TAMS Interview Invitation!!!

Prep School Admissions Prep School Chances
1

So I posted here a while back about chancing me for TAMS but now I’ve gotten in, and interview day is the 24th so I am looking for guidance for interview day.

What should I wear during the interview?
I know that there will be 2 interviews, one formal, one informal and the formal being 1-on-1 and the informal being group.
What should I know for the formal one and is it like asking you about character or what is it all about? Do I need to prep anything for this one, both physically and mentally?
What should I know for the informal group interview? I know that this has team building activities and the math tests? How should I prepare and is there anything else to the informal interview other than the 2 things listed above?
What can increase my chances of getting in? Do I need to prep anything for this one?
Anything else I should know for my interviews?
Should I do the spend a day there with an ambassador?

Anything else you know that will help or anything in general that you feel I should know?

2

Hi Sean!

I do not know about the specific admissions process of TAMS. However, I can give you some general advice acquired through experience.

For the interview, I would recommend wearing a collared shirt, slacks, and dress shoes. For example, I wore a squared collared shirt with a solid cobalt, blue pullover on top, blue slacks, and some very nice penny loafers.

Be prepared to answer questions such as: “Why do you want to attend TAMS”, for this question, make sure to make it very unique for TAMS. A good starting point for this question that I used for all my schools is, “I believe X school is a truly international school and I believe I will not only grow academically but also perspectively as I will be surrounded by such a unique and diverse student body. I hope to learn how to be more accepting of others and simply be exposed to a myriad of different cultures, thus, allowing me to grow in ways that would be more difficult at another school. With this exceptional exposure to different people and cultures, I believe I will be able to make a magnificent change to our world community in X (state what you would like to do in the future. EX. Establish nonprofits, community service, career).”

Other questions you will most likely be asked include, “Describe a time where you found yourself in a difficult situation. How did you overcome it?”, with this question, make sure you also describe how you learned from this plight of yours, “What is your favorite and least favorite subject? Why?”, “What is your greatest strength and weakness? Why?”, “What activities do you do outside of school?”, “Describe your current school” MAKE SURE YOU SPEAK WELL ABOUT YOUR CURRENT SCHOOL, though, do explain what it is lacking.

Furthermore, if you have already submitted your application, there isn’t much you can do to increase your chances except for your interview. If you play sports, try to get in contact with the coaches and send them highlights and/or stats. On the TAMS website, they state that you must take the SAT Verbal and Mathematics sections. I would most definitely recommend buying Ivy Global’s SAT guide if you cannot afford a private tutor.

About spending a day with an ambassador, please do it. This is not to increase your chances, but rather to learn about the specific school in a much more personal level.

With your demonstrated interested in TAMS, through inquiring about the admissions process, asking for help, and asking very specific questions, I am absolutely certain you stand a magnificent chance of being accepted!

Best of luck,
Cristian

3

Hey Cristian,
Thanks for taking time to write all of that out for me! My friend who already attended the interview there said to dress in a business casual outfit. I’m guessing that’s what you listed?

Just to clear some things up, the application has already been submitted and nothing can be added or detracted from it. I have been invited after I met all the requirements for an interview, so that means SAT, essay, and the other things I needed to send along with those were already done and provided to TAMS.

Thanks for providing insight into an interview process though, this will be my first interview ever and I’m stressing just thinking about it. One of my friends goes to TAG here in Dallas and she recommended for me to not make it sound like it was written beforehand because that might make it sound scripted. The starting point you provided me with is great, but I feel like they would view that negatively because they would feel like it’s all from memorization and not genuine. Thanks for all the tips though, I’ll keep them in mind when I’m doing the interview.

Also some extra info on the interview process: there will be only 6 questions that they ask you, the most important one would be what can you bring to TAMS and what do you expect to gain from it, and it’s a quick formal interview, so it should only take around a max of 10 minutes. To be honest, I am not concise in my speech so how could I improve that? I want to make the answers elaborate enough but not to the point they lose interest in what I am saying.

The spots for the ambassador program have been already filled up already, but I will email the admissions counselor to see if she can either assign an extra ambassador to me or let me go if someone drops out.

4

Hey Sean,
Sorry for responding so late! I’ve been extremely busy with school and athletics these past few days. About the dress code, I did mean business casual.

Although your friend is absolutely correct about not making your answers sound scripted, I would most definitely recommend making an outline of what your answers should contain. AOs do not like it when applicants are not prepared with what they want to touch on and/or do not even know why they truly want to attend their school. For example, although I did use the same starting point for each school, it was not scripted in any way, I simply just stated that I believe their school was diverse (international) and why.

To become a better interviewee, I believe the simplest and most efficient way is practice, practice, practice. Try to sit down with your parents each night for 10-20 minutes and ask them to give you a mock interview. Every night they should ask a mix of new and already asked questions. This will allow you to better your skills at coming up with elaborate, interesting responses on the spot. Also, ask your parents (after you’re done with your response to a certain question) to give you input on what they believed was good and not-so-good. Afterward, write down the points that you and your parents believed were the best, and try to practice them for your interview.

I wish you the absolute best of luck in your interview and the process as a whole, Sean!

Best,
Cristian

p.s Message me if you have any other question :slight_smile:

5

Hey Cristian,
Sorry for responding even later haha! Just had my interview this afternoon, and I feel like I made an impression on the interviewer so now I’m just hoping for the best! The interview questions did not allow me to implement your starting line into any one of the questions but I think I definitely made my answers pretty interesting! The whole process was very nerve-wracking but I managed not to stutter and repeat myself. Results will be sent out May 6th so justing playing the waiting game until then!

I did a few mock interviews with my parents and it sure did help a lot! It allowed me to come up with new answers every time as mom did not like me repeating the same answers to her over and over (LOL).

Thank you for guiding me through this interview process and I wish you luck in all your future endeavors!

Sean