Social Media Profile Demonstrated Interest

Colleges and Universities A-Z Washington University in St. Louis
1

So I heard about college AOs sometimes check on Social Media accounts to see if there is some shady content. But a social media account that demonstrates interest AND shows your passions can also help in admissions. I decided to follow all of the colleges I am applying to, almost 90% don’t track demonstrated interest.

However, WashU St. Louis does (WUSTL apparently tracks demonstrated interest pretty heavily). I had a few of their students in my major of interest follow me on Instagram, which was awesome! Now on Instagram a “friend” can see who I am following. Since these accounts are now “friends” with me, they can also see all the other schools I’m applying to.

The question is: Should I:

A. Unfollow all the other colleges’ Instagram accounts to not look like I have a diffusion of interest

B. Stop allowing accounts from WashU follow me

C. Live my life and consider myself too stressed out by this

Thanks!

P.S. Does Facebook privacy settings help to keep AOs from knowing pages I also liked?

2

Honestly, idk if you can do something with the privacy settings, but I literally would not worry about this at all. AT ALL!! Tbh, I doubt that WashU is even checking your social media accounts, and if they are, it’s to make sure there’s nothing illegal on there, not to see if you’re following them. “Shady content” means underage drinking, possession of drugs, breaking and entering, etc, not applying to Vanderbilt or liking the University of Chicago on Facebook.

I mean, if you were an admissions officer, would you want to comb through 31,320 students’ Instagrams?? And would you, as a student, want to go to a college that did?
And no offense, but it’s not like AOs know every single student (or any students?) at their school, so they wouldn’t know if current WashU students are following you or not.
Lastly, AOs aren’t stupid. They know you’re applying to other schools, because WashU has a 15% acceptance rate and you’d be dumb not to. So you shouldn’t flaunt it, but it’s not a state secret either.

Btw, demonstrated interest is more about visiting campus, sending emails to ask (meaningful) questions, having an interview, etc. Even if you don’t/can’t do any of that, you can still get admitted. Really, they just want to make sure you’re not using them as a fallback for an Ivy, they’re not expecting you to do anything crazy.

I repeat: YOU’RE FINE. I swear. Or if not, we’ll all go down together. :slight_smile:

Also, what grade are you in? If you’re not a senior, you might want to consider de-stressing a little. I mean this in the best way possible, but if you made an account just to ask this question…you’re worrying too much.
Like you said, live your life.

Best of luck!!!

3

Ok, that’s what I hoped for! Thanks for your advice, I’m a senior that’s just a little too stressed out! Yeah, gotta live my life and stay positive!