Interview Process

Prep School Admissions
1

<p>Hi I am new to the board.</p>

<p>My daughter is preparing for applications to boarding schools. It is a new experience for us, so there are many questions.</p>

<p>She is particulary nervous about interviews, because she never had experience with something like that. She is not very chatty but she can articulate herself pretty well. What does she have to expect? How important is interview - can it make or break admissions or is it more of a validation of school grades and SSAT scores? Do you recommend to do the interview at the school rather than arranging the off campus interview with an alumni?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>I think that the interview's a very important part of the admissions process, as schools will be looking at the responses and character of your daughter. Most of the questions I faced in the interview were about my activities and "Why 'this school'?"... but be sure to prepare for questions such as "If you could become a fruit, what fruit would you become?" I think the best way to prepare would be a mock interview with videotaping. Then, go over the videotape and correct the mistakes that your daughter made. </p>

<p>Well, I did my interviews at the schools, and I recommend that, because you can actually see the school itself. This may even help you in answering the "Why 'this school'?" question. However, if you can't make it, an off campus interview with an alumni would be okay.</p>

3

<p>Definitely do the interview at the school. I think the interview is very important. I believe that if a child does well, the admissions person they interview with could really pull for that child. </p>

<p>Search this forum for "interview" and you will find other discussions on this topic that will give you good advice. </p>

<p>Have your child practice interviewing but I wouldn't overdo it. Your child should sound natural and not overscripted. These folks interview hundreds of kids a year and will be able to tell the difference. Talk to your child about the types of questions that might arise and what her answers might be but don't give her answers. Personally, for my child, the videotaping would be counterproductive as it would have added to her stress level and made too big of a deal about it, but every child is different. Perhaps she can do a mock interview with an adult friend of the family.</p>

<p>Your daughter sounds like mine. Do tell your child it is ok to "brag" about themselves. I had taught my child to be humble and she never likes to talk about herself. We taught her that in this kind of situation, it was ok to sell yourself by taking about interests, passions, etc.</p>

4

<p>I agree with creative1 - videotaping would only add to the stress. My husband and I made up sample list of questions and went over them with my kids before their interviews. Some of these questions actually came up! Be aware that they will interview the parents as well!!</p>

<p>Sample Questions:
Why do you want to go here?
What is your favorite/least favorite subject and why? (funny story: we rehearsed this one and I coached both of my sons to hem and haw for a minute and then say for the favorite, it's really hard because I like everything but if I had to pick one I guess it would be (whatever), and for the least favorite to say music (because they are both terrible at it), rather than an academic subject. Sure enough, the question was asked and the answer went over really well!)
How do you spend your free time?
What books have you read lately in and out of school?
What did you do last summer?
What 3 words would you use to describe yourself? (sample answers: leader, learner, athlete, friend, artist, Renaissance Man etc.)</p>

<p>Use some of the same themes in your essays. For instance my younger son played up the "learner" aspect because he is an avid reader of nonfiction and used the Benjamin Franklin quote "An investment in knowledge pays the best dividends" in his essays</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

5

<p>I agree with the above comments. From personal experience, and after talking to some admissions people at schools my S was NOT accepted to, it seemed clear to me that his interview tripped him up at those schools. There were some things that he said that made me wonder how he could be so clueless. Well, the answer is simple. I did little to nothing to coach him, assuming that his natural, charming self would show through. I was actually averse to coaching him as to how to interview...for fear that he would seem stilted and too rehearsed and too trite. Well, that's a mistake. You can do it yourself. I probably could have. But I also think that this would be one of the services that an Educational Consultant can really help with.</p>

<p>I also think it's important to combine the interview with the campus visit -- basically the standard program that the schools use. We set up several interviews at a TSAO event weeks ahead of the actual tours and it really didn't help. First of all, one reason we did that was to make our travel plans more "efficient." But "efficient" was (for us) just another word for hectic/frantic. Sure, we squeezed in more schools than one would think was humanly possible, but it didn't help. Second, the interviews work best after a tour...in which all sorts of conversation material is available. Third, I think tours work best when they precede an interview. There's time to really take in the scenery and, knowing that an interview is coming up, your mind is more focused and thinking critically. Yes, this helps with the interview, but it makes for a meaningful tour.</p>

<p>My S and I both were affected by the way we checked off the tour and interview application items. With one exception, the schools that we did the standard way were schools that we both viewed most favorably and thought were the best fits. The ones where we deviated most from the school's approach were the ones where we felt less interested in. I started participating here after the applications were pretty much complete. And through this board and in other conversations with students and even admissions personnel, it became very obvious to me that my original impressions of schools were most dissimilar from the majority of other people's views at those schools where my scheduling wishes superseded what the school wanted.</p>

<p>I'm not saying that it's wrong to stray from the well-beaten path. I'm just saying that you will need to understand that how you approach each school is going to play a role in shaping what you (and your child) think of the schools. So be prepared to adjust your views, do extra homework, etc. if you're going a non-standard route.</p>

<p>And, yes, search this forum for other threads on this topic.</p>

6

<p>Other questions that came up:
How do you get along with your siblings?
Who's idea was it to apply to boarding school?
How would you friends describe you? (a variation on the questions above)
If you were having problems in a class, whatr would you do?
What would you change about your current school and why?
Who's a person you admire and why?</p>

<p>And, yes, some preparation is good but I personally advocate against heavy coaching.</p>

7

<p>Oh, well here are some questions that came up in my three interviews:</p>

<ol>
<li>What kind of EC activities are you interested in?</li>
<li>Name two close friends and what they would say about you.</li>
<li>What values are passed onto you from your family?</li>
<li>What is a "must-have" for your boarding school experience?</li>
</ol>

<p>Oh yes, and I would advocate having the interview at the school because it shows you put effort into making the trip and because the Admissions Committee is actually in the room making the decisions, while your interviewer can only provide a folder of information which they have to decide off of.</p>

8

<p>Thanks for all your tips!</p>

<p>D'yer Maker, I am actually going through most of the threads right now. So I know you're a spreadsheet maker like myself, although mine hasn't reached Z column. I know you advised against it, but I can't help it. :)</p>

<p>It might be quite a hectic trip actually. Because we live in Japan, we can only see schools during summer. (yes it is 1AM now) Otherwise she will have to miss significant time from her school. I am schemenig to somehow see 9 schools in the span of 5 days. It should be possible. I don't know if it is the best idea or not, but I don't have a lot of choice. With all the boarders gone home during the summer, do you think we will still get a good idea durnig the tour?</p>

<p>And thank you for the interview questions. They are the type of questions I have gone through with her. I avoided influencing her answers (it is not easy sometimes!), but focused on how she presents them. I was wondering if some interviewers are intimidating or try to throw the kids off intentionally (what kind of furniture do you want to be? etc). Once she's in the comfort zone, I think she does fine, but she is not used to aggressiveness and she may not do so well if intimidated.</p>

9

<p>My daughter only interviewed @ 3 places - all the interviewers were kind and tried put her at ease. None asked the off-the-wall questions: what kind of fruit/tree/furniture would you be. If a school had, I would think twice about the place anyway. I think they're ridiculous.</p>

10

<p>I don't think she'll meet an intimidating or aggressive interviewer. My issue, if anything, is that the interviewers are so effusive and encouraging that many applicants are given a false impression that they're a lock. In one case with my son, I learned in late March that the interviewer had made a note back in November that basically ended all hope of him being accepted at that school. Nothing was called to my attention that day. Or, in further exchanges with admissions counselors...where I would have expected it to come up. He regarded the school as a safety. I wasn't sure it would be a good fit and hardly thought that anyone could view it as a safety. But little did I suspect that the application was a total waste of time. And, from what I was reading in the "chances" threads where the kids ask each other what their chances are at each school...I think many (most?) applicants described the interviewer as something akin to being their new bestest buddy in the world. </p>

<p>As for the spreadsheet...it actually helped me to keep things straight. It was just a poor tool to use to evaluate the merits of the schools. The best thing I did was create a folder for each school using folders that had information geared for salespeople, so the outside of the folder included spaces for contact information, appointments, contacts, materials submitted, and other customer information (that I used for useful and absurd info like avg. SSAT scores, miles from my house, % of faculty with Ph.D's, faculty:student ratio, % of boarders, etc.)</p>

11

<p>D'yer - as a learning experience for others, what do you think transpired during that interview that "ended all hope" for your son at the one particular school?</p>

12

<p>Another piece of advice which you're sure to find in other threads on this topic: Don't do your first interview at one of your "favorites" - of course realizing that once you visit the schools, your favorites could change. Pick a school you are less excited about as "practice".</p>

13

<p>At some schools, be prepared for a writing sample. The question is simililar to what you would be asked in an interview, such as "How you would describe yourself?".</p>

14

<p>@ creative1: Basically, he was asked about ECs and in expressing his amazement at having so many options he said, "I don't know what I would do," which was written down at the interview as meaning he had no interest. The Dean of Admission told me in March that that note was the zinger. </p>

<p>That's not to say that he would have otherwise been admitted or that he would have chosen that school. I'm convinced that they made the right call...even though in that case I think they cut off a few more minutes of discussion before reaching the same decision that they reached on that misinterpretation/ambiguous reply.</p>

<p>But let's suppose that there is a fit and the hypothetical applicant would otherwise be accepted...but for a comment like that. How could you prevent it from happening? Well, interview practice/coaching would reduce the chances, but I think that's where the parent interview is important.</p>

<p>I think one of the questions that a parent should ask during the parent-interview is whether there's anything about your child that you can explain or clarify for the interviewer. You can ask this about things that stand out positively and negatively.</p>

<p>That would be the practical, corrective step that I would take. I would try to talk straight with the interviewer as a parent. When I sat down with interviewers I was sort of grooving along with the whole "Well, I just loved your son. He's sooooo charming!" line. Instead, I should have gotten down to business and probed more.</p>

<p>Most of the interviewers I encountered were expert at blowing sunshine up my posterior before the applications went in, but I know -- from numerous conversations afterwards -- that they have the capacity to be frank and candid. To do this in the fall, however, may require a corresponding level of candor on your part as a parent. But why not? So what if, in the process of being frank, you reveal a wart or blemish that makes the Admissions Committee decide your child won't be a good fit? They know which types of kids do best at their school, right?</p>

<p>And -- at least in theory -- if you're being brutally honest, then they know what they're getting and will have confidence that, when the veil is lifted the next fall, they won't discover that they've married a toad.</p>

<p>I had no trouble being very honest myself. But I was extremely slack about holding the interviewer to the same standard. I soaked in their praise for D'yer, Jr. and never questioned them or doubted their sincerity about him.</p>

<p>Think about how awkward you would feel if you were asked by the interviewer to explain what reservations and doubts you had about the school. My tendency would be to heap on the praise on the school, at least as heavily as they heaped the praise on my D'yer, Jr. I don't think getting them to give their honest impression of your child is as simple as sharing your honest impression of him. And if you're coming from Japan, the cultural impediment to being so direct (almost confrontational) could be insurmountable. </p>

<p>But, to do it all over again, I think I'd try to press for more honest dialogue by pressing the interviewer to use his or her time with me to get my candid views as to the things that the interviewer is most impressed by and most concerned with. And then, after they just talk about the things they say are impressive, I'd push again to have them get a better handle on what concerns them.</p>

15

<p>My dad used spreadsheets! He should totally PM you. Well, he doesn't have an account, but still. He was very involved in the spreadsheets. :D
As far as I could tell, most of my interviews went quite well (there were three (out of eight) I am sure that they actually went really well; with the others, it was harder to tell, since they do act excited about everyone). The interviewer should make your child comfortable, so don't worry about that. If they don't, then that person is really not doing their job in the first place.
I remember talking a lot in my interviews, and I think that was good for me. They would ask me a question, and I would answer it, and then go off on all these tangents (that were--key word there--related to the question), and those were actually the things that they seemed most interesting (and how I got into a half-hour discussion with my Andover interviewer on whether there was going to be a WWIII and my prediction of what was going to happen to different countries' economy; also how, in each school, I talked about my writing). Sorry. Ahem, my point: let her know that, if it's related to her or important to her, it's okay to "hijack" a questions and run with it.</p>

16

<p>Oh - and have your child prepare a list of questions- nice, thoughtful questions that can't be answered by reading the viewbook or looking at the school website. I'd suggest at least 3. Same for Mom & Dad, too.</p>

17

<p>I think Creative is right on. At the end of every interview they ask if you have any questions for them. If you don't have any questions it makes you look like you arn't interested in the school, which most of the time isn't the case. </p>

<p>Also in most of my interviews the interviewer will only ask 5 or 6 questions and it is your job to make the interview last 20-30 minutes. If you give one word answers on everything I can assure you the interviewer will not be impressed.</p>

<p>Make sure you look the interviewer in the eye when you are speaking to them and don't let your eyes wander.</p>

18

<p>Well, maybe a bit longer, hockeykid. I was asked at least eight "big" questions at each interview, and none of mine were less than 45 minutes.</p>

19

<p>Also remember that the interview goes both ways. The interviewer is trying to sell you the school, as well as you are trying to sell yourself. Have some good questions and see how the interviewer performs. At one school my d was completely put off by the interviewer's lack of engagement and subsequently didn't apply. At her other interviews, the admins practically told her she was in, and we later found out, she was.</p>

20

<p>Here is some very good interview/tour information from the St. George's School website: <a href="http://www.stgeorges.edu/admission/applying/visit/visit.asp?L4=1%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.stgeorges.edu/admission/applying/visit/visit.asp?L4=1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>