<p>Some colleges do care about demonstrated interest, but no college (well, hopefully no college) is foolish enough to expect that anyone and everyone can drum up the time and money to visit campus. If it is a small school, and you live within an hour or so, you <em>might</em> be given a demerit for not getting out to campus. But if you don't live within a couple of hours, and/or if it is discernible that you might not be rolling in dough (that means anything from going to a poor urban/rural public HS, to working many hours a week, to not living in an obviously wealthy area), even at a school where it demonstrated interest does play a role, you will not be penalized. </p>
<p>What anyone really needs to worry about with the term "demonstrated interest" is how you come across in your application. Whether you visit or not, it is important to show that you have researched the school and are serious about wanting to get in and attend this school. Schools don't really want you to prove that you have enough money and time to make it to their campus before you apply--they just want to know that if they accept you, you will honestly consider coming, that this isn't just another application for you. Coming off like you don't care about the school is how qualified and overqualified applicants can get themselves into hot water--not by not visiting (again, unless you live at a fashionable and expensive Manhattan address and can't be bothered to get out to, say, Poughkeepsie to see Vassar, for example).</p>
<p>Colleges do have travelling show near your home town, that is another way to show interest. I know Brown, MIT, Yale were here in June. We missed it for a good reason.</p>
<p>The only school that I am aware of that specifically said that they don't care about who visits was Princeton. They actually made that announcement before the tour. I also know that Columbia, Penn and Yale (as well as all other non-Ivys that we visited) all got the names of the prospective students on their tours.</p>
<p>You can "show the love" by going to the touring "dog & pony" shows or by visiting with any reps that come to your school. If you can't do that or if they are not coming to your area, at least get on the website and ask for information.</p>
<p>wow I totally agree with many of you. Interest is definately important at the top elite schools like WashU regardless of what they say. For example, I applied to the University of Chicago. I, however, due to my strenuous schedule didn't have a chance to visit the school nor get an interview planned. When I sat down to write my Why Chicago essay, I was at a loss of words because there wasn't one particular reason why I wanted to attend. Schools definately admit students that demonstrate interest. In the situation of Chicago--although they may 'consider' the interview/visit, it actually gives a props up on the essays...something to talk about I guess. Essays are listed as "very important" for Chicago. There you go. I even called them and asked how I could have improved my application. The answer? Why didn't you show enough interest in us? They basically said... your why chicago essay was weak.</p>
<p>For the most part, state universities don't worry as much (if at all) about interest...they have no shortage of applicants and, also, they tend to be more "cut and dry" with the admissions process (obviously this is a generalization). If you're applying to "Average State U" and it's nearby, though, it sounds like this is your safety school. If that's the case, I would definitely recommend a visit regardless of whether or not it might boost your application, simply because it's very important that you're comfortable with attending your safety (and if you find that you hate it, there are plenty of other schools out there that you could still research).</p>
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Care to make a list of colleges that track interest? (Please!!!)
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<p>Northwestern records visits in their admissions office, their campus is a huge selling point so i think they want to encourage people to see it.</p>
<p>Just an anecdote about Northwestern: I didn't visit or even do an interview in my town, and I was admitted. If you can't visit, things will be okay.</p>
<p>In the "Freshman Admission" section of the CDS, under "Basis for Selection," there's a list of factors the college considers in admissions, with a scale for how important each factor is (very important, important, considered, not considered). You can look up what each school says about the importance of demonstrated interest (which isn't necessarily limited to visiting). I've read that some schools track student phone calls and emails as indications of interest, as well. Washu isn't incuded in the most recent CC list, unfortunately - it would be very interesting to know how they categorize themselves on the interest issue.</p>
<p>I think you can infer from the website and mailings how important interest is to some schools. It makes sense that smaller private schools would place more emphasis on this - that's been my strong impression throughout three college searches. </p>
<p>One school that told us immediately it did not consider interest was UNC-CH.</p>
<p>At BC, we did not sign in and they told us they did not keep track of visits. Some schools keep track, others do not. I think schools that are yield-conscious consider it as a sign of interest.</p>
<p>Honestly, do you think a huge school like Michigan can keep track of everyone who visits? Not a chance! I bet only the small(er) schools do this.</p>