Below is an article that my mom sent me thinking that it might be of interest to me. I reviewed the article and decided to post a blog about it. I included the article below if you care to read it.
I found this article interesting. Thinking way ahead into the semester I thought about a later required blog topic about goggling your name. Any college could search an applicants name and see any related material that would come up. Of course this works the best for names that are uncommon.
Then I was thinking well is it really justified to use some ones social site as a variable to get into college. I don't have a formed opinion to either side though. I think anything out there is fair game. Each of us knows, or should know that our site may be looked at any time for any reason. I have heard that some applicants to jobs are turned down because they saw the applicant’s social site and did not want to be represented by someone like that. While I feel it is not the most justifiable thing, as the article pointed out there is no way to validate this information, I feel that if you are not careful and personal life leaks out to where it may poorly represent you, a company you work for, or a school you applied to they have the power to decline your application.
AT TOP SCHOOLS, ONE IN TEN COLLEGE ADMISSIONS OFFICERS VISITS
APPLICANTS' SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES
NEW YORK, NY (September 18, 2008) -- A word of caution to college
applicants: be careful what you post online. A Kaplan survey of 320
admissions officers from the nation's top colleges and universities*
revealed that one out of ten admissions officers has visited an
applicant's social networking Web site as part of the admissions
decision-making process.
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. In one instance, an admissions officer
was looking at a student community web site for feedback on their
school. One applicant submitted a review, and the officer tracked down
that student's social network profile. On the profile, the student
bragged that he felt that he had aced the application process for that
school, and also that he didn't feel that he wanted to attend that
school. This led the officer to reject the applicant.
"The social networking frontier is a bit like the Wild West for colleges
and universities -- everyone is trying to figure out how to navigate
it," said Jeff Olson, Executive Director of Research for Kaplan Test
Prep and Admissions. "The vast majority of schools we surveyed said they
have no official policies or guidelines in place regarding visiting
applicants' social networking web sites - nor are they considering plans
to develop them." For schools who reported having a policy, generally
the policy is not to look at or factor these sites into the evaluation.
One admissions officer reported, "Staff can visit them for narrowly
defined reasons, but can't go on a fishing expedition." Another noted,
"We use [social networking sites] to contact students but do not
consider them as part of the application process."
Sandra Starke, vice provost for enrollment management at Binghamton
University, State University of New York, said, "Using social networking
sites in the admissions process is somewhat of a sticky wicket! Looking
into a site that a 16 or 17 year-old sees as somewhat private (even
though it is quite public) is challenging. In many cases, students post
things that are not true and cannot be validated in any way. We only
look at a social networking site if and when invited to by a student.
And since we tend to have a holistic approach to our admissions
process...the sites had a minimal impact on the final decision. But we
are very aware of the trend and will continue to monitor it."
Separate research from Kaplan showed that most parents of high school
students think the practice of colleges and universities looking at
social networking sites when evaluating applicants is unfair.
The evolving intersection between social networking sites and the
college admissions process has spawned a host of online sites that allow
students to post Facebook-like profiles to send to universities. About a
quarter of survey respondents (26 percent) say their schools subscribe
to one or more of these sites.
Kaplan conducted similar surveys of admissions officers at business, law
and medical schools, with similar results. Admissions officers at 9
percent of business schools, 15 percent of law schools and 14 percent of
medical schools surveyed report having visited applicants' social
networking sites during the admissions decision-making process.
The results are part of Kaplan's fifth annual college admissions
officers survey. Kaplan has been surveying admissions officers from the
nation's top colleges and universities on topical issues since 2004, in
an effort to ensure that students receive accurate insight on key trends
and issues to help guide them through the admissions process. Past
topics have included: participation in college rankings, rise of
parental involvement in the admissions process, plans for dropping early
admission policies, plans for making the standardized test requirement
optional, and use of the SAT Writing section. Kaplan also conducts
similar surveys among admissions officers at law, medical and business
schools on admissions topics relevant to pre-law, pre-med, and pre-MBA
students.
*About the survey methodology: for the 2008 survey, 320 admissions
officers from the nation's top 500 schools - as compiled from U.S. News
& World Report's "Ultimate College Directory" and Barron's Profiles of
American Colleges - were surveyed by telephone between July-Aug 2008.
About Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions
Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions (www.kaptest.com), a division of Kaplan,
Inc., is a premier provider of educational and career services for
individuals, schools and businesses. Established in 1938, Kaplan is the
world leader in the test prep industry. With a comprehensive menu of
online offerings and a complete array of books and software, Kaplan
offers preparation for more than 90 standardized tests, including
entrance exams for secondary school, college and graduate school, as
well as English language and professional licensing exams. Kaplan also
provides private tutoring and college and graduate admissions consulting
services.
Press contacts:
Carina Wong
carina.wong@kaplan.com
212-453-7571
Printable version
No comments:
Post a Comment