<p>Especially DM, your story was very useful. I always told my daughter to give her honest answer, and sometimes it is OK to say that she does not know rather than pretending to know everything. After all, she is only 14! But the lesson from your story is that she should always provide context to her answer and present it in positive light, if possible.</p>
<p>Regarding directness or aggressiveness, it is not so much of a cultural thing. We live in Japan as an expat but would consider NY as our home (even though we don't have a place there any more. Ugh.) I am an ethnic Korean, from NY, living in Japan, working for a French company. I have no problem being direct and aggressive myself. It is just that my daughter is soft spoken by nature and the expat/international school community is something of a sheltered environment, and I worry that she may not do well if she feels intimated. But it doesn't look like much of a worry from what everyone says.</p>
<p>And not that I have a choice, but... has anyone done interview/tour during summer break?</p>
<p>Another question for this panel of experts, even though it is not about interview any more:</p>
<p>My daughter would be applying for the 10th grade. Does it make the admission much more difficult? I assume that the admission rate shown on websites and books is for the 9th grade entry. If it is much more difficult, perhaps we should have more "safe" schools in our list.</p>
<p>It has been a topic of debate here on whether it is more difficult. IMO, NO. it's not. Less spots (but still plenty) but fewer applicants as well. SPS as an example: 9th grade they take around 90, 10th they take around 40-50 new kids.</p>
<p>Some schools have more 10th grade spots than others. In general, I don't think applying for 10th grade is more difficult, but this can vary by school and by year.<br>
I do recommend applying to reach, match & safety schools if you want your daughter to have choices in March. Also, it is hard for us parents to determine what is a reach, match & safety. Be careful about admission rates on boardingschoolreview because this information is often inaccurate. The information on <a href="http://www.petersons.com%5B/url%5D">www.petersons.com</a> is more accurate but around one year + old. If you have read old threads, you probably realize that last year was very competitive for admissions.<br>
Enjoy your trip back home this summer!</p>
<p>And my guess is this coming year will be even more competitive. Many schools had a higher yield rate than they expected and "overenrolled" so they may cut back on acceptances.</p>
<p>My S went to Hotchkiss as a 9th grader and My D will be attending Andover this fall as a 10th grader.</p>
<p>Since we live in the Midwest, we had to fly for each interview. I recommend that you try to group them together by airport. For example, schools near Hartford Bradley Airport, schools near either Manchester, NH or Boston, etc. Please don't do this by State because it may be further. Interview schedules fill up very quickly so I recommend scheduling them soon.</p>
<p>My D had an option to interview with alumni interviewers within 60 miles but we opted to visit and interview as I thought it would be important to get a feel of the campus and students.</p>
<p>I kept a spreadsheet with School Name, Location, Number of Students, Deadlines, Interview Dates, Contact info, Status for my D. I also had manila folders for each school and fashioned the files similar to college application for my S.</p>
<p>My D says every school asked her what she did in the summer. What is her favorite subject? etc. I agree with D'yer that sometimes you are misled to believe that you are in - it is a safety school. My D was shocked to be wait listed from a school she really considered her safety school. Traveling and interviewing two schools per day can be exhausting but doable.</p>
<p>polyglotmom, I have booked most of interviews. All in MA, CT and NH area. It will be tiring, esp for me as I will be quite jetlagged but my D should fare better since she will join me from her summer camp. But there aren't that much of a choice. Flying from Tokyo to Boston, with connection and everything would take at least 16 hours. Just flying back and forth consumes 3 days, and I cannot afford to make many trips or skip that many days during the semester. It will be a heck of a road trip, but in a way I am excited that I will get to spend much time with her during the process.</p>
<p>My S really liked Hotchkiss. He has friends all over now in many countries and cities so whenever we are traveling he is busy meeting his Hotchkiss friends. My husband and I were not as enthusiastic because it was so remote - cell phones do not work there and there are limited places to stay. We would fly into Hartford and rent a car and drive through country road. I tried La Guardia (NYC) once to regret it due to commuting traffic from NYC.</p>
<p>polyglotmom writes: "My D was shocked to be wait listed from a school she really considered her safety school."</p>
<p>I think it is not unusual for a strong candidate to be accepted to more competitive schools and waitlisted at a safety. The safety wants to protect it's yield rate and thinks you will probably go with the more competitive school if accepted - with the waitlist they are basically saying: "Sure, we want you, but we don't think you'll accept so we'll waitlist you and let us know if you really want to come." I'm not saying all waitlists are like this but some definitely are.</p>
<p>Also, I do think that admissions folks from different schools will talk to each other about certain candidates. The boarding school community is a small one and they definitely know each other. I have had this confirmed by "folks in the know".</p>
<p>The point about having questions for the school is really important. The questions can lead to greater contact with the school, for example our interviewer at one school was relatively new and didn't know the answer to a question, but he followed up with my son by email with the answer, and they had a few emails back and forth that gave my son an opportunity to demonstrate his passion for the subject they were discussing, in this case theatre.</p>
<p>Creative1 - I think you are right. My nephew was accepted at SPS, Exeter, Andover but waitlisted at Middlesex.</p>
<p>I think schools take parent interview seriously too. Show strong interest - Having questions ready makes you look interested. Be specific in reasons why you/your D are interested in the school.
Essentially, schools care about how your D will make them look good - special talent-especially key sports in many schools, music, etc. This comes out as "How will you contribute to XYZ community?" Also this in turn will ensure they have a good college entrance results.</p>