The college application process: miles of essays to write, transcripts to request, colleges to visit, recommendation letters to collect and decisions to make. Add something new to that process: protecting and updating your Facebook profile. A few years ago, this would never have even been regarded as necessary, but now it can be considered an important step in the process.
Casey Wallace, campus visit coordinator at Johnson County Community College, says that while JCCC doesn’t look at Facebook profiles before accepting students, students and parents need to realize “they need to be very aware that just because they have privacy settings does not mean their information isn’t available to the world.”
JCCC has an open admission policy, but Wallace is confident that some schools do look at high school students’ profiles.
Cathy Colapietro, associate dean of admissions at Park University agrees. “Even though we do not currently look at Facebook or MySpace when making admission decisions, that does not mean that others will not,” she says.
Before she began applying to colleges, University of Central Missouri student Carlie Hobbs cleaned her Facebook. “I went back and looked through pictures to make sure they were appropriate, then I un-tagged myself in any that weren’t appropriate. I looked at my interests and made sure they were legitimate, not like ‘boys’ and ‘parties.’ I took my phone number off. I also looked through groups I’d joined and made sure I wasn’t in stupid groups.”
Hobbs didn’t “want to be viewed as a young, immature teen but rather that I was serious about college,” she said. She was afraid of being rejected based on Facebook, so she took precautions.
Patricia O’Konta, Liberty High School senior, is well aware that colleges might be looking at her profile. Since she is applying to Harvard, Yale and other East Coast Ivy League schools, she has taken precautions to keep her Facebook private.
In addition to the steps Hobbs mentioned, O’Konta adds, “I know there are other methods and ways to access an account, and if I’m tagged in a friend’s picture and her profile isn’t private, others can see that picture. I like to take extra precautions to make sure I am protected from unwanted viewers.” If someone else tags you in a picture that could be considered inappropriate, simply un-tag your name. The picture isn’t deleted, but your name isn’t placed with it anymore and won’t show up on a search.
Another piece of advice O’Konta shares is to “get on someone else’s page who isn’t a friend and search yourself to see what you can find.” By doing this, you will be able to see how others can see your profile page.
O’Konta also adds that Facebook changes their privacy settings frequently, so just because your Facebook page was private two weeks ago doesn’t mean it still is.
Wallace agrees, and says, “This goes back to knowing that whatever you put out there is never private.”
Athletes also need to consider what is available to recruiters on Facebook. While Facebook has numerous helpful recruiting tools, it can also hurt an athlete if they aren’t careful. Jared Haferbier, now a student at Missouri State University, made sure his Facebook was suitable before he started the recruiting process. “I made sure my statuses didn’t have cuss words to represent me as a negative athlete. I was worried about a college judging me based on my Facebook and not how I was on the field,” Haferbier said.
After students work hard to get good grades, wake up early on a Saturday morning to take the ACT, play hard on the field and write strong admission essays, it shouldn’t be an inappropriate picture or status that sends the rejection letter in the mail.”
Tips for keeping your Facebook safe, for any age group
- Don’t include your birth year—putting your birth month and date is okay, but never put your birth year. This opens the door for potential identify theft.
- Keep vacation plans private—this just alerts potential thieves that your house is empty
- Ignore friend requests—if you don’t know someone personally and you don’t have mutual friends, don’t accept them.
Jennifer Higgins, a free-lance writer, teacher, mother and wife from Kearney, is also an avid Facebook user.