From reading this forum I got the impression that some families visit a school more than once. I decided it would be good for DS to visit two schools this month to get an idea of the contrasting sizes/campuses/etc. When I called, I stated that I wanted the interview to wait until he visits again later this fall (when we plan to visit several more schools over a week). The receptionist in the AO seemed to think I was silly not to have him interview during the first visit, since the interview is “just an informal conversation.” Again, from reading here I gather the interview is very important, and it seems DS would have more perspective after having seen a few schools, and would be better prepared to say why he liked that particular one. Am I wrong? Am I crazy to have him tour the school and return later for an interview?
Most families visit once in the fall (interview and tour), and then for revisit day in the spring. Perhaps an additional visit if you are local and can attend an open house at the school. If you are close enough to visit multiple times then you can just go - casually tour the school, perhaps talk to a few kids - prior to the interview, but just on your own, not through the admissions office. At most schools you can visit and interview prior to submitting an application, so more kids interview than apply. You visit and interview at a number of schools, then decide which ones feel right and apply to those. DS1 interviewed at 8 schools and applied to 6.
My daughter visited 12 schools and she interviewed and toured at all 12 during the initial visits. We did apply to all of the 12 schools and put them in order of preference. After acceptances we only revisited the 2 that she was the most interested in. During those interviews we actually got a feel for which schools to rule out. Believe it or not I believe that the AO’s know pretty early on which students they are really interested in. My daughter was given a mascot at the end of 1 of her interviews and believe it or not she was accepted to that school on a full 4 year scholarship (not full financial aid because we are not eligible), including text books, school supplies, transportation costs, macbook etc. When I said to my daughter that they probably gave everyone a mascot at the end she said that she had been watching the others who were interviewed before her leave (we are early birds for everything) and they did not get one. So I would say to do the interview, he may rule out or confirm his interest in that school, on your next trip this could leave room to visit other schools. Good Luck.
Just want to share that at one school some of the kids were walking out of their interviews with “swag” but AppleKid wasn’t one of them. AppleKid definitely noticed and was nervous about it, but despite not getting the swag, was offered admission to that school. Perhaps some schools are very deliberate in this practice, but perhaps at others it depends on the interviewer and how consistent the interviewer may be in remembering to give out the goodies.
@AppleNotFar, When you said “swag” I was thinking “attitude”. I have to get more up to date with the terms. I agree, we never know the method for sure. Anything could b a possibility. On the other hand there was one very popular school that we visited that left a bad taste in our mouths. The AO seemed very low energy, unhappy and disinterested from the time they approached us to go into the interview. Perhaps it was just a bad day. We left there knowing that if this was the first impression that we had no interest in getting a second impression.
I definitely agree that if you go to tour it’s worth it to interview at the same time. Only school we visited that we didn’t interview at was because the all slots were full for the day of the visit. The school was very apologetic about not having anything available and offered us a skype interview as we live 18 hours away by car. We ultimately decided not to interview with the school (it was suggested that we check it out by our educational consultant) because my son didn’t like the overall feel. However if a slot was open we would have interviewed that day.
In the end, we toured 8 schools, accepted at 5, waitlisted at 1 and rejected at 2. After narrowing down acceptances we only visited 2 for revisits. We felt this allowed our son to focus on his top choices and thankfully they were both in same state and we only had to do one plane trip. I agree with @Sarrip that you will know if a school is really interested in you, even the stretch schools. Ultimately our son chose the very first school he interviewed with and the second school was in very close running. I think connection with the AO will often play a vital role in child’s choice of schools.
The interview is indeed informal, but does count for something. The AOs want to make sure your kid is a good fit for the school. They are interviewing not only the student, but the family as well. They want to make sure you are not crazed helicopter parents.
That all being said, there is no big advantage to waiting for the interviews until later. In fact it may hurt, because the AOs have to write up a little blurb on each student they interview. Later in the season, they have less time to write up thoughtful replies.
If you have the means and the time, I would strongly recommend hitting each school twice. One is formal–including the interview and tour–and the second is less formal, to meet a coach, additional students if possible, and not interview again. In some cases, the first time was an open house and tour, and the second time was the interview/coach meet. Other times, the interview and tour came first, and then we went back a few months later to have a tour only and meet coaches and some potential teammates. This second round was very helpful as everyone was much more relaxed. By revisit time, we limited it to two schools and by then, we felt we had more than enough information to make a decision.
^^ @Mr.Wendal that was great to be able to visit more than once. We didn’t feel like we had the time to do that and miss so much school. We cast a wide"ish" net and toured/interviewed at 13 and applied to seven. DD was accepted at six, waitlisted at one, and then attended revisit for three. All, in our case, were tours and interviews at the same time. Of all of them, I can easily say just one was pretty awful and that was on a Friday right before the Columbus Day weekend. We didn’t end up applying there. Her only waitlist was a result of an interview on the actual holiday (Columbus Day) and was our only interview that was not with an actual AO. Granted the school is highly selective and we all know how that goes…
My wife took our DS to visit 12 schools during the spring and early summer in advance of applying to BS. During these visits they toured the campus by themselves, meet with coaches and members of the music dept. if they were available. From those 12 visits he narrowed his list to 4 school where he officially toured, interviewed and applied the following fall. We also spent at least 1 additional Saturday at each of his top choice schools to take in some sporting events and to get the feel for the campus and community.
I think that not going along with what the school recommends (the receptionist telling you it is silly to wait) can look bad on you. I would say to just go for tour and interview and then revisit day. Not only is it easier and less stress, but you don’t look annoying and high maintenance which could possibly decrease your sons chances of getting in. They interview the parents as well you know!
I agree you should interview, just to avoid being the cranky parent that gets talked about around the admissions office.
I highly recommend your first college visit be somewhere you have absolutely no interest in your child attending. Give your child a chance to practice an interview without as much pressure on his performance.