There are a few schools that I would love to go to, and demonstrating interest would help (I think). Unfortunately, I can’t visit them. Is there any way to demonstrate interest besides social media? Does demonstrated interest matter at all?
I’ll be frank — I don’t know much and I’m certainly no authority on the subject. Still, having read others’ posts, it seems that many colleges track whether or not you open their emails and follow the enclosed links, they note it if you email them with a question or two about a particular program, or if you follow up on college visits to your school. Some schools take demonstrated interest into consideration; others don’t. You should probably look into the various institutions you plan on applying to in order to make sure. Good luck!
Some ways to demonstrate interest other than visiting:
- Get on the mailing list
- If the college gives a presentation near you or at your HS you should attend.
- If the college attends a college fair near you then try to attend and visit the school’s booth
- Request a local alumni interview if they are available
- Some colleges have online question & answer sessions so if available you can participate in those
- If you have a question that can’t be answered by carefully reading the website you can email your admissions rep to ask.
- Read up on the school (website, college guide books such as Fiske, Princeton Review) so if you do contact someone at the school and if you have to write a “Why this college” essay in the supplement you can be knowledgeable about why the school appears to be a good fit.
To determine if demonstrated interest matters for the schools you are considering google the common data set for each college and look at section C7.
Look at the Common Data set for the school and see how they rank “visits”/demonstrated interest. I think visiting helps, when possible, but you can show interest via contact with the assigned regional admissions rep, attending regional/local college fairs where the school will be present, attending local information sessions or info sessions if the college visits your HS too.
That being said DD2018 was just accepted at 2 schools that say they like to see “demonstrated interest” and she has never officially visited or spoken with/contacted the admissions rep. So, go figure, who knows if it really matters.