Juniors are just approaching college application season, as seniors are in the homestretch. As Junior Zehra Krvavac said, “Social media tends to remind me that college applications are just around the corner, which makes me want to become more prepared.”
Annie Lombard, a junior committed for rowing at University of Virginia, said she has seen the effects of social media throughout her commitment process. “I think it impacted me in both a positive and negative way,” she said.
Lombard said social media helped her better understand team chemistry when searching for schools. “I would see what their practices look like, and how fast the team was, and how productive they were,” she said.
She also shared how looking at teams’ social media pages influenced what she thought her role would look like at different schools. “I would see schools posting like inside of practice either not putting in a lot of work or being way too harsh. Sometimes seeing this would make me feel like, ‘Oh, I wouldn’t fit in at this school.’”
Junior Kennedy Sindelar is also going through the commitment process for rowing and has noticed the impact of social media. She said,“It is helpful seeing other people going through the same application process online.”
Senior Alizay Kashif said that social media has definitely impacted where she applied, and while it can create insecurity, it’s exciting to see other students’ hard work pay off. “I feel like decision posts are more than just decision posts. They’re kind of like a reflection of how you’ve worked for the past four years,” she said.
The presence of college acceptances on social media not only gets students excited for their friends but has them looking forward to their future too. Junior Lya Brenner said that seeing the social aspect of college portrayed on apps like Instagram makes her eager for her college experience. She said that seeing Tiktoks about girls’ sororities rushing, and advertising fundraising events makes her excited to do the same.
Similarly, Sindelar said, “I’ve been seeing a lot of my friends recently committing for rowing. And it makes me feel really excited.”
But, students also feel pressure accompanying their anticipation. Sindelar explained that
along with the excitement for her friends, she feels a pressure on how she will compare during her application process.
Senior Kashif said, “I’m happy for the other students, but then at the same time, I want to have that for myself too.”
This sense of comparison also persists in the academic form as well. Junior Remi Fleishmann said that seeing posts of other people’s extracurriculars, activities, and grades makes her feel like she is underperforming. “I think that some people are posting unreal expectations that may be very hard for an average person to meet,” she said.
Brenner elaborated on another aspect of college that she sees portrayed on social media. She explained how she saw college counselors on Tiktok and how this made her feel. “They tell you you’re kind of not doing enough and it stresses me out,” she said, and Brenner isn’t alone in this feeling of not doing enough. Lomard also mentioned the inferiority she feels comparing herself to other student athletes online.
Lombard said that social media makes the application process “More stressful, because you see yourself compared to all of these other athletes and students that actually go there, and you feel kind of inferior to them.”
Clearly, the process of applying to college is constantly changing with the influence of social media, and students at Lane have noticed the impact. Social media can be a constant reminder of college decisions and applications. Students are coming to terms with the anxieties introduced by social media, and learning to find the bright side. As Brenner said, “it makes me feel like I’m not doing enough”, but “it also inspires me, and it motivates me.”
