You toured a college but didn’t sign in at the admission office – do you need to tour again “on the record” to show demonstrated interest? https://www.collegeconfidential.com/articles/should-applicant-revisit-when-college-tour-was-off-the-record/
I completely agree with the article. And definitely important not to ask questions of the rep that are easily answered on the school’s website.
We once went to a college tour where my son checked in using his first name. He mentioned this to me during the tour. It was a crowded tour and he has a common name. This school is in his top 5 so at the end of the tour we went back to admissions and he went to the receptionist to make sure that he was on record for being there. Turns out they purposely have kids sorted by first names, so he checked in the right way and yes he was on record. That was a first.
You can check a college’s Common Data Set and see whether demonstrated interest is considered and how much it is considered. For the top tier colleges, demonstrated interest is typically not considered. After all, they are the top colleges and who wouldn’t want to go there? For the rest, it many times a consideration.
Find out if the college uses level of applicant’s interest in admissions (Common Data Set section C7) before panicking about showing interest.
Also, if the student will apply ED, that shows the highest possible level of applicant’s interest anyway, well beyond the usual expressions of interest like having a recorded visit.