College-bound Gen Z is choosing a school based on how it will look on TikTok

There are so many reasons for choosing where to attend college, but for the TikTok generation, the deciding factor is how aesthetically pleasing campus life will be.Gen Z is basing its decision for higher education based on how well it can be documented on social media platforms like TikTok.Morgan McGuire, a college-bound content creator, told Teen Vogue that she’s considering her behemoth following of nearly 770,000 when choosing a university, taking the campus aesthetics and extracurriculars into consideration.She admitted that she often prioritizes TikTok content over everything else — even sleep.“I feel like doing my content … it just feels more important because I care about that more,” the high school senior said.Tyjai Jackson — an 18-year-old who boasts over 78,000 followers on the app — has also crafted her entire schedule around making online content.“I would literally wake up at 4:00 AM every single day just to make a couple of TikToks before I had to leave for school,” she told Teen Vogue of her high school routine.“If you really want to be an influencer or whatever, it takes consistency.”A recent survey of Gen Zers revealed that 57% of the young generation aspire to be influencers, a full-time career that can pay their bills — or tuition.So far in 2024, Teen Vogue reported, McGuire has raked in $81,000 from both brand deals and the Creator Fund on TikTok, which she is using to invest in a retirement fund and pay for her education.Creator Peyton Mikolayek, who is now a freshman at Johns Hopkins University, received $7,000 for just one sponsored video as a high school senior, a phenomenon that is not uncommon, according to industry insiders.Max Elk, a senior talent manager at Grail Talent, told Teen Vogue that high schoolers can make “incredible” money from social media “because they have something these brands want”: a platform with a colossal following.College-aged influencers around the country are dominating TikTok, r...