myUface Blog

Facebook can be a great resource to research U.S. universities.  In this post, we’ll go through how you can use Facebook to get interesting and unique information about U.S. colleges and universities.  It’s very easy.

First, sign into Facebook.  If you don’t have an account you can easily start one, even if you’re only going to use it to do this research.  (QUICK NOTE: If you have a Facebook page already, be careful about what you put there.  A lot of U.S. universities are using Facebook to do research on students who apply.  More about this in a later post).

Second, go the the “Search” box and type in the name of the university you’re researching.  A few different resources should appear:

1. The university’s official facebook page. Most universities have an official facebook page at this point.  Generally, this is going to be the least useful thing you can find on facebook, since most of the information will come from the university website, which you’ve probably already been to.
2. Student groups and networks. There will probably be many different groups and networks for a particular university.  Looking at these groups – reading the message boards, for example – will give you a very interesting look into the kind of students that go to a particular university.  You will also see the different kinds of groups associated with a particular university.  For example, there might be a group for athletes, or a group for students of foreign languages. Now, do NOT jump to conclusions about a university based only on these student groups. Facebook will provide you an interesting pictures of student life at a university, but remember, it’s just a picture – it isn’t the entire reality.  Also keep in mind that most of these groups will be focused on social life.  If you see a lot of posts about parties, don’t assume that all students do at the university is party.  They certainly study as well . . . they just don’t write about it on Facebook.
3. Alumni groups and networks. Perhaps the most useful resource will be alumni groups for the particular university.  Looking at the alumni groups will give you a sense of how students who graduated from the university view their overall experience.  It will also give you some hints as to how graduates of the university are doing professionally.  Alumni groups are more useful than student groups, in my opinion, because they are generally a little more serious.  Also, a large an active alumni community is a sign in itself of a quality university experience.

But by FAR the most useful aspect of facebook in terms of university research is the connection it gives you to students and alumni.  If you politely brefriend them, chances are they’ll be more than happy to answer your questions about the university.  And information from students and alumni is just about the best kind of information you can get.

The bottom line is, don’t underestimate the value of Facebook when doing your research on U.S. universities.  It is a very powerful and useful tool.

For your consideration: Have you checked up on universities on facebook?  What kind of pages or groups did you find?  What, if anything, did it tell you about the university?

Posts in this Series

1. Conclusion - How to Choose a U.S. University - 02 Jun
2. Activities Around a University Campus - 01 Jun
3. Check Out U.S. Universities on iTunes U - 26 May
4. Extracurricular Activities - 25 May
5. Get to Know Your Potential Professors - 21 May
6. Don't Forget Your Life! - 20 May
7. What Do You Want to See in the U.S.? - 19 May
8. How Many International Students go to your Chosen University? - 18 May
9. The Problem with University Rankings - 17 May
10. Using Facebook to Research Universities (This post)
11. Look at the Surrounding Neighborhoods When Looking at a U.S. University - 13 May
12. How Weather Should Factor Into Your Search for a U.S. University - 12 May
13. Looking for a University in the United States: Cost of Living - 11 May
14. Looking for a University in the United States - 10 May

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Tags: facebook and universities, how to use facebook in your university search, International students in the U.S., research about study in the U.S., using facebook to research U.S. universities

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 14th, 2009 at 3:23 am and is filed under Choosing a Program, Choosing a University. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.