If you’re in the throes of (or about to start) your college applications, I don’t have to tell you that you’re spinning a LOT of plates at once: finalizing your college list, deciding if you’ll apply somewhere Early Decision or Early Action, writing your main and supplemental essays, securing recommendation letters, and possibly studying and sitting for the SAT or ACT again. Oh, and you’re also hustling throughout to maintain your grades and extracurriculars. Piece of cake, right?
It can be hard to know which of these substantial tasks to focus on—especially when it feels like any of them could be the deciding factor that gets you into (or keeps you out of) your dream school.
Of course, a college prep expert with a decade and a half of experience can tell you definitively which of these items should be highest priority for YOU, specifically! But in the meantime, my blog and YouTube channel bring you free tips every week that apply to everyone. And today, I’m focusing on a part of your application that’s relatively easy to improve…but that could have a SERIOUS impact on getting you more “Yeses” from schools on your list. It’s called Demonstrated Interest, and I’m going to teach you 9 ways to convey it.
Article Contents
1. Video version of this article
2. What is Demonstrated Interest?
3. Why do colleges care about Demonstrated Interest?
4. How to show Demonstrated Interest to the schools on your list
B. 4 quick hacks that are often overlooked
5. Conclusion
Watch this post as a video:
Definition of Demonstrated Interest
In the context of college admissions, showing Demonstrated Interest means you go the extra mile to show the schools you’re applying to that you really, really like them and want to attend their institution.
Why do colleges care about Demonstrated Interest?
Think about it for a sec: if you were an elite college or university—maybe you accept only 5% (1 in 20!) of your applicants—would you want to extend one of your few acceptances to a student who’s impressive on paper…but isn’t all that passionate about your school, and has a bunch of other colleges competing for them, too? Or would you rather bank your school’s admissions statistics on a given applicant who’s likely to say “yes” back to you if you accepted them?
If *I* were an admissions officer at a top-tier university, and I were really agonizing over which of two comparably excellent candidates I should accept, I’d pick the one that I could count on to 1) actually accept my admissions offer, and 2) fill a clear role on my campus once they matriculated.
After all, a college campus is like a quilt of interwoven people, interests and activities, and I’d want MY institution’s quilt to reflect a diversity of designs and colors. In other words, my goal as the shaper of a school’s student body would be to create a well-rounded campus. Note that that does NOT mean that a given student should be well-rounded. Instead, it means that my campus will include star basketball players who win titles, AND exceptional violinists for the orchestra, AND competition-winning roboticists for the Engineering department. The admissions committee wants to bring a wide variety of superstars to their campus so that all of the teams, clubs and departments thrive.
And I’m more likely to be able to assemble that well-balanced campus if I believe the applicants I’m accepting are likely to actually commit to my school. If I offer acceptances to a bunch of blasé students who are all “maybes” at best, then it’s hard for me to know which campus needs I can count on filling with the next freshman class. So I might end up with a class of ONLY Computer Science majors and no one to help run Psychology studies.
So, now that you understand WHY showing Demonstrated Interest can be the tie-breaker that opens the doors to your dream school, the next obvious question is:
How Do I Show Demonstrated Interest to Colleges on My List?
Best ways to show colleges you care
I recommend checking all of these boxes for all of your schools in order to send a clear signal. Of course, if you truly can’t make them all happen, doing some is better than doing none!
1. Visit the campus.
The more time and effort you can expend to show that you’ve done your research and feel you’re a good fit, the more believable your request for admission will be! If at all possible, see if you can physically take a trip to the schools you really want to attend. There’s so much more to a given school than what shows up on paper/on a computer screen: when you step foot on campus and actually chat with students or sit in on a class, you’ll really get the “feel” of the place.
Make sure to take notes during or immediately after your visit. Jot down your thoughts and feelings and any relevant details, like the names of the people you spoke with, the buildings you visited, and the classes you sat in on. Visiting campuses will help your “why this school” supplemental essays seem way more genuine, too!
2. Take a tour (in person or virtually).
Obviously, if you’ve already carved out the time to travel all the way to your dream school, you might as well take a tour while you’re there. Not only will the tour guides give you a fuller perspective on the campus and answer your questions…but also, the college will have a record of the fact that you signed up and attended the tour! If you really can’t make it in person, most colleges created virtual tours during the COVID pandemic and still offer them.
3. Go to an information session.
If your dream college offers an information session—where you’ll get to hear a presentation about the institution and then ask questions—attend it! Several colleges have these sessions pre-recorded, so you can simply watch a YouTube video from the comfort of your couch. Others might be virtual (or in person) events that only happen at specific times. Whatever is offered, don’t skip it.
4. Talk to the college’s rep.
If you’re able to attend a college fair, or if your dream school’s regional representative visits your school, make the time to talk to the people from the schools on your list. Make sure to introduce yourself and get their name and contact info. Even if you think you know everything there is to know about the campus and its academics, ask questions. The real, live human you’re talking to may remember your excitement and go to bat for you later on in the admissions process. (Also, if they give YOU a white piece of paper (an “inquiry card”) to fill out, do it! This is how they’ll put your face to your name long after their visit is over!)
5. Sign up for an interview if it’s offered.
Not every college holds interviews, but if your dream college does, make sure to opt in. Remember: whenever there’s an “optional” task, you’re going to look all the more committed if you put in the extra effort to do it.
4 quick hacks that are often overlooked
Next, here are some smaller ways that you can ALSO show Demonstrated Interest. A lot of people don’t know about these items! And while they may seem minor on an individual basis, they can add up in your favor pretty quickly if done right.
6) Have you visited the college’s website?
As a child of the 21st century, you’re aware that everything we do online can be tracked and measured. And visiting your dream college’s website is the same! Colleges can tell if you’ve visited their website, and how often. A bit unsettling, right? Well, might as well use that creepiness to your advantage! Make sure you actually start researching your dream schools and reading and exploring their sites. Not only will the admissions office know you’re really interested, but YOU’ll have a better understanding of whether they really are a good fit for you!
7) Do you follow the college on social media?
Same premise here as in #6! If you have X, Facebook, Instagram or TikTok accounts, make sure to follow your dream school’s profiles, and like and comment on their posts! (But before doing that: make sure YOUR social media profiles are squeaky-clean, i.e., that you don’t have anything compromising in your past photos or posts! One option is to use just your first name, or a pseudonym, on your primary account—the profiles you use to interact with friends—and then create a separate, rated-G profile that does use your full name. That SECOND, 100% wholesome profile is the one that you’ll use to “follow” and “like” colleges’ content.)
8) open the emails the college sends you!
I know this tip once again makes it sound like Big Brother is watching…and that’s because he is! The service colleges use to send emails to their listserv will be able to show the sender exactly who opened each email. And yes, colleges review that info! So, if you want to show you’re truly invested, make sure you promptly open any and all emails you get from your dream school. And if you’re not receiving emails from them? That means you need to log on to their website and sign up for their newsletter ASAP!
9) Do you click on the links in said emails?
Also super creepy is the fact that said email service provider can track whether you opened the links in the emails you read! So, when you get an email from College X, open it promptly, AND click on the links. The links will likely take you to that school’s website, which means you just completed to-do items #6, #8 AND #9 in one slick move ;)
Conclusion
So, that’s how you convey Demonstrated Interest and boost your admissions odds. And here’s the cool thing: the same actions you would take to show Demonstrated Interest to a university are the same actions you should take in determining if you even WANT to attend in the first place! So you have almost nothing to lose and everything to gain from checking the boxes on this list.
While showing Demonstrated Interest can improve your chances when admissions officers are making close calls between relatively equal prospective students, it won’t take the place of excellent grades, great SAT or ACT scores, or fantastic application essays. If you need help in any of these areas, I’ve got good news: I have extensive expertise in all of them, and may have availability to work with you one-on-one.
