There are a lot of things that are important in the college application. We regularly emphasize the fact that grades are of the utmost importance. In a normal year, tests matter a lot, too. If you want to beat out the competition to a highly competitive school, your essays are going to be key. Then, there are all the ancillary things that add up to help put you over the edge in a very competitive college admissions environment. Demonstrated interest is certainly an ancillary component—in fact, it doesn’t matter all that much but it’s something that parents and students care a lot about. It’s also one component over which you can exert a lot of control.
How to Demonstrate Interest
There are myriad options for demonstrated interest, even in the pandemic. The pandemic has actually made it even easier to demonstrate interest at multiple schools in which you might be looking because there’s no expectation of you showing up on campus. The first thing you can do is attend a virtual information session. This is the most basic activity in which you can engage, but it’s a good starting point. Relate to the info. session as the beginning of your relationship with a school. You should write thank you notes and keep the conversation going subsequently with the admissions counselors.
How to Stand Out
The info. session is the baseline. It’s a great way to help understand what a school is all about and help you build your college list. But if you really want to make the most of the demonstration interest opportunities, the best way is to develop a general interest in something academic. Pick something highly specific that fits in with your primary area of study during high school. If you’re interested in, say, American history, pick a specific topic like Latin American immigration policy. Next, reach out to specific professors at the school who teach courses and do research in this particular niche. This might seem awkward, but professors love to chat with students about their life’s work. Read up on their research and reach out and ask to talk about it. Come up with questions and see if you can schedule a Zoom call. Ask them about their plans for research and the opportunities available at the school to study this topic further. But one word of caution: make sure you actually know what you’re talking about and you’ve invested a lot of time into reading their body of work on the subject.
Colleges don’t want you on campus right now. In absence of the opportunity to take a college tour, students will have to get creative about how they demonstrate interest in their desired colleges. That said, the options have never been more widespread.
Need help honing in on an area of academic interest? Reach out to us.