Essay about Five Important Things about Going to College

The admission process to a college is a stressful process to go through, with many factors to consider and think about such as submitting high school transcripts, exam scores, essays, and partaking in interviews. With technology becoming increasingly more advanced every day, more information is available for others to see. Once reaching the internet, items posted including Instagram posts and uploaded TikTok videos are never erased even if deleted. Many posts, comments, and tweets, whether they be good or bad, are always traceable and can be found at any point in time. Social networking sites can uncover positive information about those applying such as volunteer work and filter out those with unwanted behavior such as the use of foul language and smoking. Admissions officers should read college applicants’ social media pages to ensure those applying are carefully selected when choosing between candidates.

Ensuring those applying to various college institutions and universities are carefully selected verifies those accepted are not a hazard to themselves or others and are respectful regarding mental and physical health concerns. A good candidate would be considered one who is not a threat to themselves or any others, someone who partakes in extracurricular activities outside of school or work and demonstrates good values including upstanding integrity, and respect. This prioritizes the safety and well-being of those in attendance at universities and institutions. Researchers and writers list the large scale of universities and institutions that use media and social networking sites to screen potential candidates. This goes to show that this is an important issue because it is a high percentage rate and therefore has an impact on a large number of people regarding college applications.

This is also important due to the people that may be affected by their unfiltered behavior. A 26-question survey sent out to a medical school revealed that social networking websites will affect the selection of medical students and residents admitted into a school, and socially acceptable behavior on these websites and apps may help applicants avoid bias in the selection process due to unwanted behavior (Schulman et al.). People may be completely unaware that their behavior on social media can impact their chances of acceptance by admissions officers. Understanding how much impact social media has on your chances of admission will allow you to avoid as much bias as possible during this time. Universities and colleges are using social media to research prospective students. A longitudinal study on the usage of social media by college admissions offices was conducted by The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research from 2007 to 2008 (Mattson and Barnes). This study shows as social media is becoming more popular more institutions are using social media increasingly to view the behavior of potential students. Institutions are using social networking sites to not only promote their university on social media but screen applicants as well. A report published in 2007, during the early rise of social media, showed that 61 percent of college admission offices used social media to screen applicants and attribute the increase in applicants to social media promotion and screening (Turner). Due to this information, it is not unreasonable to say social media is a key factor in screening applicants and that admissions officers are increasingly doing so to promote their universities with those who best fit their standards.

While social media is important in the college application process, it is nothing to stress about as the majority of the time it can only help you as opposed to hurt you. Something that would hurt one more than an admissions officer viewing their social media would be not taking a college tour as it is “the most important aspect” of the college application and enrollment process (Secore). As the college admission process is becoming ever so competitive not visiting a university of one's choice would do more harm than one's social media being viewed by an admissions officer. Social networking sites allow positive information about oneself to be shared and let the enrollment team feel like they have a better connection with the candidate being viewed. This is opposed to negative information being revealed which has a lower chance of taking place and would do less damage. Social media can be such a helpful tool when trying to get admitted into a university that it can get very competitive. There have been tips provided on how to “enhance the success” of one's social media pages to compete with the competitiveness of the application process including making one's social networking site welcoming, happy, and fun (Hayes et al.).

Shauntel Hall, an associate with Georgia Southern University, states