Medical School and Social Media: The Internet Doesn’t Forget

 

Introduction

If not already, soon you will soon be applying to medical school in earnest. There are a few things that can sink your ambitious medical school plans faster than an inappropriate post from one of your social media accounts. Whether you frequent Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, “Big Brother” is watching and the “hammer will come down hard” if they discover poor judgement or questionable character on your part.

Outline

1. The Data
2. Positive and Negative Social Media
3. Questions to Ask Yourself
4. Consequences
5. The Take Home Message
6. What do you think?

The Data

According to Inside Higher Education, 35% of the college admission committees visit an applicant’s social media pages during the application process. The percentage is higher for private schools. “Almost 50% of institutions found information found on sites such as Facebook and Instagram had a positive impact, while 42% said what they found had a negative impact,” reports Kaplan.

Moreover, more than 66% of universities say that it is fair game to check an applicant’s social media posts. Therefore, applicant beware.

Positive Social Media

One admissions committee member described that she was pleasantly surprised at a LGBT panel discussion that the school initiated and led at her school. Another student won a special award not mentioned in the application. One school discovered a successful non-profit that a student founded. Each of these cases represents information not revealed in the application that positively affected the student’s application.

Negative Social Media

• Questionable language, counter to the rest of the application
• Involved in a felony, and not disclosed led to an offer rescinded
• Pictures brandishing weapons or drinking alcohol
• Parkland shooting survivor Kyle Kashuv, had his Harvard acceptance revoked after racist social media posts he wrote from 2017 surfaced
• Colleges have the right to revoke a student’s acceptance if integrity and character come into question

Real Known Consequences

• A Teacher rescinded her letter of recommendation
• Harvard revoked the acceptances of 10 admitted students after they participated in a private Facebook, group called “Harvard memes for horny bourgeois teens” They reportedly joked about the Holocaust and abusing children, as well as insulted racial and ethnic groups

 

• A private high school student posted on Facebook that she was enrolling at the University of Rochester. Her high school realized that they never sent materials there. Upon investigation, the University of Rochester noted that the student applied as a homeschooled student. Her offer of acceptance was rescinded as she arrived on campus and moving into her dorm room

Big Ideas/Take Home Message

• Share things on social media that portray you favorably, such as accomplishments
• Reframe from racist, offensive and controversial comments
• Google yourself and see what happens
• Clean up your social media sites
• Use social media to tell your story as part of your marketing campaign
• Blog about issues you care deeply about. But, make sure that they are not controversial, disgusting or crude. Stick to current events, books you’ve recently read, favorite art work, vexing math problems, interesting scientific discoveries.

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