<p>Achat, this may very well be a good site for students trying to determine where they will best fit. However, that was not the question. The question asked what each of us would have done differently, had we known then, what we know now. Knowing what I know now I would not have gotten involved in this forum. It mostly just raises the angst of the whole process. If you find it helpful that's great, I didn't.</p>
<p>Thanks for everyone's advice on this thread, it's been extremely helpful! I'm definitely going to start applications this summer.</p>
<p>I just completed my junior year of highschool and am about to go on a 2week long+ college tour of 1st and 2nd tier schools in New England and midatlantic. I'm doing at least 4 interviews during the trip, and hopefully i can go at them better prepared with some advice...</p>
<p>-I think I'm a pretty personable, so should I interview with schools that say "interview considered" as well as "interview STRONGLY recommended"? As of now I've only scheduled interviews with the latter. Does this depend on my interest for the school? Are these interviews generally win-win?</p>
<p>-Would it be completely weird to bring a list of questions into the interview? As of now I'm completely clueless to a rank of my choices (except for my top, which doesn't even interview) and I figure answers to specific questions that I might forget during interview time could be helpful. Are any questions off-limits?(for me to ask)</p>
<ul>
<li>Are there any "out there" questions the AO's ask besides the general "what do you like to do in your spare time?" I know there has to be some...most take around an hour!</li>
</ul>
<p>-I've tried to do some soul searching, and my mom has definitely helped my figure out my best/worst qualities just in case they ask questions along these lines. What else helps prepare?</p>
<p>Thanks so much (I'm new to doing interviews as you can probably see)</p>
<p>I think, according to PR's "Cracking College Admissions," that you are not supposed to bring in a list of questions. Other than that, I don't really know.</p>
<p>I think you should definitely interview wherever you can - it can only help. And do bring questions with you - its an excellent idea, and really helps to show your interest in the school. Plus it will keep the flow of conversation going if there are any lulls.</p>
<p>Most interviews are similar, what are you looking for in a college to see if you really know and have researched a specific school. may ask you what books she have read and liked and chat about it some with you. My D was only asked one strange question which she actually handled well, "If you could use 3 objects to descibe youself what would they be and why." For the most part interviews however were straight forwards. Questions are good as long as they are not info you should have read on the internetie ask the interviewer why they chose that specific school, the personality of the school etc.</p>
<p>My son was asked to name something that had been a Challenge in his life in an interview.</p>
<p>You should have some questions prepared, whether you bring a list or just have them in your mind. I didn't really have questions--I liked all the colleges pretty equally, and I felt like I could learn almost everything online--but they always asked for my questions, and I'm sure it's better to have some. I always asked how much of a party school it is, since the nearby college that many of my friends go to is a HUGE party school, and I don't want that. My interviewers asked about favorite books, my extracurriculars, my family, what I do in my spare time, why I am applying to their school. Some really went on a question and answer format, while others were more conversational, along these lines: I: What do you do in you spare time? Me: Hang out with friends, cook, play with my dogs." I: Oh, you have dogs. I just got a new puppy. What kind of dogs do you have?" Me: "They are both mixed breed, they were strays." I: "So you just found them and brought them home?" Me: "Yeah, pretty much--poor things, they were hungry...I couldn't just leave them on the side of the road." I: "And your parents don't mind you bringing home strange animals?" Me: "I'm not allowed to pick them up, but if they show up at my house or follow me home, it's ok--so I usually put them in my car till we are in sight of the house, then they follow me the rest of the way. I have to find other homes most of the time." I: "Your parents sound pretty tolerant. Do you have any brothers or sisters?" And it just continues that way. My favorite interview was with an alumni interviewer for Wesleyan, who said it was the only one he'd ever been asked to do. </p>
<p>I would say to go ahead and do interviews on your summer trip. I did a couple over the summer, and planned to go back and do the others during the year, then I was much busier than I'd expected. It's nice to have as much as possible out of the way before school starts.</p>
<p>It is good to ask questions, but you should not ask questions which are easily answered by the website or viewbook the school provides (such as - do you offer a major in computer science, etc.?)</p>
<p>Mother of Two is right. </p>
<p>Intelligent questions show interest; questions that are easy to answer on web or in guidebook show laziness.</p>
<p>Questions that show you have already zeroed in on the unique aspects of the school are good because the interviewer sees you have done your homework and you "get" the school.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone for your words of wisdom!
I'm interviewing at schools that don't require SAT scores, and I am genuinely interested in how that changes their admissions process. Should I ask questions about the process or is it too nosey?</p>
<p>I am here in the U.S. from India for a couple of months only.Is there anyone out here who could give me directions on how to get a sponsor for an H1B visa. My skill set is Process Documentation, Process Mapping, Preparation of Standard Operating Procedures, Training Manuals, Reference Manuals, Documenting Policies and Procedures etc. I am currently working in a BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) company in Noida, U.P. India. Anyone who can help/advise me, give me suggestions/directions can please me at <a href="mailto:vivekmurthy1@yahoo.com">vivekmurthy1@yahoo.com</a>
Thank you for your time,
Vivek Murthy</p>
<p>Ask multiple people to look over your admissions essays before you even consider submitting your application. Actually, I encourage you to find the most critical (of writing) person you know to read your essay(s). It's important to find someone who will read not only for grammar and sentence structure, but also for flow, ideas, and continuity. Take people's suggestions, but make sure the essay is still your own by the time you finish. I had my sister, my mother, and my boyfriend read my essays and I think it helped immensely.</p>
<p>What I should have known...</p>
<p>It is in a talented and motivated student's interests to take APs and SAT IIs independently of his school curriculum, that is, to self-study. For some subjects this is easier than for others--English Literature and Language, history and math, for example. But the key idea is to <em>DO THEM EARLY</em>, freshman or sophomore year if possible. Junior year gets incredibly busy and hectic and grades start really counting. Plus, for most people APs are a one-shot deal, but if you start early you can have several chances at your best scores. Also, if your school makes you do x hours of community service, get that done early too, freshman or sophomore year. You'll need every second you can get as a junior.</p>
<p>I wish I had known that AP exams had some bearing on admissions. I thought they were only for gaining college credit. Sadly, nobody at our high school shared this bit of information with students or parents.</p>
<p>I would've started taking and practicing for SAT II's in freshman year, there's no limit on how many times you can take them.</p>
<p>I would worry far less about the prestige or ranking of a given school and far more about whether it's a good match for my child in terms of academic offerings, atmosphere, and all the rest. I have one child who's a graduate of an Ivy League school and one who's at a state university, and the one who is at the state school is, so far, much happier with her choice than was my Ivy Leaguer. Rankings and reputations create far too much needless anxiety. The reality is that there are a lot of wonderful schools out there, and many of them are well off the ranking radar. Let your child choose according to his or her gut. Don't even look at the rankings except to help figure out if applying is worthwhile. And relax!!</p>
<p>CatherineFM,</p>
<p>Welcome to CC! And thanks for offering words of wisdom. To each kid his own.</p>
<p>Hi CatherineFM!
Welcome! Do you think the relatively lower satisfaction level with your ivy-leaguer relates to something about the school, the fit, personality or something else?</p>
<p>CatherineFM - can you share some of the reasons/issue that your child at the state U. seems to be happier?</p>
<p>I wouldn't say that the Ivy Leaguer is actively unhappy or regretful. It was a great school and a fine education. It's more that the difference you'd find in the relative positions of the two schools on the ranking charts is not reflected in any comparable difference between the satisfaction levels of the two students. The fact that one school is theoretically "better" has not stopped the student at the other school from finding plenty to enjoy and plenty to benefit from, and it doesn't mean the student at the "better" school had no complaints. </p>
<p>Here are some differences I do see. To my great surprise, the academic rigor of the Ivy League school's curriculum was not as great as the academic expectations at the state school. The Ivy Leaguer's major was easier to complete in terms of number and range of courses than the state schooler's major will be. There is a wider choice of fields of study at the state school, and they include more practical, vocation-oriented majors than were available in the liberal-arts curriculum of the supposedly "better" school. And there is also a difference in the student bodies. Maybe it's the hypercompetitive atmosphere in today's college admissions, or something else--but for whatever reason, there seems to be a concentration of keyed-up, exhausted, troubled kids in the top-ranked schools. I am not saying, by any means, that all kids or even most kids in these schools are burned out. But the state school does seem to have a lower percentage of these kids and a higher percentage of kids who are hard-working and serious about their studies, but who are also comfortable in their own skins and balanced in their expectations of themselves and of the world. </p>
<p>I really think the key is to shrug off, as much as possible, any concern about where the child "ought" to go, and replace it with a clear-eyed look at what the child wants.</p>