Big 5 Parent Interview
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Anonymous
| We have a parent interview coming up at a big 5 school. What should we expect? DC is applying for sixth grade and will have a separate interview. |
Anonymous
| They will ask you what other schools your DC is applying to in your interview. Be sure to reference “the Big 5” as much as possible in your answer so they know you’re serious. |
Anonymous
| Dress to impress. Monocles and top hats. |
Anonymous
| Be sure to talk about money. Refer to yourself as a customer of the school. |
Anonymous
| Talk about yourself in the third person. They respect that. |
Anonymous
| OP, we didn’t apply to Big Anything but I expect they’re all pretty similar—they want to know about your kid. Interests and strengths in and out of school, hobbies, home responsibilities/chores; they want to know about personalities so they might about friend relationships (maybe siblings too if they have them—we only have one child so I don’t know), situations where they’ve demonstrated confidence or leadership, challenges, etc. |
Anonymous
| About halfway through the interview, take out an envelope filled with cash and slide it across the table. Then continue as if nothing happened. |
Anonymous
|
Ignore these posts, clearly the trolls are out.
We just had ours before Thanksgiving break. They asked us what we were most proud of in our daughter; why we liked the school; and if we had any questions. It was straight forward and easy. We are applying from another well known school. No top hats, monocle, or envelopes of cash required. I'm fairly confident our kid will get in. |
Anonymous
OK, but is the school a Big 5? |
Anonymous
Did you make it to the second round of interviews? |
Anonymous
| At one of these interviews, we were asked if there is anything we’d like to highlight that is not on the application. We struggled with this one so maybe give that some thought before your interview? It was for 9th. |
Anonymous
Is there really a second round? |
Anonymous
No. The trolls are out in force for this question. |
Anonymous
| OP our kids are at one of these schools. Just be yourselves and be honest. If it truly is the top choice, make that clear. Think about why you think the school would be a good fit for your child, if you have outstanding questions ask them, etc. ignore the trolls - wear what you normally wear and be yourselves. |
Anonymous
+1 For the three Big 5 schools our DC applied to - Sidwell, Basis Independent McLean and GDS - there was only 1 round. |