There once was a time when high school students had the promise of getting into a college of their choosing if they made good grades, had good SAT scores, and participated in extracurricular activities. That time may now be coming to an end thanks to social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. According to a recent study through Kaplan Test Prep, approximately 31 percent of the 381 college admission counselors that participated in the study admit to looking up their applicants Facebook pages (Singer BU3). More astounding than that statistic is that 30 percent of those who look at applicants Facebook pages admit that they had discovered information that negatively affected the student’s chances at being accepted (Singer BU3). These statistics are proof that lines are being crossed when it comes to the college admissions process. Admissions criteria is being blurred and colleges have now assumed the right to judge applicants not only on their grades but on their morals as well.
Bowdoin College located in Brunswick, Maine is one of the most recent colleges to admit to using Facebook as a factor in deciding upon the admission of a new applicant, you won’t see this on the information page they have concerning requirements for admission though. Bowdoin admitted to using Facebook profiles for admission purposes in a New York Times article, but the admission information page on the Bowdoin website makes no mention of it. In fact the only criteria that Bowdoin says they will look for on their website are: academic (grade) success, level of course challenge, counselor and teacher recommendations, writing sample, overall academic potential, school and community involvement, and character and personality (Admissions: selection p...
... middle of paper ...
...has come into play, and some schools have decided that they are dutifully qualified to judge the morals of students across the country based on their own personal perception of an applicant’s social networking sites. The question we as a society need to ask ourselves though is who is going to judge their morals? To gauge their perception of right and wrong? No one person is qualified to do those things, except maybe a higher power if you are a believer in such. So why is it allowed that a panel of college admissions counselors are allowed that privilege? When making a decision that will ultimately change a person’s life, facts and numbers should be the only determining factor. We don’t allow our jury’s to decide cases based upon personal feelings, only upon evidence of the pretenses of the law. So why should admissions counselors around the country be any different?