<p>My daughter is applying for boarding schools for 2011. We live in CA. Since most of the schools are in East Coast, we are thinking of to go for the school interviews duirng summer time in this year. Does any one know that early interviews carry the same weight as the late interviews (such as in the winter time, which the addmi. officers might remenber the studnet)? Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Most schools usually encourage just day students to go in the summer, but I am sure that they will let you do it in the summer. Of course, the school won’t be in session so you won’t get to see the basic atmosphere of the school.</p>
<p>I would suggest visiting during the school year when there are students there. It will make a lot of difference in how your child views the school and how well they feel they will fit in. Because you are from a large state, you may not realize how close these boarding schools are to each other, even though they are in different states. You can see many schools in a short amount of time and even though you will do a tour and an interview at each school, if you plan your trip well in advance, you can probably see two schools in one day (for instance Deerfield and Hotchkiss). My daughter has already graduated from BS and is in college now but if you want your child to be happy at a school so far from home, visit when the students are there to see how friendly the students are and how happy they appear to be. One of the schools we visited and where she ended up going, students actually stopped us on the tour to introduce themselves, welcomed us, asked where we/she was from, and told her they loved being there. Although right now the interview seems like the most important thing in the process, I think nothing beats going there when school is in session. Compare your child’s current school calender to the ones at the BSs and try to figure a way to visit where the BS is in session and perhaps part of the time your child’s current school is not in session. I know this isn’t exactly what you were asking, but I think it is important to consider.</p>