<p>Got you goaliedad, I'm never sure about how open to be on this board, these kids are 13 or so! Yet it's hard to not want to dispell the naive ideas because I think April, or is it March, will be a cruel month!!</p>
<p>I understand the implication of not visiting the campus for a interview and yield. I guess if you have absolutely no means financially to afford the visits and you make this clear, you may have a legit reason for not actually visiting the campus. Otherwise, yes why take the chance with a student who doesn't visit the campus when you have so many other visiting students to choose from. Maybe you can treat these hotel interviews as screenings for you. Then decide which schools appeal to you and DEFINITELY visit and interview again.</p>
<p>Alright thanks, maybe I will do that.</p>
<p>Can we interview twice?</p>
<p>Oh and I understand yield to be the percentage of students that actually attend the school out of those the were accepted?</p>
<p>OK, I'll take this one on.</p>
<p>You have the mathematical formula correct. Now to explain why yield is important.</p>
<p>At universities, if they want an incoming freshman class of 4000 and have an average yield of 80%, they will admit 5000 knowing that something close to 4000 of those 5000 will accept based upon historical figures. If 4100 accept, they can usually adjust the classroom scheduling (more early and late lectures) to handle the extra 100 students. If dormatory space is tight, freshman college students often will bump upperclassmen for dorm space. Those upperclassmen go find apartments. Everyone is accommodated.</p>
<p>For boarding school minor applicants, schools want as close to a 100% yield as possible because they can't kick out upperclassmen to alleviate overcrowding. So they tend to want to know if they are your #1 choice more than universities do.</p>
<p>So, they do not admit more than they can handle. However, if someone turns them down, they have to either go to their waiting list (who may have already gone to a competitor) or bump up someone's FA to get them to change their minds. Neither of these are good things, so now you see why schools value the most serious candidates.</p>
<p>Suze, I hope I've done a good job with this one.</p>
<p>Thanks, you've provided a lot more reasons why boarding schools value a high yield. I've just heard that it looks good on paper for their reputation, if many students who were accepted choose their school exclusively.</p>
<p>Umm...so do you think if I explain to my interviewer that even though I haven't visited yet, it is likely I will in the fall/winter, because I'd really like to get a feel of the atmosphere to the schools I'm most interested in...There would be a better impression? Euurghh I'm not sure how I'm going to accomodate this though.</p>
<p>So is it possible to do a second interview? That would be rather entertaining.</p>
<p>I don't see why they wouldn't accommodate you being from out of town as long as you seem sincere and have good credentials (you need to do well the first time). They give mulligans to good people. Traveling far to visit the school shoud qualify you.</p>
<p>If you were a local candidate, it might be a different issue, because it doesn't take much to do the visit right the first time.</p>
<p>If I applied to only two or three boarding schools, would this be an advantage to me? Would the schools rather pick me knowing that I'd have a better chance pick their school rather than one of the 9347435 I applied to?</p>
<p>Yeah, It shows your more serious about the school then someone like me who has 8, and is desperate to get in any.</p>
<p>Good job goliedad, where do your kids go?</p>
<p>I don't think only applying to 2 or 3 helps if they are all very top schools. So how's it going Jonathan? It sounded like you were giving up on boarding schools. Have your parents had a change of heart?</p>
<p>I know SPS has a parent ambassador program as a parent recently contacted my mom. This would be a great thing for you to request.</p>
<p>I know a lot of you were curious to know how my interviews went :)</p>
<p>I completed all six yesterday, and they went fine. I didn't hyperventilate...none of them caused me to be late to my next interview, etc. Admittedly, I was EXTREMELY tired by the time I got back home (I suppose an adrenaline rush or something help me survive the interviews).</p>
<p>The hotel it was at (The Omni Hotel in Chicago) was a really nice hotel! I don't know if this actually has to do with anything, but the lobby was gorgeous, though sometimes loud so we had to move around a lot.
<a href="http://omnihotels.com/%5B/url%5D">http://omnihotels.com/</a></p>
<p>My first interview was with Andover. Unfortunetly, this was the one I scheduled first without having any prior experience in interviews, and as well as one of my top schools. I can say that I probably did average, so I'll really have to work in getting my personality accross in the essays then. I answered the questions well, in my personal opinion, but looking back, nothing stood out (I guess I was generic).</p>
<p>Ohh and none of the schools told me that I had a lesser chance of being accepted, though they did ask if I was going to visit and I explained that it was possible, but not likely.</p>
<p>My second interview was with a representative from Hotchkiss. I think that one went well for me. Unlike the Andover interview, our conversation seemed more casual. He told me that he was good at falling asleep in class because he could perfectly balance his head on his neck...</p>
<p>Almost all (or all) of the schools asked me what other schools I was applying to. My dad told me to be honest and say a lot, but only because I was serious about leaving the possibility of attending my public high school. That will probably count against my favor though.</p>
<p>The next interview, Deerfield, was great, I think. My interviewer was extremely nice and laid back, and I realized I could also be more humorous, etc, too, while still responding to her questions with good answers. I needed to distinguish myself from other asian applicants by showing personality, which was my goal.</p>
<p>And then I had an interview with St. Paul's School. That one was quite okay. And that's really all I have to say, because I'm still not too sure...</p>
<p>At first, we couldn't find the Exeter representative, so we missed her at the time my family was supposed to meet her, but after the informational boarding school reception, she was really nice and let us do an interview afterwards. I think it went really well, except I forgot to mention that one of the reasons I want to go to Exeter was for the Harkness Method teaching, which was idiotic since I was thinking about it ever since I received their viewbook. And when I talked to the admissions director (or maybe assosciate, I can't remember), I made him and my interviewer laugh a lot, which I believe is a good sign :) (IE. "I think that an attractive name plays quite a bit of a role in my choice of a boarding school. My cousin wanted me to consider Groton but I was like, "Eww Groton? Sounds sort of like grotto. Isn't a grotto a murky swamp?"")</p>
<p>And my last interview was with Choate, which I believe went REALLY well :) I interviewed with Tim Bradley, but I had a bit of a hard time contacting him, until he called me the day before the interview! I didn't have time to fill out the pre-interview form, but he said not to worry about it. I talked to Mr. Bradley about a lot of things, and asked him many questions. I realized that bringing up my possible interest in crew was a DEFINITE good thing, because I am just about the perfect physique to be a cox-er (Short and lightweight...Though I don't really like being short)...And he told me that cox-ers are pretty in-demand everywhere.</p>
<p>And the reception was quite nice. The different schools (from the Ten Schools Admission Organization...which included Taft, Hotchkiss, Exeter, Andover, Choate, Lawrenceville, Deerfield, Loomis Chaffee, The Hill School, and St. Paul's) had different tables out with a lot of handouts and promotional items. I snagged some free pencils and a Deerfield pin!</p>
<p>EXTENSION:</p>
<p>I was dismayed to find though, that I dressed pretty casually out of the students that were there. Basically I wore dress pants, and a long-sleeved brown henley that I buttoned up. (I own basically one collared blouse and it DOESN'T look good) As I was looking around, the boys being interviewed all worse suits & ties so I felt pretty...informal!</p>
<p>But I suppose if I wore something dressier I may not have been as comfortable as I should be, since I'm not used to wearing dresses and skirts. Fortunately, I was clean, so it shouldn't be too much of a bad impression.</p>
<p>Congrats on making it through. It's actually a good thing you didn't tell Exeter Harkness was the draw, it's a cliche. Lots of schools use Harkness tables.</p>
<p>Another congratulations to you . . . all those interviews sure seem like a big challenge. I really wish you well!</p>