Demonstrated Interest: How Universities Know You Are Genuinely Interested In Them
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Connecting with colleges definitely helps you understand the personality of the college a lot better. But it can also help you get accepted. We will call this concept 'demonstrated interest'. So demonstrated interest is showing a college that you are interested in them. Another way of defining it is to make sure that the college knows that you exist and you wish to know more about them. You can do so in many ways.
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When you are researching a college's website you can sign up for the email list
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When a college is attending an education fair in your city, you can go and meet the representative
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You can connect with current students or an admission officer.
The other ways of demonstrating interest are related to the application process. If a college offers an optional interview as part of the admission process, you can consider taking it. Since the interview is optional, your decision to opt for it shows that you are doing everything possible to get accepted. Also, an important question of every college interview is why you are a good fit with that particular university. Being able to answer that is going to show how interested you are in the college.
If you submit your application during an early action deadline, you will appear a lot more interested than the rest of the applicants. Is it necessary to demonstrate interest? Some universities clearly state that they do consider demonstrated interest into the final decision. Other universities state that they do not consider demonstrated interest into the final decision.
Can demonstrated interest create a difference between being accepted and being rejected? No, an admission decision can never come down to just one factor. But it will help your chances, and not hurt your application in any way.
International students are often confused as to why admission to foreign universities, particularly US universities is so difficult, and why would something like demonstrated interest even be considered. The reason is because students apply to so many colleges all at once, many of which they are not interested in attending.
It is hard for universities to understand who is really interested in them, and who is applying just because. As a result, universities ask students to help them figure out if they really want to attend their college. They have added things to the admission process like optional essays or interviews. As an applicant, if you choose to opt for them and do more to do, it makes the overall admission process harder and very hectic. But it shows a dedication and willingness to go that extra mile to ensure admission.
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