Digital Smarts - College Advisors Suggest College Applicants Create a Linked In Profile

Many college advisers are suggesting that applicants create elaborate LinkedIn profiles to submit with their college applications. The thinking is that it adds polish to the list of activities and accomplishments submitted to admission boards. For high school students, going this route is partly a defense mechanism against college admissions officers who snoop on applicants’ public Facebook and Twitter activities — without disclosing how that may affect an applicant’s chance of acceptance. A recent study from Kaplan Test Prep of about 400 college admissions officers reported that 40 percent said they had visited applicants’ social media pages, a fourfold increase since 2008. Some students, though, point out that college admissions people will not get to know them on a more personal basis viewing only these “sanitized” postings.