[FUN_Mail] Question on grad school applications

Gizerian, Samantha sgizerian at vetmed.wsu.edu
Wed Oct 18 15:50:35 EDT 2017


Hi Meg,
I teach seniors in their final semester so we talk about these things a lot.  My advice to students is always to keep their personal social media to themselves, including setting their privacy levels so that only the people they want to see their posts can see them.  In reality, if a school or employer wants to see their social media activity, all they have to do search in the various platforms to see any public posts, regardless of whether the student volunteers the information.

However, if a student has a social media account that is more geared toward their professional life, like LinkedIn, or a research/volunteering focused social media account, I usually advise them to share those with potential grad schools or employers.

Sam

_____________________________
Samantha S Gizerian, PhD
Clinical Assistant Professor
Associate Director for Undergraduate Studies
Dept. of Integrative Physiology and Neuroscience
College of Veterinary Medicine
Washington State University
Pullman, WA 99164-7620
sgizerian at vetmed.wsu.edu<mailto:sgizerian at vetmed.wsu.edu>
509-335-0986

WSU STUDENTS PLEASE NOTE: Per WSU policy, I am only able to respond to emails sent from your official WSU email address.  I will not be able to respond to emails sent from your personal email address as of the first day of your first semester as a WSU student.

From: FUN_Mail [mailto:fun_mail-bounces at lists.funfaculty.org] On Behalf Of Meg Upchurch
Sent: Wednesday, October 18, 2017 12:43 PM
To: Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience Mailing List <fun_mail at lists.funfaculty.org>
Subject: [FUN_Mail] Question on grad school applications

Dear fellow FUN members:

A student in our program is applying to neuroscience graduate programs and has found that some of the applications provide spaces where he can paste links to his social media accounts. I and my fellow faculty members are surprised to see this and we wonder about the optics -- will he look as if he is trying to hide something if he doesn't post links? On the balance, we feel that asking for the links is getting a little too personal for an academic application, but we're curious about how other mentors of undergraduates feel and what kinds of advice you might give.

Thank you for your responses,
Meg Upchurch

--
Margaret Upchurch, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology
Program Director for Neuroscience
Transylvania University
300 N. Broadway
Lexington, KY 40508-1797
(859) 233-8252
mupchurch at transy.edu<mailto:mupchurch at transy.edu>
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