3 Times Increase in Negative Impact of Students Social Media Profiles

According to recent survey by Kaplan College Admissions Officers’ Discovery of Online Material Damaging to Applicants Nearly Triples in a Year.

Percentage of admissions officers who took to Google (27%) and checked Facebook (26%) as part of the applicant review process increased slightly (20% for Google and 26% for Facebook in 2011) from last year, the percentage that said they discovered something that negatively impacted an applicant’s chances of getting into the school nearly tripled – from 12% last year to 35% this year.

Offenses cited included

• essay plagiarism
• vulgarities in blogs
• alcohol consumption in photos
• things that made them “wonder”
• illegal activities

With regard to college admissions, the traditional application — the essays, the letters of recommendation — represent the polished version of an applicant, while often what’s found online is a rawer version of that applicant. Schools are philosophically divided on whether an applicant’s digital trail is fair game, and the majority of admissions officers do not look beyond the submitted application, but our advice to students is to think first, Tweet later.

Indian student applicants should be wary about college admission plagiarism.

Its very common to download statement of purpose  online and use for your application.

In addition to above listed offenses, students have to be careful about duplicate certificates, email id format (smartypantskickiass) does play a more role during the college admission process.