<p>I've seen a lot of you post that you had a "bad interview" at one school or another. I am curious to know, what do you think is a bad interview? Do you think you performed badly, or is it that you felt that you didn't "connect" with your interviewer? What would you consider a "good interview"?</p>
<p>I think for us feeling wanted is a big one. Even though I know these schools can pick from many qualified candidates, it's nice to come out of the interview feeling like the interviewer liked your child and your family. On one of our interviews we felt more like a number than a person. I felt like the interviewer was phoning in rote answers to my questions as a parent. Like s/he had stock answers to all the typical parent questions and was sick of answering them. By contrast at one interview the person was very friendly and it seemed like we were all old friends catching up on old times. The best one by far though was another one where the interviewer spent the parent time saying great things about s's academic talents and discussing what level courses he might be put in at their school and what the school could do for him in areas other than academics too. </p>
<p>I guess I just want to feel like they think my son is as great as I do. Especially if I am going to trust them to basically raise him for 9 months a year I have to feel like they care about him and can see his potential.</p>
<p>My d felt her first interview was bad, but in talking to her it really seemed she did not feel she connected with the interviewer. </p>
<p>But she did have one bad interview, and I say this because the parent interview was also a disaster. The interviewer had a clip board with a list of questions. He talked pretty loud and fast and would ask her a question and before she could get her answer out he would start asking another question. He didn't really ask a question, he shouted the questions. The parent interview was similar. As we left the school we were laughing because we both knew it was bad and decided immediately she would not be apply there. Not just because the interview was bad, but because the feel of the place was not right.</p>
<p>My first interview was amazing. She was practically begging me to come to that school. Second not so much. The lady was unenthusiastic and was hard to connect with. My best interview, Hotchkiss, my 7th, was awesome. I could've sat in there talking with the lady for another couple hours. She was so easy to talk to and made me feel so at ease. If I go there I want to figure out what dorm she's in and request it.</p>
<p>All my interviews went great but I think it's really a gut feeling and how easily you talked to the interviewer</p>
<p>The only interview I felt was amazing (as in, this interview alone could get me in) was SPS, I did it in atlanta and since then I had been talking with the guy. Came up there, and pretty much the head of everything I was interested in was their to talk to me. Then we just chatted for a little more in his office...That was def. the best. Exeter interviewer was boring but I gave good answers. Deerfield interview was pretty good, said I sounded like a Deerfield student so thats good.Talked to my parents for awhile about the competition and really was a nice guy.</p>
<p>I was unsure of my interview at exeter. The guy who interviewed me kept doing these like "almost about to laugh" faces after every question he asked and he didn't really make an effort to turn the interview into a conversation I felt, he just sort of asked me the questions, I answered, he asked me another one, etc. I thought it was okay, I gave some good answers, but a couple of the questions stumped me. Like "Imagine theoretically that you have gotten into Exeter, attended for 4 years, and are now graduating to go on to do great things in life, what experiences or things will you want to take away from your time at Exeter?" The question itself was a mouthful and I was just like ... well..... um.... <em>stare out window for ten minutes</em> hahah it wasn't a great interview but it wasn't awful either.</p>
<p>For my son & our family, the "bad" interviews were similiar experiences to what a few others have said - The interviews which were quick Q & A checklist without any conversational flow. </p>
<p>We just felt the quick Q & A was very "business" like and my son thought it was a "bum's rush." One interviewer actually told both him and us that he was much too overscheduled the entire week. </p>
<p>I know the "triple threat" of staff is real, but this interview really left us feeling insignificant.</p>
<p>Notnim: what's the triple threat?</p>
<p>Triple threat: most admission officers (as well as most boarding school faculty in general) not only work in their office and/or teach classes (1), but coach sports or advise extracurricular groups (2), and are dorm parents and/or academic advisors (3).</p>
<p>Thanks GemmaV!</p>
<p>I wouldn't say we had a "bad" interview. We had better, and not-so-good interviews.</p>
<p>One question which annoyed me was the, "Are you certain you want your child to board?" I know that this is a good question to ask, and many parents probably get cold feet about sending their child off, even after going through the process. Some have even reported such on CC. However. We are not presenting ourselves at the school's admissions office early in the morning, "just to see." If the interviewer has spoken with my child, and still needs to ask if the family is o.k. with boarding, something's "off."</p>
<p>I admit, though, that as we worked our way through the visits, this question didn't come up. Somehow my child was better able to explain why boarding is attractive. As an aside, one reason I think schools ask a candidate for their list, is to gauge the family's interest in boarding. If a list contains 5 day schools, and one boarding school, the family would probably prefer to keep the child at home.</p>
<p>After March 10th, I'll know better if our feelings match the interviewers' impressions. The interviewers are so different, it's hard for me to judge. I don't gush about anything, so, if I were an interviewer, many interviewees might come away thinking, "oh, no, she hated me!"</p>
<p>I had an awkward moment in our part of the interview. I tried to ask a question that I wasn't very successful with! I wanted to ask about study skills because my son has never studied in his life and I am concerned about this. What I wanted to convey was that I wanted him to be challenged and would not be put off by lower grades and to ask what kind of system they had in place to help those kids coming from unchallenging public schools. I didn't want to actually say, "my son has never had to study" because I thought it sounded arrogant. I didn't want to say, "my son has no study skills" because I thought that was too negative. I made a mess of it and it was completely my fault. </p>
<p>I've been wondering if I shouldn't email him a direct question. What I wanted to say was, "I'm sure that many of your students are not used to the intensity of the academics here and have perhaps, not developed the kind of study skills necessary because of lack of challenge in their old schools. In what ways do you help them gain the study skills necessary to succeed?"</p>
<p>Unfortunately, that is not what came out of my mouth! (I was nervous.)</p>
<p>Something else I just remembered......certainly nothing "bad". </p>
<p>When my son was interviewing and my husband and I were in the waiting area, a different admissions officer came out to get some coffee and struck up a conversation with us. Then, when my husband and I were being interviewed, she was there chatting with my son and few current students. I wonder if she made a few notes as well? I'm ok with that but it just occurred to me that we may have been "interviewed" twice.</p>
<p>Gosh! I just hate the idea of someone scribbling notes about me and my family after we've met. It just seems so.......weird. :)</p>
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One question which annoyed me was the, "Are you certain you want your child to board?" I know that this is a good question to ask, and many parents probably get cold feet about sending their child off, even after going through the process. Some have even reported such on CC. However. We are not presenting ourselves at the school's admissions office early in the morning, "just to see." If the interviewer has spoken with my child, and still needs to ask if the family is o.k. with boarding, something's "off."
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<p>I was actually prepared for that question, but it wasn't asked. I'm kind of glad because my snappy answer "Well, commuting 1000 miles each way as a day student isn't exactly the best option." may have come off wrong. ;)</p>
<p>LOL, Goaliedad. I wasn't asked that question either. My son was asked but I think he may have mentioned that his father went to boarding school so they probably figured we were fine with it.</p>
<p>Why would they ask that anyway? I mean why would a family interview if they wouldn't do it? Is it to see if the kids have their parents' support?</p>
<p>I think you can have a bad interview by asking too many of the hard questions about the school. Save some for the revisit. Otherwise, it can give the interviewer the impression that you aren't serious about their school-and everyone wants to be taken seriously.</p>
<p>question:::</p>
<p>why don't some interviewers take notes??
do they write a quick evaluation after the interview or something?
if they don't take notes, how do they remember the applicant?</p>
<p>When I don't have too many interviews on a particular day, I try not to take notes because I will write my evaluation right away. I think I am a better interviewer if I'm not always scribbling furiously--it keeps the tone of the meeting more conversational.</p>
<p>GemmaV - what do you think is a bad interview? There are two opinions on here - a good interview is one that gets you accepted, versus a good interview is one that feels like a good conversation.</p>
<p>Never would say I ever had a "bad" one, but I did have a rather wide variety of good to not-so-great. Usually I had a little difficulty with interviews if the person was a guy, mostly because men tend to be more aggressive. This was the case at 2 of the schools I was applying to, however there was one who was more compassionate than usual and I had a good time talking to him. For the most part I would say I felt pretty good at all my interviews, even the first one where I wore a hoodie and a pair of jeans (I wasn't notified of the proper dress code until I finished my first)</p>