That said, Facebook does come with potential risks for college applicants. Some admissions officers do try to get more information on applicants through social media, and in many cases what they find ends up hurting an applicant's chances. In that same Kaplan survey, 35% of admissions officers who looked up students in Facebook or Google found information that made a negative impressions. So before applying to colleges, you'll want to follow these social media tips, and you'll want to make sure you have deleted these 12 bad Facebook photos.
How you use Facebook in the college admissions process is up to you. One line of advice you'll hear is to crank up your privacy settings and keep colleges out. Another option, however, is to clean up your account and invite colleges to view your profile and get to know you better. If handled well, Facebook can strengthen your application by revealing parts of your personality that are difficult to convey in a traditional application.
Photos are one easy way to make yourself look good, and the fifteen images in this article can strengthen your image.
For the first image, think about those awards you've won. The medal doesn't need to be gold -- silver, bronze, or brass-coated plastic will also give the folks looking at your pictures the clear sense that you've accomplished something noteworthy. So if you were on the medals podium after that equestrian match or you got a yellow ribbon for best apple pie at the county fair, upload those pictures to your Facebook profile.
This isn't the type of photo you'd want to send to a college -- that would seem painfully self-congratulating -- but the impression is quite different if an admissions officer stumbles across the photo in your Facebook photo album.
Your college applications and future resume will have a space for listing honors and awards. Your Facebook photo gallery can work to reinforce your accomplishments.
