Interviews

Prep School Admissions
1

<p>Does anyone have any tips for interviews to go smoothly? What are questions (should you prepare them in advance?) that you should ask your interviewer? Does your posture really matter? How do you stay comfortable in these situations? </p>

<p>Is there anything you should never ask your interviewer? Does your tour guide write a report on you--if so, does that report matter? When your guide gives you their contact card, should you follow up on them? Ask any further questions about the school, or about your application? What happens after the interview?</p>

<p>Post any tips, suggestions, questions or comments here.</p>

2

<p>best advice- ASK A LOT OF QUESTIONS even sometimes if you already sorta understand it.
good questions “how is _____ school/ academy efficient in energy consumption?” stuff that your tour guide might not be able to answer. it makes you look interested. </p>

<p>also be truthful. dont crank out over used answers that sound safe. say something INTERESTING!</p>

<p>practice answering “Why does ____ seem like a good school” “why do you want to attend” “what is something you can bring to ____” “What makes you different?”</p>

<p>THE QUESTIONS are not all this hard. usually they just inquire into things you wrote about yourself on that clipboard questionaire prior. </p>

<p>you can seriously get the weirdest questions. I’ve gotten “If I turned on your ipod, what song would be paused?” “if you were an ice cream flavor, which would you be?” “What do you do on a typical summer day?”</p>

3

<p>how long do interviews typically last and are they with the director of admissions</p>

4

<p>They can be but it’s unusual.</p>

5

<p>you would be pretty lucky if it was. assuming you do a good job. </p>

<p>is there a difference between on/off campus interviews?</p>

6

<p>Not if it’s still with an admissions officer. I’m convinced it’s a little different with alumni interviews, but that’s just my opinion.</p>

7

<p>Most important, be yourself. Make eye contact. Show your individuality and your passion. The school wants to be a good fit for you, and wants to know what you will bring to the community. Be honest. Know yourself. Your strengths and weaknesses - share them. Know the school you are applying to - specifically ask a question or bring up something about the individual school you are interviewing for that interests you academically, socially, area, clubs, sports or a combination.</p>

8

<p>don’t script. don’t sound scripted, don’t BE scripted. be yourself. relax. breathe. be polite, conscientious, and intelligent and natural.</p>

9

<p>What are alumni interviews? What are phone interviews? Do they ask you the same questions?</p>

<p>Also, if someone could answer some of the first posts’ questions, that would be great :)</p>

10

<p>Be yourself and keep in mind that they want to be sure that you are serious about (and ready for) boarding school and that you are serious about their school, in particular. They want to know that your parents are on board too. They will probably ask (in a round about way) where else you are applying, or visiting that day or if you are on a three day interview extravaganza. I think it’s a good idea to let your top choice(s) know that you really see yourself at their school. </p>

<p>Funniest question my son was asked is “If you were a shoe, what kind of shoe would you be?”</p>

11

<p>Alumni interviews are with alumni of the school instead of with actual admissions officers. Phone interviews are over the phone instead of in person.</p>

<p>Follow up with the tour guide if you want to and have more questions about the school, not really about your application - the kid that tours you generally won’t know anything about your application. Whether or not the tour guide writes a report will depend on the school and how much it matters will also depend on the school. </p>

<p>Yes, you should prepare questions in advance. Don’t ask questions that can easily be answered by reading the school’s brochure/website. Do your research on the school before you get there - I think I read a story on this forum where the poster was interviewing at a school and when asked what new things they might want to try at the school, the poster went on and on about squash and how she’d love to try squash, and then at the end of all her talk about squash, the interview told her that squash wasn’t offered at the school. Know the school!</p>

12

<p>Is there anything you should bring to interviews? Can I bring a notecard of questions I wanted to ask but didn’t want to forget–or will that look bad?</p>

<p>Does your interviewer measure your posture?</p>

13

<p>i dont think your posture holds too much weight, but you dont want to be hunched over looking at the ground. its all about impressions</p>

14

<p>^haha. that’s not a problem for me… my mom forces me to always sit up and walk straight so it has become a habit. </p>

<p>Do alumni judge you differently if they haven’t completed many interviews? Would they be harsher or easier? Or does it just depend?</p>

15

<p>ive had an alumni interview and I thought is was much easier. but it depends on the alumni.</p>

16

<p>I had an alumni interview and I actually brought a resume to my interview. He seemed really impressed and he said he was going to give me a very positive recommendation</p>

17

<p>I would rather go to a school interview so I can tour school but I would rather go to an alumni interview because I get the impression that most of them are more layed back and would give me a great recommendation.</p>

18

<p>@ almost there: I’ve always had trouble with creating a “resume”, can you help me? How do you make one?</p>

19

<p>Anyone have advice on over-the-phone. That’s what most of mine are going to end up being. :(</p>

<p>Darn, Idaho.</p>

20

<p>Mine are going to probably be over the phone or alumni interviews. I would like advice on over the phone too. I really want to tour the schools be I highly doubt I will be able to fit in a visit with the cost and a busy schedule. ugh.</p>