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Law School Admission Officers Are Checking Facebook Walls

By Cynthia Hsu, Esq. on November 02, 2011 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

It seems that law school admissions officers should be given a new title: Facebook stalker.

Yes, the obvious has occurred. The workers in charge of admitting and denying potential applicants are now scouring social media platforms like Facebook in order to glean personal information from would-be attorneys.

Maybe they just figure that looking at your Facebook page will provide a more truthful answer to some of the questions they'd like answered. Like, for example:

  • "Do you do illegal drugs?": Some law school applicants forget to take down the smiling photo of them posing with their bong.
  • "Do you actually work hard and study?": A cursory glance at a Facebook page rife with comments about how an applicant can't even wake up for a noon class might be indicative of a slovenly work habit.
  • "Are you a decent person?": This can be answered quite easily if a check of an applicant's page shows updates about how they've just paid someone to take the LSAT for them.

And in fact, law school admissions officers are an especially nosy bunch, according to the Kaplan Test Prep survey. The survey revealed that 41% of law school admissions officers Googled applicants. 37% scoped out an applicant's Facebook page.

Compare that to the paltry 20% of college admissions officers and 27% of business school officers that said they Googled potential students. Less than 25% of college and business school admissions officers admitted to checking an applicant's Facebook.

There must be something special about law school admissions that make workers want to check out a future lawyer's private lives. So applicants, consider taking down offending photos. And upload some non-offensive ones.

Maybe add some of you studying at the library. Take that studious photos and make that your profile photo. And remember to look contemplative, studious, and honest.

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