I feel like it’s getting to be that time when some of us with juniors are going to be having college interviews. I am wondering what kids are wearing to those?
Please don’t respond and say “whatever you want.”
When we interviewed at BS my kids “dressed up” a bit and I 100% believe in that avenue. I think dressing nicely for an interview is a way to show you care before you’ve even opened your mouth. However, my daughter wore a super cute dress to BS interviews and I am not sure she needs to go that far for college.
Good news is I can wear whatever I want to because I don’t have to be interviewed. I don’t right? There aren’t any colleges that interview parents? I am so looking forward to applications that don’t require me to write a ton of essays.
Definitely a case where boys are probably easier and can go with khakis and a polo shirt or khakis and sweater, depending on the time of year.
Are you doing interviews over spring break? I honestly haven’t thought about scheduling, but we may visit one school over break where they just offer a tour and interview (in lieu of an info session), and I am wondering how strenuously to push DS to do an interview, if only for practice
I too am looking forward to no parent interviews (though I have been included in meetings with coaches) and no parent statement!
Yes, we are planning to use March break to get as much done as possible! Boys are so much easier!!
And we are starting with the “easiest” school first although I feel like my daughter has already been through this and is kind of a pro at the whole “I am amazing, but humble, and you want me at your school!” thing. We shall see. Her college list is a mess because she can’t decide what she wants to do. Some huge schools, still has some smaller schools with BB coaches who are “interested” in her (and I put that in quotes because she and I both feel a lot of anxiety around the recruiting thing and neither of use like it at all).
When we did some over spring break we were in warm climate so just a nice dress. There were boys in shorts and t-shirts and some kids just in jeans. I don’t think it matters much as long as you are clean and presentable, definitely much less formal than boarding schools. Honestly, the only people who stood out where the ones wearing logo shirts/sweatshirts of another college, in quite a few instances a rival institution. I always wanted to ask what sort of message are they trying to send. I think some very truly clueless and bought the shirt at the previous school visit during their tour. But there was a kid in OSU gear on our tour of University of Michigan and just about everyone was rolling their eyes. He may have been of the school of thought “any attention is good attention” but I would not recommend going that route. I wish I could have been fly on the wall when he walked into his interview.
Ok…this is somewhat strange, so I’m thinking it depends on the area/school??? We visited Rice over Thanksgiving. DS wore slacks and a short-sleeved button down shirt. I wore Capri pants with a blouse, my husband wore nice jeans and a light sweater (we were going for middle of the road). We were SO over dressed compared to the other families there.
So, for our Spring Break visits, we all decided we’d step it down a notch. DS was planning to go with BS dress code, as was his dad (khaki shorts, collared shirt) while I stuck with capris and a blouse, but a more casual pairing.
Our only set of dressier clothes will be for DDs BS visit sandwiched in between.
Now y’all have me rethinking…? I don’t know. Maybe the South is more casual?
I may just go from English equestrian gear to Western…sigh. Exchange the crop for a lasso. (Those of you who were on the drop off day thread will understand)
@buuzn03
It’s just so hard to get the BS standard, headmaster + AOs wearing blazers at move in day when it was 90*, out of my head. Northeast is definitely more formal but I’d assume true south, not southwest, would also be more dressed up.
I have a friend in NC and she says every time she comes up north people look like slobs to her because she’s so used to everyone in the south “making an effort” all the time. I’m like “I put on clean clothes, that’s not making an effort???” No, without a full face of makeup it’s not apparently.
@one1ofeach I live in the south and I never wear makeup. I’m the outlier. The comments I get when I do actually wear makeup are comical, so I know exactly what you mean.
But some areas are definitely more lax-people here go to church in jeans and shorts (but with full-on makeup and hair done). So, I’m just not sure what we should wear. Rice is true south…we Texans looked like New Englanders sticking out amongst that crowd, though.
I think we will just stick with middle of the road. But I will wear some lipstick and mascara. ?
Neat, clean, and presentable clothing is all that is required at most on campus interviews. Wear comfortable shoes if you and your student are also taking a walking tour of the campus. The interviewers don’t care what the parents wear. If you are visiting Rice, and it is 100 degrees outside, modest shorts are fine even for an interview. No Daisy Dukes or mini skirts. Other cooler times of year, pants or jeans with a casual shirt for males or females or a casual dress for females should be fine also.
I was going to echo @Houston1021 and facetiously add that, of course, everyone knows to avoid rival gear, but my hair is still standing on end from this:
You would had to have been born under a rock and missing some critical DNA to commit this particular crime. (Of course, the opposite could never happen as no Wolverine EVER would be touring that other campus. ?)
Down here in the South, kids seem to be a bit more dressed up for certain schools, not all schools. Students applying to the smaller, private, Southern colleges looked more dressed up. It maybe similar to what you wear to class at most boarding schools. Don’t wear T-shirts with offensive messages. If you are wearing a baseball cap, please take it off when you enter the building. At schools we have toured like Washington & Lee, Wake Forest, Davidson - boys wore nice khaki pants and button down shirt (we did see a couple boys in blue blazers at Wake Forest). Girls wore skirts/tops and dresses.
Neat, clean, comfy shoes. Heads-up spring break visitors! Some schools do not start interviewing juniors until April or May – they are still "working " the incoming September class. Check beforehand if you want to do this at a particular school. You may need to go to the scheduling page to see what incoming year is being interviewed.
Well good luck with the interviews, @one1ofeach! We’ve done a lot of looking, thinking, recruiting camps, etc., and DS is pretty clear on the general type of school, but I’ve given very little thought to how and when to fit in interviews. We were told that schools with GENERALLY start interviewing juniors at spring break time, but I haven’t investigated. I would think that BS kids are in pretty good shape for college interviews.
In regards to what @gardenstategal said-I should’ve clarified. None of the schools we are visiting had interviews available for Spring Break. We will be meeting with department representatives/faculty but no official AO interviews.
We figured this is a “scouting” trip. The schools That make the final list will get a second trip if interviews are required. We still don’t want to show up as slobs to visits, though.
Because we are getting closer to our trip, I asked DS what he was packing to wear for these visits…he replied “well, to Florida I’m wearing my Hawaiian shirt, board shorts, my O flip flops and my EF bucket hat” (y’all should look up this hat…from the EF cycling team)
