Harvard withdraws 10 acceptances for ‘offensive’ memes in private group chat
June 27th, 2017Harvard University revoked admission offers to ten incoming first-year students in mid-April, after University officials were notified of admitted students posting offensive memes in a private group chat on Facebook. The images posted in this group were highly inappropriate, mocking sexual assault, the Holocaust, child abuse and jokes related to race and ethnicity. You may have read about this in the national press already.
In the past we’ve posted about colleges and universities using social media as an additional way to evaluate applicants. Not only is it important to maintain a positive social media presence but it is a good reminder that even things discussed in “private” on the internet can become public. We hope our students do not need this reminder because they live lives that respect others as well as themselves. The students whose acceptances to Harvard were revoked have learned a difficult lesson: poor judgment and thoughtless actions have real consequences.
Let’s all live each day as an embodiment of the person we aspire to be and the person we hope to share with others.
Article published below by The Washington Post on June 5, 2017
Written by: Samantha Schmidt
The Facebook messaging group was at one point titled “Harvard memes for horny bourgeois teens.”
It began when about 100 members of Harvard College’s incoming freshman class contacted each other through the university’s official Class of 2021 Facebook group. They created a messaging group where students could share memes about popular culture — a growing trend on the Internet among students at elite colleges.
But then, the exchanges took a dark turn, according to an article published in the Harvard Crimson on Sunday. Some of the group’s members decided to form an offshoot group in which students could share obscene, “R-rated” memes, a student told the Crimson. The founders of the messaging group demanded that students post provocative memes in the main group chat to gain admittance to the smaller group.
Read more at Washington Post >>Tagged: Choices, College, Ivy league, Personal characteristics, Social media
Do colleges look at your social media accounts?
May 15th, 2017Social media can be used as a great tool to network and gain more information when determining whether a college is the right fit for you. Be aware, though, that this can work in your favor or against you, as many colleges are also using social media to determine whether you are the right fit for them.
Your social media presence may have a much greater impact than you think when applying to college. This is why it is important to make sure that what you reveal about yourself on social media is a good representation of who you really are.
The US News article posted below is a helpful tool to gauge what might be a deterrent for some schools and, conversely, what might be viewed as beneficial for a prospective student.
Written by: Darian Somers (published by US News on February 10, 2017)
Your first impression on a college admissions officer involves more than just an essay, a transcript and some test scores.
According to new data, colleges and universities pay attention to what prospective students post on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
In a Kaplan Test Prep survey of more than 350 college admissions officers in the U.S., 35 percent of officers polled reported having looked at applicants’ social media accounts to learn more about them.
Read more at US News >>Tagged: Applications, Choices, College, Personal characteristics, Social media
Reasons to quit social media: your career (and your education) may benefit
November 28th, 2016We hope everyone had a well-deserved and restful Thanksgiving weekend. It is a wonderful time to reflect on all that we are grateful for and cherish these moments with our loved ones. And of course we hope you were able to indulge in a delicious traditional Thanksgiving feast!
Speaking of a having a restful weekend, many of us use social media as a way to relax during down time. Some people use social media to help their career through networking and spreading their work via “likes” and “shares.” With the majority of Americans having a social media profile, it may be difficult to understand the opposing point of view that Cal Newport, author of the article we are sharing today, has on social media. Newport is a millennial blogger, writer and computer scientist who thinks social media is more harmful than good when it comes to work opportunities. This is a great article to help us see the other side to the social media argument, and we share it today because it is equally applicable to education opportunities. Parents and students alike, read on!
Article below published on newyorktimes.com on November 19, 2016
Written by: Cal Newport
I’m a millennial computer scientist who also writes books and runs a blog. Demographically speaking I should be a heavy social media user, but that is not the case. I’ve never had a social media account.
At the moment, this makes me an outlier, but I think many more people should follow my lead and quit these services. There are many issues with social media, from its corrosion of civic life to its cultural shallowness, but the argument I want to make here is more pragmatic: You should quit social media because it can hurt your career.
Read more at NY Times >>Tagged: Choices, Social media
Demonstrated Interest Key to College Admission and Persistence
September 29th, 2015We recently posted an article about the importance of monitoring your social media accounts and how they can affect admissions into the school of your choice positively or negatively. This is obviously a big discussion amongst admission boards and we wanted to pass along another article posted by PBS NewsHour.
This particular article suggests another way that schools may use your social media account when determining admissions. Some colleges and universities are collecting data, including information from students’ social media accounts, to calculate whether students will succeed and ultimately graduate. Continue reading this fascinating article to find out what information admissions officers are using.
Read more at PBS NewsHour >>Tagged: Admission decision, Applications, College, Demonstrated interest, Social media
