A study by NACAC, the National Association for College Admission Counseling, found that about half of all colleges and universities claim that an applicant's demonstrated interest in their school is either highly or moderately important in the admissions process. This means that at many schools taking a campus tour, interviewing, and contacting your admissions representative can improve your chance of being accepted.
The reasons why demonstrated interest matters are many, but in general colleges want to extend offers of admission to students who are sincerely interested in attending. Students who have low interest are clearly less likely to accept an offer of admission, and if they do accept, they are more likely to transfer to a different school.
Demonstrating interest is not difficult, but it is also something you don't want to ignore when applying to colleges. Here are 8 ways to demonstrate interest in a school. Also read more on why demonstrated interest matters.
Comments
As a private college counselor, I think these are some great suggestions. Colleges want to accept students who want to attend their school. The only way they know who these students might be is by the interest that is shown toward the school. The other piece of advice I might add would be to contact a professor or the head of the department of a major you are considering. This can be done through email and the student might ask about research opportunities at the school or anything else they might want to know.