My son wore a suit to his interviews. I was a little worried he’d be too dressed up, but most of the other boys interviewing were wearing suits too, so it was fine. And he looked very handsome! ? (Total mom bias…)
Oh - I should say, if he hadn’t had a suit, a blazer and khakis would have been fine too. Or even khakis and a polo, though that would have felt a bit underdressed to me. some of the girls looked less formal than I would have chosen, but I tend to be fairly traditional on that stuff, so it may just be me. Plus I only have boys, so I don’t pay attention to girls’ fashions… ?
Total bias but I have made my kids dress up more than usual. Both chafed and later agreed. When I see a kid with leggings or jeans, my first reaction is that the kid isn’t that interested. For those who haven’t been to an interview, most parents are in suit jackets ( women too) or professional dress ( not really business casual). Kids are often dressed up quite a bit ( Boys in suits and ties and girls in dresses or nice slacks). Make sure you wear comfortable shoes.
I think the khakis/blazer combo is much more common than suits for males. And I definitely don’t think dads need to wear suits. You won’t see faculty and staff wearing them.
Look nice and neat. Follow dress codes.
Admissions staff know that students come from all walks of like.
Although interestingly, to me at least, all the kids I met during two rounds of interviews who said they needed lots of FA were dressed in “church” attire. It was the kids who seemed to have more money who were not dressed to impress.
(my daughter was an extreme waiting room chatter and knew the life story of every kid she was sitting with)
We saw denim shorts at our Thacher interviews.
That was my experience as well.
I would just add regarding outfits: dress for the weather! We had a sudden cold spell with rain and suddenly my best laid plans for outfits went out the door and I had to wear pants and my Ugg boots (!) (which I remember someone in a post somewhere here brought up as the horror of horrors and I kind of chuckled that I was exactly that person!).
My DD had brought some really cute, feminine sneakers for casual wear, and she ended up wearing them with her more business-y outfits in order to walk in the sloppy cold rain. It was totally fine.
One final observation – the week we did interviews, I found the moms to be smartly dressed, but more casual than true business attire. I ended up feeling my best when I switched from suiting pants and blouses to regular slacks and a nice sweater (and yes…uggs). (and not even real uggs at that – doing my part to keep it classy.). (that’s a joke) I did it for the weather, but then stayed that way even after the rain stopped later in the week.
(But jeans and leggings and yoga pant type stuff? I don’t think I saw that anywhere in applicants or parents.)
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