There are some schools that explicitly say that showing “demonstrated interest” (ie campus visit, etc) helps in the admission process, while some schools (such as most Ivies, Stanford) explicitly say it doesn’t help at all.
Can people comment on each of the schools below?
Carnegie Mellon
Tufts
Johns Hopkins
Northwestern
Notre Dame
U of Michigan
Duke
Wesleyan
Swarthmore
U of Rochester
UVA
Vanderbilt
Rice
Georgetown
Boston College
You can find your answer by searching for each school’s Common Data Set and looking at section C7. For example, here’s the CDS for Carnegie Mellon and it indicates that demonstrated interest is important.
https://www.cmu.edu/ira/CDS/pdf/cds_2016-17/c-first-time-first-year-admission.pdf
You can find this on the College Data site. On the Admissions tab, look for the “Level of Applicant’s Interest” in the Selection of Students section.
U of Michigan takes it into consideration. Demonstrated interest is important there.
BC does not but even so I think it’s always good to have introduced yourself to your rep if you can.
While schools often say that they don’t take it into consideration, if a school is your top choice, it can’t hurt to check off that box for them. If it’s possible to take a tour, do so. If you can’t you can demonstrate your interest by visiting with a rep when they come to your area for a college fair. You may also ask for an alumni interview in your area, if the college does those. At the very least, make sure that you go online and fill out the form requesting additional information. Also, you can email admissions NOT EXCESSIVELY asking thoughtful questions about your intended programs and/or other things that they DO NOT ALREADY HAVE on their website. One or two emails like this will go into your file and count as demonstrated interest. If you’re a stalker, that will also go into your file. So be judicious and thoughtful.
In general, Ivies and the like don’t care- they know you want to go to their school. But smaller LACS and schools that may feel they get used as a “backup” for Ivies kids (for example, Georgetown) will like to see demonstrated interest.
Actually, Georgetown claims demonstrated interest is not considered. I do agree with @Dustyfeathers that it can’t hurt regardless but, since it is info readily available on the internet, best to do your own research.
BTW, that is a very top heavy list. Do you have other less reachy schools you are looking at?
They’re hoping to find you match, that you’ll fit and thrive. That’s more than, yup, we took a tour or meeting the rep. Think about it. Know what the school is about, not just rep or they have your major. Write your app and supps wisely.
Of course, the Ivies and Stanford care how you know them.
To the OP…why do you want to know this?