Alert to college applicants: your Facebook profile may be counting against you! As many as 10 percent of admissions officers have looked at students’ profiles to help decide whether to admit a student or not. A press release by Kaplan, known for their test prep services as well as their online university, described the unusual finding from their annual college admissions officers survey.

 

“The good news: a quarter of those who report viewing applicants’ sites say that these viewings have generally had a positive impact on their evaluation. The bad news: a greater percentage (38 percent) report that applicants’ social networking sites have generally had a negative impact on their admissions evaluation.”

 

There is even a story about one admissions officer who found that an applicant had written about his application. He expressed that he did not really want to attend that school anyway. As a result the admissions officer rejected the application.

The ethical dilemma posed by this situation is a tricky one. On the one hand, when a student chooses to have a public Facebook profile, they accept the risk that anyone can see it. In fact, most Facebook users only have their profile visible to people in their circle of friends. On the other hand, the profile created by the student was never meant to be a part of an admissions packet. Therefore, it is an unreliable and shaky way to evaluate a student. If everyone knows the rules of an admissions process than they are all on equal ground.

The issue is important enough that every institution of higher learning should decide on a policy for social networking sites. A standard is needed so that every applicant is evaluated on the same criteria. If XYZ State University thinks that it is a good idea to see a side of the students that is not carefully polished, then every single applicant should be subjected to the same review process. However, issues will still remain. Not every student has a profile, and not every student’s profile is public, so the playing field is still slanted.

A better solution is to dismiss social networking pages altogether. Why not put more stock in a student’s letters of reference from people who know them well. Their insight into that student will be worth much more than a profile that was never intended to display an applicant’s aptitude for college.

 

Link to the press release: www.kaplan.com/aboutkaplan/pressreleases/KaplanCAOSurveyResults.htm

Tags: College Preparation, Online Education