Do graduate programs and departments check facebook

[daimiasue]

I was paranoid that my schools would Google me and see me on Facebook. Not that there's anything bad there but its just unnerving. But what if they do..biologists are sometimes atheists and my display pic is the crucifixion. Let me know what you think. My roomate found a way to prevent her FB from appearing on Google, wish i could figure that one out.

[an_internet_person]

To prevent your profile from appearing on search engines, like Google, is pretty simple. Just head to Account> Privacy Settings> Search, then uncheck "Public search results."

Best of luck!

[digits2006]

Yeah I already had my profile private for years. It prevents crazy stalkers from seeing your facebook. I would leave it private for the rest of the time you have it.

[socnerd]

I guess I sort of feel the opposite of most people, I wouldn't mind them seeing my facebook at all, it might even help. If you think there is a possibility of them checking out your public social networking sites then use that to your advantage. Make your presentation look professional, mature, welcoming etc. There is nothing on my facebook that I wouldn't want adcomms to see and I think you should keep it that way anyway. If they search to see if you have one and its either on total privacy or doesn't show up at all, maybe they'd be more concerned that you have something to hide? I don't know, but in this day and age where everyone has one, just consider it another outlet (like an interview) to show them what a great applicant you are.

[digits2006]

I believe that could be used for discrimination. Since I want to do research on Bias, it's always in my mind. They could look at your profile and see something they don't like and it could mess things up for you. I don't know, just my two cents.

[digits2006]

Also, you said some adcoms might think there is something to hide when the profile is private. I think that is completely wrong. Many young people want there personal things to stay personal. They have people who stalk their facebooks and it is commonly known to make your profile private. I think it is always weird when people's profile are completely open for anyone to look. I guess that is just my opinion again.

[aditi123]

I was paranoid that my schools would Google me and see me on Facebook. Not that there's anything bad there but its just unnerving. But what if they do..biologists are sometimes atheists and my display pic is the crucifixion. Let me know what you think. My roomate found a way to prevent her FB from appearing on Google, wish i could figure that one out.

Yes even I heard that some Professors & admissions committee members check applicants' profiles 'out of curiosity' or for a cross-check.If you're uncomfortable with that you could always secure your profile using the 'privacy settings'.

[Medievalmaniac]

Yes even I heard that some Professors & admissions committee members check applicants' profiles 'out of curiosity' or for a cross-check.If you're uncomfortable with that you could always secure your profile using the 'privacy settings'.

Or, you could tailor your profile to demonstrate your passion for your subject. In my case, I am what I do, so everything is medieval-related, or academics-related...fat chance of an adcomm's getting in there and going "oh, she's not really serious about that medieval concentration"! lol Plus, since I'm friends with people from my job, I never post anything that can come across as particularly negative, because this is a small town and everybody will talk about everything you do or write. I keep it fairly benign - it's about my writing, my reading, baking, or baseball, these days.

[Branwen daughter of Llyr]

All anyone would see on my facebook profile is that I'm addicted to Farmville, and am a member in the following discussion groups: Shakespeare, The King's Ravens (Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell), Susan Cooper's Dark is Rising group, Friends of Prydain, the Neal Stephenson Fan group, the Niel Gaiman fan group, Tom Robbins Fans, Discworld Fanatics (Terry Pratchett), and that I love Monty Python - in short, they would realize I'm a bookworm and the perfect candidate for an English PhD, concerned about the environment and ecology (Ban clubbing baby seals group, greenpeace group, etc.

Also, they'd see loads of stuff in Hebrew, which they won't understand anyhow hahahahah

[joro]

I know this isn't related, but on the news it mentioned that banks will use your facebook friends to determine whether they should approve you for any loans, credit cards, etc. Perhaps if banks go this far, then graduate schools will too.

[alizarin]

Wow, I hadn't thought of this. My facebook has been semi-private (only friends can see more info). But now, I completely blocked it from being searched on google. I had my Twitter protected too.

I agree, committees can totally discriminate on you if they don't like how you look, or they can find out how old you are and might favor older applicants over younger ones. They can't help being objective, and it's difficult to overcome their personal biases.

[Branwen daughter of Llyr]

Wow, I hadn't thought of this. My facebook has been semi-private (only friends can see more info). But now, I completely blocked it from being searched on google. I had my Twitter protected too.

I agree, committees can totally discriminate on you if they don't like how you look, or they can find out how old you are and might favor older applicants over younger ones. They can't help being objective, and it's difficult to overcome their personal biases.

Dude, they know how old you are from your applications. I wrote my date of birth on each and every one.

I would be only be concerned about the facebook thing if you posted drunk photos of yourself or spend your time insulting other ppl, writing profanity, or generally having a jerry-springer-type profile. If the profile represents you as a balanced human being with a variety of interests, you should be fine.

[socnerd]

Wow, I hadn't thought of this. My facebook has been semi-private (only friends can see more info). But now, I completely blocked it from being searched on google. I had my Twitter protected too.

I agree, committees can totally discriminate on you if they don't like how you look, or they can find out how old you are and might favor older applicants over younger ones. They can't help being objective, and it's difficult to overcome their personal biases.

Lol I guess my hope is that they'll see my facebook and think "Wow she's really pretty! We should let her in!" Of course I know this doesn't happen, but its nice to dream

[joro]

Lol I guess my hope is that they'll see my facebook and think "Wow she's really pretty! We should let her in!" Of course I know this doesn't happen, but its nice to dream

I think it would be creepy if you were accepted because a Professor wanted to "work with you".

Edited February 19, 2010 by joro

[socnerd]

I think it would be creepy if you were accepted because a Professor wanted to "work with you".

Hahaha I think at this point I would take it, I could always refuse once I get there but at least I'd be in! I just pictured Elle Woods yelling at her professor for hitting on her, maybe I could be like her!

[coyabean]

I am less worried about harried adcomms than I am future peers googling and coming across something unsavory. And exes. I'm terrified of being found by exes. So, I lock everything up. A few months ago I also started scrubbing the web on my behalf. You might want to try creating some profiles to pad the google results for your name.

[joro]

I'm not too scared about what they might find about me. Everything is set to private (facebook and twitter), but that doesn't guarantee anything. The first link to my blog is an awesome 3d rendered picture of the Grand Canyon which I made using a satellite photo.

[coyabean]

I'm not too scared about what they might find about me. Everything is set to private (facebook and twitter), but that doesn't guarantee anything. The first link to my blog is an awesome 3d rendered picture of the Grand Canyon which I made using a satellite photo.

I had lots of hits from my spoken word days and then a ream of "letters to the editor" that, I'm sure, make me look insane! LOL Or, very into my civic duties. It depends on your perspective. I tried to add some stuff for balance.

[HesterPrynne]

I am on the PhD Admissions Committee at my univ. and even though we only admit a small number of students each year, we still don't have the time nor inclination to check anyone's internet presence. We rely solely on the info in the admissions file and the personal interviews to make our determinations.

[isera]

At my university, some programs do check facebook profiles, though I'm not sure how much it influences their decision. They def don't have time to go through every detail and I don't think they'd think it's weird if your profile is private - that's actually considered the smart move.

Btw, if you are a girl (forgot your name) applying to Immunology and Microbiology programs and have a stripper picture on your public facebook profile - you might want to consider taking that down because that did not help your application (though it might help at other schools )

[Timothy Vallier]

As a professional of anything you should strive to maintain clean internet representation.

[pea-jay]

I am less worried about harried adcomms than I am future peers googling and coming across something unsavory. And exes. I'm terrified of being found by exes. So, I lock everything up. A few months ago I also started scrubbing the web on my behalf. You might want to try creating some profiles to pad the google results for your name.

I consider myself lucky to have a rather common name so I usually wind up hiding in mass anonymity of the web. Most of the stuff that is related to me is more or less permanently archived on various government web sites and is 100% job related. My colleague at work on the other hand...she is the only one on the planet with her name. Yikes.

[urbanchic]

Just found out that one of my programs google searched me.

[scpy2010]

Just found out that one of my programs google searched me.

how did you find that info out?

[Summit_Bid]

Yeah, good question. How did you find out?