College Entrance Exam – “Nailed It”; Social Media Background Check – “Failed It”

Author: Terri Williams

Date: April 21, 2017

Link: https://www.digitalethics.org/essays/college-entrance-exam-nailed-it-social-media-background-check-failed-it

First Impression: What I can say from the title is that even though you passed an college entrance exam, does not guarantee that you are accepted in that school but what affects your chances of getting in is your social media profile and how you utilize and share information online.

Quote: “Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterward.”

Reflection: 

When applying for college, all you have to do is fill out the paperwork, pay the exam fee, take the exam, and hope that you pass the exam when the results come out. It is not required for the admissions to know any background information about the applicant before being accepted or applying for college. But nowadays, in some parts of the world, there is a need to know the applicant before being accepted, the basis of the admission is the applicant's social media account, which could be both a good or bad thing. The good thing about having your social media accounts checked before being accepted will be that if you’re the kind of person who is very productive with your time. This may also be helpful to the admissions officers by finding out if the applicant has a good background. Although if a student does not want his account to be checked, then the admissions would be skeptical of accepting this applicant since they may think that the applicant is hiding something from them, and chances are, you would not be accepted. The bad thing about having your social media checked is that it promotes bias and invades the privacy of the applicant, especially when asking for the applicant’s login credentials just so that they could review your personal account before thinking of accepting you to the college. 

5 Things that I’ve learned:

1. It is important to fight for your privacy.

2. Do not give your login details to people who you do not know, even though they are admissions officers.

3. Social Media should not be the basis of who a person is.

4. People change over time.

5. Some schools use social media as a basis of a person’s real life profile.

5  Integrative Questions

1. What are the other benefits of using social media as a basis of accepting an applicant for college?

2. Do schools check social media backgrounds of students here in the Philippines?

3. When applying for college, what is more important: Students score or his social media background?

4. Why do some schools use Google to find information about an applicant?

5. Why do some states ask for applicants’ password information?