Universities pride themselves on achieving high “yield” statistics and what this means is that they are looking for those students who will accept their offer of admission and choose to enroll.
By using many years of admissions data, US universities conclude that the more interest an applicant shows in their institution and offerings, during the application process, the more likely it is that they will accept their offer of admission. It is for this reason that many universities spend significant time and funds tracking the “demonstrated interest” of applicants, identifying those most likely to attend if offered a place, and sending them an acceptance letter accordingly.
How do universities measure an applicant’s interest?
All universities care about an applicant’s interest in their campus, community, and offerings, however, the way in which they quantify such interest varies from institution to institution.
Some US universities use elaborate software programs to mechanically “track” an applicant’s college exploration activity and this can include
- Participation in campus visits (where time and finances allow).
- Attendance at university visits, events, and information sessions.
- Registration for and viewing of webinars and forums.
- Engagement in virtual information sessions and online tours.
- Activity on emails from the university, when clicking on links and their navigation through the university’s website.
- Interactions with the university on social media.
- Engagement with admissions officers during high school visits.
- Participation with alumni through interviews when available.
- Any contact with admissions officers when asking relevant questions about the campus and programs on offer.
What about those US universities that say they “do not” measure interest?
Some US universities use more subtle (and less “big brotheresque”) means to gauge an applicant’s level of interest in their institution.
Although an applicant’s participation and online interactions may not actually be “tracked” in an automated sense, their interest is clearly able to be quantified through their responses to supplementary essays. To answer any “Why Us?” questions applicants will have to engage in extensive interactions and research, online or otherwise, to be able to clearly articulate why the university is right for them thus negating the need for online tracking and analysis.
Although an applicant’s participation and online interactions may not actually be “tracked” in an automated sense, their interest is clearly able to be quantified through their responses to supplementary essays.
Through their engagement with university websites, publicity materials, forums, and events, applicants are able to make connections between what they achieved during high school, what they plan to do at the university, and how they might contribute to the university community as a whole. But unlike at those US universities that mechanically “track” interest, the engagement and participation carried out whilst undertaking research will not increase their chances of admission.
It is interesting to note that for some universities, just the mere fact that an application has been submitted, especially if they have applied for Early Decision, will be enough of a demonstration of an applicant’s interest that no other tracking measures, mechanical or otherwise, will be required.
Some Final Thoughts
If you want to spend time researching the relative importance of academic and non-academic factors in admission decisions for specific US universities, including whether the level of applicant’s interest is considered “very important” or “not considered” at all, all you have to do is type, into Google, the name of the university followed by CDS (Common Data Set) and head to Section C7 but keep the following in mind…
Whether a university determines your level of interest through mechanical means or more subtle measures or does not consider it at all really does not matter because regardless of interest tracking policies, you should use every avenue possible to determine if a specific university is right for you, how it meets your needs, matches your profile and aligns with your academic goals and career pathway.
It is only through visitations, participation, engagement, registration, and attendance at university-related activities, events, publications, and promotional materials that thorough and comprehensive research about an institution can take place. In the end, it will be your research and deep understanding of the institution that will speak for itself and will showcase your “demonstrated interest” no matter the measurement methods a university chooses (or does not choose) to employ.