By Mike Manzoni
Two important things to consider when applying to college or graduate school are your work experience and your grade point average.
Now, you can add online profiles to that list.
A survey released by Kaplan Inc., the education research unit of The Washington Post Company, found that admissions officers at colleges and universities are logging onto social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook before making final admissions decisions.
Those applying to law schools were the most frequently screened, according to the study, followed by applicants of medical and business schools.
Here at the University, some students think it’s understandable that personal Web pages are considered in evaluating a candidate for admission.
“Once you put yourself in a public domain you sort of waive the right to privacy,” said senior audio/radio major Jonathan Miller. “It’s naive for college students not to think they are going to be looked at.”
Maria Betzios, a sophomore broadcast journalism major agreed. “I think it’s really good,” said Betzios, “There’s only so much you can get from someone by just looking at their grades.”
But not everyone feels the same way.
“Maybe it’s bad because that’s your private life,” Jason Goldstein, a freshman communications major, said.
For junior political science major Victoria Rossi, profiles don’t mean too much.
“I don’t think it’s fully indicative of a person and their character,” she remarked, adding, “I think it [personal Web pages] should be taken with a grain of salt.”
The University’s Office of Admissions did not respond to multiple requests for comment on whether their staff screens Myspace, Facebook or other social networking Web sites when considering applicants.
According to their Web site, the University currently considers grade point averages, recommendations and standardized test scores when making their decisions. There is no mention of online profiles.
According to the study, parents of students believe that colleges and universities have no business looking at their children’s social network pages.
Still, it might not be so bad.
About a quarter of institutions responded that viewing a prospective student’s Web profile positively affected the student’s chances of admission.