College applications process appears scary to many student and the whole procedure takes darn long. You might have checked your essays for the hundredth time, not leaving any stone unturned to prepare the perfect application for the college, but the college admissions committee has learnt to leverage social media to understand their applicants better. Consequently, a need to clean your social media arises.
Why You Should Clean Your Social Media?
The admissions team strives to improve their judgement of every student and they have resorted to social media as the tool. Here are some reasons why you should clean your social media before college:
- You will be Googled – There is no doubt now that the admissions team will definitely google your name. They will scrounge for your name on every social media platform to see what you have been doing lately. You do not want to leave anything inappropriate or embarrassing on your profile.
- Future Potential Roommates – A majority of incoming freshman classes have a Facebook page. This is where most of the people decide their roommates. You want to make sure that you seem like someone comfortable to live with.
- Scholarships – Not only the admissions committee but scholarship committees also scrutinize your social media presence to better understand your mindset.
Besides these, if you want to get to a sports team, your profile should show how you enjoy working in a team and respect your coach. Even part-time employers will look at your social media before hiring you.
How to Clean Your Social Media?
Cleaning your social media is a long work, you should plan it before doing it.
- Look for Inappropriate Stuff – Most of the Millenials are on Facebook since middle school. You are naive at such age and more prone to make inappropriate or offensive comments. The best place to start with is Facebook. Start with photos. Hide anything that’s irrelevant or embarrassing. You should also look at the comments and caption of these pictures.
- Next up is the Facebook wall. At one point, everyone has poured out their hearts on Facebook posts. You should look for these posts and delete them. You are looking for foul language, racial remarks, bitching about someone, and insensitive remarks.
- On Twitter, make sure your username is appropriate and not too childish. Most of the tweets are public and that’s why it’s crucial to filter them.
- On Instagram, you can just make your profile private and make sure your username is not inappropriate.
- Do not remove your profile altogether – Well yes, it might seem like a better option to hide your profiles altogether for the application time, but it may actually backfire. The admissions team can infer it negatively.
- Build a better profile on Professional networks – It is wise to create a professional presence on websites like LinkedIn. Being active on such a platform will create a positive impact on your college application. Also, you will get to network with professionals and share your views with like-minded people.
Some other tips are to avoid posting inappropriate things, create a separate professional email address for applications, and be yourself!
