LinkedIn and College Admissions

LinkedIn and College Admissions September 28, 2012 There is an article out today in US News World Report about LinkedIn and college admissions. Authored by Menachem Wecker, the article discusses a new feature on LinkedIn in which folks can endorse the skills of others. For instance, if you think that a former employee was a very good programmer, you can endorse that former employee on LinkedIn as a skilled programmer. Apparently, according to the US News World Report article, users can add up to 50 skills on their LinkedIn profiles. LinkedIn and college admissions are two different worlds. There is no need to have a LinkedIn profile as you seek to gain admission to highly selective colleges. The Founder of Ivy Coach, Bev Taylor, is quoted in the article with regard to the value of this new feature in highly selective college admissions. And by value, we mean valueless because this new feature will have no impact on highly selective college admissions. LinkedIn is for job seekers. Its for folks who work. Its not for teenagers who babysit on a summer evening or lifeguard at the local YMCA. Endorsements of skills on LinkedIn are as meaningless to college admissions counselors as an endorsement from your states senator who has never met you. That doesnt impress college admissions counselors and, in fact, can hurt your candidacy. Just think about it from the perspective of a college admissions counselor: This kid thought Id be impressed by an endorsement from Scott Brown? Has Scott Brown even met this kid? No. Oy vey. So dont do that. You dont need to have a LinkedIn profile as a high school student. What kinds of experiences are you going to listthat youre a member of Key Club? Give us a break. LinkedIn is for the working world. It has nothing to do with college admissions and thats the end of the story. While youre here, check out this post on Social Media and College Admissions.