowadays go ahead and search their applicants on facebook, myspace, and other social networking sites. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>For now, I have no reason to believe this is false because both my college guidance counselor and a CUNY Baruch admissions officer told me so.
( If anyone has heard otherwise, please share)</p></li>
<li><p>What do i do? DELETE IT? </p></li>
</ol>
<p>I'm applying to schools that appreciate social people, and i am very much a social person, as i have been the class rep to the student gov for 4 years straight. </p>
<p>SO, the ultimatum is- delete and risk being seen as insipid (because comeon, who doesn't have facebook these days?) OR keep it up, delete some obscene or potentially threatening material from the page.</p>
<p>SHARREEE PEEELLLEASEE.</p>
<p>btw, im applying to: penn cas, hopkins cas, sophie davis, macaulay hunter, columbia, nyu, and possibly cornell cas</p>
<p>If there is anything incriminating on your page I’d delete it just in case…just recently 5 football players at a school near mine were expelled & arrested for things put on facebook, which was a lesson for everyone to be careful! </p>
<p>I’m not sure if colleges actually check because they may not have time. Still, I’d advise you not to delete your account, but just clean it up a bit</p>
<p>thanks!
i dont have anything really incriminating, just a few videos of me goofing off with friends and some topless pictures at the pool while lifeguarding (and yes, i am a guy)
-no drugs, or anything else dirty.</p>
<p>but what do you think about stupid comments that my friends/acquaintances have made?</p>
<p>i don’t think that’ll be a big deal, as long as they aren’t calling you a drug dealer or something along those lines…again, i’m not sure if they’d spend the time reading the comments or even looking at your facebook but i cleaned mine up big time hahah…</p>
<p>also, if your page isn’t private i’d set it to private.</p>
<p>the scariest thing is- and i heard this from the baruch guy- they have some kind of special administrative powers and they can see your page regardless of privacy level!
im not sure if i believe that, but again, this is coming directly from a baruch admissions guy.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure it’s illegal for ANYONE, even college admissions board, to be able to see your profile if you set it as private.</p>
<p>Internet privacy is a hot topic these days, and while colleges may check up on applicants whose profiles and walls are public, they aren’t going to go stalkeresque on you and try to pry open your private page.</p>
<p>If you have to change your Facebook page so it looks good for a certain college then you might not be a good fit for that college. You really shouldn’t post anything online that you wouldn’t be comfortable with everyone seeing. That said, I don’t think admissions officers can access private FB profiles, and if they can then they might be invading some privacy rights.</p>
<p>Make sure you have truly set your privacy, and make sure your profile picture is acceptable, and stop worrying. I think there is a way in FB to see what other people see when they access your account.</p>
<p>colleges can’t override facebook privacy, plus imagine having to go through thousands of applicants facebooks. crazy. unless you’ve got photo’s of you downing 4 locko’s it won’t be a problem.</p>
<p>One of my college interviewers mentioned to me that he looked at my Facebook page before the interview (it was set to private). But, the bottom line is, people affecting your admission to a college do look at your page and Facebook “privacy” is really not that private. That’s how you get personalized ads on the side. There are probably ways adcoms can see your page.</p>