Student visa applicants advised to tread lightly as U.S. expands social media vetting

Counselors who work with foreign students eager to attend college in the U.S. are advising them to purge their social media accounts of posts that could attract the attention of U.S. State Department officials.

"Any new student who comes on board — especially an international student who doesn't have a U.S. passport — we would be going through their social media with them and talk to them about what they are saying on Snapchat, in group chats," said Kat Cohen, founder and CEO of IvyWise, an educational consultancy firm for college admissions. "Because, if the information comes off as being radical or anti-American in some way, it is not going to help them."

The focus on international students' online profiles follows a new push by the Trump administration to scrutinize social media a