Are you familiar with the term Demonstrated Interest? In elite college admissions, Demonstrated Interest is the extent to which a college applicant has shown they wish to attend an institution, as measured by the school’s admissions office.

And why would admissions offices track Demonstrated Interest? Because elite universities, which offer admission to only a select set of applicants, want to reserve their offers of admission for students who have exhibited they intend to enroll to boost their yields (or the percentage of admitted students who matriculate).

But do all elite colleges track Demonstrated Interest? Does Harvard University track Demonstrated Interest?

Elite Colleges Track Demonstrated Interest Due to Insecurity

In short, colleges — even la crème de la crème of colleges — track Demonstrated Interest out of insecurity. Think of these schools as though they’re going on dates with applicants. They don’t want to profess their love for so many people only for most to spurn their affection. Instead, they want to be more precise with whom they choose to give their roses.

Cornell University will waitlist or reject an applicant — no matter how strong their grades and scores if they write they wish to attend Cornell because of its picturesque campus, small class sizes, and outstanding professors — details that aren’t specific to Cornell but instead can apply to just about any elite university. After all, why would Cornell offer a slot to an applicant who they think might spurn them for the likes of Harvard or Stanford University?

How Do Colleges Track Demonstrated Interest?

So, how exactly do America’s colleges track Demonstrated Interest? There are multiple ways, which include but are not limited to:

• The points of contact section on individual college supplements. If a student fills in 2/10 points of contact, it’s a good indication they’re not all that interested in the school.
• Whether a student took the time to physically visit. Most, though not all, elite schools have sign-in cards at the reception desks in admissions offices before students go on tours and attend information sessions. It’s one way for sure of knowing whether or not a student stepped foot on their campus.
• Why College essays. Most college applicants fail to include specifics that only apply to the given institution in these essays. There’s a reason that almost every highly selective college asks a version of, “Why do you wish to attend this school?” And, no, name-dropping professors or listing classes that can be replaced from one school to the next, like in a game of Mad Libs, do not count as genuine specifics.

Colleges Track Demonstrated Interest Even When They Explicitly Claim They Don’t

Even when colleges write on their websites not to track Demonstrated Interest, we encourage applicants to raise a skeptical eyebrow. After all, why would so many of these schools have a points of contact section on their supplements or ask Why College essay questions if they didn’t care about Demonstrated Interest?

Interestingly, we credit Emory University for creating Demonstrated Interest decades ago. Emory now claims to not track Demonstrated Interest. When we mentioned as much on X (then Twitter) some years ago, an Emory admissions officer wrote back that they write explicitly on their website that they don’t track Demonstrated Interest. Yes, many colleges also claim on their websites to be need-blind, to not factor in a student’s ability to pay, when weighing their case for admission. Do you believe them?

Emory University Invented Demonstrated Interest

By way of background, Bev Taylor, the founder of Ivy Coach, often tells a story from when she was a high school counselor in the early 1990s. The director of admissions at Emory at the time was then quite candid about the importance of Demonstrated Interest in the university’s admissions process. In fact, on the day Emory released Regular Decision notifications that year, a student named Sally came to Bev’s office in tears.

It seems David (who was also one of Bev’s students) was admitted to Emory, but Sally was denied. While one student’s admission to a college and another’s rejection (both from the same high school) may not seem like such a big deal, in this case, it was. For starters, Sally took the most rigorous courses at her high school, including 7 APs, earned 4s and 5s on all of them, and had a GPA of 99.5 / 100. She also had an SAT score of 1420 and was a talented cellist. David had 2 AP courses, a GPA of 92.4 / 100, and an SAT score of 1310. David had no absolute angle, so he would have been considered well-rounded — typically the kiss of death at highly selective colleges like Emory. 

After Sally calmed down and returned to class, Bev called Emory and spoke with the director of admissions. Although she expressed how happy she was that David was accepted, she questioned how David could have been admitted while Sally was denied. He answered that David had visited campus and attended an Emory information session at a local Marriott. Sally had done neither. David had also emailed Emory a couple of times with a question or two that demonstrated he had done his homework on the programs at Emory that were of interest to him. A few of Emory’s responses to David’s emails referred David to someone in particular, and each time David followed through and emailed or called that person. Emory logged each call and email. On the other hand, Sally had never emailed or called admissions — not once.

Admissions Officers Aren’t Always Truthful

The fact that admissions officers at elite colleges these days so often don’t tell it like it is with respect to what they consider in the decision-making process surprises many students and families. But whether admissions officers are visiting high schools, representing their respective colleges at a fair, or giving a talk at an information session, it’s nothing new to us that they lie to students throughout the admissions process.

They claim they don’t consider financial need when deliberating between applicants, yet they ask about your financial status on their supplements! They grimace at the notion that they discriminate against Asian American applicants, and yet tip the scales against these applicants all the same! While this might cause some disillusionment, it’s important to head into college admissions with a healthy dose of reality to avoid pitfalls and misconceptions!

Harvard, the Exception to the Demonstrated Interest Rule

That said, there has long been one school that we at Ivy Coach have argued does not care to measure Demonstrated Interest. That school? Harvard. In fact, of the eight Ivy League schools, for the 2025-2026 admissions cycle, the only one that doesn’t ask a version of a Why College essay prompt is — you guessed it — Harvard.

And why would Harvard not measure Demonstrated Interest? That’s an easy one. Harvard’s yield rate for the Class of 2029 was roughly 85%. When students are admitted to Harvard and other universities, they overwhelmingly choose to attend Harvard. As such, Harvard isn’t insecure like just about every other elite university — including even the likes of Yale University and Princeton University.

Ivy Coach Helps Students Demonstrate Interest Effectively

At Ivy Coach, we help our students express their love for elite colleges in all the right ways, hitting all the right notes. And our students don’t need to get carried away.

There was an article a few years back in The Wall Street Journal that discussed how some colleges mine all sorts of data — from the speed at which students opened their emails to how much time they spent on their websites.

But rest assured, America’s elite colleges don’t have the time to analyze such inane data points. It’s why we’d never stress out our students that they need to open up emails from elite colleges with haste but why we do implore them to show their love for colleges effectively. There’s a right way and a wrong way of demonstrating interest. Ivy Coach’s students show their love in all the right ways.

If you’re interested in learning how to effectively demonstrate interest to elite colleges, fill out Ivy Coach’s complimentary consultation form, and we’ll be in touch to outline our college counseling services.