Could a meme you posted years ago shatter your dreams of attending Harvard? Can Columbia admissions officers read your Instagram comments? Does Stanford really care about the red solo cups in the pictures from your homecoming afterparty?
The answer to these questions is yes. Responsible and conscientious online behavior is necessary for students in every stage of their development—but it is particularly critical for those applying to college. While many students may assume that what they post online is their own private business, publicly accessible profiles are just as visible to admissions officers at top schools as they are to students’ peers. This means that the public content you post on Instagram, Tik Tok, Facebook, or YouTube could be fair game in the holistic review process at Ivy League and other prestigious institutions.
On the one hand, students should note that admissions officers are largely overextended, and most do not routinely review applicants’ social media profiles. Admissions decisions are primarily based on the formal materials you submit—essays, activities lists, recommendations, transcripts, supplements, and extracurriculars.
However, your social media presence is not entirely off the radar. Top colleges are seeking to educate the next generation of engaged, informed, and responsible civic leaders, and your online behavior is a reflection of your character and values, not to mention a testament to your ability to follow a school’s code of conduct, reflect its values, and develop into the kind of leader they want to graduate.
A 2023 study conducted by Kaplan found that 67% of admissions officers “believe that checking out applicants’ social media posts on apps like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, X, and Threads to learn more about them is “fair game” to help them make decisions about who gets in.” The study also found that just under one third of admissions officers surveyed had actually done this, which, though a smaller fraction, is not a negligible number of admissions personnel. As social media becomes increasingly important in students’ socialization and personal expression, it likewise becomes more important in admissions committees’ eyes. The percentage of admissions officers who believed social media to be “fair game” in admissions considerations has risen 10% over the last five years alone. The survey further found that social media, when considered by admissions officers, had a primarily negative impact on students’ chances of acceptance.
What do admissions officers look for on students’ social media?
On the one hand, social media can serve as a means of vetting students for inappropriate, illegal, or inadvisable behaviors. Admissions officers may also check your social media to see if it aligns with the narrative you’ve presented in your application, particularly if something raises concerns—such as inconsistencies in your achievements or red flags regarding your behavior. One student had her admissions offer revoked from the University in Rochester in 2017 after the school learned that she had lied about which high school she attended on her application.
More than any other Ivy, Harvard has frequently made headlines for uncovering students’ abuses of social media. In 2019, Parkland shooting survivor Kyle Kashuv had his admission to Harvard revoked after racist comments he made resurfaced online. Likewise, in 2017, the school rescinded 10 students’ offers of admission over racist and sexist remarks made online. But Harvard is hardly the only school to do this—numerous colleges rescinded acceptances in 2020 over students’ racist online posts. Students should therefore be mindful about what they share on their personal accounts, as well as in group chats, on others’ pages, and on digital forums. If something you want to say has even the potential to be offensive or harmful to a person or group of people, you should refrain from saying it (or delete it!).
This is particularly important if a student has used social media as a part of their hook or core activities in high school. Perhaps you have written a blog, spread awareness through social media campaigns, shared video essays on YouTube, or created an online community around a shared interest—whether you link to your social media accounts in your application or not, referencing online initiatives of this kind can increase the likelihood of admissions officers searching for your profiles. In this case, it is all the more critical that you ensure that neither you nor anyone affiliated with your accounts have shared anything you would not want admissions officers to see and factor into your admissions evaluation. On the other hand, developing these social media accounts in a positive, professional, and strategically-minded way can leave admissions officers with a more positive and dynamic understanding of your digital citizenship, thereby enhancing your application profile.
Should students link their social media on college applications?
Generally speaking, students should only include professional social media accounts that are directly pertinent to their college admissions candidacy on their applications.
The social media accounts that students use for their private social lives should remain in private mode to ensure that private information is not unintentionally broadcast to admissions officers or future employers. Additionally, if a student has any concern whatsoever about whether their online content could be perceived as irresponsible or out of sync with a university’s values and code of conduct, they should absolutely not include a link on their application.
That being said, if students have used social media as a tool for advocacy, research, networking, a passion project, or other positive initiatives, it may benefit their application to include a link to their profiles in their applications. While your resume and activities list offer limited space to describe your achievements and demonstrate your leadership in your community, a social media account that is curated toward your hook or activities can add color and dimension to your application. If you have used social media in conjunction with a passion project, linking your account can also go a long way in conveying your project’s reach and impact. This could be especially pertinent to students applying in the arts who have used social media as an online portfolio housing their performances and other creative work.
Ultimately, while it’s unlikely that your social media will make or break your application, it’s crucial to curate your social media thoughtfully. Admissions officers are not necessarily searching on Instagram for reasons to reject you, but your social media has the potential to reinforce or undermine your application.
Originally posted on Forbes.
