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Social Media Can be an MBA Admissions Asset
By Chris Hassan
Posted May 08, 2012 07:35 PM
MBA students advised to use social media.If applicants to Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree programs are not careful, their Facebook profile or personal website may keep them from getting into their preferred schools. These individuals could even be ideal candidates - until an admissions committee stumbles onto something questionable.
While some MBA degree seekers may close their accounts on social media websites before applying to business schools, a presence on these platforms has the potential to help students before they begin their studies, according to Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Everything from a Facebook profile to a blog can provide deeper insight into what a candidate is truly like beyond what their application materials say about them.
At Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management, admissions officials visit applicants' Facebook page to learn more about their personality and interests, Consuela Knox, senior associate director and diversity recruiting manager, tells BusinessWeek. This, in turn, helps the school determine who will fit in best at Vanderbilt.
The admissions committee at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School looks beyond Facebook to get to know prospective students a little better.
"Admissions officers will access websites to verify information contained in the application or to learn more about a company or organization referenced in the file," Julie R. Barefoot, Emory’s associate dean of MBA admissions, tells BusinessWeek.
However, in order for business school applicants’ online presence to be an asset to them, it needs to be professional and include nothing that will raise eyebrows. This means no inappropriate profile pictures, according to Barefoot.
Katherine Alford, assistant director of admissions at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, tells BusinessWeek that being authentic is also important. The candidate that is under review by MBA programs should be the same person that admissions officials will read about online.
Social media can also become a powerful resource for MBA degree seekers over the course of their studies, especially when it comes time to begin their job search, the Chicago Tribune reports. With so many individuals around the world using LinkedIn, many business schools now encourage students to become more active online.
"There’s just no question that networking is the number one tool for anyone today to continue to develop their careers," Gary Bergmann, assistant director and senior consultant for MBA and alumni career services for Boston University’s School of Management, tells the Tribune. "LinkedIn is just absolutely the number one resource to allow them to do that."
