How Do You Show Demonstrated Interest to MBA Programs?

An article recently published by the Wall Street Journal reported that many undergraduate institutions are now tracking how quickly prospective students opened their emails, how long they kept them open, and whether they clicked on any of their links. They include these metrics in the applicant’s ‘demonstrated interest’ score, which, with the increasing number of applications, helps them determine who is more likely to accept their admission offer and enroll. This is important because different university ranking systems take into account an institution’s “yield,” that is, the percentage of admitted students who actually attend.

As a former associate director of admissions at Yale SOM and director of admissions of Michigan State Broad, I would not be surprised if graduate programs, particularly business schools, are starting to follow similar stats.

For business schools, knowing the level of interest of their prospective audience is crucial, and knowing a candidate has demonstrated interest might just tip the balance toward admission, particularly for borderline candidates.

So, how do you show “demonstrated interest”? I have 5 tips for you:

Register your information on the school’s websites as soon as possible. Don’t wait until you are ready to apply. The earlier you register, the better.
Open every single email you receive from them, click through their links, and whenever possible, attend their online and in-person events.
Follow them on social media, and within reason, like and comment on their posts.
Visit them. Now more than ever it’s very important to show them that you are committed to attending their program. Before you go, prepare for your visit well, taking advantage of all they have to offer. Click here for more tips on how to prepare for your business school visit.
If you can’t visit, reach out to current students at clubs you are interested in and make it a point to attend any events near you.
After visiting or attending their events near you, send them a ‘thank you’ note.

If graduate schools are indeed tracking your interactions with them as part of their decision process, why not use that to your advantage? Follow these tips and you will very clearly show demonstrated interest to your schools, moving up a few notches in their favor.

Do you need help demonstrating your interest in your target programs? Do you need guidance on any other element of your business school application? Check out our MBA Admissions Consulting & Editing services and work one-on-one with an expert advisor who will help you get ACCEPTED!

Esmeralda Cardenal is a Former Associate Director of Admissions at Yale SOM, Director of MBA Admissions at MSU Broad, and consultant at Cardiff Business School in the UK. Since 2014, she has guided Accepted clients to acceptance in various graduate programs including MBA and master's in finance, business analytics, data science, sustainability, and public policy. Want Esmeralda to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch!

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