<p>If a school states in their common data set that it does consider demonstrated interest and you are more then several hours away, there are ways to do this without setting foot on campus. Get on their mailing list, attend the information session when the rep visits the high school, look for local info or alumni sponsored nights in your area, contact your regional rep to see if they do local interviews, see if there are departmental mailing lists for your area of interest, etc. There are schools that use holistic admissions where this doesn’t matter an iota. There are schools that track visits where this doesn’t matter (they are following their marketing $'s). There are schools that are notorious for WL’ing students that live within 3-4hrs drive that never bothered to visit. There are schools that are notorious for ‘show us the love’! Start with the common data set, and ask on the schools forum here on cc. If you search this forum there are even previous threads discussing this. There are ways to find out.</p>
<p>Here are some previous threads:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/944214-schools-care-about-demonstrated-interest.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/944214-schools-care-about-demonstrated-interest.html</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/457783-demonstrated-interest-what-colleges-really-want-you-show-them-love.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/457783-demonstrated-interest-what-colleges-really-want-you-show-them-love.html</a></p>
<p>*note the dates on these threads so it’s always good to check, schools can change somewhat, but the discussions are still valid for guidelines.</p>