{"id":381862,"date":"2026-08-26T19:06:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T19:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/381862\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T19:06:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T19:06:13","slug":"a-look-inside-ums-social-media-screening-during-admissions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/381862\/","title":{"rendered":"A look inside UM\u2019s social media screening during admissions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As the University of Miami\u2019s impact on social media only continues to rise, social media is quickly becoming more of a factor in college admissions.<\/p>\n

A handful of students came to the University already social media stars, and once they arrived began posting beautiful views of campus, discussing the nightlife and others causing political controversy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But did UM know about these students\u2019 platforms before they were admitted?<\/p>\n

For the fall 2026 cycle, UM received 54,218 applications. While most college admissions officers rarely have time to review every applicant\u2019s social media presence, they will do so if prompted \u2014 which could happen through third-party disclosure, the press or publicly-available information.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe University of Miami does not routinely search or review applicants\u2019 social media accounts as part of the undergraduate admissions process,\u201d the University of Miami Admissions said in a statement to The Hurricane. \u201cIn rare instances, when specific information relevant to an applicant\u2019s admissions record is brought to the University\u2019s attention, admissions staff may review publicly available information to better understand the matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Kaplan\u2019s<\/a> 2023 college admissions survey, 28% of officers say they have checked applicants\u2019 social media, and 67% say it is \u201cfair game\u201d for an applicant\u2019s social media to be reviewed during the admissions process.\u00a0<\/p>\n

UM has been coined as an \u201cInfluencer School\u201d by publications like The Washington Post<\/a>. The University of Miami Admissions states that students may include social media platforms and influencer status as part of their extracurriculars, and many applicants have done so.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

An educational consultant who specializes in crisis management, Hanna Scotland has encountered many instances of students\u2019 social media being brought to light again, sometimes for the worse, such as through another peer \u201csnitching.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always been people tattling on each other, rightly and wrongly. That\u2019s not new,\u201d Scotland said. \u201cBut this generation has kind of perfected it and I have seen it in my practice going back a long way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scotland explains that colleges are sometimes notified to conduct a social media search because another individual has disclosed something to them.<\/p>\n

\u201c2020 is the year that it completely took off. Everybody was in their parents basement with nothing to do. Three years ago, you said something offensive in the group chat and I\u2019m going to tweet it at your college,\u201d Scotland said. \u201cDon\u2019t assume that things are private because there\u2019s a small group and these are people that you trust. That is a good thing to keep in mind whether you are doing something wrong or not.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The best practice to follow, according to Scotland, is not to post on social media, or even send to small groups, anything you\u2019re not okay with being on the cover of a major publication.<\/p>\n

She states that many times, when an officer is prompted to look more into a student, they may search the applicant\u2019s name online to see what comes up. Usually, an individual\u2019s LinkedIn and Instagram profiles appear, along with any press they may be in.<\/p>\n

UM shared a similar sentiment, stating that any publicly available information may be searched by admissions officers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One notable case that Scotland wrote about in Slate Magazine<\/a> was the Kyle Kashuv case. He was admitted to Harvard University in 2019, but his acceptance was later revoked when racist comments he had made in a shared document and in text messages two years prior resurfaced.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSome punishments are appropriate, fair, proportional, well considered,\u201d Scotland said. \u201cIn his case, he\u2019s using the N-word. There\u2019s not a close call as to whether that\u2019s wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other cases Scotland has seen, the social media platform will automatically flag something as inappropriate or unsafe.<\/p>\n

Snapchat, for example, is a major social media platform that many teenagers use to send and take pictures and videos. Scotland reflects on a time when one of her clients, a 15-year-old girl, was chatting with some of her close friends about a potential snow day at their high school. The girl had said that there better be a snow day or else she would \u201cshoot up\u201d the school.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Scotland says the student meant it as a joke to her friends; however, she didn\u2019t know that Snapchat automatically monitors what its users say and do on the app. Consequently, Snapchat notified law enforcement. The girl ended up going to school the next day, where there was a lockdown and she was marched out by law enforcement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Scotland explains that it can be very subjective whether one person considers a post or comment just immature, while another may see it as a reflection of the applicant\u2019s character.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course there\u2019s levels of severity, whether someone is just sharing the fact that they drank a beer underage versus something like using the N-word, which, for many readers, we\u2019re going to say that goes to your character,\u201d Scotland said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Scotland says that colleges, especially more selective ones, are looking for well-rounded students who are ready for college and who know how to act right before they step on campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdmission is selective and offered to those applicants whose credentials are academically sound and whose interests, aptitudes, and preparation reflect a well-rounded secondary school experience, inside and outside the classroom,\u201d The University of Miami Admissions website states.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A 2019 study conducted by Kaplan<\/a> found that \u201cOf the admissions officers who checked applicants\u2019 social media profiles, 38% said what they found had a positive impact on their decision to admit students, while 32% said it had a negative impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many students post things without thinking much about it and don\u2019t expect it to become part of their college admissions. However, students must remember that anything they do online may be uncovered or traced back during their college admissions process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the University of Miami\u2019s impact on social media only continues to rise, social media is quickly becoming…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":381863,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-381862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381862\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}