As some schools become more competitive, admissions officers are beginning to take into account an applicant’s effort to contact the school, called “demonstrated interest.”

Selective colleges such as George Washington University in Washington, D.C., use demonstrated interest as a “tip factor” in the admissions process to gauge the level of interest a student has in the school.

“It’s not a critical role, but it’s one of the many things we consider,” GWU assistant director of admissions Michael O’Leary said.

Demonstrated interest is tracked in many ways. A college can make note of meetings and interviews with the student, campus visits, inquiries, letters and e-mails. GWU takes interest into account throughout the admissions process and can also use it as a sort of tiebreaker if the applicants are especially competitive.

“It’s been a part of the process since I started working here in 1985, but it’s become more of a big deal in the last five to seven years,” O’Leary said.

Many colleges that do not use demonstrated interest see it as insincere and irrelevant to the admissions process. The University of Wisconsin, along with most public universities, does not use demonstrated interest in its admissions process.

UW assistant director of admissions Tom Reason said there is no need for such practices at UW. “Why would we? It’s not a qualitative or quantitative basis for who more deserves to be admitted,” he said.

Reason does not think many schools consider demonstrated interest.

“I don’t think it is widely held. It’s safe to say it’s probably only used in a tie-breaking circumstance,” Reason said.

The National Association for College Admissions Counseling conducted a survey recently to gauge how many colleges use this factor in admissions. The NACAC received 595 responses to several questions about use of demonstrated interest. When asked if colleges consider demonstrated interest, 33 percent affirmed they did use it in admissions. When asked how important demonstrated interest was in the admissions process, 30 percent of colleges noted it was considerable or moderate and 26 percent said it was of limited importance.

Shakira and Kellie Carim are sisters who were accepted to the small private colleges of Rhode Island School of Design and Carleton College. Kellie believes interviewing and meeting with admissions made a positive difference in her application.

“For a small school like Carleton, I think it’s important that admissions consider who really wants to be there,” Kellie Carim said.

Kellie’s sister Shakira was put on the waiting list for admittance to the design school, and she made sure to call often to check her status.

“I called every day, practically, asking if they were accepting my group or not. They made a note that I had called and asked every time, and I feel that the school saw that I was interested and then let me in,” Shakira Carim said.

According to O’Leary at GWU, taking demonstrated interest into consideration is becoming more popular, especially with colleges that are becoming more competitive. However, Reason believes demonstrated interest is not as popular as some may think. “It’s by no means that huge of a factor,” Reason said.

O’Leary sees demonstrated interest as the first step in building a relationship with GWU’s applicants. “It’s a way of developing communication with our students,” he said.