<p>I'm going for interviews this fall and am nervous about questions. All the guidebooks and sites tell you ask questions ( the admissions officers tend to like inquisitive people). What are some questions i can ask. I'm interested in soccer, water polo, piano, bass, community service. So far i only have 2 questions:
1. Can i keep taking individual piano lessons on campus?
2. Can freshman make the varsity team? </p>
<p>Thats it so far. Thanks for reading.</p>
<p>Those questions are okay, but you can find them in pamphlets and such (for example, last summer I knew that Choate offered music lessons for a fee and that anybody can make the Varsity team if they're qualified). So, try to ask questions that only an admissions officer or someone who actually goes there would know. Because they're basically expecting you to find out that informaiton on your own if you're say, interested in sports or music.</p>
<p>You got into choate right? What were some of the questions you asked? If you can remember.</p>
<p>I think you need to come up with more thoughtful questions then the ones you have listed. Olivia gives you good advice.</p>
<p>Yes, I'm going to Choate next year . :)</p>
<p>The one I can remember is "What do you think sets Choate apart at the other schools?" and the truth is that all schools will actually say the same answer. So that's an example question that only an admissions officer or student would know (or teacher).</p>
<p>Haha thanks creative. :)</p>
<p>On making the Varsity team question, I would like to add that unless you are a recruited athlete for a fall sport, you won't be invited to arrive early for varsity team practices, and as a result will not be included on that fall's varsity team. Most freshman (other than recruited athletes) arrive a few days after the athletes playing fall varsity sports at most schools.</p>
<p>Other term (winter/spring) sport varsity tryouts are held in the couple of weeks preceeding the next term, so you will have equal pre-season tryout opportunity.</p>
<p>If you do believe you have a reasonable shot at say the varsity soccer team, contact the coach directly and make sure that you are invited to arrive early for those pre-season workout days. S/he will make the decision as to whether you can or cannot attend.</p>
<p>If you are concerned about piano lessons and sports committments, you may ask a question like, "How does a typical musician work his/her schedule to fit in varsity sport practices?" This shows a concern and gets more into the inner workings of how things are accomplished at the school.</p>
<p>Good Luck.</p>
<p>Well, goaliedad, I know you can try out in the first few days. You don't have to be recruited to get on Varsity fall term (and other terms).</p>
<p>At least at Choate, that is.</p>
<p>Some things I asked about Exeter:
- specific clubs that I wanted to participate in
- music opportunities outside of the curriculum
- specific courses i wanted to take (actually, I think the interviewer asked me if I knew what classes I planned to take, and that led to a series of questions)
- George Bennett Fellowship (this impressed the interviewer b/c he hadn't heard of it)
- dorm rooms
- Dan Brown
- A Separate Peace</p>
<p>That's all I can remember. My interview was really fun. I didn't plan on asking any questions, but as the alum and I talked, I asked questions out of curiosity. They just all naturally flowed out and I think that's what made my interview good; it showed that I did my research and that I was OBSESSED with Exeter.</p>
<p>so... really research the schools and questions will pop up during the interview! but planning out questions is good too</p>
<p>You should go into more depth with the areas you are interested. For example, Can I receive credit for taking music lessons? or I'm interested in helping underprivileged children, can you tell me about some community service projects I could join here.<br>
I was often given the advice to ask questions that let you talk about yourself. If you really wanted to talk about your community service during your interview, but it didn't come up you, ask a question about it. You can say I did this comm serv at home, do you have something similar I could join here. Not only do you show another aspect of yourself to the interviewer, but you also get the answer to a question you want to know</p>
<p>well that can be your question (about the varsity sport), you can ask HOW a freshman can tryout for varsity instead of if he/she can.
it's not as general and shows you kind of know how the school works.</p>
<p>you could ask specifically about preseason, too.</p>
<p>Yes, what tuesdayair said is definitely true. Plan 2 questoins or so (maybe more at the schools you don't know as much about) and the others will follow.</p>
<p>Good perspectives into the school can actually be found at BSR (boardingschoolreview.com). They have student reviews for almost every school - Choate has about 10, and these are helpful for the other side of boarding school as well: little complaints or great merits that the admin. wouldn't mention, say.</p>
<p>How about asking the interviewer what he or she would most like to change about their own school</p>
<p>If you're really, really interested in attending a school, the questions will come naturally. So, ask yourself what you would like to know. Not that hard.</p>
<p>Everyone who interviews ought to check out this link first, at a bare minimum:</p>
<p>I've always believed that having a few well thought out questions going into an interview is an excellent way of leaving a favorable impression with the interviewer. Specific questions that show you've really studied the materials and that can tie into a topic you want to discuss can be very effective - i.e. "I notice that you have a yearly community service requirement. Last year I volunteered 4 hours a week at a local hospice and found the work really rewarding. Would it be possible for me to do something like that to fullfill my community service requirement, and is there a specific program coordinator I could work with to try to make that happen?" </p>
<p>Also, open ended questions, particularly those that enable the interviewer to talk about some unique aspect of the school. For example, St. Pauls does not teach history as a separate course but combines it with english. Asking about this again shows you know something about the school, have thought about whether this approach would be a good fit for you, and enables you to hopefully have an insightful discussion about the pluses and minuses of their approach.</p>
<p>And obviously you don't want to ask a question that reveals you haven't bothered to read the materials the school sent you.</p>
<p>One of the questions that my son will ask is "what is is like entering as a 10th grader vs a 9th grader."<br>
As I posted on another topic, some schools save as many as half of their opening for 10th grade, some save very few. He can follow up with asking how many new 10th graders there will be if we don't know that from the materials and the interviewer doesn't tell him. </p>
<p>One question I always ask in a job interview is "what are the 3 most important qualities needed to be successful in this job." I think a modified version of that might be good. I know all the books say "we look for students who are blah blah and blah..." But you might get a more thoughtful answer by asking it.</p>
<p>Thank you very much to everybody who responded to this thread. It has really guided me to a few good questions. Thanks again.</p>