A couple of years ago, I had a student – whom we will call
George – whose dream it was to go to Harvard. He was an exceptional candidate (first-rate test scores,
superior grades, top-notch athletic resume, a roster of excellent extra-curricular
activities) and ended up being accepted through Harvard's non-binding Early
Action Program. Excited and proud,
he immediately posted "Harvard Class of 20XX" on his Facebook
page.
After being accepted to his first-choice school, we
discussed his game plan for applications to other schools on his list. Given that he had already decided he
would definitely go to Harvard, I recommended he not apply anywhere else. Despite my guidance, however, he
insisted on submitting applications to Yale and Stanford “just to see what
happens."
In early March, I received a call from the Yale admissions rep. "Liz, just
wondering how interested George is in Yale?" The Yale rep had been on George's Facebook page and while he
hadn’t seen evidence of drug or alcohol use, he had seen George’s "Harvard
Class of 20XX" posting and that was enough to turn Yale off. Needless to say, George did not get in.
With Facebook, Twitter, and blog sites galore, we live in a
world where almost everyone has an online alter ego. Cyberspace might seem like a place of anonymity, but don’t
be fooled – anything you put online can (and likely will) be held against you
when you’re looking for new friends, hunting for a new job, or – yes – applying
to college. College admissions
reps are starting to consider Facebook a must-stop spot when considering any of
their candidates. While you might
not dream of putting “Class of XYZ University” up on your profile, you should
carefully consider what other things might be up there that could taint an
admissions officer’s impression of you.
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