“Demonstrating interest” is a tool that many schools – typically smaller, and usually private, schools – implement in order to gauge how interested a student is in attending that particular school. There are many ways in which a student might demonstrate interest in a school, and these should all show the school that the student has a genuine interest in attending by going out of his or her way to learn more about what it means to attend that school. Some examples of methods include interacting with admissions representatives at college fairs, visiting campus, scheduling admissions or alumni interviews (when available), and more. Schools that employ demonstrated interest do so in order to get an accurate gauge on how many students are likely to enroll, and to find out whether they will hit their target enrollment numbers. They are also looking to protect their “yield” – meaning, they want to minimize the number of students who turn them down after they are already offered admission to the school.

Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is one of the schools that historically made a point of considering demonstrated interest. This past year, however, the admissions office has done a huge overhaul of their policies and have decided that, moving forward, they will no longer consider students’ demonstrated interest. This means that students will no longer receive a boost to their applications if they participate in CMU events, complete alumni or admissions interviews, etc. According to their website, one big reason for this change is to encourage more diversity on campus and be inclusive of all populations by “providing a more equitable, level playing field” in which all applicants to CMU have the same opportunities in the application process. This makes sense, as there is a large population of students who cannot make it to college fairs due to monetary or distance restraints, much less to CMU’s physical campus.

What does this mean for students who are interested in applying Early Decision to CMU? There won’t be too big of a difference. CMU historically has not had a much higher Early Decision admit rate compared to its Regular Decision admit rate. With demonstrated interest taken away as part of the application review process, there are still many other ways for students to show that they are a good fit for the school, such as through the supplemental writing. Those students who are sure that they want to commit to CMU as their Early Decision school are still encouraged to do so. As college admissions in general are trending towards a more holistic approach in viewing applicants, students’ overall strengths and experiences are more important than ever.