A Macalester rep visited my school but I did not attend the meeting because I just recently added macalester to my list.
I’ve heard Macalester does not take demonstrated interest into account, so would my absence at the meeting hurt my chances?
No. If they don’t care about demonstrated interest, they won’t have recorded attendance at this meeting and attached it to your app file - or if for some reason they did your absence won’t be a problem.
Macalester does post its Common Data Set, so research whether it considers interest rather than rely on what other people have said. In any event, it never hurts to get on mailing lists, follow a school and its admissions office on twitter etc.
I have already looked at the common data set and it says not considered. I was asking this question to see if that is really the cases in people’s experiences
@luluspencer77 That means they don’t consider demonstrated interest. Don’t worry. A college won’t report a lie on a common data set report, that is highly unprofessional of them do so.
I think if you have any questions, just reach out to your regional admissions counselor. But they won’t take it as a sign of demonstrated interest if it’s not considered or tracked. Reaching out is to inform you with any lingering questions you have.
A college has no reason to lie on its common data set.
It won’t hurt you not to visit – especially from NY. At the same time, LACs are building a class of students who will contribute to the culture of the school. Learning about the school through means other than visiting is important to being able to write a good supplement etc. If alumni interviews are available, request one. Follow the school on social media, get on the mailing list, see if Admissions is doing any college fairs in the vicinity – events where many schools attend.
I don’t know much about the demonstrated interest question, but I will say that Macalester went way above and beyond any other school my kid applied to in terms of answering our questions, from in-depth to mundane. This applies to all offices, not just admissions. We live in NY and had to do most of our evaluating of Macalester from afar. It was their quick and personalized service that won us over, and daughter started there in the fall. So - that’s a long way of saying, if you have any questions for them, even if you think they are small or will be perceived as unimportant, ask away.