Do Colleges Look at Social Media?
September 24, 2025
Wondering if colleges look at the social media accounts of prospective students, and how they find them? Let’s start with a cautionary tale. In a well-publicized story that made international news, Harvard University to more than ten students who posted obscene, sexually explicit, and racist memes in a private Facebook group. The chat forum鈥攚here the offensive memes were discovered by Harvard officials鈥攚as an offshoot of another online Facebook page for students admitted to the University鈥檚 Class of 2021.
The group, which changed names several times, was at one point titled 鈥淥ffensive memes for horny bourgeois teens.鈥� One would think that a collection of students who had traversed through the Harvard admissions gauntlet and won acceptance from a pool of candidates who all had near-perfect SAT scores and impeccable high school transcripts would be wise enough to steer clear of something posing such an obvious risk. Yet, amazingly, a number of Harvard acceptees did the exact same thing the year prior, when members of the Class of 2020 exchanged similarly themed messages on GroupMe, but ultimately escaped discipline.
If prospective Harvard students can be this reckless online, imagine the dangers faced by the average college-bound student. Scary, right? Don鈥檛 worry, if you follow our simple advice, you/your teen will not have anything to fear.
Key Takeaways
- Social media reviews are possible鈥攂ut not routine. Admissions offices don鈥檛 typically scan every applicant鈥檚 accounts, but the practice has grown and negative findings can hurt an applicant鈥檚 chances.
- Policies are murky and case-by-case. Few colleges publish clear rules; many reserve the right to review public content or follow up on red flags.
- Control your digital footprint. Audit search results and posts, clean up tags/likes, avoid risky content, and use certain platforms to your advantage.
Do colleges look at social media?
Yes, but it’s not standard practice. For some officers, this is a moral issue: social media should be a private space. For others, such as those at universities receiving 80,000 plus applicants, stalking Instagram for evidence of past misdeeds would be a terribly wasteful use of precious time.
However, the practice has trended sharply upward over the last fifteen years. In 2008, Kaplan reported that only 10% of officers bothered to look at an applicant鈥檚 social media pages. In 2023, . And while 33% of the 200+ surveyed admissions officers felt that online snooping was never okay during the application process, a whopping 67% thought that social media should be “fair game.” Even more yikes-inducing? Most admissions officers who did check an applicant’s social media accounts ultimately uncovered information that negatively impacted that applicant’s chance of acceptance.
had similar findings. After receiving responses from 534 institutions, AACRAO reported that roughly 75% of admissions officers had either “monitored social media as part of the admissions decision making or will review social media brought to their attention.” Moreover, a sizable 24% of institutions surveyed鈥攎ost of which were private colleges鈥攔eported that they looked at applicants’ social media accounts “regularly and routinely.” However, this survey made an important distinction between institutionally sponsored social media accounts and personal social media accounts, finding that 71% of colleges were solely concerned with an applicant’s activity on institutionally sponsored pages.
Translation: Most admissions officers think it’s okay to look at your social media accounts during the admissions process, even if they don’t do it. And if colleges do look at your social media accounts, what they’re finding is most often not in your favor.
To what extent are colleges allowed to use social media accounts during the admissions process?
There are no official “rules”鈥攃olleges are free to determine their own policies one way or the other.
Although we can use recent, well-publicized rescindments鈥攊ncluding , , and the 鈥攖o get a sense of where certain colleges draw the line, each occurred after the admissions process, not during it.聽Had these students’ posts been discovered during the admissions process, we never would have heard about it鈥攁nd neither would the students in question. Why? Holistic admissions practices are not only fundamentally subjective but also closely guarded. There’s no world in which we’ll start seeing colleges start advertising which applications were moved to the “no thank you” pile after a Google search. It’s simply not in a college’s best interest to provide that level of insight into their decision-making process.
Realistically, the only way we’ll know whether specific colleges look at social media during the admissions process is if they publicly share that information. So far, few colleges have done so, and those that have鈥攍ike and 鈥攐ffer varying levels of transparency. Moreover, a and cited in a subsequent research paper published by the found that clearly defined social media policies simply didn’t exist at most colleges. Of the 73 colleges that responded to the Brechner Center’s request for “any rules, policies, handbooks or training materials addressing the use of social media in admissions,” 82% had no such policies or materials to share.
How do colleges find my social media?
Well, the same way anyone can. Everyone, whether they admit it or not, has innocently cyberstalked someone else at some point鈥攁 crush, an ex-boyfriend or girlfriend, or that weird guitar-playing English teacher who supposedly once opened for Hootie and the Blowfish鈥�
Colleges can also easily look at your social media when you connect with them. If you follow the official admissions Instagram page, like posts, and comment on videos, know that they can click on your profile as well. Same goes for providing links in your application, whether to a publication, your personal website or YouTube channel, an award, a newspaper article, etc. In the process of reviewing those links, admissions officers might stumble across other information about you online, including your personal social media accounts.
Best Social Media Practices for College Applicants
Tip #1: Evaluate the extent of your digital footprint.
To get a sense of what admissions officers might have access to, it鈥檚 time to turn your online sleuthing skills on a more familiar target鈥攜ourself. As an exercise, Google yourself and see what comes up. Scroll into the deep recesses of your X and Reddit comments and refresh your memory about the dumb things your ninth-grade self may have posted for the entire world to view. Dig far back through your TikToks. Were you tagged doing something inappropriate in a group video you barely even remember taking?
If your social media accounts are already private and you are absolutely positive that colleges cannot view anything you post, congratulations! Scroll to tip #2.
However, if your social media accounts are鈥攁nd will remain鈥攑ublic, be cognizant of the content you post as well as how you engage with the content & comments of others. As a rule, avoid drugs, alcohol, sex, and explicit language. Racism, violence, bullying, and hate speech should go without saying. In addition, avoid obvious signs of wealth that could be interpreted as entitled, such as posting photos of the brand-new Tesla you received for your sixteenth birthday.
You don鈥檛 have to shut down your online life鈥攜ou just want to make sure that nothing in cyberspace will cause you to make a poor first impression on admission officers. There is simply no good reason to risk jeopardizing your chances of admission for the sake of maintaining that risqu茅 Instagram page. This is particularly the case if you make an effort to engage with them online (see Tip #3 below) or draw attention to your social media presence in your application, such as referencing your YouTube channel with thousands of followers.
Tip #2: Check your tags.
After evaluating your digital presence, go one step further. Since tags may populate during social media screenings, check your pages for what you’ve followed, liked, or been tagged in. If you see anything that worries you, simply un-like, un-follow, or un-tag.
Tip #3: Use social media to your advantage.
For high school students, using social media is not universally a bad thing when it comes to college admissions. In fact, it can be quite helpful.
Since most colleges and universities now utilize platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to connect with potential applicants, you can show the admissions office that you are seriously considering their institution simply by interacting with them on social media. 鈥淔ollowing鈥� a school can be an excellent way to demonstrate interest virtually, without the cost and effort of a campus visit (although this is still recommended as well). In addition, it can give you information about the school’s vibe and values. Such information helps you better assess fit and even tailor your college essays.
Moreover, several types of social media platforms are already heavily geared toward professional networking and college admissions. These include sites like LinkedIn and . If you maintain profiles on either site, make sure your accounts are up-to-date. This is especially true if the college advertises their use of ZeeMee or you include a link to your profile on your application.
Final Takeaways: Do Colleges Look at Social Media?
Ultimately, if you maintain an authentic, clean, and positive online presence, there’s no need to worry. Do not feel like you need to have an insanely curated feed or avoid being yourself. Theater kid who loves posting dance reels to TikTok? Soccer player who routinely shares game highlights? Artist who uses Instagram to display her work? Civically engaged teen who uses X to raise awareness for homelessness in her community? Normal high schooler enjoying time with friends and family? All perfectly sound, and can even positively support your application.
During the admissions process, do not post (or maintain) anything online that you do not feel represents your best self. While most students鈥� errors in cyber-judgment won鈥檛 land them on the front page of the New York Times, as with our Harvard example, thousands of applicants each year will quietly, and perhaps without ever being told, lose their chances at being admitted to a top-choice college because of a simple social media screening. It only takes a minimal amount of effort and common sense to ensure that you are not among them.
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