How do you show that you are interested in a college?

Showing interest in a college can be achieved through various means such as email communication, attending college visit registrations, participating in high school visits and college fairs, interacting with admission counselors, and thorough engagement during your application process. Researching the college's website, attending virtual information sessions, and creating personal connections are also key steps.

How do you show interest in a college email?

In a college interest email, thank the speaker for any information session attended, discuss your interests and how you envision engaging in their school environment. Requesting to connect with a current student sharing your interests demonstrates a genuine desire to learn more about the institution.

How do you demonstrate interest in a field?

Demonstrating interest in a field involves researching and engaging with relevant academic programs on college websites, exploring where students intern, study abroad, companies hiring graduates, and news from the program. Reviewing course progressions and learning outcomes also shows a deepened interest.

How do you get college interested in you?

Getting a college interested in you involves demonstrating genuine interest through engaging with the college's programs, attending information sessions, and making personal connections with faculty or students. Being proactive in communication, showcasing your achievements and interests, and aligning them with what the college offers are crucial steps.

How to Show Demonstrated Interest To Colleges

College Counseling

Mar 5

Written By Lynne Fuller

By Lynne Fuller, Founder of College Flight Path

When applying to college, many schools track demonstrated interest through a variety of modalities: email tracking and ping data, college visit registrations, high school visits, and college fairs, inquiry cards, interaction with a local admission representative, and the application.

Many articles explain how to engage with each of these elements, but in this piece, I wanted to show families how their students can authentically communicate their whole selves to a school rather than simply writing contrived emails to an admissions rep or sharing excitement for a school that was manufactured….after all, learning about a school benefits them in so many ways.

Step One: Research

The first step is to spend time on the college’s website researching news articles that relate to the student’s interests. Here they can witness the latest information about the community environment and the success that a school is having with its graduates.

When they click on the page it will generally ask them to accept cookies; be sure to have your student say yes and navigate from their computer! This is part of the ping data that a college will collect on them to see what details a student is engaging with.

Thereafter, students should head to the majors section and look for areas of interest they wish to pursue, then click and explore for more specifics including internships, study abroad opportunities, what companies are hiring their graduates, and what news is coming from that program. It is also important to click on the course progressions to see the specific lessons and learning outcomes that they hope students achieve. Be sure they take note of the user experience and how easy or hard it is to find the information they desire.

Step Two: Information Sessions

Once the student has learned initial information about the school and potential program opportunities, sign up for a virtual information session. It takes time and money to physically visit a school, so this is the best way to initially learn about an institution before making a deeper commitment to step foot on campus.

During these sessions, admissions representatives will offer overviews of student life, career services, scholarship opportunities, research, and other programming. Students need to pay attention to the talk and evaluate if the programs offered and opportunities discussed connect with their aspirations.

Step Three: Creating Connections

It is even more vital for students to grab the attention of the speaker at the end of the talk…why?…because they want to try to connect with students who align with their interests. This is a terrific opportunity for students to follow up with an email, thank the speaker for their talk, discuss what they are interested in pursuing, and share how they foresee themselves engaging in the college environment, but it is also an opportunity for your student to ask to connect with a similar profile student to understand their firsthand experience.

Asking to connect with a current student is a perfect question. Not only does it demonstrate a student’s interest, but it can help them to genuinely connect personally about student life rather than solely relying on information via social media channels like Instagram and TikTok. Their gut instinct will help guide everyone in determining if they are connecting with a space or place or not, so use this opportunity to forge a relationship and determine if the campus hits the points they are looking for. Evaluative criteria should include size, location, setting, affordability, academic fit, career services (including internships, co-ops, and research opportunities), student services, and activities.

Additionally, research whether or not the college offers interviews. Check out our AirTable below to see colleges that offer interviews, their current policies, and even recent questions asked during the interview process. This is another tremendous way to get to know a school and for them to get to know the applicant. Click here to read more about how to prepare for interviews.

Step Four: Create a Values List

After researching a few schools, it is important to make a list of your student’s needs: housing, social life, internship opportunities, study abroad, activities, school spirit, proximity to a town or city, and even how to get to the closest Trader Joe’s. When making personal connections with schools, it is important to have the values list to help guide them on whether a school meets their needs.

Screenshots from reels they watch or real-life photos can also help capture their feelings about a school. Now, when setting up tours and campus visits, you will have notes from the initial research, details from the virtual information session, and details from an in-person tour to guide everyone’s thought process.

Step Five: Prepare to Visit

Remember that student they asked to be connected with? Your student should reach out to them before ever stepping foot on campus to learn more about their experience.

Here are some thought-starter questions to kick off that conversation:

What were some of the factors that drew you to X University?
When you were making your decision about attending X University, what stood out to you about the faculty, student body, and opportunities you would have on campus?
Tell me something that you have had to navigate and find a solution for (remember no school is perfect, you are seeing if the student and school are solution-focused).
If you had to rate your transition to college and first-year experience, what were some of the unanticipated bumps in the road that you had to navigate?
(After having this conversation, thank them for their time and ask if it is possible to connect once more when your student visits campus so that they can take them to coffee and gain a little more insight into campus life in full swing.)

If your student is invited to open houses, college fairs, or info sessions at the school, they can now speak about the campus from their perspective and demonstrate the insight they gained in doing so. If your student feels that the school aligns with their needs and wants, that authenticity will come through in future interactions with college or university representatives and translate into their supplemental essays thereafter.

Conclusion

This progression makes me think of a student from this past admissions cycle who connected with a regional admissions representative of a large public university. They had amazing banter in which both signed off their email messages with “Go Birds!” They found a shared way to address one another in an endearing manner that allowed human connection to enter back into the admissions decision process.

That is the fundamental goal of demonstrated interest -- the university gets to reveal itself completely and the student spends time genuinely getting to know the school; it is an authentic slow approach to making a huge commitment and one that offers intentional steps along the way.

If I had to sign off with one final reminder, it would be: look for the courses your student wants to study, look for their people, and encourage them to be themselves throughout the process. To learn more about how to show demonstrated interest, email hello@collegeflightpath.com or book a free 15-minute call to learn more.

Lynne Fuller https://www.collegeflightpath.com