As the spring semester begins, many students are renewing their focus on their grades and joining spring sports or new clubs — all of which they will neatly present to the colleges or programs they apply to in the future. Of course, this version of a student on paper is a simplification.
Similarly, students can be misrepresented by their social media. Usually, when a student posts, they are trying to appeal to their peers, to what might make them seem cool or interesting. They may not think about how all that would look to a college admissions officer. Berkeley High School junior Madeleine Owens explained, “It’s something you might not even think of … it can affect (your) future and not even just college, but also like jobs and stuff.”
Colleges have revoked acceptances based on social media posts in extreme cases. In 2020, Marquette University rescinded an offer because of a post on Snapchat that made fun of the killing of George Floyd. BHS senior Lucy Wilmore said, “It’s mostly hateful stuff that should have consequences. I don’t know how much colleges care about photos of drinking or whatever, but I don’t think that should have the same repercussions as saying distinctly bigoted and terrible stuff online.”
The criteria by which colleges can rescind admissions based on online content varies from public to private colleges. In 2020, Cornell University rescinded an admissions offer made to a student who had been recruited for football when they found a Snapchat video of him using a racial slur. Louisiana State University and Missouri State University were faced with similar instances of students using racist language. However, they decided not to rescind the admissions offers and attributed their decisions to the First Amendment. The then-president of Missouri State University stated that the language was “harmful, insensitive and offensive” but that “as a public university (they were) legally required to uphold the principles of free speech.”
A 2023 Kaplan study found that 67 percent of admissions officers see social media as “fair game” in their decision-making. However, it is unclear how often college admissions officers actually look at their applicants’ social media. Sifting through numerous applications, many officers simply may not have time to check the social media of every single student. Only 28 percent of college admissions officers actually reported looking at their applicants’ digital footprint in 2023.
Common advice is to avoid posting excessive swearing or drinking, and to avoid any insensitive jokes or phrases. BHS junior Winter Silas said, “People might post stuff jokingly and then later not realize how seriously this college is gonna take it.” Some students also maintain private rather than public accounts. Wilmore said, “If someone has a public account, then they’re saying that they want anyone to see that.”
However, when admissions officers look up their applicants, they are not always searching for faults. According to an earlier Kaplan study in 2019, “social media is just as likely to help your chances as it is to hurt them.” Social media can strengthen college admissions officers’ impressions of an applicants’ involvement in clubs, volunteer organizations and other extracurriculars.
Nevertheless, no one will ever be able to convey the complexities of their life and personality either on social media or on a college application. Wilmore said, “People are different online than they are in real life in good and bad ways. So I never think social media should be the only thing you see and know about a person, including colleges.”