<p>Or does it have no impact at all? My reasoning is that colleges want to know you're looking for them too, but I have no clue. Would it hurt to ask a lot of colleges for info?</p>
<p>If you look at the Common Data Set for each college, you can glean some info on this. Search for “Common Data Set” and the college name (there might be a more efficient way, but that is how I do it). There is a section that shows the emphasis each college gives on different factors. One of them is something like “Student Interest”. In general, the more prestigious the college, the less they care about this… I guess because EVERYONE is interested. Also, many state universities don’t look at student interest, they have more of a “formula” they use for admissions. But I don’t see how it can ever hurt to ask. And for a college that says that student interest matters, it could be a tiny bit of help. However… I would suggest you figure out some method for storing all the mail you will get if you request info from a lot of schools. :)</p>
<p>Other ways to show interest are visiting campus, attend any sessions by the college at your high school, going to in-town receptions the college holds, and requesting/having an interview if they offer them. Again, some colleges care, and some don’t.</p>
<p>One suggestion I have seen out here is to have the student set up a free email account (like gmail) with a very logical name (eg, for John Wilson, he might set up something like JWilson2013 or something like that, just not “JWlovepuppy” or something unprofessional). Give password to your parent, and JUST use it for college admissions stuff. Give it to the colleges when you sign up for info, put it on all applications, etc. That way your parents don’t miss a lot of stuff in your regular in-box that they would like to see (financial aid info, for example). We did NOT do this, and I wish we had for my second kid (my super disorganized one).</p>
<p>it doesn’t always help, but it never hurts</p>
<p>If you’re doing this to look better for college admissions, then just requesting info (from the colleges that care about demonstrated interest) may not be enough. If they send a rep out to a college fair then you should attend. If they offer you an alumni interview you should go. If you are relatively near the college then you should visit.</p>