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At their core, college admissions officers have a good deal in common with seventh graders. While they may not share the same hygiene issues, burgeoning rebellious spirit, or general awkwardness, thirteen-year-olds’ minds are often dominated by one critical question鈥攖he same exact question that keeps college admissions officers up at night鈥攄o they “like me” or do they 鈥渓ike me-like me”? That’s right: College admissions decisions aren’t always solely based on which students are most qualified to attend. At many schools, admissions officers also factor in which of those most qualified students are most likely to attend. This is called demonstrated interest, and it’s what we’ll be digging into in today’s blog.

What is demonstrated interest?

“Demonstrated interest” is synonymous with “student interest.” Whether it’s directly stated in an essay or implied via a campus visit, “demonstrated interest” is an aggregate of all the ways that you, the student, show a college that they are high on your list.

For admissions officers, the ways in which you’ve demonstrated interest can serve as a critical signal of intent. Depending on what steps you’ve taken, that signal may be subtle or quite strong.

Think about it this way. Let’s say both Olivia and Kevin are applying to Northern University. They have similar grades and test scores as well as strong teacher recommendations; admissions officers could see both students succeeding in NU’s curriculum. However, admissions officers factor demonstrated interest into their decisions, so they decide to take a look at how Olivia and Kevin have engaged with the school.

Kevin “liked” Northern University’s page on Instagram and signed up for their email list. He’s clicked on a few emails. However, he didn’t take the opportunity to complete Northern University’s optional “Why Us” essay, and he hasn’t visited campus in person or virtually.

Olivia has made a campus visit, during which she also went to an information session and sat in on a class. She connected with a Northern University admissions officer at her high school’s college fair, and followed up with the officer afterward via email. And her completed “Why Us” essay made it clear that she’s a great fit for NU鈥攁nd NU is a great fit for her.

Although both students have demonstrated their interest in Northern University, Olivia’s enrollment intent is much higher than Kevin’s. This makes her application more appealing to admissions officers.

Why do admissions officers care about demonstrated interest?

A very important part of an admissions officer’s job is to make sure the school meets its enrollment and tuition revenue goals, and they are under enormous pressure to do so by May 1st of each year. According to Inside Higher Ed‘s 2023 , admissions professionals at 71% of schools were between “moderately” to “extremely” concerned about meeting their target numbers, a concern that wasn’t unfounded. Ultimately, only 60% of schools met their enrollment target by July 1st 鈥� 37% did not. EAB’s 2024 reported similar numbers 鈥� 57% of enrollment leaders met their goals, and 43% did not.

If a college overshoots its enrollment goals, it will be dealing with potential overcrowding and resource management issues. If it undershoots, it will need to scramble to accept more students (this is where the waitlist comes in).

As you can imagine, there is a lot of data analysis that goes into determining the percentage of students who will most likely enroll if accepted, a number that is also known as a college’s yield rate. The higher your yield rate, the more secure you can feel about the students you accept. And the best way to have a high yield rate is to admit students who you suspect are highly motivated to actually enroll at your college over all of their other prospective schools. How do admissions officers determine which candidates are most likely to enroll? Ding ding ding 鈥攐ur friend demonstrated interest.

Where is the evidence that demonstrated interest matters?

For starters, we can look to the Common Data Set to see if a college evaluates demonstrated interest during the admissions process. The Common Data Set, which is a standardized collection of data and information about a college, will also tell you whether demonstrated interest is “very important,” “important,” “considered,” or “not considered.” Depending on the degree of importance, you can tailor your demonstrated interest strategy accordingly.

Need further evidence? The found that 16% of colleges and universities assign “considerable importance” to demonstrated interest during the admissions process; another 28% of institutions rated it as being of 鈥渕oderate importance.鈥� Add these two groups together, and the percentage of schools that strongly value a little attention from applicants is 44%. Amazingly, this is a higher figure than colleges report placing on the college interview (13%) or class rank (28%), and just below extracurricular activities and teacher recommendations (both 51%).

Do all colleges consider demonstrated interest?

No. Colleges with massive applicant pools and high yield rates, like the Ivies, MIT, Caltech, Stanford, and Duke, typically do not consider demonstrated interest. Quite simply, they don’t need to鈥攖hey have more students than they know what to do with who are willing to do whatever it takes to enroll if accepted.

Colleges with lower yield rates are more likely to consider demonstrated interest, particularly if they employ a more holistic admissions process.

Here’s a sampling of colleges and their demonstrated interest policies:

How can I show colleges that I’m interested?

Hopefully, we鈥檝e convinced you that this whole 鈥渄emonstrated interest鈥� thing is worth your time. Now, you’re probably wondering: How exactly do I go about convincing a college that I 鈥渓ike them-like them”?

Below, we highlight nine ways to show your prospective colleges some much-desired affection. We’ll start with the least labor-intensive and progress from there. As with our example of Kevin and Olivia (above), you’ll want to mix-and-match low-effort and high-effort items for the greatest impact on your admissions prospects.

9 Impactful Ways to Demonstrate Interest

1. Request information.

Just about every college in the world features a page on its admission website where prospective students can request general information, subscribe to the college鈥檚 newsletter, and/or indicate academic programs/activities that are especially appealing. Sometimes, you can also sign up for departmental newsletters.

You can complete this short task by visiting the admissions website for each of your prospective colleges. Alternatively, you can simply Google the college’s name and the terms “request information” or “join mailing list.” Check out these examples below:

• Amherst College –
• Georgia Institute of Technology –
• Pomona College –

2. Engage with emails.

When you complete the aforementioned information request form and start receiving emails, don’t banish them directly to the trash. Some colleges track demonstrated interest through email clicks, so take a few minutes to browse through the email’s information and click on any programs or opportunities of genuine interest. In addition, when it’s time to do college research, you can use the emails you’ve received from a college as a springboard rather than navigating to the college’s website through a Google search.

3. Interact on social media.

The majority of schools offer applicants the chance to interact with college staff via Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and other social media channels. A found that approximately 60% of applicants report liking or following a school on one of the platforms listed above, with the largest percentage engaging via Instagram. Although clicking the “follow” or “like” button, commenting on a post, or sending a DM won鈥檛 single-handedly separate you from the pack, it will succeed in checking a box when admissions committees ultimately sit down to review your application.

However, interacting with a school on social media also exposes your social media, which you should make sure is squeaky clean.

4. Connect with your regional admissions counselor.

Colleges typically have admissions officers assigned to recruit and evaluate applicants from specific regions of the country/state. Finding the correct counselor for your home state or county should be easy to locate on the school鈥檚 admissions website.

Once you find your counselor, send a brief email introducing yourself and describing your interests in the institution. An introductory email also presents a great opportunity to show that you鈥檝e done your research on their school.聽 This can be accomplished by asking targeted questions about specific opportunities, upcoming events, campus attributes, or a particular academic program. However, avoid asking things that can easily be found online, like 鈥淲hat are the average SAT scores for admitted applicants?鈥� or “Do you offer a psychology major?”

5. Attend local admissions events.

If an admissions representative from a prospective college visits your high school or another nearby location for an information session or college fair, make it a point to be there. If you are interested enough in a school to apply, you should definitely be interested enough to meet a rep who has traveled (sometimes across the country) right into your backyard.

Most importantly, be sure to introduce yourself, ask a few thoughtful questions, and share your interests. Afterward, send a brief email thanking them for their time and expressing the enthusiasm you feel for applying to their school. Again, nothing earth-shattering鈥攋ust another small step in demonstrating that you are a serious applicant. If you make a strong impression, it can absolutely give you an advantage during the admissions process.

6. Visit campus.

Anyone can click on a website, but only the truly interested will make the effort to travel. Accordingly, a campus visit is viewed by admissions committees as one of the strongest indicators of interest.

While on campus, make every effort to attend a formal information session & tour. You’ll also want to take advantage of any other available opportunities, such as sitting in on a class or scheduling an informal meeting with your regional admissions counselor.

Of course, there is inequity at play here鈥攏ot everyone can afford to take off work and trek all over the country visiting schools. That’s completely okay. Fortunately, just about every school now offers virtual campus tours and/or information sessions, which you should absolutely take advantage of. Many colleges also offer fly-in programs, or subsidized campus visits for lower-income students, so if you can’t travel to a school for financial reasons, check out those opportunities.

7. Use essays to your advantage.

Our previous six tips can all be executed before actually applying. However, this one involves demonstrating interest during the process itself.

If a school requires supplemental essays, take that as an invitation to demonstrate that you鈥檝e done your homework on their school. You’ll be able to go into the most detail in a “Why This College?” essay, but if a school doesn’t offer that opportunity, you can still typically find ways to remark on fit and express your enthusiasm in other types of essays, including those about community, diversity, and your prospective major.

On that note, if a school offers an optional supplemental essay, you’ll demonstrate interest simply by completing it.

8. Interview (when possible).

Though fewer schools offer interviews these days, those that do are providing you with an excellent opportunity to demonstrate interest. Whether the interview is evaluative or informative in nature, do your best to take advantage. Connecting in person with an admissions officer or alumnus will not only show your counselor that you are more than just your grades and test scores but also earn you demonstrated interest brownie points.

9. Apply Early Decision or Early Action.

It goes without saying that this is the most extreme and, if you are applying early decision, irrevocable way that you can demonstrate interest. To go back to our seventh-grade love example, it鈥檚 the equivalent of skipping the 鈥淚 like you鈥� phase and going right into publicly declaring your undying love.

Of course, colleges like ED applicants because they can count on them as automatic members of their freshman class, but EA applicants still receive a lot of benefits, too. Compared to regular decision applicants, EA applicants are generally more likely to enroll if accepted, which earns them a slight admissions boost at many schools. Check out our Dataverse page for EA/ED admissions rates at hundreds of top schools.

If you’re waitlisted or deferred during the early round, you can continue demonstrating interest by sending a letter of continued interest that provides relevant updates and reiterates your desire to attend if admitted.

Can you demonstrate too much interest?

You sure can. Imagine you’ve penned your crush a nice note. You leave it on their desk during first period. Then you leave another note during second period. And another during fifth period. And another in their backpack at the end of the day. Another in their mailbox. Finally, you shoot them a text message and a DM to make sure they got all your notes. They don’t respond within an hour, so you ride your bike past their house. You see where this is going…

While you should feel comfortable engaging in as many steps as you’d like from the above list, be careful with the frequency of emails and social media messages. Pinging the admissions office on any type of regular basis can signal desperation or feel disingenuous, so only make direct contact when it’s for a specific purpose, such as an introduction or thank you, or when you have a genuine question that cannot be answered elsewhere.

Final Thoughts

Demonstrating interest at your prospective colleges and universities can have a significant positive impact on your application. More importantly, though, genuinely engaging with different schools will help you better understand which are the best fit for you and where you could truly see yourself enrolling in the fall. That clarity is always worth the effort鈥攏o matter what admissions decision you ultimately receive.

Check out our YouTube video below to learn more: