Demonstrated Interest and College Admissions: Tips for Genuine Demonstrated Interest (3 of 3)

What is demonstrated interest? What do colleges do with the data they collect about prospective students’ demonstrated interest? Most importantly, how (and why) should prospective students approach demonstrated interest as they search and apply to colleges? In this 3-part series, we’ll explore demonstrated interest and how prospective students can approach this college admissions trend that seems to be here to stay.

You may be a little lost without the background knowledge of demonstrated interest from the first article and challenge to examine your “why” for pursing demonstrated interest in the second article. Check them out then rejoin us here!

In the first 2 posts in this series, we’ve learned what demonstrated interest is, how colleges may or may not utilize it in the admissions process, and, most importantly, how it makes sense for students to engage in demonstrated interest. In this last post, we’ll learn tips for how to demonstrate interest to colleges.

Demonstrated Interest: Simply and Effectively

• Sign up for college’s communication systems: by subscribing to college communication systems( i.e. a prospective student newsletter, a listserve, a blog, following the college on their social media) you are demonstrate interest by requesting more information and to continue to receive news and updates from the college. This is a ‘win’ for you in 2 ways: you get more information about the college and you demonstrate your interest!

• Communicate: by email, through your portal account, and in-person.  Quality over quantity here. It’s important to be respectful of your regional admissions representative’s time, be intentional in your questions and statements, and practice good email etiquette. The questions you ask should be ones not easily answered on the college’s website. Bonus points for working in comments about real, genuine ways you are a good fit for the college.

• Explore the college’s website for programs of interest to you: by spending some time online learning about the parts of the college that are appealing to you (and going beyond the general, introductory pages), you’re demonstrating a deeper interest in what’s happening at the college than a simple, surface level website visit.  

Demonstrated Interest: Going More In-Depth

• Attend a college representative visit meeting: When your college’s representative comes to your high school to meet with students, be there and sign in or complete an interest card. This regional representative is very likely to be the first reader of your application, so it’s very helpful for them to be able to match your face and your conversation with your name and application!

This regional representative is very likely to be the first reader of your application, so it’s very helpful for them to be able to match your face and your conversation with your name and application!

Note: Contact the college representative if your college is visiting but you are unable to attend. By contacting the representative directly, one student I’ve worked with was invited to join an alternative session held at a local coffee shop in the evening. Another option, if you have an exam or other reason you cannot miss class time, is to stop by the meeting location during passing time (before or after class) just to make in-person contact and ask a question or two. Of course, attending the entire visit is best, and coming on-time and prepared. But providing context for your absence, showing that you are aware of the visit and sharing your high interest in the college despite your schedule conflict can be important.

• Visit college’s booth at a local college fair: plan to stop by the college’s booth to talk with the college representative there. When you talk with a representative, and sign in or scan with your contact information, you’re building a connection with your representative and providing evidence that you’ve visited the booth in the college’s database for demonstrated interest.

• Apply Early Action (EA) (the non-binding one): Applying early tells the college that you like them and have worked to prepare your application for admission early because you are excited about what they offer.

• Request an informational interview: If you are truly interested and prepared to make the interview time worth your (and the college representative’s) time, requesting an interview and then bringing your genuine, prepared self to the meeting can show true demonstrated interest. Some colleges require an interview for admission or may recommend an alumni interview or optional interview. Do your research ahead of time to know what is required for your college. This interview will be a valuable opportunity to sit down with your admissions representative or someone familiar with the college to share more about yourself and to obtain more in-depth information about the college’s programs, culture, and other offerings. Be prepared!  

Demonstrated Interest: Showing Deeper Interest

• Visit campus in person: From many conversations with representatives and professional conferences where admissions offices present information, visiting (or not visiting) campus sends a college a strong message about your interest level. (For example, if you live within a few hours’ drive from the campus, but haven’t visited, how interested could you truly be?) Be sure to schedule an official visit to make sure your visit is tracked in the college’s database. Most colleges have online registration options for official visits—usually available on their admissions site or a page dedicated to visiting campus—so you can register prior to the visit date.

Note: Like with college representative visits above, contact your admissions representative if you are not able to visit the campus in person. Admissions representatives are not looking for petty excuses, but if you are unable to visit due to an extreme family situation or financial trouble it’s valuable to share those reasons. Not being able to visit because of a single parent’s serious health condition, because your parent lost their job, etc. can be helpful context for your representative to have in understanding where you’re coming from. Also, the representative may have recommendations for virtual tours or other programs that their office can offer to you remotely.  

• Apply Early Decision (ED) (the binding one): Applying ED tells a college you really, really, REALLY like them. This is because of the ED Agreement that you, your parents, and your school counselor all sign off on. The agreement states that you’ll enroll if you are admitted. Remember: ED is to ONE college only, and it really, truly needs to be your #1 and only top choice. (This level of demonstrated interest also applies to Restricted Early Action and Single-Choice Early Action policies where students are bound to choosing only one college.)

Demonstrated Interest: Final Thoughts

It’s no secret that college admissions are complex. Even so, high school students have many ways to approach their own college admissions journeys. From my experience working with students, families and college admissions representatives, the most ideal approaches to college admission are authentic and are taken as a learning, growing experience for the individual student applicant. These types of approaches not only lead to success, but are beneficial and straightforward for all involved.

Understanding how your actions and information are tracked by college admissions offices can help you understand how your application may be viewed and compared with others. My hope is that this brings you a sense of confidence and understanding as you move through the college process. You may choose to add a “demonstrated interest checklist” for each of the colleges you’re applying to, based on your own interest level. And remembering that not all colleges consider demonstrated interest in admissions decisions. But always remember: if you are genuinely interested in a college, you will demonstrate interest naturally and intuitively, without the need for a checklist or additional work.

How is your college admissions journey going? Interested in learning how I can help to support your goals and journey? Let’s chat.

Further Reading: If you’re interested in more ways that you can show demonstrated interest, check out this article by Ethan Sawyer, better known as The College Essay Guy. Inside Higher Ed talks about it here, too. To hear it from someone in college admissions, you can check out Tufts blog post about demonstrated interest.