Can ignoring emails I get from colleges due to the Student Search Service hurt my chances of getting in?Answered
So when I took the PSAT this past fall (I'm a sophomore), I signed up for the Student Search Service. This has obviously resulted in my inbox being spammed by many colleges. I don't want to unsubscribe because some of them provide helpful resources and it helps me think of colleges when I'm stuck (and then I see my fit and chancing here). The thing is, sometimes I don't click on the links in the emails or even open them, especially if it's coming from a college that sends a lot of emails. But it seems as though these colleges are aware that I'm not as some of them will send follow-up "did you get my email [asingularmia}?" emails. Could me ignoring these emails hurt my future chances of getting in through demonstrated interest or something like that?
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2 answers
Some colleges care about "demonstrated interest" while others do not. So the best way to determine which ones to keep engaged in is to look up the Common Data Sets for the colleges that you are interested in applying to.
That would be under Section C7 -Relative importance of each of the following academic and nonacademic factors in your first-time, first-year, degree-seeking (freshman) admission decisions. You will find a matrix of categories cross-referencing whether they consider those things or not, and how heavily they consider them.
If you haven't used Common Data Sets, google search Common Data Set followed by the College for instance "common data set Wake Forest"
https://prod.wp.cdn.aws.wfu.edu/sites/202/2021/06/CDS_2020-2021-3.pdf
You will be either taken to the college CDS website and click on the appropriate year for a (.pdf download) or sometime colleges like MIT have the CDS data incorporated write into their website.
Wake Forest considers 'level of applicants interest' in their college decisions, so if you want to improve your chances at Wake Forest, you should click on everything they send you.
Good luck.
Hi, thank you for asking your question! I agree with @CameronBameron on this one. Some colleges care about demonstrated interest, however, if you are receiving non-personalized emails from colleges then you do not have to respond to them. Even if an email includes "did you get my email?" and it is not filled with important information (i.e. just advertisements for a University), you do not have to respond, and it will likely minimally, if at all, impact your chance of admissions.
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