HILL JUST TEXTED ME SAYING THAT THEYRE MOVING INTERVIEW LOCATIONS I SJDSHFBJDBH
ITS AT A STARBUCKS
I’M ACTUALLY FREAKING OUT ON THE FREAKOUT THREAD.
Just you wait until March 10, you’ll literally be jumping up and down screaming
@Mercurrii ahhhhhhhhhh
Hope the interview went well/ will go well
Seems like the AO’s really like coffee shops, my interview’s at a Peet’s.
GUYS, IT WENT SO WELL OMG.
I really connected with her and she said that the school would be really lucky to have me and that I’m basically in is that good or like just what she says? But I think I was really confident and I like didn’t hide my personality and it went really well overall ah.
How important are interviews really?
Can a great interview get you in (if you tick all the other boxes). Our kid had some really good interviews many which went on for more than 45 minutes while other kids went in and came out. Also during the Parent discussion, the AO said the kid was great and very impressive. We got this consistently from multiple AOs at multiple schools. One interview went over an hour with kid. All interviews were on campus. Should we read anything into this. Don’t want to be too presumptuous but got a good vibe.
The last year’s freakout started in October, while this one started in August. I can’t wait till it becomes closer to March and everyone starts freaking out!! You could be more assured because “Oh, I’m not the only one who feels like this! Neat!”
@Mercurrii
OMG congrats!! I still haven’t done mine yet; I think I’ll do them in December. I’m not applying to your school, but I’m still curious, how did the whole thing flow?
@Mercurrii I’ve gotten that from three school interviews - one of the schools waitlisted me (there were reasons) and the other two accepted me. it definitely doesn’t hurt!
@IntTraveller try not to read too much into interviews. forget about them afterwards, if possible. just keep on keeping on, because the app process moves fast and has little mercy. Keep hopes high but expectations low.
however, I can tell you interviews are about on the same level of importance as the essays. both of those two are significantly more important than almost any other part of your DC’s application.
@SolarJ the freakout didn’t necessarily start here! I started freaking out last February, even before I knew which schools I was going to apply to! thought y’all BS Applicant Class of 2020 might appreciate it a bit sooner.
@SolarJ @RedLioness TY guys!
@SolarJ she basically just asked like what my classes are, what clubs I did. and I told her, but it was more of a conversation and she told me about the school’s programs and everything! It lasted like, an hour.
Most interviews are about 45 mins- 1 hour, along with a “parent interview” afterwards. (This is based on my experience touring 6 schools). What Mercurii described matches up to what I remember of last year’s process. Whatever you do, just make sure to be yourself (cliché advice, I know, but it works) and you should be fine.
Side note: if they throw a curveball at you, ask for a little bit of time to think. They won’t hold it against you, and if you give a bad but quick answer it’ll reflect badly on you (believe me, I accidentally told a school that “yeah, I got in 10 years ago but I chose [school I attended at the time] because xyz”). Got waitlisted there even though it was my safety.
Interviews are definitely important. Having a kid who interviews well is absolutely a bonus and can give kids a leg up. If the AO can imagine you on campus, contributing to the community and fitting in, that’s worth a lot.
No one knows how important though. Certainly they don’t make up for very weak grades or scores but I think they can put you into the competitive category if everything else is solid, as you said.
But almost all people come out with AOs saying positive things so do t read into it
Also if your kid is applying to schools with 12-20% admit rates AND needs financial aid there is some chance involved that no one can predict.
Thanks for your response. Also to @Redlioness. We did get a good vibe from all. but as you said, its just one piece of the puzzle.
DC is competitive on other aspects. Should be in the 95%tile+ in the standardized tests (tends to do well - will post in 4 weeks once DC completes test), for Grades DC is ok with mostly A, and A+ with one possible B. We are on the essays now.
Also we will not be applying for FA.
Then I think your kid has a solid chance. But again, 12-20% admit rate…although that probably goes up a fair bit because you don’t need FA.
Another question…for those who went through this. DC interview covered a lot of ground interms of interests passions, accomplishments, etc. How repetitive should we be on the essays given that the AO made notes on all of this stuff? Thoughts?
We didn’t worry about this when writing essays. 1) we never thought to make notes on what we covered in interviews 2) after brainstorming what to write for essays there were clear winners and we wouldn’t have been able to change those to work around interviews anyway. The essay questions are quite challenging imo so the fewer artificial restrictions you put on them the better 3) there is plenty of space in the application to list accomplishments and activities. There is zero need to push those in the essays.
I’m trying to think back on the essays and honestly there was only one out of the 10ish written that had anything to do with “an accomplishment.” All the rest were things like “What makes you laugh?” Or “talk about a time you helped someone”. We preferred to be simple and honest rather than use those to humble brag if that makes sense. For instance. “What makes you laugh” was written about a younger sibling who is generally annoying but occasionally comes out with the wittiest zingers ever. Simple. Well written. Honest.
All the accomplishments like sports championship, hours of community service, etc were just listed on the app.
That’s my advice.
Thats good advice @dogsmama1997. Thanks. There are some which would be a bit repetitive (like what passion do you have or what would you teach, etc.) but indeed there are others that are net new.
Any strategies on writing these essays. At this point we have asked DC to brainstorm and just bullet point ideas rather than just start writing. After the test, mid terms, DC can start fleshing out the body of essays. So post TG holidays. Thoughts?
Brainstorming and bullet pointing is a great start. That is what mine did as well. Mostly all were written over Christmas break but that was because Thanksgiving was a tournament. I would also suggest being flexible. There were a couple that were trashed and totally re-written even though that was painful because it became clear the essay just wouldn’t work. We also sat down and made a grid of all the questions, lengths, and which ones we could use in duplicate. There were several that we either beefed up or just trimmed down and were able to use the same core essay several times.
And I say we but really it was all her other than the grid which I organized and typed. I am not a good kids’ writing editor. While I can do grammar and spelling, kid is better with commas than I am, and I can’t edit her writing because then it sounds like my writing. So she basically had to edit on her own with me saying “yes that’s great” or “it needs more tweaking, here’s an idea.” I always suggest words that she “would never use mom” eye roll here… If you have someone who is good at editing, I would use them, but make sure it still sounds like your kid. I definitely get the impression that AOs know what’s what when it comes to parents trying to write essays, or over edit them.
We had many many friends apply out of our school to private schools and many of them kind of winged the essays. I saw that on here as well. Kids saying a lot that their essays were ok. IMO the essays are the one part you can control the most in the entire application process so they should be excellent. Even kids who aren’t great writers can buckle down and write their best essays ever, it’s just work.
Christmas break was pretty brutal though because of the essays. BUT after that it was smooth sailing till due dates because we just did a couple little things and sent everything in. I also know kids who were literally writing up until the due date/time/second. Needless to say? They didn’t get into those schools.
Oh, I meant to add. Where I did play a large role was in moral support. I often would work at the table with her as she wrote. I would first just do my actual job and then when I was done I would read CC threads. LOL. Maybe good maybe bad, but it was good for her to have company but not be bothered by someone trying to talk to her. I learned an awful lot while reading those old threads, that’s for sure. And I was super productive at my actual job too!!
I like the grid idea @dogsmama1997 . I actually was thinking something like that myself though with large white paper and postits! BTW I see that your DC is at Groton. How goes it. During the tour we were impressed with Groton and got a good vibe from the AO during the interview. It does seem smallish so not sure how that would play out for DC. Well lets hope we have that problem!