With class years totaling under 1,000 students annually, Middlebury is a small school that gets harder to get into as interest continues to rise. Every year, a few students go rabid over demonstrated interest. Why? Well, to be honest, there is no explanation capable of justifying catfishing your admissions counselor into friending you on Facebook — and the fact that you’re using Zucky Boy’s platform in the first place is all the proof we needed to know you’d gone feral. Nevertheless, we understand the urgency behind questions about demonstrated interest. It’s not totally clear what it is in the first place, and everyone wants to give themselves the best chance of getting accepted to their first-choice school.
So, let’s clear things up. We prefer to fight mania with the facts. It’s easier and more merciful than the Old Yeller approach (note to the youth: if you haven’t heard of Old Yeller, DO NOT LOOK IT UP NOW. Worse than Lennie and the rabbits, istg).
Middlebury’s Policy
Following the trend among elite colleges, Middlebury has made it clear that — for admissions equity as well as their own convenience — they do not track demonstrated interest nor use it to make admissions decisions. In fact, their FAQ page doesn’t waste time parsing words:
No, Middlebury does not track demonstrated interest. Although, we encourage students to engage with us in some way (by emailing their admissions counselor, participating in online or in-person visits, interviewing, etc) in order to learn more about the college. We recognize that students may have varying levels of opportunity to engage with the college search process; we consider virtual engagement just as valid as in-person visits or connections.
If you’re a nerd for college reporting (and let he/she/they without compulsive research tendencies cast the first stone), you might find that this slightly contradicts Middlebury’s common data set (or CDS for the real freaks—us). According to their most recent CDS release, “level of applicant’s interest” is “considered,” putting interest level above the category of total negation (“not considered”) but below weightier factors such as application essay (which falls in the “important” category) and academic GPA (which has final boss status in the “very important” group).
What does this mean, though, if interest level is technically being considered? Lest we ever forget how frickin’ sneaky those suits in academic administration are, let’s note that the wording doesn’t match! Yeah, yeah, yeah, some pure-of-heart third parties who have not been driven to madness by college admissions might chalk it up to semantics, but — hold on a second, we’re putting on our tinfoil hats — “Level of applicant’s interest” is very purposefully not the same descriptor as “demonstrated interest.”
And, honestly, this distinction — no matter how small it seems — is crucial. The key word in “demonstrated interest” is “demonstrated.” It’s about displays or behaviors that indicate a student wants to go to a school, but these gestures aren’t reliable. First of all, they can be entirely superficial. Following Middlebury on Instagram takes way less effort than writing a personal and well-researched supplemental essay, and if everyone does the easy stuff to cover their bases it doesn’t actually help colleges determine which applicants are committed and which are using them as a safety school. Second, as Middlebury says in their statement, demonstrated interest is generally a poor metric of actual interest because of accessibility issues. A student who has the resources to travel to their campus for a school visit has the ability to “demonstrate” their desire to know more about Middlebury, but they aren’t more interested or devoted than a student from across the country who can’t afford to fly to Vermont but has applied early decision.
For these reasons, data on demonstrated interest has never been statistically proven to improve colleges’ accuracy in predicting which applicants are most likely to enroll if admitted, and we can trust that if Middlebury says they don’t track demonstrated interest they really don’t. It stands to reason, though, that admissions cares if an applicant is interested on a basic level. Of course, there’s no clear announcement about how Middlebury gauge’s an applicant’s interest, but we know they’ve ruled out the low hanging fruit normally considered demonstrated interest, like attending a virtual Q&A or emailing the admissions office. We can use our common sense here — blowing off an interview? being rude to an admissions officer? turning in an application essay that sounds like it was written for another school? Those things read as BIG red flags, and you’ll get booted from the application for apparent lack of interest. It really is that simple, so don’t overthink it!
What You Should Do
The good news is this, theoretically, shouldn’t change your plans much. It’s a green light for you to stop stressing about demonstrated interest, and a sign to keep focusing on the more important aspects of your application. Of course, you should still get to know Middlebury and do as much research as you can; that’s crucial for confirming it’s the right school for you and finding details you can use in your application. Just know that this research is for your benefit and no one is watching over your shoulder. So, onwards, soldier — relax a bit, keep your eye on the prize, and write the most compelling and specific application essay you can.
Not sure how to get your interest across in college essays? Reach out to us here.