For years, we have spoken about the five factors in a college search that are in your control: grades and rigor, standardized test scores (SAT, ACT, AP), extracurricular activities, recommendation letters, and essays and applications.
Given ever-changing trends and ever-evolving emphases in college admissions, we are now highlighting a sixth factor in your control: demonstrated interest.
Demonstrated Interest
Colleges carefully select applicants to ensure an appropriately sized incoming class. To increase their yield rate (the percentage of accepted students who choose to accept admissions offers), many colleges will consider applicants’ demonstrated interest. When students show interest in a university, the school interprets this interest as a strong sign that they are likely to attend if accepted. For select schools, this can increase your chances of admission.
According to a 2023 report from the National Association for College Admission Counseling, 15.7% of participating colleges said that demonstrated interest was a factor of considerable importance in their admissions decisions, while 27.6% indicated that it was of moderate importance to them (up from 23.9% in 2019). To find out whether a school considers demonstrated interest in their selection process, check out the school’s admissions website (for instance, Tulane) or contact an admissions counselor.
Or, you can search for the name of the school and “common data set.” Once you have the school’s Common Data Set, look over the chart in section C7! For instance, on the University of Virginia’s Common Data Set, you can see that they do not consider demonstrated interest.
Since colleges only update their Common Data Set once a year, be mindful that colleges are increasingly putting an emphasis on demonstrated interest. If you have any doubt about a college’s policies, you can contact the admissions office directly to ask.
So, what are some ways to show demonstrated interest?
Visit
A campus visit is the clearest way to demonstrate your interest in a school.
Make sure that the school is aware of your visit. In most cases, you can do this by signing up for a tour with the admissions department (for example, here with Tulane).
If you drive through or do an informal visit with family or friends, stop by the campus visitor center if you can and ask to join the mailing list or record your visit.
Alternatively, you can send an email to your regional admission officer to inform them of your informal visit to campus. Take a look at the tools on schools’ websites that can help you find your regional admission officer, like the one on the University of Miami’s website. If information about regional admissions officers is not shared, you can always send a note to the general office of undergraduate admissions at their email address.
Be sure to review the school’s visit website before you arrive to see what opportunities exist beyond the campus tour and information session to engage with the campus. You can also email your admissions officer to see if they can arrange an opportunity for you to chat with a professor or student, or to visit a class or club that interests you. For more tips on making the most of your campus visit, see our blog post here.
After your visit, send a polite and thoughtful thank you note to your admissions officer or to the admissions officer who gave the information session.
Think Local (or Digital)
Many schools offer virtual or local interviews with alumni in your area. These can be informational or evaluative. Be sure to prepare for both kinds of interviews!
For schools holding virtual classes, reach out to your admissions officer about what courses are open to visits or take a look at the admissions website. You may be able to sit in on those classes from any location.
There are also virtual campus visits (read more about those here!), which are another way to reinforce demonstrated interest, even if you have already taken a tour.
Check with your school counselor to find out whether any admissions officers may be visiting your high school, or whether a school you’re interested in is participating in a local or digital college fair. Fill out any forms or mailing cards that an admissions officer has to document your conversation.
Whenever you connect with someone from campus virtually, send a polite and thoughtful thank you email a few days later!
Reach Out Directly
If you have a question that isn’t already answered by the website or marketing material, then email your admissions counselor. For colleges that consider demonstrated interest and are high on your list, convey your strong interest in an email, regardless of whether you have a question.
Not sure how to do this? We have a whole article about it.
Is there a professor whose research fascinates you? Send an email to see if they’re willing to chat. If you do this before a campus visit, you might even be able to meet with them in person or sit in on a class.
Reach out to student organizations on social media to find out more about the clubs or groups you might want to join.
Getting a sense of the school from potential future classmates, roommates, or fellow club members can give you a more accurate picture of what your life may look like than a polished campus tour.
If you reach out to a student or professor, make sure to send an email to your admissions counselor mentioning that you did. Professors and students will likely not report contact with prospective students to the admissions office, so take the initiative.
Digital Footprint
Many colleges track your engagement with their digital presence. They want you to not only sign up for their admissions newsletters, but also open the emails, click on the links, and spend time on the websites. Colleges now have the tools to track this kind of demonstrated interest, so it is a worthwhile investment of time and energy, especially for the schools that place an emphasis demonstrated interest.
Also make sure to follow universities’ accounts on social media.
Your online research will not only help you visualize your potential experience at a school and produce valuable details for your supplemental essays, but it will also send the school a direct message about how interested you truly are in attending.
Conclusion
These strategies aren’t just for you to maximize your chances of admission at schools that consider demonstrated interest—use them as a way to learn more about the school. The more you visit and engage, the more students and professors you speak with, and the more time you spend on the website and social media, the more you’ll be able to envision yourself living and learning on campus.
Still have questions? We’re here to help!
