That does seem like a poor way to conduct an important interview with 17-year-olds who are probably very nervous and don’t need the pressure of hearing other students answers to the same questions.
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I think another facet of the scholarship visits is to have the high-caliber students meet one another and think “yeah, this is the kind of person I want to go to school with.” Basically helping the school get a higher yield of high achievers. The challenge, of course, is that a student who doesn’t “win” may feel bitter and cross the school off the list. A student who knows that they are academically above the average at a school wants to know that they will still have peers at their level.
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It may be - but it’s life too - I’ve been in panel interviews with multiple candidates (for work).
I don’t like or agree with it - but it is a part of life and organizations have reasons for doing this.
I think a better way in this case is a group session and individual interview but I believe my daughter had a group panel for the Fellows at Charleston. You go with the flow or choose to spend your time and money elsewhere.
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If the school wants to send the message, “this is llfe, suck it up and deal, or move on,”
then fine. And if that’s who it’s looking for, fine.
Agnes Scott has very short solo interviews or the option of recording your answer and sending in a tape. No doubt because they’ve thought this through, actually, and are also very confident in the quality of their institution and it’s ability to give students what they need after they get there and before entering the “real world”
My daughter said she did “very badly,” but when I got the blow by blow account of the questions and answers of everyone, it seemed to me on content she blew the other questioners away by a long ways. Turns out she felt bad about how stuttering, halted, and clumsily she delivered her answers compared to the others (as one would expect a 17 year old to obsess on).
I told her I think they will look past that (which I believe is true), so she might have won her Battle Royale, but whether that can compete with other rounds, I’m not so sure. People are also looking for active participants in seminars, and trying to imagine that, even though she is actually perfect for that.
She wanted it too much and was thrown off by the format.
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I think you are making an assumption, based on your values, about the school- and you, nor I, have any idea why they do this and their rationale may be perfectly reasonable.
They may have a valid reason - that it works for them. It just doesn’t work for you. You are making an assumption about them and it may or may not be accurate - but it’s certainly your right or more importantly your child’s right to do that.
Part of what they might be seeing is - how do kids adapt under pressure? I took my daughter through myriad job type questions before the interview so she had things to talk about. I always break everything down using the STAR method - Situation, Task, Action, Result - because typically they ask behavioral questions about a time you did xxx. So she was prepared.
As we all know, life isn’t always fair. But you are also correct in that a 17 year old is probably over critical of themselves and the schools do know they are 17 years old.
Certainly, the school has the right to award scholarships to whom they choose. Similarly, it’s your right (or your daughter’s right) to choose to spend your time and money elsewhere.
My main point is - their use of this format may be targeted for a certain reason. I’m sure they’ve thought through the individual vs. group format - and didn’t just do for a sinister reason. At least, I’d hope so.
Good luck to your daughter wherever she ends up.
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My DD also participated in the Hollins interview. I also thought her answers decent based on her recap, but I am definitely biased and the questions tough “big thinker” type of questions. I haven’t been asked that level and number of questions in actual job or grad school interviews. She was prepared to talk about her essay. Oops. Totally based on my own thoughts and nothing of substance, but I figure the interview perhaps plays a minimal role in the selection process, and instead it is based on a review of the entire application (and who is likely to attend). It may eliminate a few that did the essay but not the interview. As the interviewers were asking multiple questions to 3 students, she didn’t feel like she had a chance to speak directly to the other candidates and just listened to their answers. Maybe a chance to meet others and have an actual conversation at an admitted student day?
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One other comparison - valid or not - imagine if you’re an athlete and you go to tryouts.
In essence, a group interview is the same.
I’m not saying I like it. I don’t.
But the school may have a rationale that works for them.
Of course my views are warped because I fundamentally find flaw with our whole college system, and find the colleges put kids through an unnecessarily stressful process over all at this point, and I see the college suicides and all that, right at my college and all around me, and all the misery among these college generations which they may or may not reveal to parents but will to a sympathetic professor, and generally am looking for those kinds of things and am primed to them. If one doesn’t believe the American college entrance system is an engine of inequality and an unnecessary and unproductive and excessive system is not going to be primed to see certain things, and vice versa.
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I agree there’s no telling what the criteria will be or how this interview will effect anything. Hopefully they’ll realize their “expert” tactics just produced noise for data and they’ll go back to the essay and the likelihood to attend.
I think at Hollins they have been doing their Batten scholarship competition this way for years, except in person usually, so it must work for them. I dunno. I do know that our friend who goes there competed last year, but did not get it. Fingers crossed for @UCDProf D22 and @gcmom1 D22 
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thanks!
I’m biased more about what works for students.
It’s also hard to see what outcome would ever be evidence of “this is not working as well as it could.” They’ll always have a winner who accepts the prize. Why would they ever do it differently, there is nothing to force or cause that.
FWIW, my D22 was not invited to compete, so the scholarship pool must be smaller at Hollins for the Batten than for the Presidential at Agnes Scott.
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While I did not like that Agnes Scott had a huge pool (unless that was what got my DD in it!), I did think it was very clever and that whole the set up works in their favor at no cost to the students.
Thanks for assuming what I’m thinking.
Listen, I get it - in many ways, college is a sham. Kids fall over themselves to take hard classes. Schools hand out As like doctor’s offices hand out lollipops to youngsters. And students act like they launch rockets or work to solve cancer during their off time in addition to other likely “embellished” activities…not to mention families are pressured to “promise” to attend in exchange for a better chance…without knowing the cost.
Colleges put out brochures - and few can live up to the fantasy land - and yet thousands upon thousands of kids are putting themselves in these positions where they are harming themselves and schools don’t have the resources to provide support.
I would personally not tie an admissions office or process to an overall university. So many are lacking. And you need to call them what they are - the sales arm - not the operational arm…But that’s your family’s call.
Good luck to your daughter. I hope she finds the right school.
I would like to see more parents express those kinds of thoughts and not side with the institutions when someone criticizes the institutions.
You say - “I would like to see more parents express those kinds of thoughts and not side with the institutions when someone criticizes the institutions.”
This, my friend, can only happen with the pocket book. Any business losing its clients must adapt.
Unfortunately, as you can see, everyone is tripping over themselves to acquiesce to these businesses, both public and private, so it’s unlikely to happen. It’s a nice idea though…
I just meant here on the forum, I would wish that siding with the institutions would not come first, and by metaphorical extension, similarly for society on the level of opinions, which matter.
Or, at least on the 3.0-3.4 thread I would hope for that.
In open waters of CC, if a parent expresses unhappiness with how their child is treated, that can be chum in the water. I accept that.
Again, yes, there are all kinds of things biasing me, not just the things I’ve said.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched my congenitally cheerful daughter crying, so many times this year, at the hands of an abusive teacher or coach, while she’s trying to do this whole overwhelming process, which while awful would still be doable, from a fairly disadvantaged position. At one point, I got somewhat worried about her, something I thought would be impossible. Obviously, that’s is just one more thing biasing me to see all this in a certain way.
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Thanks so much! Wanted daughter to have the experience but she and I are expecting pigs to fly by before she would receives the scholarship. Best of luck to everyone!
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Also no one should discount the chronic stress of being in year two (almost starting year three) of a global pandemic. That stress added to senior year, college applications with a limited budget (for most of us) and each child’s personal situation - all of that can be and often is overwhelming and sometimes we can forget all of that is happening at the same time.
I think all our kids are doing the best they can and our biggest job right now is helping them get through this as best we can. Hugs to all!
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I do hear what you are saying. I think it would’ve been easier on daughter (and maybe other applicants as well) to be cut in the essay round, rather than making it to the “final” interview round with countless others. If they had only admitted 10-15 to that final round, then everyone could’ve had a one on one interview. Wish I could be a fly on the wall when admissions makes these types of decisions! I hope your daughter lands in a wonderful place and has a great remainder of her senior year.
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