American Universities and Colleges on Social Media: What Information is Out There?

Social media platforms are proliferating. Free and increasingly sophisticated technological tools like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter offer easy access to information about colleges and universities in America – and both colleges and students are trying to take advantage of the trend.

One of the more positive things that graduate schools do in the social media space is to post content about faculty research and what their students are doing. Facebook is responding to this trend with the launch of “Groups for Schools” which will allow only those students (current and prospective), faculty and staff members with a valid “.edu” email address from their schools to sign up and join the group. Using these groups admissions departments can reach and attract prospective students by posting admission information, answers to frequently asked questions, and relevant articles.

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Great Ways to Build Your LinkedIn Profile

  • Keep adding contacts. After you have added all the relevant contacts from your email list (the first step when you join LinkedIn) send requests to connect to:
  1. Teachers whose courses you are taking. Those with a good standing in the field are especially desirable as contacts.
  2. Project guides (internal and external)
  3. Teachers and professionals who you consult about seminars, research papers, curricular projects and those for competitions etc.
  4. Classmates in college who share your academic/professional interests (keep touch with the others on Facebook)

These steps will help you build a large network in a short time. Start this process now while at your college here in India and continue when you join your American university. The contacts that you make at your American university during internships, while working on projects, research or papers are likely to be among the most useful and important ones you make.

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