In recent years, this has moved to Instagram, GroupMe, and probably some other channels, too. It's hard to know who is behind the class accounts/groups, but we know it's not us. Some of them are even charging students $10 to post their pictures, claiming to help with roommate searches. So here's the deal...
1. UVA did not create any of the class accounts on social media.
Verify any information shared with official sources. Call us! We're open during business hours and are happy to help.
2. UVA Housing has a secure, private roommate search feature in their system.
You can answer some questions to build your profile and then search for people based on how they've answered questions. The class isn't final yet (the deadline to reply to an offer is midnight on Friday night), so there are many potential roommates still to join you!
3. Be careful about sending your image and personal information online.
When you send your image and biographical information to a third party you no longer have control of it.
Last year, some group started selling tickets to a "Welcome Week" party on Instagram. The party didn't exist. The website for the party was registered in Iceland and I'm sure they were selling these tickets to students at lots of colleges.
There are two Facebook groups for parents that I know for certain got started by UVA parents. One is called UVA Parent Network (12,000 members) and the other is called UVA Parent Discussion Group (5,900 members). I am not in these groups and can't speak to the conversations there.
The new "parents and families" Facebook groups were created by people who have hundreds of similar accounts for colleges around the country. They might be tied to a tutoring company, but I'm not certain.
