<p>Huh...I just sent a message to my old email account (with another provider) and in in the from line it said my real name (from: real name opposed to from: email account).</p>
<p>Of course, I give the adcom my real name in the email so that it's not just some anonymous letter or something.</p>
<p>Most of the real "gotchas" I've seen happen when a live person tips off the admissions office and the office follows up.</p>
<p>For instance, the Div I recruit with the bong photo: Somebody had it in for the kid and for some reason--good or bad--and took it upon themselves to communicate with the adcoms. </p>
<p>The same thing has happened with students who cover up cheating or disciplinary incidents: the college usually finds out about it through the high school or even through another student applying for the same class, and then takes steps to confirm. </p>
<p>This has happened before with the Dartmouth peer recommendations, for instance (ouch).</p>
<p>The biggest risk, I think, is not that schools are out googling and facebooking every applicant. Rather, when you put incriminating stuff out there, you run the risk that somebody who is jealous, or is applying in the same class, or dislikes you for no reason, or just sincerely disapproves of how you are acting, will decide to get involved. And at that point you have no defense.</p>
<p>phonyreal, my guess is that the really troublesome emails would be things like <a href="mailto:imtoosexxxyformycat@provider.net">imtoosexxxyformycat@provider.net</a><a href="things%20that%20seem%20noticeably%20off-color,%20sex%20and%20drug%20references%20etc.">/email</a> or <a href="mailto:mylittleponies@provider.net">mylittleponies@provider.net</a><a href="things%20that%20seem%20noticeably%20juvenile">/email</a>.</p>
<p>To be safe, I suppose it makes sense to just choose an email derived from your name, but I definitely wouldn't worry about any emails you've already sent from your current email.</p>
<p>Scary: those fake emails got hyperlinked by CC. They are not real emails; do not click on them.</p>
<p>I mean I purposefully chose kind of a weird handle for my email because I don't want to be giving away my real information to a lot (though certainly not all) of people I get emails from (ie spammers, automated emails from websites, etc.)</p>
<p>Create a professional sounding e-mail with your name that you use just for professional things like college, scholarship and job apps. As long as you don't use that e-mail to post to Internet boards and similar things, it's unlikely you'll get spam.</p>
<p>On a related subject, one of the dumbest things I ever heard about was a student who put their web site on their resume. Their web site was a porn site that the student had created. The student was a PR student who was applying for PR internships. A recruiter who knew my husband, who was one of the student's professors, tipped my husband off to what the student had done.</p>
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So they will or will NOT look at your accounts on social networks like Myspace or Facebook?
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<p>They shouldn't be. Any responsible institution should discourage or outright prohibit its admissions officers from trying to pry into the private lives of applicants. One of the huge risks that I don't think anyone has mentioned is that there are a lot of people with the same or similar names out there, and there's a fair chance they may not be looking at the person they think they are. And this may surprise you, but not everybody on the internet is who they say they are. It's pretty easy to pose as somebody else in an effort to tarnish their reputation. All in all, there is really nothing to be gained from this practice and there are some significant risks.</p>
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Question...I've been emailing admissions officers at the schools I'm applying to and my email is the same as my handle on this forum, although it's certainly not conventional, it's not inappropriate/weird enough to warrant me being rejected from schools is it?
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<p>Frankly, if the school were going to be that ridiculous and superficial, you probably wouldn't want to go there anyway. If I were the Dean of Admissions, I'd fire somebody for making decisions like that.</p>
<p>"i disagree with 6. Use your application essay to expand upon how great your grades, scores and activities are. I think an activity is a fine subject to write about if its your passion."</p>
<p>Master: I think you misinterpreted what the article meant about number 6. It's great to write about an activity that you love, but to write your whole essay like "I ran for president in ninth grade and it changed my life...and by the way, I happened to also be president of the chess team, valedictorian, national fencer, Ruler of the World...."</p>
<p>I think a lot of kids want to summarize all their activities/awards in the essay, when the admin can always look at the application for that kind of stuff. Writing about one activity, on the other hand, is what they would prefer, being that it gives them a peek at who you really are.</p>
<p>When we did our college tour, my child wanted to wear the latest shirt she had bought (from another college) to the next tour. I think she thought it was hilarious, and she thought:
1. If they were so petty as to care about it, she didn't want to go there anyway.
2. There are so many people going on tours, they are not going to remember</p>
<p>What do you think? She ended up volunteering for an info session and sat up there with a rival college's t-shirt (even though she actually loved the college she was in and quite disliked the rival college).</p>
<p>What do you think? Did she hurt her chances? Should she not bother applying to that college (they ask for a photo - and they might remember her)? She's got a great resume.</p>
<p>RealMom,
I truly doubt the college will care.</p>
<p>Thank you. That makes me feel a lot better.</p>
<p>colleges won't care, but maybe D needs to consider what she thinks is funny and clever, because she COULD offend someone while trying to be cute...just a thought</p>
<p>Oh gosh...why would that offend anyone?</p>
<p>That's actually what I was afraid of. I didn't care as much about the colleges as the fact that perhaps she needed to be more sensitive to the feelings of people who loved their college. But I couldn't bring the point across without sounding totally humorless. She is really a very warmhearted child, just full of life, and she couldn't relate to my point because she didn't feel she would care if someone did that to her college.</p>
<p>On another note, I did notice that some tours had more t-shirts than others. For example, at MIT, there were at least 15 kids wearing other college t-shirts, mostly Harvard. And knowing what I do of MIT officers, I'm sure they don't care.</p>
<p>Your d is right on one count, RealMom: If a school is going to hold something like that against her, it's not a school she wants to attend.</p>
<p>I firmly believe that your d will find the "right" school, even if some fall by the wayside.</p>
<p>Back to the OP, I'm going to tell a story on my DH:</p>
<p>We were at a Yale info night a couple of weeks ago. The Yale rep was doing a wonderful job, but the 20 kids and parents were somewhat intimidated and silent: no questions for at least 30 minutes. The rep introduced the resident college system, of course bragging about his own. My DH asked, in a weak attempt to break the ice and be funny, "What resident college did Bush belong to, and do they still claim him?" From the back of the room, a distinguished looking man stood up, named the college with pride, and stated that he too was a member of said college. The Yale rep then asked him to introduce himself. He is the INTERVIEWER for our region, a person my D would hope to be meeting with very soon. My DH looked like a deer in the headlights, and my DD, well, if looks could kill....</p>
<p>By the way, I had warned him earlier in the day that this meeting was really between students and the rep and that parents should maintain a low profile. So much for that advice. DD has her interview tonight. Sigh. I'm hoping he has a poor memory for faces.</p>
<p>Well, you never know about first impressions, and I try to err on the side of caution...and no I don't think it would offend anyone outright, but the IDEA of trying trying to get a rise out of people by wearing a shirt should be thought aboution, its sometimes to do things just to get a rise out of others can backfire, that is what I would ask myself, is it worth it in this instance?</p>
<p>i wear political shirts all the time, and I do it to share my views I guess...we just have to look at our motivations because sometimes trying to be clever (see post above) can make create nerves where they are unnecessary</p>
<p>Chedva, thank you for your encouragement. </p>
<p>Citygirlsmom, I don't think she thought it would get a rise out of anyone.</p>
<p>Maybe I read it wrong, to to think it was Hillarious, meens she thought it would get a rise out of others, otherwise, why bother?</p>
<p>I am not sayng your D did anything wrong and the dad that asked about Bush did anything wrong, but sometimes, young people need to think about how their behavior can reflect on them, fairly or not</p>
<p>Oh, my DH was way further wrong than the girl in the rival sweatshirt! He totally underestimated alumni loyalty. Lesson learned.</p>
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um yeah, phonyreal use ur name for an email. I hv 2 emails, and I use the one with my real beautiful name to deal with official stuff, ig adcom, teachers etc.
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<p>Sticky keyboard? Will people ever learn?</p>