“A recent piece by the Wall Street Journal reports that colleges are using data mining—tracking email open rates, link clicks, website visits, and social media engagement—to inform whether or not a student gets accepted or rejected. Colleges use these data to track ‘demonstrated interest,’ or the applicant’s enthusiasm about a particular college. Demonstrated interest can be a predictor of yield—the likelihood that students will attend the college if admitted.” …
There was another thread on this and it was determined that since a lot of parents have portal access, it was because of them logging in the kids got in :D.
I have told my kids and others some combination of the above. I think the more you know about a school like their mission statement and moto, classes they offer etc , the more effective essay you can write. If you meet with a professor etc you can use that in the essay as well. Worked for my kids.
Sure, let’s create more neurosis. This is beyond ridiculous to me.