<p>So, as many of you know, once you give the collegeboard or any other college-related organization your email and mail , you start getting flooded with letters and emails from many schools. Is responding to these letters and emails and subscribing to the "learn more information about the college" option considered "showing interest"? If it is, does this help admissions for any top-notch school? I know schools like WashU love interest, but does this exactly count?</p>
<p>I doubt that turning up the SPAM spigot gets credit for showing interest.</p>
<p>Yes, but don’t they want you to be like part of their mailing list, as well as go to their events?</p>
<p>No, your email address was sold to colleges in an effort to increase applications and lower admittance rates.</p>
<p>It’s my understanding demonstrated interest is from visiting, requesting brochures, and sometimes directly calling/emailing admissions. We all know those spam emails aren’t initiated by the student, so I couldn’t imagine an admissions counselor saying “hmm, they were an admit, but I see here they disabled receiving our emails after the 15th message in as many days…DENY”. It just doesn’t make sense to consider that as interest, unless you signed up yourself.</p>
<p>being part of the mailing list is not the actual interest I am talking about. It is physically responding to it (“it” being signing up for the event that the spam is advertising, or checking the “send me more about this college” option).</p>
<p>It’s possible. Most top-notch schools don’t care about interest because EVERYONE is interested.</p>
<p>are there any noteworthy schools that care more than others (besides WashU lol)? Also, if EVERYONE is interested, is not showing this interest putting you a step behind everyone else?</p>
<p>Using Harvard as an example (<a href=“http://www.provost.harvard.edu/institutional_research/CDS2010_2011_Final.pdf[/url]”>http://www.provost.harvard.edu/institutional_research/CDS2010_2011_Final.pdf</a>, section C7), no.</p>
<p>Some schools do care about showing interest, mainly colleges that are concerned about being treated as safety schools. But at this point in the college process, you should focus on getting more information on the schools that stand out to you regardless of whether or not that will help your application. Look into schools that you like, and when you’re a senior make a list of school that you would be happy going to. If you do this, colleges will see how genuine you are in your desire to go there and that will make your application better.</p>