How Important is Demonstrated Interest for College Admission?
Last Updated on June 28, 2024 by Jill Schwitzgebel
But in fact, most private colleges and many public colleges at least consider how much interest a student has demonstrated in their school. According to the National Association for College Admission Counseling, iabout half of colleges considered student interest to be either a highly or moderately important factor for admission. When you add in colleges that will at least consider interest, that number is even higher. So it’s important to know what students can do to demonstrate interest in order to boost their chances of admission.
Why Are Colleges Considering Demonstrated Interest?
Before we talk specifically about what steps students need to take to show interest, it’s important to understand why colleges are considering it. I touched on it in the first paragraph. It’s all about what is known as “admissions yield.” Colleges know that though GPA and test scores might tell them a little bit about how likely a student is to succeed at their school, they don’t reliably predict how likely a student is to attend and graduate. And that’s where the student demonstrating interest in the college starts to come into play.
When influential college ranking publications became popular, colleges considered what they could do so that they would be ranked more favorably. The rankings generally consider graduation and retention rates, as well as selectivity, so colleges had an incentive to boost all of those numbers. Colleges began to use a more holistic admissions review when they realized that process was more likely to predict which students would attend and succeed, as compared to looking at only two academic factors.
Remember, one way to increase selectivity for college ranking purposes is to increase the number of students that apply. But another way is to increase the number of students that actually enroll after being accepted. And, as the application platforms brought more and more applicants, it was hard to use humans to consider all of these extra factors. So, colleges eventually began to use technology – enrollment management systems with predictive analytics – to try to measure some of the non-academic factors, like a student’s demonstrated interest in the school. Using predictive analytics allows colleges to not only focus their energy on recruiting prospective students, but they can also make educated decisions about which students to accept based on how likely they believe they are to attend.
How Can Students Demonstrate Interest?
So, now you understand why demonstrated interest has become an important factor in admission consideration for many colleges. But what can a student do to prove to a college that they are interested?
Here are some concrete steps that students can take:
1. Visit the Campus
I thought I would start with the obvious. Yes, visiting the campus is one way to show a college that your student is interested. Fortunately, colleges do understand that sometimes that’s just not feasible for students who live far away. If that’s your situation, be sure to show interest in other ways.
2. Schedule an Alumni or Campus Interview
This is a great way to demonstrate interest if your student cannot get to campus. Many colleges will offer students the opportunity to sign up to interview with a graduate, either in-person near their home, or via Skype. Sometimes, they can also interview with a college admissions officer via Skype. But, if you’re visiting the campus and the college does offer interviews, be sure to sign up for one when you schedule the campus tour.
3. Attend a College Fair
Search out the college’s table at a local college fair, so that you can speak to the representative there. Students should have questions ready to ask to demonstrate that they have done a little bit of research about the college ahead of time.
4. Email an Admissions Representative
Each college will list their admission reps on their websites, as well as which geographical areas that each representative represents. Find the one for your area and email them with questions about the school or your possible major or even with questions about your high school schedule. If you have interviewed with the college recently, be sure to follow up with a thank you email and do the same after speaking to their representative at a college fair.
5. Open Email From the College
THIS might be the easiest of everything on the list, but is also probably the least obvious to students. Schools now have a database tool that allows them to see whether prospective students are opening up the emails that they send. Opening the email may not be enough either. Colleges may also see whether students clicked on email links, scrolled through the entire email, and how long they spent on the website after clicking on a link!
Finally…
Not every college cares about demonstrated interest. But it’s fair to say that most do in some way. The most accurate way to find out how much they value it is to visit their admissions website and see what they list as admission considerations.
But, with so many colleges (76% of colleges, and 90% of private, nonprofit colleges, according to American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers) using automated enrollment managers, and with applicants applying to a large number of colleges, it’s obvious that even small actions like opening an email can be enough to put a student ahead in the admissions process. It’s easy to imagine that if a college needs to choose between two students with fairly equivalent GPAs and test scores, each with strong essays and involvement, and one student has visited and interviewed and opened emails, then that student is more likely to receive an acceptance.
Do you know how to use the college Common Data Set to see how important demonstrated interest is to a college? Here’s what to know.
