How to Impress College Admissions Staff

How do you give a stellar impression to your prospective college? It's not your admission essay, or your volunteer work, or your GPA . . . it's your social media presence. What!? That's right it's what you tweet, post, and blog. Huh? Oh, and I don't mean in a good way.

If your college uses social media to narrow the field of incoming freshman you could find yourself reeling when you receive that "Thanks, but no thanks" letter in the mail. At least that's what the good folks over at CNN are telling us as they go through some step-by-step questions.

1. Should I delete my social media account or make it private? CNN recommends delete, but I think that is a bit extreme. Private is probably a good idea because it narrows what comes up about you. BTW when was the last time you conducted a google search on yourself?

2.Do I have to delete every single party pic of me and my friends? Nah, just be sure you take down the ones that "exhibit poor judgement" - you know the one. Plus, ask your friends not to tag you in every single pic they take.

3. The college I'm interested in contacted me through Facebook. Doesn't that mean that they're cool and won't care about my "youthful indiscretions"? Be careful, once you respond to a school via social media you have let that person/school in to your social media account. Do you really want them to know that much about you?

4. I once got in a public war of words with someone not on my social media but on another online forum. Will that hurt me? CNN recommends that you have a separate "ranting" account. I think that is cowardly. If you have a "war of words" with someone, you might consider responding just like you would in person. That is an impressive feat - staying cool under pressure. And, yes, it can hurt you if you have a "war of words" that includes a bunch of ad hominem attacks. (Remember that fallacy from English?)

5. Will the weird stuff I like on other people's social media reflect negatively on me? I'm not even sure how to respond to this. I guess it depends on what your definition of weird is. Disturbing, yeah, that might be seen negatively.

6. Could the school look poorly on me if I follow provocative figures on social media? I agree with CNN when they say if all the provocative figures you follow are biased in the same direction, it might reflect negatively, but if you have a good general mix that shows you are open to other points of view.

7. What should I do if I think a school unfairly disqualified me because of my social media? Most school would be using social media to examine you because they have so many qualified applicants, but CNN advises if you think that you were disqualified because of social media you should contact the school and ask.

8. Should I groom my social media specifically to look good for colleges? I think this is a hard question. I was taught that you should think of EVERYTHING you write down, and that includes social media, as something that could end up in front of a judge. This may be a bit extreme, but you want to make a good impression. Don't exaggerate your goals, don't exaggerate your exploits, just present a "spiffier" version of you.

By the way, you should keep all these things in mind when looking for a job. Employers definitely use social media to narrow applicants. In fact, more than 50 percent do so.

Do you have anything to worry about? Is there anything that you would change on your social networking sites?

Comments

  1. Personally for me on social media sites I don't really need to worry about anything, since I don't do anything too detrimental. If they were to search me up there would just be pictures of me with silly faces or in costumes during events. If there was one thing I would change about my social media sites is too be less open with some of my pictures. Though the pictures I post up are not necessarily inappropriate, it shows sometimes the specific location of where I was for vacation or events, which is cool for my friends and family to know, but not necessarily strangers.

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  2. Now that I entered college, I do not have to worry about this with social media. I have heard in the past that before admitting a student, college administration would usually look at incoming students profile. I believe that the purpose of looking on social media gives a perspective view
    of how you would present yourself in the public. For example, People take photos and use foul language to speak, or bragging to gain popularity will likely get their admission denied. Positive social media outlooks are better for colleges instead of negative photos that could cause questionable content (or a worse case rejection, from a college.I believe that incoming students should polish their social media to an certain extent that it should not make people wonder if the student is a troublesome character.

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  3. I post terribly offensive, provocative and down right incentive material on social media; but that is because I have a dark sense of humor. Although I post these things, I still know my account should be private. Colleges aren't the only ones using social media to get an understanding of who a person is; business are too. On top of keeping the account private, I also do not add potential employers or coworkers. there are quite a few people on social media that consider themselves social media warriors. These people begin debates with others while hiding behind the safety of their monitor. Just because someone does not post on their own social media, that does not mean that they didn't post on someone else's page.Its generally a good idea to not be a social media warrior and get into arguments with people you don't know. I wouldn't change my social media accounts. I don't post anything illegal, racist or completely one sided. I post dark humor that everyone can laugh at.

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  4. I do not think I would have anything to worry about. All my social media accounts are already private because indeed that's how they should be; why would you want strangers looking at the stuff you put. I also do not have any bad pictures doing anything that I shouldn't do and have never gotten in a fight or used bad language towards someone either. In addition, I'm pretty sure I don't follow or like anything that would be considered weird or inappropriate. Overall I feel my social media accounts are already presentable and would have no problem if schools or employers were to see them and therefore I don't think I would need to change anything either.

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  5. I do believe people tend to post too much on social media account. But i would not have a problem with that because i know what to post and what not to post. Once you put something on social media it is there forever even if you delete it. I personally have all my social media accounts on private i do not want every person to see my account. I have never posted anything that will tarnish my image so schools will have no problem looking over my accounts.

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  6. This topic is recurring among college students extreme party animal behavior i believe that people need to be way more cautious of what they post these post and images having everlasting consequences. I found these tips to be very beneficial they allow people to become more mindful.However don't think that these institution have the right to invade or privacy if our action not hinder our academic and professorial life it irrelevant.

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  7. Any social media account should be private. I personally have my accounts private and only accept people I know. I know multiple people who do not have their parents on social media because they do not want them to know what they do. If one cannot have their parents on social media because of their actions, why would you want a college or university to have access to your life? If a person decides that they want to go out and party, does everyone on their social media have to know? I always thought that the best moments in life are captured in memory and not always on the phone. If you have time to use your phone, are you really having a good time? I think that although we should have our accounts private and be careful what we post, bosses and/or admissions people should know that what we do outside of work or school is not who we are within the system. For all anyone knows, the best student with all A's is the one who goes out to parties a lot. Who we are is not always portrayed by our pictures or captions.

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  8. From what I understand schools are just having a glimpse of how the student is and what their life is about. But I also know that jobs are the ones on social media accounts looking at their potential new hires. But personally I don't have anything nad on my profile anymore before I came into college I took off all the negative things I had on them. I do keep my accounts private so I can always verify who wants to become friends. I am mature enough to know what I post and what I feel is appropriate for others to see and what others should not know about me. Overall I feel that social media wise I am good but I always have to stay aware of what goes up with my life and keeping to myself rather than letting the whole world know.

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  9. Back during summer, my Facebook was actually hacked and my backup email for my Facebook so I disabled it. Apart from Facebook I don't really have any more social media besides Snapchat which I rarely post stories on anyway. I think social media should keep your information private, and only information should be shown to friends at most, never to everyone. People who you don't even know should not even be thinking about seeing your posts or pictures. They simply do not have any business being in your business.

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  10. Personally I do not have anything to worry about. I believe that my personal life should be kept private and that is why I keep my social media accounts on private. Nobody should have to know where I went last night or what I was doing. I always ask my self before I post something if my parents would be okay if they saw it or if I would be proud of what I post. Once you post something it will always be there even if you delete it. I am mature to know what is okay for me to post and what is not.

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  11. I don't think I have anything to worry about since I tend to not post much on my social media account. However when I do its just a bunch of pictures of friends, family, or me. I also don't post anything that I would regret later on because I have a lot of family members on all my social medias, so if I posted something I wasn't supposed to my family would find out fast and I would end up grounded. I think the only thing I would change about my social media cites is being too opened. Not that theirs any inappropriate images of me but giving away to many details of where I was and with who I was.


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  12. I was told multiple times that everything you do on social media will never be fully "erased" or "deleted" even if you, yourself, delete the post. It will get lost somewhere on the world wide web and eventually come to light some day. On my social media, I don't think I have very much to worry about because I am cautious with what I write and what I say. Although we can't always be cautious when it comes to social media, it is important to remember that everything you do and say reflects on you as a person...even if you didn't mean something. I always keep my accounts on private and am aware of who I allow to see my posts and whose posts I see. When I was younger, I would not mind who saw my profiles or what I posted on the internet, but now that I am older I definitely see the importance of privacy.

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  13. The only thing I would worry about is my twitter and my snapchat. My other social medias not too much, only because it is instagram and facebook. I do not post on instagram too often but when I do, it's nothing inappropriate or harmful. Same with facebook. I have not posted anything on there in the past couple years, I only use it for close family and friends. Reason why I would worry more about my twitter and snapchat is because I use those almost daily. When I post on them, there may be foul language, or inappropriate sayings, or even "dumb" pictures but they are not meant to hurt anyone, it's just for fun. Most of my posts on either social media portrays my sense of humor and personality, I do not use it to start drama or to vent out my problems. I would not change anything on my social media, it's just for fun and to see the new trends and news around the world for me.

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  14. I don't think I have anything on social media that I should be worried about. I don't post much and, whenever I do post, I never post anything personal or inappropriate. I never shared much on social media because my mom always warned me about how schools and employers could find whatever bad thing you post and end up not accepting/hiring you. I don't say anything negative on social media because it will be circling somewhere on the web and it could pop up anytime. Even if I deleted it, if somebody really wanted to find something bad I posted, they would probably be able to find it if they tried.

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  15. I honestly had no idea that college admission staff looked through social media because none of my advisors or teachers in high school had ever informed me about it. This makes me rethink everything I had ever posted and I am starting to question whether or not that was the reason why I did not get into some of the colleges that I had applied to. For the most part I feel like I have nothing to worry about since all of my social media sites are private but, I do have a YouTube channel where I share a lot of my life on and I do not know if some of the things on my channel are considered unfitting behavior for colleges. Although, I still would not change anything on my YouTube channel because I work hard on my videos and it is a way for me to display my creative outlet. Also, even if it seems like colleges are just doing their job by trying to filter out students who display bad behavior, I still think that stalking their social media accounts is going a bit too far.

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  16. For me, I don't really have anything to worry about. I just share a bunch of memes on Facebook and photos of myself in cosplay on Instagram which is pretty harmless. If colleges and jobs have access to view those accounts, I wonder if they can somehow do the same for Snapchat where pictures are only seen for a short amount of time (unless they go far as to hack it)? I agree that deleting all your social media accounts is unnecessary because there's always an option to keep your profile and certain personal information private. I personally don't have mine on private so when ASI recently followed me on Instagram, I found it pretty strange. However, if you do have something to worry about, deleting it won't really do any good and solve the problem? Everything you post online stays there forever.

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  17. I am not fond of the idea that businesses and schools can look you up on social media, after all, it is a way for you to express to certain people quickly and conveniently. To me, it is an invasion of privacy, although I can understand why they do it. It's a simple way to gain an understanding of someone who you've never met and to somewhat gauge how this person really is. I am an avid user of social media, however, I post more personal things on apps like snapchat and instagram where you need an account to see it and even then, I have my settings on private. The reason being is that for apps like these, I can be more picky with who is able to see my personal and daily life. For social media like facebook, I am very careful about what I post because once you post it, it's there forever, even if you delete it. Granted, I don't think an employer should dig into your past and judge how you are because of that, because everyone changes and who I was three years ago can't even compare to who I am now. Either way, just to be safe, I take extra care in what I put out because the internet is forever and I don't want to regret posting certain things.

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  18. Personally, the only social media I have is Facebook, and I use that to communicate with my family members out of the country. I don't post any photos of when I go out, because I like to keep those private. The thought that colleges, and businesses are looking into people's social media I believe would make people think twice of what they post. Once you post something even if you delete it the post can still be found somewhere. Social media is a tool people use to express themselves so colleges, and businesses looking into them isn't really a surprise. If I ever create other social media accounts I am going to be extremely careful of what I post.

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  19. I had no idea that colleges looked at our social media accounts. I think I'm going to change my twitter account from public to private after reading this article. I personally do not think I have anything to worry about since I am a very private person and don't post where I am, what I am doing, or how I am feeling all the time, but I'm not a fan of knowing that colleges and jobs base accepting or hiring you based on your personal life. Even though I hardly post things myself I do like to keep up with my friends and especially family that I don’t see that often. My parents have always taught me to never put anything out there that I would later regret and this just comes to show me that they were right. Even though I would never post anything that is considered to be wrong, I just feel that I am not free to post whatever I want because it can cost me getting into college or getting hired.

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  20. I feel like people in general should not post pictures that there grandma does not prove off. and also if you respect yourself you shouldn't be posting inappropriate things on the web for random people too see. I dont have anything on my social media that i would have to delete because an employer would think bad of me. but also i feel like if that is the type of person you are then dont be ashamed of your pics just find a job that would fit your life style.but these are good tips if you want to get a job and not loose it because of social media. so i would suggest to just be careful of what you post on the web because there a lot of weirdo in the world.

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  21. I personally don’t have much to worry about because all my social media accounts are private, and even then, I’m careful of what I post. I only have my close friends and family added to my social media and only use it to communicate with them and share a couple pictures. I have seen disturbing pictures and believe people should be careful with what they because I’ve been told that everything you post on social media will remain there forever even if you try to delete it and can also be easily attainable by anyone. Additionally, I think the article's title is misleading and instead explains how to hide our social media from college admissions.

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  22. When I was applying to colleges, I did not even think about the possibility of the admissions board checking my social media. I personally do not have much to worry about, because my social media accounts are either private, or I make sure there is nothing controversial about me online. Also, I know that if something is posted on the Internet, it can be saved forever, even if you delete it. This makes me more careful about the stuff I post or let people tag me in.

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  23. I really didn't know that when applying to college staff would look at my social media because that has nothing to do with my grades or academic life. In a good sense I don't have a lot of social media applications because I'm not someone who is very fond of it. I barely post any pictures of myself on social media. Also, I don't find it a good place to vent about my problems so thankfully that's not something that I have to worry about. This article was helpful to read because it reminded me that I have to be really careful of what I post on the internet because even if I delete it from my story it will somehow be saved forever which really scares me.

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  24. When I was in high school preparing to apply to colleges, I specifically remember my counselor telling me that some colleges look through student's social media. This didn't bother me much because all my social media are on private and i do not post anything proactive or controversial online. I generally use social media to find funny posts and pictures to show to my friends and to keep in contact with my friends that have moved far away for college. I understand that some people like to put everything about themselves on the Internet, but they should keep in mind that what is on the Internet stays on the Internet forever.

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  25. I can relate to this topic just because social media is a big thing among my generation. Social media is how people stay connected with their peers, friends, and family. Although social media has positive uses, it can also bite you in the butt. I think it is unfair to decline an individual a job opportunity or an acceptance to university. In contrast, I do believe people should portray themselves on social media in a way they wouldn't be ashamed of showing their boss or future professor. There are defiently do's and don'ts within use of social media and to be in a good place with the world, I think people, especially younger people, should be careful with what they post just because it could end up being available to everyone on the internet. People need to learn how to be able to decipher what is appropriate to post and what needs to be kept on a personal level, just for the sake of their future, whether it can be interfering with school or work in the future.

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  26. I completely understand where this article is coming from, It's ridiculous what some of my friends post of Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. I personally enjoy social media accounts, but find myself only using them to watch cute cat videos and occasionally spy on my friends (trust me I'm not the only one Facebook stalking). Why people post very exposing pictures or write about their fascination with marijuana I will never know; but I feel like social media has really made peoples' personal lives lack privacy. For example, I have added friends that I met through a class and have never seen again, and suddenly through the magic of social media I know almost everything about them. Talk about the demise of chivalry. I agree that college applicants and people in the job market should definitely reserve themselves, especially minors. Keep a few secrets, not everyone needs to know everything.

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  27. Social media has become a really popular thing. Just about everyone has one social media account. Many of us have one to post pictures and memories of a trip or night out with your friends. But when some people post all the pictures of their crazy nights and parties everyday and it reflects on that person. And when a school sees their profile and sees the type of life they like to live and kinda forces and negative look on that person. And it would be terrible to get declined from your top picked schools not from grades but from your social media presence.

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  28. It is nice how your personality can be described based on your social media account, although over the past years social media sites and apps are growing, employers or school admission officers are learning to take advantage of that and really find out the type of person they are looking to hire or allow to attend their school, because living in a universe of competition this can be a great way to slim out the applicant pool and get the best of the best!

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  29. In addition, the format of this particular blog was nice and I liked how the author pretty much answered the frequently asked questions regarding the relation of admission to schools and your social media account.

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  30. When being careful about posting on social media, I thought only the idea of college athletics not specifically the academics. The number one thing for all of my social media accounts I do keep them private in case for something bad to happen. Social media can always be a game, should I or shouldn't I post this based on how colleges are looking at me in the future? Can they disqualify me just for one bad accident? Everyone has social media, the lesson we need to learn is to pay attention what we put on social media and make the right decisions.

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  31. In the past, I had no idea that jobs viewed our social media accounts. Now a days everyone has at least one type of social media account. We put what we want and do not really care about how it effects us. That's why colleges and jobs start viewing social media to see what kind of people are coming in and how there presence will effect the school or job. We need to start paying more attention on what we are posting online. even if we have material that we do not want anyone important to view, we should delete the account.

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  33. No I don't have anything to worry about when is comes to my social media. I do not use my real name on any of the social media accounts and never posted pictures of my self i have all my accounts on private. and i rarely even post or say stuff on them. I have Instagram and snap chat. I post friendly quotes or my little sisters. I also dont follow many people only people I know and who are like me very friendly never pots anything offending or something that give poor image of reputation. I wouldn't change anything and even if college looked at my social media I wont mind because nothing bad about them and it show that I'm friendly person.

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  34. I believe the topic of colleges looking at their student's social medias has been a popular one, especially for the seniors applying to colleges. Personally, I don't think I have a problem with it because I don't really post much, and when I do, it isn't anything inappropriate. However, I did find these tips to be useful. Especially the tip to just make your profile private instead of completely deleting it, so that way you can still post whatever you want and colleges wouldn't be able to see it. Also, this post made me realize that employers could look you up as well. Furthermore, it doesn't matter if you're a college student or not, you should still be careful with what you post just in case your employers decide to take a look.

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  35. For myself I cannot imagine having to worry much about my social media presence. The example of yourself online could contribute to how possible employers or simple interviewers may think of you before hand. I believe my character online is presented well due to all the information and elders reiterating that I should watch out how I present myself online. Although I have been using the internet since elementary school, I still believe I could change some information of myself. Somewhere on the internet there are probably younger videos of myself in elementary school or middle school biking around or talking child like. Although fairly irrelevant now I think that is the closest thing I would change online. Altogether I think my persona online is fairly presentable to someone researching myself.

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  36. I always knew jobs looked at social medias but not colleges. I felt like colleges will only look at our social media to be nosy or if something happens. I Honestly think that if colleges looked at my twitter you will see that my mind is in the right direction and that I keep it real in philosophical terms. I Wouldn't be bother if colleges check my media I would want to check mine out too. what I notice is that a lot of sororities and fraternity party but never post negative decision making choices which seems logical now since colleges or future jobs tend to look at your social media. It is a smart choice for jobs to look at social media because they can get an insight on what type of people are coming in their profession.I feel like students need to start making smarter choices on what they put online a lot of students like showing off that they smoke weed or drink alcohol. I do not understand why they want it to be a public announcement when no one cares. Overall I enjoyed this article because it targeted the college audience which makes it relate able.

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  37. I don't understand why grown people do not understand the concept that you should either watch what you post on social media or make your account private. You should be able to post what you want, but be aware of who might see it. If you have to choose between a provocative or negative post and getting into a top college, or getting your dream job, you shouldn't even have to think about that. It has to be embarrassing to even be seen in that kind of perspective, by the people who can in a way determine your future.

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  38. I think the CNN perspective the article is going off of holds a conservative view, preferring an incognito presence online. I cannot relate to the aching need to groom my public social media accounts because they do not exist. Some people have Google searched their names only finding information to further glorify their character in combination with the few beautiful pictures I seldom share privately. It's hard for people to censor themselves when the purpose is creative freedom. People should say whatever they want online, it's their future to ruin.

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  39. I haven't thought about that I can be examined by my SNS. Now I feel like I have to make my account very private. I didn't post strange or crazy things on my facebook wall but don't want to make anything can be something that can affect on decision. However, I agree on that examining one's SNS can help to understand slightly. Because I also require facebook to know my new tenants.

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  40. Personally, I think that if college students DO want to impress the college admission staff on social media, such as Facebook, Twitter accounts. They really should try to make those accounts look good. What the schools want are well-behaved and nice people, not those people who would have a "war of words" with other people. Furthermore, we should always be careful what we post and say on social media even though we're not trying to impress everyone. It could cause some serious problems if people do something dumb on social media. So I think if you are a "well-behaved" person on social media, you've already impressed most of the college admission staff.

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  41. In my personal opinion I think it is important to keep a nice social media page because it describes you as a person. The only reason people want to get a social media is so that they can see what others post. People that tweet or post a lot of pictures are often looked more to as “popular” and almost every popular person has their social media websites under perfect conditions. It is very important for students to keep their social medias clean because that is how they are displaying themselves to the world. The information that students post often times can be overboard and should not be shared on the internet. Many students post pictures that should not be allowed on the internet because it can be life changing and not in a good way. Students need to keep a clean social media account because even after their high school and colleges days are over that information can still be stuck on the internet.

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  42. Personally, I think that everyone's social media accounts should be left on private. There are weird people out there wanting to do creepy things and others who are out to solely start drama and cause problems with others. You have the power to keep those people out of your lives by keeping your accounts on private. However, if your account is already on private and you post sensitive material, you should probably go through your profile account and delete or re-caption any sensitive or inappropriate pictures. Jobs now have the authority to make you hand over your phone and let them scroll through your entire account from your most recent picture, posting, or tweet, to the very first thing you ever published on your account. So think wisely and ahead before you talk to a college or go to a job interview.

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  43. Being a social media junkie, I have always been nervous that my can't tell me what to do attitude and my honest opinion on Twitter and Facebook was going to catch up to me. While I think a student should definitely hold themselves to a higher standard on a public platform, universities shouldn't impose or be in charge of what a student wants to say online. Unless it is disrespectful or degrading, a school shouldn't look at what students are doing. Every teenager has partied, most teenagers like to have fun. What a student does or post on their free time shouldn't affect their right to an education.

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  44. After I read this article, I feel so weird. Because students are worrying about their SNS posts may make some bad impact their admission. In other word, they are acknowledging they are posting some unfavorable stuff such as drinking under ages, smoke marijuana, or saying too aggressive to society? It is ridiculous. Just not to post them, resolved! I also have some account on Facebook, twitter, Instagram, etc. However, all my accounts are private and I never posted some those vulgar things. Is it difficult? I cannot how such people are thinking.

    Besides that, I am worrying about that the morals on the internet are declined. Speciously, anonymous posting system is making people fool and careless. Right before, while the election of the presidents of the US, a lot of criticism (or hate speech) are spreading all over the world. In Japan, some guys are posted to Trump that extremely offensive saying, some sexual insulting phrase in Japanese, or just port image. Although I am not Trump’s supporter, it is embarrassing, crazy, and unbelievable. They used the anonymous accounts, so they are not identified, but the point is not there.

    Use of SNS always could be troublesome, and too huge risk for the future.
    We have to re-consider how to use them, not only whether delete all posts.

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  45. Do you have anything to worry about? Is there anything that you would change on your social networking sites?

    I mean isn't everyone a little candid on social media? That's the point. Especially with social network site like twitter that is intended for you to post your current thought/ideas in real time. I mean if my future employer or current college doesn't agree with some of my political stances, that I have tweeted this past year sure it could back fire, but do I really want to be a part of an environment that wants me to sensor my every thought and idea? What is the fun in that.

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  46. Personally for me, I am not worried about my social media because I have it on private. There are a few things that I would want to change but I have not had the time to actually go through my social media due to how busy I am. I need to keep in mind that employers do look at social media to narrow down applicants and for someone who has not had a job yet, I would not want my posts on social media to be the reason on why I cannot get a job.

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  47. I think the recommendation by CNN to delete your Facebook account when applying to colleges is in a little extreme, especially if your are comfortable with your account and confident that it portrays your image in a good light. But I do agree with the fact that you should delete any unnecessary posts or pictures that are inappropriate and will look diminishing to colleges you are applying too.Although social media may affect you slightly in terms of colleges peaking at your interests and figures that you follow, I stay on private and use social media as an outlet for quick insight on issues that continue rapidly. But its important to understand that most people will be able to see what you do and say, so portray yourself in a good frame of mind.

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  48. Although I already applied my application to several universities and spent considerable hours to figure out what they expect from their future students, I had completely no idea they even care about our social network and even they try to look into it. Well, if they really want what their applicants look like in real life, that must be a way. Luckily I am little bit safe on this not so pleasant issue because I don't do any kind of social network. People don't believe when I say "I don't have Facebook" and they think I am telling an obvious lie but it is true. It is completely uncomfortable for me to share my daily life or any kind of information. Of course my horrible experience from a serious stalker is another major reason too. However, I feel very offended that they want a sneak peak to evaluate their applicants. I think people have right to determine level of information and privacy that they want to share. I don't think people uploaded their pictures from friday's party to let people decide their academic path.

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  49. With social media becoming more and more prominent in today's generation, it is really no wonder that universities and companies will attempt to scan one's social media profiles and internet footprint in order to make a decision. Therefore it is imperative for the millennials of today's generation to be cautious and wary of what they post and reveal about themselves on the internet. Just as this article mentions, one of the best ways to safeguard one's self from being disqualified from universities and jobs is to either limit one's internet footprint by avoiding inappropriate posts and content, adjusting one's privacy settings to prevent the accessing of personal data, or even completely deactivating one's social media accounts to prevent universities and companies from accessing personal data that could be used against an individual. Although I'd consider the screening of an individual based on their social media to be an invasion of privacy, there is not much one could do to prevent universities and companies from doing so, therefore one must always be aware of their internet footprint in order to prevent personal data from being used against one's self.

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  50. Social media has a very prominent voice in our culture today. Social media is a great way to find information about people, and it is effective in more ways than we might thing. Can we blame future employers and school admission directors to check out when we post online? If we would be embarrassed to think that future employers, admission directors, and even our parents and family members would find out the activities that we boast about online, why put it out there in the first place? Is it worth posting about reckless and immature behavior to seek approval from our peers, when it would do more harm than good for our image in the long run? Social media is staged. We control what we post, we put thought into it, we have the power to decide what people see. The content may not be authentic or unfiltered, and it may not show who we truly are, but rather who we try to be and what we want others to think of us. Privacy seems to be a thing of the past, but the things we post on social media isn’t really private, otherwise we wouldn’t put it online to begin with. Social media is a projection of who we try to be, and we choose how we want others to see us. It makes sense for universities and employers to judge what we post online, because we put it out there to be judged in the first place. It’s easy to assume who someone is based on their credentials on paper, but seeing how they choose to view themselves online may show a lot more truth, and is important for universities and employers to think about when deciding who they want to carry their name and reputation.

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  51. Anavenessa Aguirre
    ENGL 1002

    Honestly, this post was very interesting me, because I never really had to worry about colleges looking at my social media. I did hear through others that some high standing colleges do based everything around social media. Not going to lie last year when I was part of student government I did not realize the overall account we had for the department would follow us on social media just to make sure we had a good image of our self and to our campus. I honestly, feel like our social media should not determine us as a person, because what matters is if we can complete any task that is being given to us. However, I do admit we shouldn't post things that would give off a bad image of our self, because it can get around easily. I also agree we shouldn't delete our social media, but just be careful with what we post.

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  52. A couple of years before I applied for college, my family had warmed me that schools are starting to looking at students' social media accounts. Personally I think it crosses a like of privacy for the school to be looking at your social media accounts and have it determine your acceptance. The account is exclusively for socializing with friends and acquaintances, so what I put on my account is for people that I know personally. But I also believe that you should always be careful what you post on your accounts. My rule of thumb; if you wouldn't wanted your family to see the picture, then you probably shouldn't put it out for the world to see. Most of my pictures on my social media accounts are used to portray who I am, and I wouldn't want anyone to think less of me based on the pictures that I have up.

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  53. Reading through this article, it brings me back to when I was super nervous about my college applications. I didn't want to have anything too explicit on my facebook because I was so scared colleges were going to look at my facebook and not pick me. But looking back at it now, I was overthinking it. I feel that colleges don't care AS much about whats on your social media, unless your doing things that are illegal. I feel that as long as your social media reflects a good idea of who you are as a person, that would be good enough for colleges to recognize you and come to get you. This article, I feel is wrong in terms of the focus on social media and how college look at it. What really matters, I feel, are your grades and how you can possibly represent your school in some sort of way that would be positive.

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  54. When I applied to college, having them look through my social media never even crossed my mind. Once I found out that they started to do that, I wasn't worried at all. I do think its beneficial to the school to see who they are letting into their school. It also benefits the students. When you put something on the internet, you should know that anyone and everyone can access it. Its important to be aware of what you are posting online because it will be there forever.

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  55. Reading this post has reaffirmed by belief of the dangers of using social media recklessly. When I was still in high school I remember some friends cleaning their social medias around the time they sent their applications to universities. There was this one girl who got a scholarship revoked after posting on social media about how dumb the award was. It is something that can follow you for the rest of your life and never be wiped out on it. Schools and future employers will be able to look at whatever you do, show, or say. I agree that people have the right to say what they think but it will be better for everyone if individuals really think about what they are going to put in the world wide web.

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  56. I have always been careful about what I post on any of my social media. I am never really active on them anyways, but I do know that because of social media it shows a reflection of you. Today there are a lot of people getting fired from jobs or in trouble in school (expulsion) because of what they did is public. If a video of you doing something really immoral or you're racist, people on social media WILL drag you until you make a public apology or even longer than that. Jobs will not want to hire you and colleges will not want you if you carry that bad baggage.

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  57. I actually never thought of the idea of colleges looking through all of my social media until now. The things that I would worry about is knowing how people can see what things I have done and what kind of posts I shared, letting everyone see and know what kind of person I am or was. Even with the idea of posting images or typing out what I’m feeling about my day, I always forget that there will always be people reading my thoughts and knowing more about myself. After reading this blog, I remembered how even though I put all of my social medias on private, there is always a way to break into my account and that’s through friends with screenshots and sharing them through text. Now with the idea of colleges being able to see my social media, I’m starting to become afraid on how they’ll think of me. So I guess everyone should be careful what they say and post online. The most important thing they should keep in mind is that it will forever be online and those posts will always find a way to come back to you, as a remembrance.

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  58. I have heard this before that employers check the social media before getting into the interview process. The good thing is that I treat my blog, my facebook and all my social media as a marketing tool for me, so I really take care what appear on the page and what I write. To be honest, I hope they check my page then they will know who am I and what I have done before. It will be a plus for me.

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  59. Many of my high school teachers always said that we should not post everything that we think or everything that we do because "colleges will find it". I never believed them but by reading this I guess you can say I will be a little more careful about what I plan on posting in the near future. Social media has always been a huge part of my life and it has it's pros and cons in many ways. I've always been careful about what I post and do not post because there are many creeps who live off what other people say and do. I do believe that having a clean and "legal" social media account will benefit many people in there lives because if schools see your application and they want to see how you live your life and the types of outside activities you do then yes, definitely keep it PG-13. Its interesting to know that the things you like, people you follow and stuff you post have a huge impact on you socially and academically. I guess you can say that it is a lesson learned by reading this.

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  60. Honestly, I have nothing to worry about. I recently just searched my full name on Google and only my LinkedIn and Youtube accounts came up. Looking at it, nothing public would cause my image to be tainted. Recently I have changed my social media names (to shorten it or make it different) just because I didn’t want my friends to easily find me. One thing I want to change after reading the post would be the information I “share” and the information I publicly view. I am afraid it will allow them to think my view are such although my views do change with time. One thing I will ensure is to make all my accounts private to eliminate any possibility of them finding out whatever I don’t intend to show them.

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  61. I do not need to worry about my social media account because I have not posted anything that is not feasible. I have searched myself on google and only LinkedIn and Instagram accounts came up. However, I want to change my Instagram from public to private account, because I could know who is gonna know me deeper and better. For my LinkedIn, I do not think that I would change it, because the purpose I made a LinkedIn account is for connecting with people who have the same interests and inspired me for my future goal. Furthermore, for my Facebook account, I think I will delete it as I did not use it anymore. Thus, to prevent any bad thing happened to the account that we do not even use it, it will be better for me to delete it.

    Carissa Tantiono

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