According to experts, there are more opportunities for connecting with b-schools in some social media sites than in others.
When applying to business school you should be aware of what you post on your social network pages. If the admissions committee looks through your Facebook or Twitter page and finds an inappropriate post or a dubious video, it may well destroy your chance at getting admitted. That’s why you should be very cautious when you connect with your future b-school via social networks.
According to Gene Anderson, the University of Miami business school dean, it’s better not to leave dubious postings on your web pages – they may be misunderstood and used as points for your rejection.
Business school alumni are part of a university’s prestige. Thus, admissions officers always keep that in mind even when communicating with future students. Not only your ability to study is evaluated, but also your respectability, as it plays a vital role in the school’s ratings. Candidates who can make an impression of being highly employable and communicative will be the first choice of the committee.
Anderson claims that admissions officers always keep in mind the best interests of their alumni’s future recruiters – so the ‘product’ released by the school, i.e., its graduates, should be of highest quality.
According to experts, it’s better to think in advance what social network site is best fitting for connecting with the admissions committee of your school.
Hence, on your web page you should try to ‘market’ yourself, to sell your strongest points as a future company employee. One of the best social networks to attract the admissions staff is LinkedIn, a social media site designed for business and other professional networking.
Anderson states that before applying to a b-school you should start building your LinkedIn presence well in advance. This site is the best to show the strengths sought for by MBA programs admissions officers in future students. Of course, it will be even better if you join some professional communities there and post stuff (e.g. articles or webinars) connected with your future business area. Also, on LinkedIn you can follow your prospective business school’s page and get all the news about admissions, campuses and school life in general.
According to Amanda Barth, the director of MBA admissions at William and Mary University’s Mason School of Business, the university often uses social network sites such as YouTube and Facebook to provide useful information for future applicants.
It’s also nice to remember that you should follow, not friend your future b-school’s employees. Friend requests show personal connection, and if there’s none, it may become a bit awkward – but following is mostly okay and even welcome.
On business schools’ Internet pages, you may find news about future events in university life. It’s also useful for explaining your choice of school during interviews.
Social media are inappropriate places to ask personal questions about students’ applications. It’s better not to ask about whether an admissions officer had read your resume already or what his opinion is of your chances at admission. Tyler Cormney, who had studied at Harvard and was a co-founder of MBA Prep School (an organization that helps candidates increase their chances of admission), says that he would consider such questions “pushy”. For personal information, you should better use live forums, such as the one at BeattheGMAT.com.
Nevertheless, while social networks are very promising sources of communicating with admissions officers and marketing yourself as a prospective b-school candidate, they are not your last resort.
Barth says that students have already noticed that their personal social media pages are being looked through by admissions committees, and that’s why they often go anonymous. Her school at William and Mary University, prefers to speak to candidates in person rather than over the Internet. The university welcomes everybody to visit the school campuses and ask all the questions they want.
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