<p>Husband and son are going on a college trip this summer, but since S is not yet a HS junior we expected only tours and info sessions at the 7 LACs where we set up visits. At one of them, I had a very oblique connection to a faculty member in one of my son's areas of interest (I'm also an academic though not in that field), so I emailed him with some questions. He generously offered to meet with S at time of visit. I expected to work this out privately once we'd fixed the date, but when I contacted the college to arrange the basic visit, we learned the faculty member had already told admissions to set something up with him too. Now it turns out S has been scheduled for a one-on-one meeting with admissions as well. This is the part that freaks me out a bit. I reminded them of my son's age/grade and said he wasn't at the point of doing interviews yet and they said that's okay, the meeting can be whatever you want it to be and your husband can be there too. I asked if this were just because things are slow in summer and would others be added if also visiting on that day; they said no.</p>
<p>Anyone have any insight into this? Is this something a college would do even for a rising junior if a faculty member expressed some interest? Does my son need to prepare as if he were doing a regular interview? (something he certainly wasn't prepared to take on yet). Should my husband be there? (My son says he's fine either way.)</p>
<p>Relax. I think its great that they want to lavish so much attention on your son… but I think that the college is focused on impressing you – not the other way around. You probably wouldn’t be planning the visit unless you felt your son’s stats were in range, or likely to be in range, for the college – so they aren’t worried about making any determination one way or another about your son’s admission – they just want to make a positive impression so that he’ll apply.</p>
<p>calmom is right. The prof did you a favor by making admissions aware of your son’s early interest. The campus visit gets logged in his file as demonstrated interest.</p>
<p>The “interview” is really a meet and greet kind of situation. They want to know what he’s interested in and they want a chance to tell him how great the school is. There is no bare lightbulb, no clipboard, and no pass/fail. Kids freeze up at the thought of an interview with an admissions counselor because they think they have to prove something or clear a hurdle, but it’s not like that.</p>
<p>BTW, it’s a great idea to get a rising junior onto a college campus or two because it helps put junior year in focus. When they have a better idea of what high school is leading up to, it’s easier for them to put forth a little more effort.</p>
<p>I agree with calmom and spdf. Most of the interviews that my son went through were pretty relaxed. My son went on quite a few intereviews and 2 of them were as a sophomore! The reason for the interviews as a 10th grader was because we were in those areas of the country when he was in 10th grade and we knew that we would not get back there (unless he were accepted with a great package and decided to revisit). My son was accepted to both of those schools, and one counselor told us in advance that they would note that he was a 10th grader. It turned out that the whole family attended that interview and it was more of a personal info session than an interview for our son.</p>
<p>Frankly, my son only went on two interviews where he felt that he needed to really “think on his feet”. The others were just friendly exchanges about his interests, hobbies, and they had an opportunity to tell him about their campus. </p>
<p>I don’t know how one would really prep for interviews without having "the questions in advance. The one question that he should be prepared for is, “Where else are you going to apply?”, and perhaps, “Is XYZ University your first choice?” (or similar types of questions).</p>
<p>BTW, I misread your title. Now I understand that your son just completed 10th grade and is GOING INTO 11th grade. Now I understand your concern. I would just call each admissions office and let them know this. Ask them to put a note in his file to reflect his information. I did this with my son’s interviews as a 10th grader, and both schools were very nice about this.</p>