<p>@CellyZ: I’ll be taking myself off of Hotchkiss’s and Andover’s waitlists now; hopefully, one less person on the waitlist will be beneficial to you! Best of luck! :)</p>
<p>My D:</p>
<p>Waitlisted Exeter, Andover, did not apply any other school</p>
<p>SSAT 99% all around, 98% SAT, 750 +/- 10 each subject
GPA: 4.0
Rank: n/a
essay: I know she is a great writer, her English teacher wanted her to participate in writting competion, but she did not.
Recommendations: not sure
Sports: school Tennis team
Music: Piano Carnegie Hall 2011 & 2012
violin: first chair of school orchestra
Mathcount chapter winner 2011
Gender: F
Grade: 8th apply for 9th
FA: require about 50% FA
she is half Asian half Caucasian</p>
<p>comments: should have spread a wider net, probably should have followed up with the interviewers.</p>
<p>^^ I think that the interviews which play a de minimis role at the university level by and large, are critical in boarding schools. I think that the objective data is important but probably not as much as is thought-- esp the SSAT. </p>
<p>I know at PEA while an interview can’t get one in, if the interviewer does not sense that the child will thrive at the Harkness table, that is a very difficult burden to overcome.</p>
<p>As one of my S interviewer told me in the parent part of the interview–“We are looking at flowers at this stage are buds, the question for us is --Will this flower bloom to its fullest in the particular environment we have at this school?” That sounds about right.</p>
<p>GoldenRatio, your description of your Andover interview:</p>
<p>“Andover: The interview was mundane and followed an interrogation format. I stumbled over some questions, and mumbled out others. In one, I completely bluffed. The interviewer was not impressed, and seemed to scent out my skepticism for the school (I wasn’t really sure if I could fit in at Andover or not. The reputation and multitude of the student body all scared me.)”</p>
<p>…sounds EXACTLY like my C’s experience!! Perhaps it was the same interviewer. My C has an anti-prestige streak (determined not to want something just because others say it’s The Best), and was indeed ambivalent about the school. I don’t know whether the interviewer successfully sniffed out a bad risk, or drove away a potentially good match. C strongly prefers interviewers who sit back and let the student tell his/her story. The Andover interrogation format was a huge turn off, and finalized bottom status of Andover on C’s list. C completed the app, but without heart, and of course got a rejection. It’s too bad - a different interviewer could have turned C around completely, and I actually think it would have been a good match.</p>
<p>@hmom, It is possible that the interviewers may be making the FA candidates not very comfortable with the school and start loving it as they know they would eventually reject a greater fraction of FA students. I know a lot of FP kids from my school with not so great stats had easy interviews at Andover and got in. Of course, some of them dropped out as they couldn’t handle the academics.</p>
<p>Ditto to what Etondad said, but we sort of figured out after the fact. We know D was hanging there until last minutes, exeter contacted us just few days before decision day. exeter interviewer thought D was a “strong” candidate, when I asked about 10th grad admission, she said “she can apply again, but she is strong”, we walked away very optimistic. But we did not contact her again afterwards, not even a thank you note. A huge mistake! As to harkness table, I truely believe that is great for someone like my daughter – her face literally light up when there is intellectual peer of hers around, she could be a great contributor in the harkness table( but this were never told to either interviewer or in writting, another mistake). It is really too bad!!!</p>
<p>Chloes, that’s possible, but we are FP and my kid has pretty strong stats. I actually think it was just that interviewer’s style, rather than anything calculated. And I also think that some students find the interrogation style (perhaps more fairly called the direct questioning style) less threatening.</p>
<p>I did a lot of interviewing in my former career, and found that some people are more at ease if you just let them talk and ask an occasional guiding question, while others are more comfortable with a very structured interview. My kid happens to fall into the former category, and connected best with the CA interviewer, who said little more than “tell me about yourself”. So in my kid’s case at Andover, I think it was just a poor match between interviewer and interviewee.</p>
<p>Ideally, an interviewer would be skilled enough to adjust his or her style to the interviewee. When we parents got to chat with the Andover interviewer, my sense was that this was not a very skilled interviewer. So it goes. No Andover in the future for my child, but that’s just fine, because c is delighted with the 2 existing choices.</p>
<p>@etondad - what you said now makes so much sense to us. DC is admitted to Exeter. Last night we sent a thank you note; and the off campus alumni interviewer replied and said that she could totally see DC at the Harkness table, contribute and learn.</p>
<p>My D:</p>
<p>** Accepted at Exeter and Milton **
**Denied: Andover,Hotchkiss,Lawrenceville **</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SSAT: lower 80’s percentile
[</em>] Essays: pretty good for Hotchkiss; not sure about Andover’s, really depends on reader’s taste; super for the rest
[<em>] Math Rec: don’t know
[</em>] English Rec:don’t know
[<em>] Other Rec Rec: a good one from EC instructor
[</em>] Principal/Counselor Rec:don’t know
[<em>] Sports (if any): some school level teams, nothing big
[</em>] Instruments (if any): none
[<em>] Other ECs (if any): school clubs
[</em>] Connections: none
[<em>] Hook (if any): published and award-winning writer and artist
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[</em>] State or Country: an over represented state
[<em>] Current School Type: private
[</em>] Gender: F
[<em>] Financial: full pay
[</em>] Grade: 8, apply to 9
[/ul]Other Factors:
General Comments:
except Hotchkiss, every other interviews were all well done.
SSAT is not everything, as long as you have something special, don’t give up</p>
<p>@honoraryamom: Yes, maybe we did get the same interviewer! I do agree that a good interviewer should have a quick enough judgement to tailor the questions to the interviewee’s taste. But that takes some experience.</p>
<p>I guess it’s all luck; no one knows until the day before who will be interviewing whom. Thus, I’m not really complaining about the interviewer’s style…more as, berating myself for not being adaptable enough to respond well.</p>
<p>In hindsight, I probably should have been more prepared with answers to questions. However, I (much like your C) feel more at ease in interviews where the main question is, “Tell me about yourself.” I could ramble on and on, improvise, grab feathers out of the air and pull rabbits out of my hat-just for those four words. But in a direct question style interview, I find it hard to convey my true personality. There always seems to be a set “answer” the interviewer is looking for, and it’s hard to break out of that mold.</p>
<p>It is true that the interviewer could make or break your impressions. When I interviewed at Choate, it was at the bottom of my list. However, my interviewer was so relaxed and easygoing that I felt myself open up to the questions. By the end of the interview, Choate had risen up significantly on my list.</p>
<p>*By the way, I have an anti-prestige streak as well. My parents were all urging me to apply to Andover and Exeter, but I wasn’t sold on the idea. 
That’s why I’m not very sad at the lack of acceptance.</p>
<p>@chloes: That could be some of the reason, but truly, I believe that we all know how much of an uphill battle getting FA is. Besides, I believe that an interviewer will not read the applicant’s file. Right? It’s to give an unbiased second take of the applicant. :)</p>
<p>** Decision: Accepted at Hotchkiss, Exeter, Groton, and Milton **
** Waitlisted: None **
** Rejected: None **</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT: 82nd Percentile
[</em>] GPA Unweighted-Weighted:4.0-4.14
[<em>] Rank: 3 of 500
[</em>] Other stats: I’m in 9th grade applying to repeat
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Essays: I worked really hard on all of them, whiting is one of my strong suits…
[</em>] Math Rec: It was probably OK. My teacher doesn’t know me that well.
[<em>] English Rec: Same as math
[</em>] Other Rec Rec: I made sure to pick carefully who did my other recs. They should have been good. I also got past teachers who knew me better to do some short recs.
[<em>] Principal/Counselor Rec: Good. My counselor likes me a lot.
[</em>] Sports (if any): Crew
[<em>] Instruments (if any): Cello, 1.5 years
[</em>] Other ECs (if any): Model UN, Yearbook
[<em>] Hook (if any): No FA needed
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[</em>] State or Country: KY, USA
[<em>] Current School Type: Large, Public Magner
[</em>] Ethnicity: Caucasian
[<em>] Gender: F
[</em>] Grade: 9
[/ul]Other Factors:
General Comments:
I think overall that the interviews were a lot more important that some people give them credit for. Be honest, attentive, and speak up for yourself. Also, in your essays, try to write about something unique, but also be honest.</p>
<p>** Decision: Accepted : NMH, Mercersburg **
** Watlisted: Loomis **
** Rejected: Taft, Blair, SAS, Hotchkiss, Lawrenceville, Kent **</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SSAT: 88. I only prepped for 2 weeks while having final term tests!
[</em>] GPA: 8.9/10
[<em>] Rank: Does not rank
[</em>] Other stats: IELTS: (YES! THE IELTS, NOT THE TOEFL) 7.5 (actually it was 7.625)</p>
<p>[/ul]**Subjective: **[ul]
[<em>] Essays: RUSHED! I applied when there were only 2 weeks left so the essays werent in their best shape. However, I think it’s quite good. Or above average.
[</em>] Math Rec: Absolutely good. He knows me personally and I’m holding the 2nd highest score in his class.
[<em>] English Rec: Absolutely good.
[</em>] Other Rec Rec:
[<em>] Principal/Counselor Rec: Not good. She told me that she wrote " he will have difficulties at BS" lol
[</em>] Sports (if any): I love sports! And play sports daily! And play many sports!
[<em>] Instruments (if any): Guitar but only 1 year.
[</em>] Other ECs (if any): A friend of my father who knows me well.
[<em>] Hook (if any): No FA needed. Good balance between learning and playing.
[/ul]
Location/Person:[ul]
[</em>] State or Country: Asia
[<em>] Current School Type: Average, Public Magnet, one of the best.
[</em>] Ethnicity: Asian
[<em>] Gender: Male
[</em>] Grade: 11</p>
<p>[/ul]**Other Factors: **
Good interview
every interviewer was super friendly( except for Hotchkiss, he rested his head on his hand!) (and this is to show that interviews dont play an important role). And since I applied for Grade 10 while I’m in Grade 11, I was rejected at Kent. I think I will hold a better chance if I’m in Grade 10.
General Comments:
I think the essays play a crucial role in decision-making. This year is quite a tense year for me.</p>
<p>I actually believe that the interview was more important than the essays. My Hotchkiss essays were freaking hideous, and I got waitlisted with an awesome interview. In addition, my Choate essays sounded like I was a robot, but I got in with a really great interview. There are so many applicants, and there’s bound to be many that are similar in paper. What will make each different is their interview.</p>
<p>Haha. So IMO it really depends. I think everyone’s interview is the same lol. Everyone seems to be happy with their interview.</p>
<p>Really? I compared interview questions with two classmates who had interviews (one two weeks later, another a month later), and we all had different questions. IMO, I think the format is very loosely organized. And it’s the interviewer’s job to make everyone feel happy about their interview! :)</p>
<p>@GoldenRatio: Really? I and 2 other friends are like nearly exactly the same haha! Dont know if it’s because we have so many hobbies in common or not haha</p>
<p>@hamburger110: Oh, my classmates and I are totally different. We’re all in different worlds; they are full-pay applicants, I am a financial aid applicant. They have extracurricular that reek of money spent and invested; I’ve just signed up at every ragtag arts event I’ve encountered. One of them has charisma that could make even the smoothest speakers boil in envy, and another is so reserved and withdrawn. So maybe it is depending with hobbies, etc.</p>
<p>There terrible thing about needing FA is that you tend to have fewer ECs because you couldn’t do expensive ones. :mad:</p>
<p>Exactly! So I couldn’t do tennis or lacrosse, and consequently, my application was weak in the athletics. X_X But it all worked out in the end.</p>
<p>** Decision: Accepted at Deerfield **</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT: SSAT 95 % overall
[</em>] GPA Unweighted-Weighted: No GPAs
[<em>] Rank: No Ranks
[</em>] Other stats:
[/ul]**Subjective: **[ul]
[<em>] Essays: Of all the schools that I applied to (7) I spent the most time on my Deerfield essay, and I guess it really paid off!
[</em>] Math Rec: They were good, I was/am a good student in math class.
[<em>] English Rec: My English rec was probably better than my math rec, because I knew the teacher in 7th grade already, so I guess my english teacher knew me better.
[</em>] Other Rec Rec: I had my band teacher that I had for three years write me a recommendation, and I think it would’ve been quite strong.
[<em>] Principal/Counselor Rec: My schools has applicants fill out a form for the counselor to get to know us better, but otherwise I don’t really talk to the counselor.
[</em>] Sports (if any): Netball - three years (It’s like basketball and ultimate frisbee mashed together), horseback riding - around 1 year, I also swam competitively in a club/team for around 3 years, but had to quit due to scheduling conflicts.
[<em>] Instruments (if any): Oboe - 3 and a half years, Tenor saxophone - 3 years
[</em>] Other ECs (if any): Literary magazine editorial team, Jazz band (2 and a half years),
[<em>] Hook (if any): I talked to some of the Deerfield alumni, alumni representatives in my area, and also contacted Deerfield’s headmistress. (Deerfield was my first choice)
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul] Somewhere in Asia (rather not reveal)
[</em>] State or Country: Ditto.
[<em>] Current School Type: Private day
[</em>] Ethnicity: Asian
[<em>] Gender: Female
[</em>] Grade: 8
[/ul]Other Factors: I’m taking Geometry in 8th Grade, although this probably isn’t a major factor.
General Comments: I thought that everything finally paid off! I’m super excited to go to Deerfield this fall, as it is my first choice. All the other schools that I applied to had waitlisted me, and Lawrenceville rejected me.</p>