Using your social media to your advantage
Did you know that there is value in creating your social media presence? Not only does it allow you to post your art but it also allows you to follow schools, and when you can't visit a school in person, following them online is the next best thing. Here are some tips to help you use social media to your advantage:
Create a social media account for your art, separate from your personal account (which you may want to keep private)
When you post tag schools you might be interested in, they may follow you back, and then they may watch the art you are posting, and they know you are watching them (queue demonstrated interest).
When you follow a school you can see the type of art they post and like, giving you direction for your portfolio.
Following the art department at a larger university is another source for the research you need to answer that pesky "why do you want to go to our school?” supplemental essay.
You can see how schools handle difficult situations like blizzards, hurricanes, social conflicts, COVID, etc. helping to inform if this is a community you wish to join.
Some schools now ask in the application process if you have a social media account. You don't have to have one but it you do it is another way for them to learn more about you, so make that experience a positive one.
If you have a personal social media account, without strict privacy settings, make sure your account is "clean." As we tell students, "if you don't want it on the cover of your local newspaper, or it would embarrass your grandmother" maybe it isn't what you'd want schools to see either. This advice holds through to when you are accepted and when you attend college, schools have rescinded acceptances, and dismissed students based on social media posts.
Bonus for students who are working with Laura McFaden, our Art Coach, she posts student work on her Instagram and often tags National Portfolio Day and specific schools who might be interested in you. When they see these posts they often check the student's Instagram as well, giving them more fantastic exposure.