<p>I live in Texas, and I do not think it is worthwhile to travel thousands of miles just for an interview. Will the admission office see this as a lack of dedication?</p>
<p>Hi there! I had off-campus interviews when I applied to Andover and Exeter, and I was accepted to both. I’m sure they understand that it isn’t always practical to go to the East Coast just for an interview.</p>
<p>Since you live farther away (Texas) from the northeastern prep school I’m sure it’s perfectly understandable if you’re not able to do an interview in person.</p>
<p>Probably not, but if there isn’t a representative of the school in your area available to interview you, you might have to do a Skype/Telephone interview, which doesn’t feel as natural to some.</p>
<p>No. It doesn’t hurt you. In some cases, depending on the interviewer, it might help. Because you’ll normally get more time to talk, then on campus when there are a lot of people waiting. Campus interviews are good mostly because you have time to actually tour the campus at the same time.</p>
<p>If you really really want to get in a school and you have no strong hook, go.</p>
<p>No, but bad grammar does</p>
<p>I don’t think it does. I just completed an off-campus interview for Deerfield, and it was SO great. My interviewer was amazing, and it was much more like an engaging conversation than an interview. Plus, my mom became friends with his wife and they’re having drinks together, and I’m meeting with their daughter who attends Deerfield over Thanksgiving Break to learn about the Deerfield dance program. My parents said after that the whole experience made them much more willing to let me go to boarding school, since they had the chance to actually talk to parents whose children have attended. Overall a very positive experience.</p>
<p>As an international applicant from Asia who only applied to the top, top boarding schools (all household names on CC), my experience tells me that an on-campus interview is CRITICAL. The schools will NEVER admit it, but I have come to believe it is a requirement. ALL those that I know who were accepted to the top boarding schools did on-campus interviews. Since so many people are now flying from Asia to do the interviews, the playing field has simply been changed for the applicants from Asia. I expect the schools could easily fill their slots with the applicants that take the time (and expense) to interview on campus, so not doing so will all but eliminate you from consideration.</p>
<p>I also had an alumni interviewer tell me they interviewed 15 people locally last year and none of them were accepted.</p>
<p>From my own experience, I was denied by the three schools where I did a local interview with an alumnus, and accepted by both schools where I was interviewed by an officer from the Admissions Office. Frankly, there was a world of difference in how professionally the interviews were conducted too. For example in my alumni interviews, the interviewers:</p>
<p>1) Did not speak English very well (despite being an alumnus from an elite school)
2) Took over 5 minutes to decide what beverage to order in the cafe where we interviewed
3) Took a cellphone call and arranged a lunch appointment in the middle of our interview
4) Repeated questions verbatim a few minutes later. After the third time I had to start gently pointing this out
5) Interrupted our interview to introduce me to their new fiancee who just happened(?) to walk by our table
6) Used mild profanity during the interview with me (yet no profanity at all in front of my parents)</p>
<p>Naturally, I was very discouraged after these interviews and lost much of my passion to attend these schools after these incidents. And frankly, had a hard time believing the schools would take any opinion from my interviewers very seriously. On the other hand, the Admissions Officers I met with were very professional yet friendly, engaging, and charming and consequently these schools were bumped higher on my preference list.</p>
<p>I did not fully comprehend the importance of the interview until I completed this entire process. The interview is extremely, extremely important. That being said, if you are an international student and serious about attending one of the top boarding schools, you need to go to the trouble of doing an on-campus interview.</p>
<p>Surfdude, it is worth traveling all that distance to see where you might be spending the next several years. If finances keep you from going on-campus, so be it, but going in person has a lot of value over and above the interview and interviewer. </p>
<p>I think if you are a full-pay student, meaning you could afford the cost of travel, and choose to not visit the campus, it may reflect poorly on you.</p>
<p>My two children who went to boarding school required substantial financial aid, but I bit the bullet and took them on campus for tours and interviews (we live in the West and we traveled to New England). I don’t have personal experience with off-campus interviews but I do know of a local boy, really a prodigy, who was accepted at Exeter and had never set foot there before the first day of school.</p>
<p>I would say an on-campus interview greatly improves your chances of admission IF AND ONLY IF the interviewer really likes you after talking, and he is one of those AOs who actually decide whether one gets in or not.</p>
<p>@Surfdude. I worked my tail off applying last year, my one regret is not doing the on-campus interview… and I live in Asia.</p>
<p>If you are serious about attending one of the top boarding schools I strongly recommend you do an on-campus interview. It is very difficult to gain admission to these schools and much of the process is out of your control; therefore, take control of areas you can. Seeing that you even started this thread, I believe you already know that it’s probably better to do an on-campus interview and this element is completely up to you (and your family).</p>
<p>So, it is better to be on-site?</p>
<p>@beprepared. The interview is an EXTREMELY important component of your application. People may want to hear that it’s “okay” to interview off-campus, but you won’t hear that from me. If you are SERIOUS about attending one of the top schools do an on-campus interview, otherwise don’t bother applying.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That is very irresponsible advice as is falsely leads applicants to believe that off-campus interviews hurt your chances of admission and that only on-campus interviews indicate serious intent. That is completely false as many testimonials on this board indicate. There any plenty of serious applicants who simply cannot get to campus for any number of legitimate reasons; the schools know this and gladly accommodate those students with off-campus options – and admit many of them.</p>
<p>If the issue is that an applicant isn’t interested enough to actually see a campus when they easily could, then that is a different story as applying to a school you are not enthusiastic about is a waste of everyone’s time.</p>
<p>But, please kids, if you’re reading this and worrying that not being able to interview on campus will somehow make you an inferior candidate, that is untrue, and you should stop worrying. Just set up your off-campus interview and present your best happy self. Best of luck to you!</p>
<p>@Jersey: no, just no.</p>
<p>@ChoatieMom. Did your children interview on campus?</p>
<p>Perhaps I was too strong, but if you look at my previous post (#9) I seriously doubt the alumni interview carries any weight. I doubt the alumni interviewers receive any training, and I doubt they are screened.</p>
<p>I had a terrible experience with my off-campus interviews and providing my views for balance.</p>
<p>There is no question that an on-campus interview is better than off-campus, right? We just may disagree about how much better.</p>
<p>Frankly, I did not fully appreciate how difficult it was to get into boarding school last year when I applied. Applicants should know that they will be competing for precious spots with talented, smart, ambitious students who are doing interviews on campus.</p>
<p>Our son interviewed with an alum at a local Starbucks, and it was a wonderful, insightful exchange. If alum interviews didn’t carry any weight and were worthless to the school, why would they bother? The admissions office has enough to do without wasting everyone’s time. Schools realize that not every applicant can make it to campus, and they realize that they may be bypassing some stellar contributors by not making the effort to reach them in some alternate way, so they will Skype, phone, and use their alumni network to make sure everyone has an opportunity to interview.</p>
<p>Is it “better” to interview on campus? I would say yes, but not because I believe your admission chances are substantially better. There is no better way for YOU to get to know the school than to put your feet on the ground, talk to students, tour the facilities, talk to teachers/coaches, etc. Remember, the interview goes both ways. The school is trying to get a sense of you, and you are trying to get a sense of the school. There is no better way for you to do that than to be on campus. </p>
<p>Also, I dislike how CCers try to second-guess what is ultimately a very transparent process. There is nothing magic about the interview. Important, yes; magic, no. The school just wants to get a sense of how the real kid relates to the kid on paper, and they are very good at getting what they want through all the avenues they offer. I think too much is made of that dream connection with that one ad-com who will go to bat for a kid around the decision table and change a no to a yes. Does that happen? Sure. But kids are able to shine through any connection; all is not lost if you cant make it to campus. I dont want any student here to think that their application is second-rate due to a necessary off-campus interview (emphasis on necessary).</p>
<p>I wish revisit days had not been our first visit to Choate, but it couldnt be helped. I am also grateful that even in the face of the schools mandatory on-campus tour/interview:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>there was flexibility and, obviously, the off-campus interview was respected.</p>
<p>What I object to @Jersey386 is deflating the hopes of candidates who absolutely cannot do an on-campus interview. If you CAN get to campus, then I think you MUST–for your own sake. If you cant, you do the next best thing and stop worrying. Yes, admissions is a very competitive game, but the interview is only one component, and applicants who necessarily interview in some alternate way are not put in a separate consideration pile.</p>