<p>My interview at Andover was weird. I had heard that the interview was supposed to be a "friendly conversation". This interview was not at all. My interviewer asked me questions and didn't have a conversational style at all. It was fairly nerve-racking, but I just wanted to inform you all that not all interviews are going to be just a "friendly conversation".</p>
<p>Honestly it is just a hit or miss with interviews. Sometimes you get a really good one that just talks to you, and other times you get an interviewer who writes down your every word and just asks question after question. </p>
<p>The first interview is always the hardest, but you get better over time. </p>
<p>How do you think you did? How did your interviewer react to your responses?</p>
<p>@ifax, what type of questions? Did the interviewer make negative comments?</p>
<p>Ifax- was it your first interview? When my son was going through this, we deliberately chose a school that is known as warm and nurturing to go to first to build up his confidence. It worked, and we will always have good feelings towards that school. So now you know you’ve survived what probably will be your toughest one, and can handle anything now! In our experience though, most (not all) of the interviews were more like conversations than question and answer sessions.</p>
<p>What sort of questions did he ask? COuld you give some examples?</p>
<p>Hey everyone now I’m going to answer your questions.</p>
<p>@2010,
I’m honestly not sure how much he liked me. Normally adults LOVE me, but with this guy I couldn’t tell. My mom said that he said I had an “encyclopedic knowledge of Andover” which could be good or bad. But if it’s good I’m not sure how good it is. And as for his reactions, they were nonexistent. Most adults are very impressed when I talk about the books I’ve been reading (1984, Mountains Beyond Mountains) and I was surprised when he had almost no reaction. He really just asked me questions and I just gave him answers. It was really formal.</p>
<p>@maddog15,
The interviewer did not make any negative comments. Don’t worry about that. He asked me pretty standard questions like “What books have you been reading?” “Why do you want to go to Andover?” “What is your favorite academic subject?” and “What are you grades like?” And also you should know your parent’s profession. I know what my parent’s do for a living so that wasn’t a problem, but in case you don’t know it, now is the time to find out.</p>
<p>@baystateresident,
The main reason I chose Andover for my first interview was the fact that I expected a warm interviewer. Instead I got an interviewer who I don’t know if he was impressed by me or he thought I was just another applicant who won’t make it. And yes, I feel like I can handle any interview now! I’m superman hahaha. =)</p>
<p>@loubear,
Just look at my answer to @maddog15. A few things I just remembered. “Do you have any siblings? If so, what are they like?” “Boast any achievements/ honors to me right now.” “What other schools are you applying to?” There are no “trick questions” so don’t worry about that. Or at least, none from this guy. I heard once of an interview at Groton where they asked “If you were a shoe, what brand would you be?” That makes me nervous because I’m interviewing at Groton tomorrow.</p>
<p>Hey ifax, Sorry to hear that your Andover interviewer was impersonal/sterile. A friend of mine who had an Andover visit said that she noticed the admissions officers having warm conversations with the waiting applicants/parents probably with alumni/legacy relationships and barely acknowledged other applicants/parents. Did anyone notice similar instances? If so, alumni/legacy connections may play a bigger role than discussed otherwise on these forums.</p>
<p>Ouch, sounds like your interviewer was pretty awkward, I’m sorry 
My interview at Governor’s was really awkward – he asked me what my most recent grade was and if I was satisfied with it, if I’d rather be a host or a guest at a dinner party, who my favorite president was, etc. There was a lot of dead silence as he wrote my answers down, and he left a lot of my desperate small talk hanging. It was a recent alumnus, though, so I assume it was one of their first interviews, too! It was luckily the only REALLY awkward interview I had, which is why I remember it so well.</p>
<p>But even if you don’t think your interview went well, you could be totally wrong. I thought my interview at Concord was HORRIBLE, and after my visit I emailed a quick thank-you note to my interviewer…only to find that my Gmail account had been hacked and was emailing spam to all the people on my contact list, including her. But for whatever reason I still ended up getting in!</p>
<p>When I interviewed at Andover I didn’t notice any preferential treatment for legacies. I’m pretty much as far from being a legacy as you can get and everyone was incredibly warm. </p>
<p>Don’t expect every adult you talk with to be bowled over by you. Admissions personnel are told to not express undue emotion, and if you go in with that attitude you may come off as conceited. </p>
<p>Also, question and answer is a form of friendly conversation.</p>
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<p>abe…, Where did you hear this? Many applicants/parents reported on this site that they were told by the Admissions personnel that their interviews were great, only to later find out that they were rejected/WListed. RedBlueGreenGold comes to mind having said this, as have many others.</p>
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<p>Or it could also be a boss leaning on a subordinate or an attorney questioning a defendant!</p>
<p>@pulsar: You have to remember that the interviews are not everything. Even if someone has a really strong interview, some other part of their application could be lacking, which could have caused a waitlist/rejection.</p>
<p>The applicant in question had a stellar record and got into other HADES schools.</p>
<p>My son’s interviewers really varied in style. Most of them were great and really put him at ease and made it very conversational. He’s a fairly confident kid and not easily flustered. His Andover interviewer was the most awkward of the bunch. Even with us parents it was a tad off. Honestly, I think his opinion of the interviewer was part of the reason he decided not to apply to Andover. Might have been the same guy you had ifax108.</p>
<p>Generally, the interviewers are skilled at making things conversational but it’s good to be prepared for some who don’t.</p>
<p>However, before the interview, when we were waiting, other admissions staff at Andover were extremely pleasant and personable and made an effort to make everyone feel welcomed and comfortable.</p>
<p>They may say good interview, but I doubt they are going to start gushing about how singularly mature and well-read the applicant is.</p>
<p>Unless the applicant admits to a crime in the middle of the interview I think that you are exaggerating. All conversations are, at their root, question and answer sessions. </p>
<p>(just to clarify, my name isn’t Abe, abecedarian means alphabetically)</p>
<p>It’s surprising to have an adcom at Andover that’s not pleasant with teenagers. The guy may be due for some on the job training.</p>
<p>abe…, you missed the dots … in my post after abe. Saved me some typing. :D</p>
<p>Not pleasant might be too strong of a description. More like bland, awkward, stilted, stiff…</p>
<p>A couple of points based on our summer’s tour of top-tier NE BS…</p>
<p>A) ifax: Remember that these admissions officers see hundreds/thousands of the best and the brightest kids in the USA/world. They have no doubt seen it all. While I’m sure you are as intelligent, talented, and charming as you say you are (;-P), not everyone might react to your blend of intelligence, talent, and charm as well as others.</p>
<p>B) I will second the sentiment that an impersonal or otherwise “off” interview/visit/tour experience can color a family’s perception of a school…so far as to knock a school off a “short list”. I just chalk it up to “if they really cared about us caring about their institution, they would have at least feigned some level of friendliness/interest/enthusiasm for us”.</p>
<p>@ifax who was your interviewer? Also, don’t let him turn you off of the school because it’s a great school and he’s probably just an awkward person. I don’t know why he was doing interviews though if he’s like that.</p>
<p>In many ways, interviews offer the greatest chance for a surprising surge or a disappointing dive. There is no absolute secret for success. There is better prepared and there is worse prepared, but mostly there is a whole lot of unpredictable chemistry. Think about questions in advance, practice answering questions with Mom and Dad, have clear reasons why you like the school where you’re interviewing and have a couple of questions you’d like answered that are genuinely important to you (and not a bunch of canned nonsense.)</p>
<p>I interview people for a living and when I’m preparing them to be interviewed by a client, once we’ve taken care of the basic preparation homework (see above), I remind them of one overriding, all-important hint: have fun and let it show. </p>
<p>Be yourself, smile, be candid and truthful, have a firm handshake, make good eye contact. Don’t worry for even a second about “how you’re doing.” From the moment you walk into the admission’s office and see the other sweaty, anxious, competitive adolescents, remember that you’re there to have fun and make a new friend. Let the stress slip away.</p>