<p>@AngEverlasting, You referred to top schools I assume. if you are from countries like Korea or China, very little chance. If you are from countries like Burma or Bangledesh, may be.</p>
<p>But again, there are exceptions, if you a basketball star who can score 30 points a game, it is another story.</p>
<p>@dogermom,</p>
<p>"Wow. Parents who are willing to take time off to visit schools? You are, of course, referring to parents who are also able to take time off to visit schools. For some parents, it’s a choice between visiting schools and paying the mortgage. Not everyone has the luxury of a job they can walk away from for a few days without consequences.</p>
<p>Absolutely! But wait a sec, are we talking about public school or highly selective private schools here?</p>
<p>Faymom your completly ignorant the only kids who can afford to have there parents take time off work and to drive around to a bunch of schools are the rich ok, anyone who lives far west coast cant afford to fly and all the expenses that go with it. next time you come up with another ignorant comment like that from the top of your head give your head a shake first. many kids can get into hades doing a skype interview its exactly the same ok. theres nothing at all different. visiting schools is only relavent for kids who live in NE</p>
<p>“theres nothing at all different.”</p>
<p>Just a couple of hours ago, I was practicing on SKYPE with a girl who is going to have a SKYPE interview tomorrow. We spent half hour just to get each other heard clearly. I gave her instructions on the back-ups if same thing happens tomorrow. BTW, this is not the first time or second time I did this. </p>
<p>No difference is comforting, but just not the reality. I won’t argue further.</p>
<p>@FayMom: I reiterate my previous statement: Granted it’s not the same as an in-person interview but you can still convey your personality well…If you try hard (not visibly) to engage in conversation then the interview will go better. It’s not like it’s a phone interview where they can’t even see you.</p>
<p>@Rad-in-Plaid96. You can always make something good out of it I guess.</p>
<p>Skype is great when the line is good, but you never know. Phone is more reliable actually, not delay, quality of the sound more stable. My backup plan for them is go to the phone when Skype doesn’t work. </p>
<p>A girl cried to me after a Skype interview because due to tech issue, she couldn’t get to say half of the things she prepared.</p>
<p>"Question: Is there just the SLIGHTEST chance for an international applicant to get into a boarding school with a Skype interview or in person alumni interview who is applying for full FA? With excellent essays/recommendations/grades/EC’s, however. And an SSAT score around the 90’s(not saying the score specifically).</p>
<p>Some of you may say, ‘Ha, there’s no chance at all,’. I don’t believe so however.
What do you think, just the SLIGHTEST chance, possibly? It must be risky, eh? "</p>
<p>@FayMom- Very little chance, huh? But there is a tint of hope right? Just maybe?</p>
<p>AngEverlasting - STOP putting yourself in a tizzy over something that some unknown person said on this forum! Neither “FayMom” nor anybody else can tell you what your chances are of admission!!!</p>
<p>Skype is a wonderful tool for connecting with people “in person” who, ten years ago, might not have been able to have any interview at all. Take advantage of it, make the best of it, and stop worrying that it’s going to hurt your chances of admission.</p>
<p>If things go wrong during the interview and you get cut off, follow up with a GREAT email to your interviewer, filling in (briefly, if possible) whatever you think was left out. Show your great personality in your email!</p>
<p>But STOP allowing anybody on this forum to predict your chances of admission!!!</p>
<p>If the Hogwarts AO who frequents this forum (and, yes, GemmaV really IS an admissions officer at a well known school!) says she couldn’t possible predict anyone’s chances from the skimpy information available here, WHY would you permit anyone else to do it???</p>
<p>To the best of my knowledge, the top schools receive applications from fully twice as many qualified applicants as they have space for . . . and the things that jump out at them from an application probably change from moment to moment. For all any of us know, maybe the shoemaker’s elves sneak into the offices at midnight and sprinkle stardust on the applications they want to see chosen!</p>
<p>So, write the best application you can, have the best interview you can . . . and be nice to elves when you see them!</p>
<p>@dodgersmom- I’m actually not a big fan of chances. At all. There was a thread just created by AlexThePerson on 'Prep School Chances". Read it everybody, there’s some very useful information, if I say so myself. He or she asked for everybody who is chancing some person on this forum to shut-up. We are all in NO position to chance ANYONE. The opinions of people on CC greatly differ from those of Admissions Officers. Even GemmaV disapproves of the Prep School Chances forum. I myself, wish that it was never created. It drives me crazy how some people actually take what some stranger on CC says to them seriously. </p>
<p>Thank you for telling me that, but I already knew everything that you just told me. I wanted to see if anyone was going to tell me that I had NO chance at all, because I’m sure that some people were thinking that. And by the way, those stats aren’t mine. I made them up.</p>
<p>I wanted to chime in to defend FayMom from what I think is an unwarranted backlash.</p>
<p>For starters, FayMom — like all of us — is merely stating her (I’m assuming she is a mom!) opinion and experience. For someone to say “your statements are false” is very unfair, IMO.</p>
<p>At that point in the thread, here is all she had stated (besides some back and forth with me about St. Andrew’s and Thacher) :</p>
<p>“Visit the campus if you are serious about your application. Skype or interview with alum is never the same.”</p>
<p>AND:</p>
<p>“Many many students from China and Korea fly over for interviews. If you are dead serious and want to increase your chances, you would fly over. The next best thing is to meet the admission officers while he/she is in your area, that is also face-to-face with someone who matters.”</p>
<hr>
<p>I happen to agree with both of these statements. And it how is it “false” that many international students fly over for interviews. They do. I was told as much when I called to make appointments for my daughter over the summer…something like “Many international students do their interviews in the summer, so we generally have staff available…”</p>
<p>Also, how can you argue with her logic that an in-person, on-campus visit is the optimal approach? If that is not available to you, perhaps you might want to think otherwise, but again, I second her POV here. It’s not the only way, but it certainly the best…</p>
<p>Finally, I am bothered by the insinuation that only “rich” families can afford to visit schools in person. That is simply untrue. If there is a will, there is generally a way…</p>
<p>when i visited peddie there were tons of international kids from china and korea who FLEW to visit boarding schools on the east coast. one even hired a white man that could speak english and chinese to translate for the parents who couldnt speak english. THAT is dedication.</p>
<p>@ylaxw1123: Dedication, and in the cases you mention, a tremendous amount of financial wherewithal…;-P</p>
<p>In contrast, on one of our visits to a school, I encountered a family that had taken mass transportation to make their on-campus visit happen.</p>
<p>For internationals, attending a top boarding school is still largely a rich people’s game. First of all, only very limited financial aid is offered by most schools, so most of the international students are from families that at least can afford the $45K yearly tuition and fees. Secondly, flying across ocean would be a yearly cost while you are in BS. You don’t want to save this one more - arguably the most important one.</p>
<p>Having said that, I honestly have heard not just one but a few international as well domestic students who had off campus alum interviews and got accepted. I don’t know anyone who has had a skype interview, so I don’t know the answer whether skype interview = no acceptance.</p>
<p>Edit: The ones I know who had off campus interviews and got in are not the super talents either.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>NOT true. We are FAR from rich. Last year, I drove all over creation (not just New England) with my son to visit schools. It involved a lot of planning, creativity and financial sacrifice. Not only that, it showed just how important finding the right school was for our family and the level of support that the schools could expect from our family. Sending a kid to boarding school is a HUGE committment - not just financially, but emotionally. Also, even if a student gets full aid with books and extras, there are still a lot of costs involved. If finances really will not allow an interview visit, I don’t know how they will allow travel and all the other myriad of expenses beyond tuition, fees and books. </p>
<p>This year, I didn’t have to drive as far because I had a geographic limit. But it still involved major inconvenience for the rest of my family, and sometimes my friends who helped look after my younger one when gone. But I didn’t see it as optional. She wasn’t applying to schools willy-nilly, after all.</p>
<p>OK, kids, try very hard to have an on-campus interview, not just for a better chance for admission but for a chance to experience the school yourself, but if you really are not able to, try an off campus interview with an alum, or a skype interview if necessary. If the school offers them as alternatives, would they already make a decision (or 95% of it) in turning you down when you shedule a skype interview? Sounds unlikely to me.</p>