Why Has College Admissions Become So Competitive? : Showing That You Are Interested

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Some colleges try to identify who is seriously interested in them by tracking how much contact a student has had with the college—such as requesting an interview, chatting with a representative at a college fair, e-mailing a question to an admissions officer, visiting campus—and using that information when making the final decision. A student who has initiated a good deal of contact with a college is seen as more likely to enroll than a student whose first contact with the college is the arrival of the application over the Internet, and hence is a better bet for admission. Given hard choices among candidates with similar credentials, “demonstrated interest” can make the difference between an offer of acceptance and placement on the wait-list at some colleges.

Emory University openly lets students know that level of contact matters. Its application form states, “We carefully note demonstrated interest during the admissions process and expect candidates to have done their homework on us. Have you met us at a college fair, ordered the Emory video visit, attended an information session, or perhaps visited campus? . . . We are hones in the fact that demonstrated interest can be a tip factor when we make admission decisions.” Not all colleges are this refreshingly candid, however, and not all consider demonstrated interest in the admissions process. In general, this counts less at the super-selective colleges that already have the highest yields. They have little to gain by showing preference to those who try to demonstrate interest. 

To think that when my older son applied we refrained from contacting colleges because we thought we were doing admissions offices a favor by not cluttering up their e-mail or phone lines.
We won’t pester them, but we won’t have the same worry when our younger son applies.  -  Parent of a college sophomore and another child in the admissions pipeline