Previously, high school seniors would find out where their friends were attending college from word of mouth, but things have changed: nowadays, seniors can find out where their friends are headed just by scrolling through their Instagram feed. 

Masters adapted to this new “norm” a few years ago, hence the @mastersseniors2020, @masters2021college, and @masters2022decisions Instagram accounts. On these accounts, seniors have the option of sending the account admins a message saying what college they will be attending, and this information gets posted along with a photo (usually a baby picture) of the senior.

This past fall, Class of 2023 Co-Presidents Tyler Hack and Aimee Ayala knew that they would need to bring up the idea of creating an Instagram page for their grade. Though not inclined to do it, the class presidents knew that this discussion was inevitable. At a class meeting in November, before early decisions came out, they did a gradewide poll with three options: not starting an account at all, starting an account and posting after winter break or starting an account and posting when all decisions are out after spring break. 

The majority of their grade picked the second option, but wanted to start the account then (before any regular decisions came out), so that was what they did. Ayala and Hack didn’t believe the account was necessary, but they started it nonetheless. “I was hesitant to start posting, it felt hurtful to post someone’s decision to a school where I knew others didn’t get the same result from,” Ayala said. 

As of May 15, the @masters2023decisions account on Instagram had 89 posts from the 129 kids in the soon-to-be graduating class. 34 students had opted out of submitting their decisions to this account. One of those students was Nat Attwell.

“I just don’t see the point in advertising your college,” Attwell said.  “People will probably judge you without ever meeting you. I think the college process is not a quantifiable ranking of a person’s ability.” 

Despite following the account since it came out, Attwell has chosen to not send his decision, nor include it in his Instagram bio. Attwell said,  “I like to keep my decision private, I’d rather tell people in person myself where I am going to college instead of them having an image of me that is colored by the name of the college I will be attending.” 

Despite the potential harms of the account, senior Kuorkor Ashie is in favor of the account and posting for her friends’ college acceptances. 

Ashie said, “I think it’s a great way to praise and recognize the hard work that we’ve all put in these past four years and to see where your classmates are going and their next destination because we’ve been with these people for a while at their next destination.” She continued, “Whether I know the person or not, I always get really happy when I see a new post, because I am aware of all the hard work that went into that decision” 

There are some observed benefits to the whole community when it comes to having a page with college decisions. Sophomore Gabriela Olay has found the page to be rewarding when she sees where older friends have gotten in. “I would say that it’s much easier to find out online from a post where my peers are going than having to bother them during such a stressful time in their life,” Olay said. She continued, “It makes it easier for everyone when I don’t have to go up to them until I can congratulate them.”