<p>My 11 year old son is currently applying for admission to 7th grade at three highly competitive independent schools in the Boston area. He had his interviews with all three schools in the last two weeks. My husband and I were pleasantly surprised how positive the experiences were for both us and our son. Expecting to "sell" our family and our son during the interviews, the interviewers spent a majority of the interview selling us their school and telling us the advantages of attending their school. Two interviewers told us that they greatly enjoyed talking to our son because he was talkative and a "great kid." They also said that they believe their school would be a "good fit" for our son. Our son told us later that he had a lot of fun talking to the interviewers. We left all three schools feeling great and optimistic. However, I spend a good part of my job interviewing applicants and I rarely put out such positive vibes, even to the most outstanding candidates, to avoid raising anyone's hopes. So, I cannot help feeling a bit skeptical and suspicious about our experiences. Has anyone had similarly positive experiences with private school interviews, but ended up not getting an acceptance letter? This whole application process has turned me into an obsessive, neurotic, and stressed out parent! Any insight (or analysis!) would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Aha! It took me a few minutes, but I found a great thread that was posted on this very topic a while back: [Now</a> that everyone’s getting Christmas cards from schools…](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-admissions/1054782-now-everyones-getting-christmas-cards-schools.html]Now”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-admissions/1054782-now-everyones-getting-christmas-cards-schools.html)</p>
<p>The very first post has a link to a great article about college interviews. It applies equally to prep (and middle) school interviews.</p>
<p>I think the jury’s still out on this one. Sometimes a great interview is just what it seems to be - a great interview. But, even then, it’s no guarantee of admission.</p>
<p>Here’s another interesting thread on the subject . . . [My</a> theory on interviews](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-admissions/572602-my-theory-interviews.html]My”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-admissions/572602-my-theory-interviews.html).</p>
<p>As someone points out, what’s the interviewer going to say to you if the interview goes badly - “Worst interview I ever had. Hope you told your public school to save a place for him”? Probably not.</p>
<p>@MiltonMomof02,
An Admission Officer Gemma V came onto these forums and talked about interviews. She said that most are “fine” and that a few are “great” and that there are a few that are “bad.” In general she said, you shouldn’t worry about your interview if it seemed “fine.”</p>
<p>Thank you! I’ve now been grounded and have some perspective. I don’t think I could ever survive the Manhattan kindergarten private school admission process: [Rumor</a>, Superstition and Private School Admissions - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/16/never-interview-on-a-cloudy-tuesday-its-bad-luck/]Rumor”>Rumor, Superstition and Private School Admissions - The New York Times)</p>