Six Easy Ways to Show Demonstrated Interest
Showing a school demonstrated interest can be easy, and might be what tips the admissions scale in your favor. It lets a school know that you’re a qualified applicant that would accept their offer, and schools LOVE that.
Some ways to do it:
Sign up for their mailing list: This is easy, and helpful for you too. You’ll find out when they’re coming to your school or to a college fair nearby. You also may find out about interesting events on campus and reminders for critical application dates. When you do this, make sure you use the same email you use for your application so they make the connection. Some schools track whether you open their emails, so be sure to do so.
Visit the campus, visit them at a college fair, or attend an online event: Making a campus visit isn’t always possible, but very many schools attend the myriad of local college fairs, and with Covid-19 schools are beginning to offer virtual online meetings and tours. Make sure you sign in, whichever option you do, so schools know you’ve shown interest. Again, use the same email address from your application, it’s all about connections. This brings us to our next point…
Research the school: Spend time on their website, look at their majors, student work, professor research and exhibits. If you know any current students or alumni, talk to them. This allows you to ask good questions of admissions officers when you meet them. This also allows you to write targeted supplemental essays, such as the famous “Why us?” or “How will you be an asset to our school?”.
Follow social media accounts: This is a great way to research a school, stay up to date with school events, and show schools you’re paying attention to them. Many schools have Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and other accounts. Seek them out and follow them, comment on them when you want. Connections are the name of the game.
Interact at National Portfolio Day, Unified, and auditions: This is a fantastic opportunity to talk to the admissions team. Use that time wisely. Do your research on the school and on any specific programs/courses in which you are interested. Follow up, get their card and send an email. At the very least thank them for their time. Even better, respond to a question or statement they made to make it more personal and to help them remember you.
Apply Early: If you are really interested in the school apply Early Decision (binding) or Early Action (non binding). This tells the school that if they accept you, you are most likely to accept them (and you must with Early Decision). They like that, and many schools have significantly higher acceptance rates for early applicants than for regular decision applicants. However, make sure that you only apply to a school early decision if you have checked on the financial implications and are certain it is the perfect fit for you.
Demonstrated interest shows the school you care to spend extra time getting to know them. This translates into showing them how you might be a good fit for their school. This is important as they aren’t just admitting all students with perfect GPAs, test scores, essays, portfolios, or auditions, they are building cohesive classes that will carry on the mission of the school. If you want to be their student you need to show them.