<p>What if they don't have ED?</p>
<p>Ham, maybe your teacher or guidance counselor recommendations might be able to suggest, if it is in their view the case, that they are happy to write a recommendation for your ed application because they are aware of all the levels on which this school seems a great match for you. You can't tell them what to write, but you can and should make them aware of how you spend your time in addition to academics, and they may be concerned enough to ask you why you are interested in making an ed application. When asking them for the courtesy of a recommendation, you can at least briefly explain your excitement about this choice. </p>
<p>Monkeaone, this applies for rd as well.</p>
<p>As far as showing interest, although as many people here have said, most colleges especially top Ivies/LACs do not take this into account, I for one went to every information session that said an admissions officer would be present for many of the top schools I was applying to. At the end of each session I always made sure to go up and introduce myself to the person (sometimes I remembered to bring a little "business card" that I could give them). Idk if it helped but if it happens to be the one to read your app. and they HAPPEN to remember your name then you never know!</p>
<p>PBoland, I would suggest you apply early for GATech as it will automatically make you eligible for the Presidential Scholars program.</p>
<p>^I've done that, although I didn't have cards. I know it sounds suck-up-y, but having questions about the school if the rep takes questions (in a small meeting at your school or if there are many colleges that break up into smaller groups) is often a good idea, even if all you gain is information. Sometimes they introduce themselves personally to you and ask you your name. Name recognition when they read your app may be all it gains you, but it's more than nothing.</p>
<p>what if it is an EA school? how then?</p>
<p>Ham: you really, really are looking for something that just doesn't exist. You're pretty stubbornly looking for an answer other than the one several posters have given you. The answer is the same. They track NO level of interest among applicants. Early Decision is the only nudge you can give your app -- but of course it's a binding contract.</p>
<p>If you visited campus and sat in on a course in your major that you really loved and met with the professor, and then you wrote about this in some part of your application, I would think they would appreciate that.</p>
<p>Actually, I was about to post a thread like this. I have a definitive first choice, but my parents think it is unwise to apply ED because you "limit your options." When I talked to someone from admissions, they said that the biggest deciding factor in admissions is your enthusiasm about the school. I already did the school's pre-college program, and I'm flying up in a month to interview, but how on the application can I get across that it is the perfect school for me and that it is my ultimate first choice, that I would gladly forfeit any other school to go there WITHOUT applying ED?</p>
<p>i wonder if it would be appropriate to actually say that outright on the application somewhere? Though they may not take it seriously.</p>
<p>Places like HYP don't care if you're interested. They know they are already so amazing that they just need to exist and their yield rates stay super-high.</p>
<p>There are even schools that SAY they take demonstrated interest into account, but the numbers last year didn't bear that out....(check out the admissions threads from the schools that "supposedly" count demonstrated interest if you don't believe me)</p>
<p>Hindsight is 20/20....</p>
<p>ED is the only way to show demonstrated interest</p>
<p>mp153, maybe you and your guidance counselor can convey your overwhelming enthusiasm to the admissions officer from that school who is in charge of your area.</p>
<p>ED is obviously your way of saying I love you.</p>
<p>For RD, a place like Darmouth which might get passed over by top applicants who get into HYP, it might be a little benefical for them to think they are #1 for the right reasons.</p>
<p>But not too needy; it is like a courtship after all; you don't want to seem desperate.</p>
<p>Not true. I'm sure Yale loses several EA admits to schools like Harvard and Princeton in RD.</p>
<p>some schools like American university say demonstrated interest is just as important as SATs and your transcript...lol</p>
<p>baelor and kara, what about brown? it lists interest in the school as one of the most important things???</p>
<p>but yep, ED is the best--if anything else, mention specific programs that you found interesting, and maybe something important you saw on your tour of the school. anything unique or specific you can add into your application helps.</p>