What does a Facebook profile picture of an intoxicated student say about a his or her scholastic potential?
At the U, nothing.
But some colleges and universities are using Facebook and other social networking Web sites to evaluate prospective students. The U is not one of them, according to admissions officials.
Kaplan Inc., a test preparation company, conducted a survey in August and found that out of 320 admissions offices from U.S. News and World Report’s list of the top 500 schools in the nation, and Barron’s Profiles of American Colleges, one in 10 admitted to using social Web sites as an unofficial part of the evaluation process.
It’s more common for law schools to look at Facebook pages than business, medical, or other graduate programs, said Jeff Olson, Kaplan’s executive director of research. He said this is because they place a greater value on ethics and integrity as part of the profession, and their admissions are not as lengthy, so they look to other sources.
A school’s inclination to look to Facebook as part of its evaluation is usually related to the length and quantity of its admissions process, said Barbara Fortin, the U’s director of admissions.
It’s easier for top-tier private schools such as Harvard and Yale to check their prospective students’ Facebook pages because the application process is smaller and more exclusive, Fortin said.
Every year, the U’s Admissions Office receives more than 25,000 applications. There isn’t enough manpower, time or desire to look at so many Facebook profiles, Fortin said.
Graduate programs don’t scour social Web sites in their evaluations either, said spokespeople for the S.J. Quinney College of Law, the School of Medicine and Masters of Business programs.
However, students should still exercise their own judgment about the content of their online social profile, since employers are more likely to look at them than the U is, Fortin said.
In September, CareerBuilders.com published a survey that found 22 percent of hiring managers screened their potential staff using their Facebook and MySpace profiles.
Unless information is specifically set to private, any future employer can and likely will see what has been posted online, Olson said.
According to Dana Sowby, a finance career counselor, students should always Google themselves before applying for a job or transferring to another school, because what comes up in an Internet search is what a potential employer or admissions office will see.
“Some students think that people aren’t looking, but they definitely are,” Sowby said.
Due to the anonymity of Kaplan’s survey, it is unknown whether or not the U was asked about its admissions policy, said spokeswoman Carina Wong.