College admissions officers, who are increasingly using Facebook and Google when evaluating applicants, are discovering more information on the Web about prospective students that are hurting their chance for acceptance, according to a survey conducted by Kaplan Test Prep.
With about a quarter of schools’ admissions staff searching social media sites for information about applicants, 35 percent reported discovering information that worked against applicants in the admissions process. The negative search results were up from 12 percent in 2011. Plagiarism, vulgarities, photos of alcohol consumption and the appearance of illegal activities were listed as some of the offenses found through Web searches.