In addition to reviewing transcripts, essays and test scores, some college admissions officers look at whether prospective students have shown enthusiasm and curiosity about a school during the application process.
In the admissions world, this is what’s known as demonstrated interest.
In a 2017 report from the National Association for College Admission Counseling, 13.7 percent of colleges surveyed rated demonstrated interest as having considerable importance in freshman admissions decisions. Another 25.5 percent said it was of moderate importance.
[Explore a complete guide to the college application process.]
College admissions experts say schools consider demonstrated interest to try to better predict which applicants will enroll if admitted.
“It’s certainly a factor, but it’s not the factor that will warrant admission for a student,” says Andrea Felder, assistant vice provost for undergraduate admissions at American University in the District of Columbia.
Prospective students can ask a college whether demonstrated interest is something it considers, Felder says. For AU the answer is yes, but for other schools, such as Emory University in Atlanta, Princeton University in New Jersey and the University of Georgia, the answer is no.
Perhaps the most well-known way for prospective students to show interest is by touring a college’s campus and attending an information session. But college visits can be expensive and time-consuming, which is why some education experts believe the use of demonstrated interest as an admissions factor favors wealthier applicants.
Stefanie Niles, vice president for enrollment management at Dickinson College, a liberal arts school in Pennsylvania, toured three institutions in Ohio with her son during a recent weekend. Associated costs included hotel rooms, dining out and gas for the car. Niles also took a day off of work.
“Not every family is able to do that,” she says. “So we recognize that the college visit process is fraught in many different ways.”
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Dickinson considers demonstrated interest, but Niles says a campus visit isn’t the only way for prospective students to show their enthusiasm.
Here are seven additional actions students can take to demonstrate interest in a college or university.
1. Meet with an admissions officer during a high school visit. Some colleges dispatch admissions officers to high schools to talk with students and answer questions. A high school’s counseling office will often share information about upcoming visits, Niles says.
2. Go to a regional college fair or information session. These events are held at different venues, such as high schools, libraries and conference centers. They offer prospective students another opportunity to meet with admissions representatives without having to travel too far from home.
And it never hurts for students to follow up with a thank-you email after a college fair or similar event, says Aviva Legatt, founder of VivED Consulting, a Pennsylvania-based college admissions consulting firm.
3. Attend a webinar. If in-person events aren’t accessible, a college may offer online alternatives.
For example, AU hosts webinars that offer general information about the school and others that focus on financial aid, Felder says. The university tracks the prospective students who join a webinar.
4. Participate in an alumni interview. Some colleges enlist graduates to conduct interviews with applicants in their hometown.
Prospective students can typically find out if a college offers alumni interviews by checking online. Or they can contact the school’s admissions office to see if this is a possibility, Niles says.
5. Reach out to an admissions officer. Students shouldn’t email a college’s admissions office every day, experts say. But Felder says reaching out with questions about the school and whether it would be a good fit is another way students can demonstrate interest.
Niles says she also encourages students to be honest with admissions officers about factors that may be preventing them from visiting campus. “We recognize that families are busy, students are busy, there are financial limitations,” she says.
Admissions officers can work with prospective students to find other ways to get them any additional information about the school they may need, Niles says.
6. Open emails from the school. Niles says her school and many others use a database tool that tracks whether applicants have opened emails sent by the institution. She says these digital interactions, or lack thereof, can help reveal a student’s level of interest.
7. Apply early. Many colleges and universities offer early decision and early action options. Prospective students can submit their application by earlier deadlines and then find out if they’ve been admitted sooner than their peers who applied via regular decision.
[Find answers to frequently asked questions about applying early decision.]
However, when students apply early decision, they are making a commitment to the college that if they are admitted they will enroll. Early action, on the other hand, is typically not binding, meaning students are still free to consider other schools.
Applying via a binding early decision program isn’t the right choice for every applicant, experts say.
“If finances and being able to compare financial aid packages is going to be a concern, we would encourage students to wait until our regular decision timeline,” Felder says.
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What ‘Demonstrated Interest’ Means in College Admissions originally appeared on usnews.com
