While some seniors have already been accepted to college, the majority of students are still waiting to get an acceptance from their dream school. However, social media could play an important factor in whether or not a student’s application is accepted or rejected. A recent study from Kaplan found that 31% of college admission officers check social media to determine if an applicant would be a good fit for their educational institution. This is a 5% increase from 2012.

We live in an age where technology has come to play an incredibly prominent role in our daily lives, and many high school students use this technology to post on various social media websites including Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. However, because of this increased use of social media by young people, college admission officers view these sites as opportunities to get a behind the scenes pass into some of their applicants lives to see if who the student says they are on paper is actually who the student portrays themselves to be in a daily setting.

While admission officers don’t base their decision solely on what they see on your Twitter timeline or Facebook page, anything they see that is incriminating or illegal could leave a negative impression on the person who is reviewing your application. Most admission officers and high school guidance counselors aren’t discouraging student from using social media, but instead are warning them to watch what they post and if the student feels that a post or picture could be viewed poorly they should delete it or make their account private.

Social media is as much a part of our lives as anything else and we as a society are addicted to the idea of posting what is going on in our lives every minute. However, as we progress through the season of college admissions and acceptances just remember to watch what you post because you never know who is viewing your profile.