<p>I'm not applying early because I have to do my SAT IIs and I want a mid-year transcript available for evaluation. Stanford, regardless, is my top choice. How would one demonstrate interest in attending through, say, essays?</p>
<p>I'm sure the fact that you're applying demonstrates that you are interested in attending.</p>
<p>They've said on their website that they don't consider demonstrated interest at all; even if you've visited campus three times they don't care. They assume that if you're applying, you're interested and that's good enough for them. Their yield is high enough that they know any offers of admission they make will be considered seriously. </p>
<p>It probably couldn't hurt to demonstrate interest through your essays, but Stanford really seems to want to get to know the applicant through the essays. So maybe you'd just be better off talking about yourself rather than using that space to talk about why you want to go to Stanford when they don't really care how much interest you demonstrate.</p>
<p>You don't need to "demonstrate" your interest in any special way. The schools that look for "demonstrated interest" are schools that are afraid to be used as safeties by "overqualified" students. Stanford is arrogant enough to assume that everyone will want to go there if given the chance ;).</p>
<p>Its not arrogance just statistics :P</p>
<p>Sounds reasonable. It actually occured to me that Stanford might not care at all since so many of their applicants end up enrolling, but a thought popped into my head: Perhaps the reason the yield is so high is because they've cared somewhat about how likely their applicants are to attend? Just a guess, but that doesn't seem to be the case.</p>
<p>Nah, I really don't think they care about demonstrated interest at all. I always hear about some people who had their sights set on an Ivy or some other top school and weren't seriously considering Stanford but just applied for the heck of it. Then after they're accepted, they go around asking people for info on Stanford because they don't really know anything about it. It sucks when those people get in and people who have Stanford as their #1 choice don't, but that's just how it works I guess.</p>
<p>Actually Stanford looses a lot of Students to Harvard Yale Princeton and MIT so I'm guessing that they probably don't look at interest.</p>
<p>I would contend that Stanford, and all top schools, look at demonstrated interest. Visiting the school is irrelevant. What only matters is whether it is your top choice or not. Apply SCEA does not guarantee that. It is also hard to express strong interest inside the confines of the application. Update letters, extra recommendations, etc. would be useful for that purpose. </p>
<p>It is a sometimes-used tactic that students will guarantee that they will attend the school if admitted. This is often used in update letters after deferrals and waitlist situations. That is demonstrated interest, and it is significant. </p>
<p>Now where it is significant is in certain situations. "OMG I LOVE THE CAMPUS" and "I HAVE LOVED STANFORD SINCE I WAS 4" will not help, and might detract, from your application. But a top candidate expressing strong interest in Stanford, who might otherwise have gone elsewhere...I assure you the admissions committee will take that into account. How could they not?</p>
<p>What is the best way to convey demonstrated interest then?</p>
<p>There are several ways:</p>
<p>The best would be to somehow guarantee you will attend if admitted. This helps more the better the applicant you are, as it has more value. This also helps the most in an RD app, obviously, or in the situations described above.</p>
<p>Is there a specific program at Stanford that you want to do that is unique to Stanford, or at least rare? Make that clear on the application. </p>
<p>The easiest, of course, is to apply SCEA.</p>
<p>Which I said I couldn't do . . . . </p>
<p>I do want to do engineering there, though, and the school is ranked very high in that, so I could use that easily in an essay topic. My GPA's not the best compared to their 3.9 average (it's not low, either, though), so perhaps it would look less likely that I'd be admitted to other schools that selective?</p>
<p>Mursasaki- they really don't care. They won't be looking at your app wondering if you'll accept their offer. They'll be looking for a reason to accept you over the 20,000 other people that want to attend.</p>
<p>Stanford doesn't record student visits, or even give interviews. Essays are very important, as are recommendations. Make sure they're sterling.</p>
<p>The Stanford essays are an opportunity to show your personality, and that is what they are looking for. Don't waste any portion of your essays on "demonstrated interest."</p>
<p>ASAP - I believe they made me sign in when I visited.. But I might just be remembering wrong. You also hafta fill out contact sheets.</p>
<p>When I visited campus, I didn't go to the admissions office or their Discover Stanford program since they said they didn't care about demonstrated interest on their website. Later I got paranoid though and called the admissions office telling them I visited campus but didn't go to the admissions office, and they emphatically told me that they don't consider demonstrated interest at all and don't keep track of who visits, so it didn't matter. It's kind of weird that they make you sign in at the admissions office and fill out contact sheets when they say they don't care, but eh. I just hope they're not lying. I know quite a few people who had never visited Stanford before they applied who got in though, so hopefully it really doesn't matter that much.</p>