Why do some private schools want to interview parents as part of application process and other privates don’t require?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We never felt like we were being scrutinized during our parent interviews. No one asked anything about our education or background or finances. Pretty sure some of that would border on illegal lines of questioning.

All of our conversations were about our child, what we saw as their strengths and challenges, areas of interest, responsibilities, hobbies, programs of interest in the school we were applying to, etc.

No one asks about finances but questions are broad enough that it’s easy to weave in your educational experiences and how they shaped you/your career etc and what you what for your kid. You may have steered clear of everything personal but many don’t. It’s hard to be relatable when you don’t provide information about yourself. And many applications ask about parents’ jobs and education information. Finances are more opaque but if you aren’t requesting FA they know you have some $$ to burn.

An example: “I love that X school has a sports requirement in Middle and Hugh School. My middle and high school had a sports requirement and I learned a lot from being on a team and structuring my time around practices and meets at a young age. I also discovered X sport which I went on to play at Harvard. Although Larla’s only four and we have no idea if she’ll be sporty, I think at the very least the requirement will allow her to try new things and teach her time management and teamwork.”

And I would like the same for my children if they want it. Hooks matter. Don’t hate the player —hate the game.

[Anonymous]

I know The Heights invites not only the applicant and parents, but also their siblings to the interview. This is because the school is accepting a family into its community and not just a student into its classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I personally thought the Maret/Sidwell parent interviews were extremely wierd for a high school student. I mean, it felt very much like our family was being vetted — what did we choose to wear? What did we choose to say? Did we say Harvard or “school in the NE”? For lower school, I get that you don’t have much else to go on, but for upper school, admissions seemed to be less about our kid and more about us. Which was the wrong vibe for me. We ended up at a school without parent interviews and that set the tone for our engagement with the school. Our child deals with our child’s schooling issues first and foremost. We have not had to step in. If we do, we expect that the child would’ve tried first. It’s actually not our high school experience but our child’s.

This is how we feel. If a school requires a parent interview for HS it will be a sign that it’s a bad fit for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We never felt like we were being scrutinized during our parent interviews. No one asked anything about our education or background or finances. Pretty sure some of that would border on illegal lines of questioning.

All of our conversations were about our child, what we saw as their strengths and challenges, areas of interest, responsibilities, hobbies, programs of interest in the school we were applying to, etc.

No one asks about finances but questions are broad enough that it’s easy to weave in your educational experiences and how they shaped you/your career etc and what you what for your kid. You may have steered clear of everything personal but many don’t. It’s hard to be relatable when you don’t provide information about yourself. And many applications ask about parents’ jobs and education information. Finances are more opaque but if you aren’t requesting FA they know you have some $$ to burn.

An example: “I love that X school has a sports requirement in Middle and Hugh School. My middle and high school had a sports requirement and I learned a lot from being on a team and structuring my time around practices and meets at a young age. I also discovered X sport which I went on to play at Harvard. Although Larla’s only four and we have no idea if she’ll be sporty, I think at the very least the requirement will allow her to try new things and teach her time management and teamwork.”

And I would like the same for my children if they want it. Hooks matter. Don’t hate the player —hate the game.

If they want to know where you went to college they can ask. It used to be on applications at some schools and has since been taken off. I'm sorry but it is a total eye roll that you are mentioning Harvard alum at a interview for a 4yr old and it says more about you than it it says about the "game".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Trying to understand why parents must also interview as part of school application process vs other schools require essays only or no interviews from parents? Trying to understand the logic.

[b]

OMG. Do you not understand? Everything EVERYTHING for private schools is about what the parents will give the schools in term sof the 3 Ts: Time Talent and Treasures. WHAT are you going to GIVE THEM! MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!! how do you not know this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I expect it usually depends on how many applicants there are. For example, Catholic schools like O’Connell are so much larger than the independent privates, they simply couldn’t interview everyone. We didn’t come across any non-Catholic schools that didn’t do interviews during our process last year, so if you e found smaller independent schools that don’t interview I couldn’t speculate about them.

But it also differs across similarly sized competitive schools. Potomac doesn't interview parents but Sidwell, GDS, and Maret (smaller) do.

This must depend on the age at Potomac, as we have a parent interview scheduled for there, but for a younger age.

HS has no parent interview at Potomac

The older the child the less parents matter. They’ll get a sense of your child from teacher and extracurricular recs, grades, and interview. Unless legacy or big donor I can’t see parents throwing it for HS.

It doesn't matter to me either way, but all the other schools our DCs applied to require parent interviews for HS. In my view, the admissions office can decide for themselves whether they find it useful or not. I can see both sides - that's their choice. Potomac chooses no - saves me some time. Other schools choose yes, so I show up and answer whatever it is they feel they need to know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We never felt like we were being scrutinized during our parent interviews. No one asked anything about our education or background or finances. Pretty sure some of that would border on illegal lines of questioning.

All of our conversations were about our child, what we saw as their strengths and challenges, areas of interest, responsibilities, hobbies, programs of interest in the school we were applying to, etc.

No one asks about finances but questions are broad enough that it’s easy to weave in your educational experiences and how they shaped you/your career etc and what you what for your kid. You may have steered clear of everything personal but many don’t. It’s hard to be relatable when you don’t provide information about yourself. And many applications ask about parents’ jobs and education information. Finances are more opaque but if you aren’t requesting FA they know you have some $$ to burn.

An example: “I love that X school has a sports requirement in Middle and Hugh School. My middle and high school had a sports requirement and I learned a lot from being on a team and structuring my time around practices and meets at a young age. I also discovered X sport which I went on to play at Harvard. Although Larla’s only four and we have no idea if she’ll be sporty, I think at the very least the requirement will allow her to try new things and teach her time management and teamwork.”

And I would like the same for my children if they want it. Hooks matter. Don’t hate the player —hate the game.

It's insufferable and insecure. Admissions officers have google and linkedin, and can easily figure out your educational and professional background.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn’t choose a school that didn’t have parent interviews. But I view school as a community for my kids, one that includes other parents. I’d like to know the school has vetted them in some way.

[Anonymous]

We have had two parent interviews this year, and they were lovely conversation with the heads of admissions. Not once did we talk about ourselves, we were talking about the school community, what was important in s s hook for our child, and what else we could tell them about our child that may not have come across in their interview. We want to make sure that the school our child goes to is a fit for our whole family not just a means to a top college for our student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trying to understand why parents must also interview as part of school application process vs other schools require essays only or no interviews from parents? Trying to understand the logic.

[b]

OMG. Do you not understand? Everything EVERYTHING for private schools is about what the parents will give the schools in term sof the 3 Ts: Time Talent and Treasures. WHAT are you going to GIVE THEM! MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!! how do you not know this?

How would one convey that one would be charitable?
I asked if it was a bad thing to mention once and the responses all said it was a terrible thing to do.

[Anonymous]

If I have tons of applicants, and they are all great, I'm definitely going to pick families that have a good vibe. And you better believe they are also looking at your social media.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I personally thought the Maret/Sidwell parent interviews were extremely wierd for a high school student. I mean, it felt very much like our family was being vetted — what did we choose to wear? What did we choose to say? Did we say Harvard or “school in the NE”? For lower school, I get that you don’t have much else to go on, but for upper school, admissions seemed to be less about our kid and more about us. Which was the wrong vibe for me. We ended up at a school without parent interviews and that set the tone for our engagement with the school. Our child deals with our child’s schooling issues first and foremost. We have not had to step in. If we do, we expect that the child would’ve tried first. It’s actually not our high school experience but our child’s.

Does Maret have parent interview now? Less than 10 years ago it was the only school did not require it and I found it refreshing.

I felt being judged when we had the parent interviews in GD when our kids were toddlers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t choose a school that didn’t have parent interviews. But I view school as a community for my kids, one that includes other parents. I’d like to know the school has vetted them in some way.

Depends on the age. High school is different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I personally thought the Maret/Sidwell parent interviews were extremely wierd for a high school student. I mean, it felt very much like our family was being vetted — what did we choose to wear? What did we choose to say? Did we say Harvard or “school in the NE”? For lower school, I get that you don’t have much else to go on, but for upper school, admissions seemed to be less about our kid and more about us. Which was the wrong vibe for me. We ended up at a school without parent interviews and that set the tone for our engagement with the school. Our child deals with our child’s schooling issues first and foremost. We have not had to step in. If we do, we expect that the child would’ve tried first. It’s actually not our high school experience but our child’s.

This is how we feel. If a school requires a parent interview for HS it will be a sign that it’s a bad fit for us.

Went through the process for two kids. The parent interview is an opportunity for both sides to assess fit. Most of each of the interviews focused on the child, how the parents viewed the child, their goals for the child, etc., from the school's perspective (for triangulation, as others have mentioned). From our side, it allowed us to inquire about things that were important to us but which our child might not have the courage to ask or skill to evaluate (for example, the school's learning center). For a couple where there was a prior connection, more of the interview fell into the "shooting the shit" category. But even when our younger was applying to the school our older girl was then still attending, we wanted to do the interview (which the school told us would be optional) because the second kid was different than the first and we had different questions. I'd be more wary of a school that didn't take the opportunity to find out about the child through the parents' eyes or offer the opportunity for the parent to further explore what the school has to offer than one that encouraged or required it.

[Anonymous]

Even for HS, most schools have time where the admissions team would meet the parents at some point in the process whether it be in an interview, open house or tour.

At Potomac, they don't interview parents, but the admissions tours are led by admissions staff versus just students so they are meeting you there and at open houses, etc.