While it remains shocking that a school whose official mascot is just the color green but big (and whose unofficial mascot is “Keggy the Keg”) has maintained its position as one of the most competitive colleges in the U.S., numbers don’t lie. With an acceptance rate of just 6.2%, Dartmouth is not only an Ivy League but one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in America, founded in 1769. If you’re thinking “cut to the chase already,” we’ll give it to you straight. If you want to one day see a somewhat worse-for-wear foam beer keg tap itself at sporting events all over Hanover, New Hampshire (sidenote: is that auto-cannibalism?), you’ll need to set yourself apart in every possible way before applying. (We wish we were joking.)

It goes without saying that you’ll need a stellar academic track record, a history of top-tier extracurricular involvement, and credible recommendations that speak to your character and personal qualities to gain admission here, but those aren’t the only categories taken into consideration. There’s also the elusive and beautifully vague factor of “demonstrated interest.”

What Even Is Demonstrated Interest?

First, we’ll start with the burning question. What is demonstrated interest? Is it interest that you demonstrate? Eureka! That’s exactly it. Demonstrated interest is interest demonstrated by demonstrating your interest. We’ll stop being annoying now and just say it’s exactly what it sounds like: leaving historical proof of your sincere and continuous interest in a school.

Why do colleges care about demonstrated interest? Well, the positive spin is that colleges want to recruit genuine people with passion for their academics and future careers. These students make wonderful peers and create a supportive, engaged community, plus they go on to dedicate themselves to their professions and succeed publicly, which reflects well on their alma mater. Generally speaking, superficial self-serving types are both insufferable and will erode the social fabric of a campus if toxic individuality becomes the school’s defining culture. The more cynical view is that admissions can use demonstrated interest to predict the odds that applicants will actually attend, allowing them to optimize yield, minimize acceptance rate, and maximize their profit. This creates a positive feedback loop, because the higher the yield and the lower the admissions rate, the more prestige an institution accrues. Elevated cultural standing then leads to more applications, a more competitive applicant pool, and…it is a vicious cycle.

Anyway, that’s why demonstrated interest matters to colleges, but why should it matter to you? It’s another facet of your application you can build strategically, improving your chances of admissions. Dartmouth’s admissions data confirms that they do in fact consider “level of applicant’s interest.” Yes, that’s the exact word they use; demonstrated interest is “considered.” No, consideration is not an exact science, but we know that demonstrated interest does factor in with admissions. It’s less important than academics, recommendations, and extracurriculars, but it’s weighed equally against your interview, legacy status, certain demographic information, and even work and volunteering experience.

So, yeah, don’t write off demonstrated interest. At the same time, know that the category of demonstrated interest — and its impact on admissions decisions — is intentionally imprecise. In fact, despite the fact that Dartmouth’s common data set lists “level of applicant’s interest” as considered, they’ve also to say they don’t track “visits, communications, college fairs, or web events” and “your completed application is all the demonstrated interest we need.”

So… Should You Demonstrate Interest?

Well, not to sound like a broken record, but there’s just no proof that demonstrated interest has statistical significance for acceptance. Even if it doesn’t sound like it, that’s a GOOD thing. It’s not fair to prioritize people who have the resources to travel and visit campus over students who can’t do so, and the truth is those behaviors aren’t a reliable source of information for colleges anyway. The vast majority of college applicants don’t tour, so that’s never going to be an unspoken requirement.

In the end, demonstrating interest is something you do for you — it doesn’t tell admissions much. So, yes, definitely check out a school’s social media to get an understanding of its culture, talk to current undergrads if you can, and go to college fairs and virtual events, but don’t expect them to be the tipping point. Those actions help you determine if Dartmouth is the place you’d want to spend four years, or if, after learning more, you decide you’re looking for a school that has a relationship with the outdoors but doesn’t rely on the Greek system for social activities. No matter what you decide, it’s time well spent.

You might still be wondering, though, why Dartmouth’s data includes “level of applicant’s interest” at all if they don’t weigh things that are typically considered demonstrated interest. Well, crucially, “level of interest” is undefinable and pretty subjective. So you can trust that, if their website says they don’t use campus visits, college fairs, or emails with admissions when evaluating applications, they mean it.

Level of interest is super vague, probably by design, and varies on a student-by-student basis. If you wrote your supplemental short answer on “Why Dartmouth” in just 50 words and didn’t say anything about Dartmouth in particular, admissions can probably tell you’re not that interested. A die-hard would have done their homework and polished their essay to sound genuine and well-researched. Not all regions offer interviews, but if the school sees you were given the opportunity to interview and turned it down? That reads, ahem, disinterested.

The rule of thumb with demonstrated interest is to use common sense. Sliding into the @dartmouth DMs constantly is not only thirsty but also futile. No need to stoop so low! But, as you would when applying to any school, make sure your application materials are polished, thoughtful, and relevant to that institution. Maybe one day you can pretend to tap a human being wearing a keg costume, or you can tell us what “big green” is supposed to mean.

Not sure how to show your dream school that you care? Get in touch with us today.