To you, social media might function as a fun way to express yourself. To everyone else, it’s a reflection of who you are. While that probably won’t matter too much among your peers, who know you on a much deeper level than how you present on your Instagram or TikTok accounts, to outsiders, your social media serves as a window into your world.
This phenomenon can have positive or negative impacts, especially when applying to college. At that point, how you express yourself on social media can be the dealbreaker that grants you acceptance–or not.
In this post, we’ll explore the connection between social media and college admissions and offer some useful tips to ensure your social media pages help rather than hinder your academic aspirations.
Why Colleges Care
You might wonder why a college would care about what you post on your private social media accounts. But think of it from their perspective. While colleges care most about their students' academic capabilities, they also care about their brand and reputation. They don’t want to risk having students who may bring their name into disrepute.
More generally, universities want students who reflect the values and qualities of the college—or, at the very least, they don’t want students who are the complete opposite of what they stand for. For instance, a religious university may look for prospective students who appear to be morally sound.
Take BYU-Idaho, where hard work, friendliness, and compassion are celebrated. An admissions office would hope to see evidence of those qualities on an applicant’s social media page. Ultimately, the college just wants to ensure that a candidate is a good fit for the college and that their acceptance will benefit all stakeholders.
Understanding the Influence
Now that we’ve explained why colleges care about applicants’ social media presence, let’s ask the obvious follow-up question: Do they actually look at candidates’ social media before making a decision?
The answer is…sometimes. College admission officers occasionally explore a candidate’s Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok page. Around 65% say it’s within their right to, and about 28% of admission officers say they’ve done so.
So, while you can’t know for sure whether the admissions officer assessing your application will look at your profiles, it’s best to assume that they do.
What they find can strongly influence their decision. Think of your Instagram account, where you may have photos with your friends or from your travels. Think of TikTok, where you may have videos of you performing a trending challenge or a reposted political video from another user. On Facebook, even the groups you’re a part of can provide a window into your character.
Positive Impacts of Social Media
As mentioned above, your social media presence can help or hinder your college application. First, let’s focus on how it can help. By investing a little time and effort to curate a positive social media presence, you can strengthen your application and increase the likelihood of your acceptance.
Your personal branding, the part of you that you show the world, speaks volumes. Does your Instagram account imply you are a caring, responsible individual with ties to your community? Do your TikTok videos show you geeking out about your passions? If so, your social media accounts would be an asset, as these attributes are desirable to almost all universities.
Negative Impacts of Social Media
In an ideal world, a college admissions officer would review your profiles and form nothing other than a wonderful impression of you.
Unfortunately, that’s not guaranteed. Most people—especially young people—use their social media accounts purely for fun, without thinking about the message their content sends to outsiders. If you’ve posted anything that could be considered inappropriate, especially by the standards of the college you’re applying to, then your social media accounts may influence the officer’s final decision.
Hopefully, the content you’ve posted thus far won’t result in an automatic application rejection, but it has happened in the past. Even if it doesn’t impact your college admissions, it’s worth considering the permanence of your online activity. With employers increasingly scrutinizing candidates’ social media accounts, what you’ve posted online could influence your professional ambitions as well as your academic ones.
Tips for Navigating the Digital Landscape
There’s an easy way to avoid the potential problems of a college admissions worker looking up your social media profiles: make them private.
If your accounts are hidden from public view, then it doesn’t matter what content you have on there—it will not influence the outcome of their decision. If you want to keep your profiles public, look through your posts before you submit your application. Is there anything on your profile that could be taken the wrong way? Deleting or archiving it is easier than finding out the hard way.
Finally, think before you post. You never know who might see your content, whether it’s a college admissions office or a future employer. It’s not worth risking your future for social media clout.
Conclusion
A college admissions officer may or may not look at your social media accounts when assessing your application, but it’s best to assume they will. Adjust your social media settings if necessary, or modify your posts to present a more favorable image before submitting your applications.
If you’ve recently been accepted to BYU-Idaho and are looking for Rexburg student housing, contact Sunrise Village. We’re pleased to offer affordable BYU-Idaho housing that’s just steps away from campus and downtown Rexburg.