Good interview vs. Bad interview

[Anonymous]

For our 4th grader, there was no correlation between interview and admissions outcome this past year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I honestly cannot tell you what makes a bad interview vs. a good interview. We could hear all of our kid's interviews last year b/c they were on zoom. I thought that the first two interviews were absolute and complete disasters and that he hit it out of the park on the last one. (For example, asked what book DS liked to read and he said "audiobooks" even though he had a tome sitting next to him that he had been devouring.) He got into the first two schools and not the last one, and the last one was the least competitive of the three. I have no clue what makes a "good" interview. My DS was polite, asked 2-3 prepared questions, and responded like a deer in headlights to the questions. I think that the interviewers can see beyond what we see.

Thanks for sharing. DC has his first interview coming up, and I was totally worried about the deer in the headlights effect! AOs are experienced interviewers. so hopefully can see beyond the nervous jitters.

A friend does regional alumni interviews for boarding schools. She doesn't seem to think interviews make a huge impact. They are not evaluating the kids during the interview as much getting a flavor of the student. Most of the time, they have not seen any of the application material.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve always assumed that for play dates that serve as the interviews for younger kids they’re mostly screening for the basics. Does the kid hit/shove/bite/snatch things from others/scream in class? Can they follow basic directions and school-type routines? If the answers are no and yes, it’s hard to believe that they’re going to successfully judge much beyond that.

This. And if the kid is really cute and seems to be kind, smart and shows that they are interested in learning they are pretty much in. I had the AD nodding her head at me while trying not to smile when I picked up my child after his K play date/visit. Yes, he got in, he also tests well and had great teacher recommendations from PK. I likely seemed a little crazy, in hindsight, but they still accepted him. Haha

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any correlation between great interviews/student visits and acceptance? Or do I assume that interviewers are trained to be professional and congenial and not put any weight on that?

Thanks if you have BTDT and can weigh in!

For HS the student interview can be a game changer. The school selects Admin that they trust as gate keepers to the very limited slots they have for HS.

Its a given that your kid has to meet the academic criteria to even be considered, but that doesn't get them in- wow the interviewer and your kid is IN.

That being said, there is no way to game this except maybe having a kid who has had a lifetime of being raised to interact well with their parents dinner guests

[Anonymous]

The interviews are a way to keep alumni engaged with the school [read: make donations]. They have very little, if anything, to do with admissions.

My husband does them for his Ivy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The interviews are a way to keep alumni engaged with the school [read: make donations]. They have very little, if anything, to do with admissions.

My husband does them for his Ivy

Big difference between interviews for ES, MS and HS and the Ivy interviews done by alumni. The former are done by teachers at the schools. The latter seem to be just as you say done to keep alumni connected - I have heard many people say they stopped doing them as it was too upsetting to have all their recommendations dismissed.

However, the private schools evaluating younger kids do seem to pay more attention to them.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I have no clue what college alums interviewing HS seniors has to do with this thread.

[Anonymous]

Apologies! Was reading "recent threads," have a HS senior and college is where my head is at so I just assumed, and we all know what happens when you do that...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any correlation between great interviews/student visits and acceptance? Or do I assume that interviewers are trained to be professional and congenial and not put any weight on that?

Thanks if you have BTDT and can weigh in!

Yes and any tips (apart from not acting crazy)? Any topics to avoid at all costs? What topics are safest?

This is for HS, right?

I'd say your kid's basic personality and social skills are already pretty well formed, but maybe if you want to help them send them for a practice interview. You know that's a thing, right?

Basics:

** let the Interviewer from the school set the tone, but be gracious and enthusiastic in their response. You know, the usual: reflect back, " that's a great question" , be humble, earnest and clearly bright but self deprecating

* show appreciation for others, including other's point of view especially the interviewers while also showing that you are of your own mind- at least a developing one

* have perfectly executed manners and make sure they seem natural

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bad topics—

-Complaining about your other private school
-Talking about your super advanced child without letting school evaluate and decide
-Admitting you didn’t pay tuition that was contracted
-Asking about % Ivy League Admittances. Admitting it’s the only thing you care about
-Complaining about annual fund and parent service at another school
-Describing how you’re litigating against a school
-Arguing with spouse and kid about a school

Thanks! That is helpful

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any correlation between great interviews/student visits and acceptance? Or do I assume that interviewers are trained to be professional and congenial and not put any weight on that?

Thanks if you have BTDT and can weigh in!

Yes and any tips (apart from not acting crazy)? Any topics to avoid at all costs? What topics are safest?

This is for HS, right?

I'd say your kid's basic personality and social skills are already pretty well formed, but maybe if you want to help them send them for a practice interview. You know that's a thing, right?

Basics:

** let the Interviewer from the school set the tone, but be gracious and enthusiastic in their response. You know, the usual: reflect back, " that's a great question" , be humble, earnest and clearly bright but self deprecating

* show appreciation for others, including other's point of view especially the interviewers while also showing that you are of your own mind- at least a developing one

* have perfectly executed manners and make sure they seem natural

Thanks - this is great !

[Anonymous]

My only insight is they over the years my child had two amazing interviews where we thought she rocked it and would for sure get in. She didn’t get in either time. She had lots of success in admissions over the years but I will never get excited over a great interview again

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any correlation between great interviews/student visits and acceptance? Or do I assume that interviewers are trained to be professional and congenial and not put any weight on that?

Thanks if you have BTDT and can weigh in!

Yes and any tips (apart from not acting crazy)? Any topics to avoid at all costs? What topics are safest?

This is for HS, right?

I'd say your kid's basic personality and social skills are already pretty well formed, but maybe if you want to help them send them for a practice interview. You know that's a thing, right?

Basics:

** let the Interviewer from the school set the tone, but be gracious and enthusiastic in their response. You know, the usual: reflect back, " that's a great question" , be humble, earnest and clearly bright but self deprecating

* show appreciation for others, including other's point of view especially the interviewers while also showing that you are of your own mind- at least a developing one

* have perfectly executed manners and make sure they seem natural

Thanks - this is great !

I don’t think we or my dc know how to “have perfectly executed manners” but we will do our best to be polite and natural. Thanks for taking time to answer so thoughtfully! 😀

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bad topics—

-Complaining about your other private school
-Talking about your super advanced child without letting school evaluate and decide
-Admitting you didn’t pay tuition that was contracted
-Asking about % Ivy League Admittances. Admitting it’s the only thing you care about
-Complaining about annual fund and parent service at another school
-Describing how you’re litigating against a school
-Arguing with spouse and kid about a school

Thanks! That is helpful

Ha ha no chance of us bragging about our super advanced dc who is a regular teen. The other points are good to be aware of - not to argue with each other is the biggest risk! Parents are always in the wrong, according to my dc 😅😂

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve always assumed that for play dates that serve as the interviews for younger kids they’re mostly screening for the basics. Does the kid hit/shove/bite/snatch things from others/scream in class? Can they follow basic directions and school-type routines? If the answers are no and yes, it’s hard to believe that they’re going to successfully judge much beyond that.

This. And if the kid is really cute and seems to be kind, smart and shows that they are interested in learning they are pretty much in. I had the AD nodding her head at me while trying not to smile when I picked up my child after his K play date/visit. Yes, he got in, he also tests well and had great teacher recommendations from PK. I likely seemed a little crazy, in hindsight, but they still accepted him. Haha

So true! My daughter applied for PK some years ago. We were applying out of cycle so she joined the class for a couple hours for observation. When we picked her up she looked at us and said "I don't want to leave". My husband took her to the restroom while I stayed with the AD and we could hear her screaming all the way down the hall "all the other kids get to stay. Why cant I?!" "I don't want to go home!" "I want to be at this school!" "I was having too much fun!". The AD looked at me, smiled, and said "this looks really good for her".

She was 3 and I bribed her with ice-cream. I told her if she was kind to everyone we could get some afterwards. It was unnecessary and she totally forgot about the ice-cream.