Why Your Student’s Social Media Matters to Private Schools
While your student is preparing to take on private school, one thing that is almost always overlooked is how appropriate their social media accounts are. It’s unrealistic to ask your student to stop posting all together on social media. Instead, you can help them understand the importance of making sure their profiles accurately reflect who they are and who they want to be.
It might surprise you and your student to know that admissions officers and school administrators do turn to social media to gain insight into their applicants. Of course, they look at your student’s application, but they also take a look at their profiles to see if your student is who they say they are. Here’s why making sure your student has a clean social media presence is important when applying to private schools.
Social Media is a First Impression
Private school admission teams often go to social media to get a first impression of the students that apply. Admission teams often look for anything that’s inappropriate. Specifically, they are looking for offensive language, discriminatory remarks, or anything that could potentially tarnish your students reputation or the potential reputation of the school.
Social media is also a clear indicator of how mature a student is. If they have good judgment in what they post, it’s likely they already have an understanding that what they post online is an accurate representation of who they are in real life.
Does Your Student’s Social Media Align With the School’s Values?
Private schools have a strong sense of identity, values, and community. Admission officers will be looking at your student’s social media to see if the content they share aligns with the values of the school. Students who show they are respectful, empathetic, and inclusive online are most likely to be students who will contribute to the success of the school’s community.
How Your Student Can Clean Up their Social Media
Your student probably already knows that what they share online is permanent. But it’s such an important thing to remind your student about. Here are a few things you can help your student do successfully to make sure their social media presence will help them, and not hurt them:
Remind them to only post things they would say or do out-loud and in-person.
Delete any content that promotes, references, or alludes to insensitive material.
Go through your tagged posts and look for content that could paint you in a negative light.
Put yourself in an outsider's shoes. If someone didn’t know you and saw your profile, what would they think about you?
Review your profile photo to make sure it is a good representation of how you want a professional to see you.
Review and edit your bio or “about” page to make sure it shows off who you truly are.
Having your student clean up their social media profiles might sound a little daunting. But in all honesty, they just need about twenty minutes to look through their accounts. Review. Delete. Review. Reflect. Review. And…Repeat.
If you’re an admissions director, let us know your thoughts on what “red flags” you look for on an applicant's social media posts and profiles. What advice can you offer? Let us know what else you would add to these guidelines!