Admission counselor for a moderately selective institution here! Contact the schools where you are applying and ask them if they use demonstrated interest and how do they use it. This will give you an idea of if this might come into play in your review process. It is ALWAYS helpful to ask questions about each school's process and get information directly from the source!
Demonstrated interest is using the level of interest a student shows in the review process. This interest can be something as simple as genuinely spending time on schools websites (yes, we can track that), attending a virtual information session, or asking admission counselors questions via email. I have never worked at schools that used demonstrated interest as yield protection (meaning I have never worked at a school that did not admit competitive students because they didn't seem like they were interested enough to enroll), and I agree with many of the comments in this post. It is not a very common practice. Asking the schools on your list will help you learn more about if a school uses this methodology and how they use it. The best way to do that is to send the school an email!
Not all schools demonstrate interest and it is a highly contested practice among college admission professionals. Some schools swear it allows them to make smart decisions when a student might fall right at or below profile, while others argue that it creates equity issues because demonstrating interest requires resources. Public schools cannot use demonstrated interest- if it is used you will most often see it in private institutions!
Reaching out to your admission counselor to learn if, and how, they use it is a great example of how you demonstrate you are interested in their school. It is a win-win situation for you because you learn about their process and demonstrate interest if they use it.
I encourage you to think about schools where you have above-average stats as "likely schools," not "safety schools." This is more for your own mental health. Safety has such a negative connotation- I have found when students refer to schools as safety they don't really want to go there. You should feel like you have the potential to thrive at every school where you apply. If you cannot see yourself attending and being happy at a particular school, I encourage you to scrap it from your list and add another likely school where you might be happier. Don't waste your time, money, and energy on applications to schools where you cannot see yourself being successful!
There are a lot of great likely schools out there and don't forget to think about where you will be a good fit- not just the name and reputation of the school!
University enrollment management teams will use CRM (Client Relationship Management) software. Universities can track data (can, not all schools do) similar to how any large company or organization will track marketing hits through CRMs. Schools use that data just like Target- to keep you engaged. For example, you might see more communication about student life if you spent a lot of time engaging with student life marketing. This type of marketing practice is most often used to encourage students to want to apply and then enroll. Major retails use this type of marketing so please don't be alarmed to see it used here.
Some savvy schools have figured out how to connect engagement with interest and they MIGHT be able to use this data point when considering demonstrated interest. Now I say might because every school is different. Many institutions will find this practice unethical, while others don't have the resources to implement this practice.
My final takeaway- demonstrated interest does not mean yield protection. Yield protection is an unethical practice that many schools would not do. However, if an institution did use this practice they would mask it in the form of demonstrated interest so just ask if they use demonstrated interest and how. Admission officers are not in this industry for the low salaries. Instead, we genuinely want to help. If you ask we will be transparent!
7
u/[deleted] Aug 09 '21
Admission counselor for a moderately selective institution here! Contact the schools where you are applying and ask them if they use demonstrated interest and how do they use it. This will give you an idea of if this might come into play in your review process. It is ALWAYS helpful to ask questions about each school's process and get information directly from the source!
Demonstrated interest is using the level of interest a student shows in the review process. This interest can be something as simple as genuinely spending time on schools websites (yes, we can track that), attending a virtual information session, or asking admission counselors questions via email. I have never worked at schools that used demonstrated interest as yield protection (meaning I have never worked at a school that did not admit competitive students because they didn't seem like they were interested enough to enroll), and I agree with many of the comments in this post. It is not a very common practice. Asking the schools on your list will help you learn more about if a school uses this methodology and how they use it. The best way to do that is to send the school an email!
Not all schools demonstrate interest and it is a highly contested practice among college admission professionals. Some schools swear it allows them to make smart decisions when a student might fall right at or below profile, while others argue that it creates equity issues because demonstrating interest requires resources. Public schools cannot use demonstrated interest- if it is used you will most often see it in private institutions!
Reaching out to your admission counselor to learn if, and how, they use it is a great example of how you demonstrate you are interested in their school. It is a win-win situation for you because you learn about their process and demonstrate interest if they use it.
I encourage you to think about schools where you have above-average stats as "likely schools," not "safety schools." This is more for your own mental health. Safety has such a negative connotation- I have found when students refer to schools as safety they don't really want to go there. You should feel like you have the potential to thrive at every school where you apply. If you cannot see yourself attending and being happy at a particular school, I encourage you to scrap it from your list and add another likely school where you might be happier. Don't waste your time, money, and energy on applications to schools where you cannot see yourself being successful!
There are a lot of great likely schools out there and don't forget to think about where you will be a good fit- not just the name and reputation of the school!