College Applicants Social Media Should Be a Part of the College Admissions Process (Persuasive Essay Example)

Checking college applicants social media should be a part of the college admissions process because students spend up to nine hours a day on their social media accounts and, using social media to recruit applicants can be beneficial to college recruitment and enrollment. 

To begin with, students use social media up to nine hours a day, documenting their entire lives on their accounts. Brennan Bernard says, “Every year, there are high-profile cases of newly admitted students sharing a meme, posting a picture, or making a statement online that's inappropriate, leading to their offer of admission being revoked,” (Source A). Brennan shows how a student's whole life is shown on their social media, everything they post is displayed on a digital footprint that can alter a college's opinion on the new recruitment. A student's digital footprint can follow them even after the recruitment process leading to an end in that college's interest. Furthermore, according to Ivywise.com, “Colleges admission officers are checking out applicants social media profiles to see how they're viewed - especially if there’s anything particularly egregious out there.” (Source B). College applicants are being seen from another perspective by looking through their social media accounts, by looking into their personal lives the officers get a separate view of the student's social life. Recruitment isn’t always a walk in the park especially if the student has social media accounts depicting them as someone they might not act like they are. An entire student's life is depicted through their social media accounts, looking into a student's past on social media is a great way to see what was going on in that adolescent's life.

Furthermore, using social media to recruit applicants can be beneficial to college recruitment and enrollment. Ivywise.com says, “Colleges know students are on these platforms, so it makes sense for colleges to use social media to reach and recruit the maximum number of students,” (Source B). Using social media to depict a student can be very beneficial to college admissions, seeing extracurricular activities, volunteering and traveling are all things that boost admissions officers toward an applicant. Another reason why this is beneficial is to get colleges into the applicants minds even before they apply, by a college having an Instagram or Twitter account, an applicant can see what they’re getting into before they commit. Another quote from Ivywise.com adds, “as social media becomes more normalized, the impact it plays in the admissions process will be more significant outside of just seeing what students are doing.” (Source B). This quote adds to how a college admissions office can change the way they see students and the way students see them. Giving admissions another perspective on students gives them a true opinion and choice on whether or not admissions wants this type of student on campus. Giving another perspective on a new applicant's life can be a deciding factor on whether or not a student gets accepted to a university. 

To finalize, checking college applicants social media should be a part of the college admissions process because students spend up to nine hours a day on their social media accounts, and using social media to recruit applicants can be beneficial to college recruitment and enrollment.