Colleges Snoop on Applicants' Online Lives

A quarter of colleges check applicants' social networking pages or run their names through search engines, according to a new report. The colleges didn't say whether their online findings could make or break an application, but the study's authors believe overly candid online postings have the potential to sink one's chances. "No school wants to give a prestigious scholarship to someone standing on a beer keg and wearing a lampshade," said its author.

A director of the counselors' association told the Los Angeles Times that the takeaway is clear: "Don't post anything that you don't want your mother or father or college admission officer to see." (More admissions officers stories.)