Teens changing Facebook names to hide from colleges

Posted in 21st century parent
by Lorain County Moms

By Lois Solomon, OrlandoSentinel.com/momsatwork

Have you noticed your teen has a new name on Facebook? As they start applying to colleges, they realize that photos of them partying in compromising positions are not going to impress admissions officers. So they are changing their names to make it harder for colleges to find them.

A kid whose last name is “Grossman” will change his Facebook last name to something like “Yuckman,” or if her last name is “Ellis,” she’ll change it to “Ellis Island,” so she is still recognizable to friends but not to an investigating admissions officer.

I was curious whether colleges really spend time checking applicants’ Facebooks, so I asked Naomi Steinberg, owner of Apply Yourself Educational Consulting in Boca Raton, Fla. Here’s what she said:

“High schoolers will always try to stay a step ahead of their parents. Now they are showing their prowess by staying a step ahead of college admissions folks. Ask any senior in high school what his or her Facebook name is and you will find that they have morphed their FB identity into something slightly peculiar and mysterious that only their ”friends“ can figure out.”

“Why bother with this? The latest survey from Kaplan Test Prep found that 24 percent of college admissions officers had visited an applicant’s Facebook page to learn more about them while 20 percent ‘Googled’ an applicant. It is clear that a student’s online reputation is subject to review in college admissions (and in their next phase of life, they will revisit this when applying for jobs). Students and parents should expect that trend to increase.”

“As parents and advisors, of course we should be encouraging kids to make good choices and maintain favorable online reputations. In reality, we know we cannot monitor and control every move they make, every photo they or their friends take, and what they have in their hands when the photo is taken.”

Steinberg said the seniors’ real names magically reappear once they get their acceptances.