Now go ahead…Google yourself. According to careerbuilder.com, 35 percent of employment recruiters have come across compromising info that caused them not to hire a candidate. Like employment recruiters, Admissions Committees members are also likely to use Google and Facebook to dig up skeletons in your closet. Given that Admissions Committees frequently have medical student members, you are very likely to be searched for at some point during this process.
When you Google, look for text as well as images. Ask friends whose tagged images of you appear on Google to kindly detag you or remove the image; it will take weeks for a Google search to reflect this change. If you cannot bear the thought of deactivating your Facebook account completely (my recommendation for the duration of interview season), at least change your name or buff up your privacy settings.
Additional tips: Sign up for Google alerts, which informs you when your name comes up on a search. Socialmention.com and samepoint.com also allow you to search social networks, which Google may have missed.
