Last week's blog spoke about the danger of the wrong information in a social media account.  This week's blog looks at how to use social media to help gain admission into your teen's top choice school.

With the ever growing popularity of Facebook,  80% of college admission counselors are visiting potential students' online profiles during their recruiting process (Kaplan survey of college admission counselors).  These recruiters are trying to actively engage prospective students online. 

What should the student and parent be aware of?  How can these platforms make your application stand out?  Your teen should:

·         Follow the school online

Follow your prospective school's twitter feeds, "like" their Facebook fan page, and subscribe to other social media channels.  You can learn extremely interesting information about the college.  You can determine what issues matter to the school and incorporate that knowledge into your essays and interviews to show that you've done your research and know exactly why the college is the perfect place for you. 

·         Blog

A blog is a wonderful way to show prospective schools your creative side, in the form of art or music skills, your writing ability, your community spirit through activities that you mean something to you and your volunteerism.  Your blog can show off your personality, your "uniqueness".  Give links to your blog on your application so the admission officers can view it and make comments.

·         Create a YouTube video

Make a video on why you want to attend that school.  Include highlights about yourself, your extra-curricular activities, your commitment to your particular major.  Have people who know you well with high community standing give additional recommendations.  Post it on YouTube and include a link on your college application.  You will stand out from the rest of the applicants. Post it on YouTube and tag the school.  Give links to the video on your application. 

·         Remember - Privacy is important!

Set up your accounts so only those who you want to view them, will have access.  Set your privacy ratings high so you can control who views your Facebook, Twitter or YouTube accounts. 

“If you have any other questions about selecting a college, or the admissions process, feel free to contact me through my website at www.Prep4CollegeNow.com  or call me at 760.877.7200.  I'd love to answer your questions!”

Today we are going to focus on how social media can affect college admission.  There was a poll taken in 2008 with over 500 selective colleges completing the poll, that said in about 10% of the colleges polled, the admission officers were checking the applicants Facebook and My Space profiles.  Imagine what the number must be in 2011.

It hurt the applicant 38% of the time.  It helped the applicant 25% of the time so it is hurting the applicant more than it is helping.   I don't think that people, students in particular,  are actually paying attention to what they are putting out there and how the information in their profile is viewed by others.  The student needs to assume college admission officers are looking and should modify the information posted on their pages.  A good rule of thumb is if you think your student's grandmother would be offended by the information, it shouldn't be on the page.

Your teenager needs to keep the information clean but it still should appear as if the teen is an interesting person who would be an appealing student for the school.  Your teenager need to strike a balance between being too clean and too off color or avant-garde.

Your teen is able to control who views certain pages on his Facebook page and he should set up  his profile to limit access to certain pages and photos. His Twitter feed should only go to people who are on an approved list and, if he blogs, it should be set up as an invitation only site.  Not everything your teen does needs to be viewed by everyone.

Your student needs to pay attention to his social media profile, what goes out there and acknowledge how it can negatively affect him.  Remember, it is a reflection on your student and it can affect admission into college.