5 Ways to Use Your Social Media Presence to Impress Graduate School Selection Committees

A Social Media Presence that Impresses a Graduate School Selection Committee

• Display Accomplishments
• Present Interests
• Write
• Balanced Presentation
• Police Social Media

Many people spend a great deal of time on social media with no clear objectives in mind. When a decision is made to apply to graduate school, thought must be given to the manner in which social media can impact the grad school application and acceptance process. There are five ways in which a social media presence can be beneficial when applying to graduate school and facing a selection committee.

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1. Display Accomplishments

Social media can be a solid avenue through which a person displays accomplishments of different types. This type of presentation can be made in a manner that is not overbearing or rudely self-aggrandizing. A set of images at some type of award ceremony can be memorialized on social media. A video of an important event recognizing an accomplishment can be posted.

2. Present Interests

The typical grad school admissions committee is interested in finding students who have a broad set of interests. Academic success is important, but it is not the only element of being a successful graduate student. A social media presence that illustrates a person's diverse interests can prove to be invaluable when the need exists to impress a graduate school selection committee. These interests can include serious pursuits but also certain suitable activities with family and friends.

3. Write

Many people on the verge of seeking admission to graduate school spend a good amount of their social media time posting images. Certain images can be positive. In addition to posting images, a grad school applicant should consider posting written items as well. These can include pieces written by someone else that peaks a person's interests. They can, and should, also include items written by the person desiring to win grad school admission.

4. Balanced Presentation

The average adult spends over five hours a week on social media, according to Forbes magazine. Many adults have all of the attributes of suffering from a social media addiction. The reality is that a graduate school applicant does not want to send a message to a selection committee that suggests he or she spends an inordinate amount of time on social media platforms.

Another way in which an applicant can impress a selection committee is by maintaining a balanced social media presence. In this regard, an applicant does not chronicle every moment in his or her life. He or she avoids positing a myriad of selfies and untold images of foods consumed.

5. Police Social Media

Time and again, individuals who utilize social media end up making questionable posts themselves. In the alternative, people routinely become connected with the inappropriate posts made by someone else or are targeted with some type of malicious diatribe. Because of the negative side of social media, a person who desires to use his or her social media presence in a favorable way when applying to grad school must be adept at policing platforms. Care must be taken to remove connections with unflattering or otherwise inappropriate social media posts whenever possible.

Taking the strategies set forth here to heart can turn social media into a positive asset for a person. These strategies can render a social media presence beneficial to an individual applying to graduate school.