Parent interview?

Anonymous
I have been looking into schools for my son and most of the school's websites mention a parent interview as part of the admission process. What kinds of questions do they ask during this interview? I am a single parent who will be applying for financial aid and am a bit worried that these schools may not want a student whose parent will not be as involved as others could be and who is not able to foot the whole bill w/o financial aid. Do they ask personal questions? My son's father is not involved in his life. Will they see this as a bad thing (it is a good thing in this case)? Most of the websites say that even if parents are not married, both must contribute financially but other than child support, my son's father is not willing to pay for anything else. My son is adorable and bright (but aren't they all and I don't want a school to judge him b/c we don't live the way most of the other applicants live (2 parent home, middle to upper class, etc).
Anonymous
They won't ask you personal questions. They just want you to describe your child and maybe what you like to do together.

Single parents are part of a school's diversity so don't think it's a bad thing.
Anonymous
I agree with pp. The schools are not interested in your private life and how well you get along with a prior spouse! What they really want to know is whether you have done your homework regarding the type of education you are seeking (progressive? traditional?) and the school itself. If you show up at a progressive school and pooh pooh experiential learning, for example, they are likely to consider you and your child a poor fit for the school. They will be interested in hearing about your child too, of course, but I suspect they wait for the child's playdate to draw any conclusions there. After all, we ALL have delightful, bright, curious, social children, right?!
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