DC Selective High School Interviews

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our child was waitlist for Walls last year. If we could do it again we would have prepped him more for an interview - he'd never had one and he doesn't have much experience with public speaking.

We knew from waiting for our turn for the interview to start what they questions would be from friends who were there ahead of us.

If you search old threads you can find the interview and writing prompt questions from last year.

Wow. Cheated and still WL’ed.

[Anonymous]

Is it possible to do a Walls interview by video?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Banneker's interview dates are Feb 11 and 18 this year. (I'm current parent, we can see dates on the schedule.) As I recall we got notice not very far in advance of the interview. And it's a Wednesday during the day, and a parent is expected to attend.

We got 7 days notice last year for the Banneker interview.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:from last year, what questions were asked during the interview and what was the writing sample about?
having ours coming up wednesday in a week and really want to get into Banneker.
thanks

Last year the Banneker writing sample had 5 prompts and you could choose the one you wanted. I can't remember the interview questions but if you search there are many past threads where people shared theirs and we used those to prep when going through the process last year. They were very helpful.

My kid is a freshman and Banneker this year and very happy. It's definitly the right fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A couple years ago, Banneker emailed during first week of February to invite student to interview on date about a week and a half later. Walls emailed the day after Presidents' Day that student would be invited to interview either the upcoming Saturday or the one following. Didn't find out which date or the time until Thursday evening, then the interview was on Saturday morning.

Do families participate in the Walls Interview or just the kid? We have another kid event one of those Saturdays and am afraid of how to plan that.

Last year Walls interviewed the kid and the parents separately, back up back.

Back to back

Maybe this is a dumb question ... but why are we interviewing parents for high school?

The parent interview question is to tell them about your kid. So it's not like the interview is about you -- it's your chance to sell your kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it possible to do a Walls interview by video?

If you want to look like a douche you could?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A couple years ago, Banneker emailed during first week of February to invite student to interview on date about a week and a half later. Walls emailed the day after Presidents' Day that student would be invited to interview either the upcoming Saturday or the one following. Didn't find out which date or the time until Thursday evening, then the interview was on Saturday morning.

Do families participate in the Walls Interview or just the kid? We have another kid event one of those Saturdays and am afraid of how to plan that.

Last year Walls interviewed the kid and the parents separately, back up back.

Back to back

Maybe this is a dumb question ... but why are we interviewing parents for high school?

The parent interview question is to tell them about your kid. So it's not like the interview is about you -- it's your chance to sell your kid.

Oh I would not put it past DC parents to ask a dumb question like “do you differentiate in English class?” Lol.

[Anonymous]

The Banneker interview ended up being fairly emotional for our child as they were asked about the possibility of their best friend getting in and they not getting or vice versa. There was another conversation about internal pressure and motivation. A box of tissue was readily available.

Both kids did get accepted, and both are doing well.

[Anonymous]

Everyone gets into banneker. If your not accepted it because they didnt have enough space. I know people who had B’s and even C’s but still got in. They were also pretty badly behaved in middle school. And before you say anything, I have a child at banneker and another at walls and a third at JR.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:from last year, what questions were asked during the interview and what was the writing sample about?
having ours coming up wednesday in a week and really want to get into Banneker.
thanks

Re: the interview. I suggest asking a family friend or two to do a mock interview with your kid. Even if over zoom. My kid is shy and this prep helped immensely. Ask about academic goals, study habits, academic challenges and how they’ve overcome, what they’ll do when the going gets rough, college and career goals, things they do for fun, how they’ll try making friends, club interests, etc.

And like a job interview, have your kid practice asking questions of the interviewers. It will be a panel of 2-3 teachers and/or other admins. They may come across as intimidating and warn about how tough school is, ask how your kid handles competition, etc. Or they might be warm and fuzzy; no guarantee who you’ll get.

I’ll be honest — the interview completely turned me off the school and I thought my kid would feel the same way. But it fired him up; he absolutely loved their approach. And the school has been a great fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone gets into banneker. If your not accepted it because they didnt have enough space. I know people who had B’s and even C’s but still got in. They were also pretty badly behaved in middle school. And before you say anything, I have a child at banneker and another at walls and a third at JR.

This is absolutely not true. My son didn't get into Banneker. Many kids don't get into Banneker. Believe it or not, it's quite selective. Maybe they don't make the choices you would, but they choose and the majority of kids who apply don't get in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:from last year, what questions were asked during the interview and what was the writing sample about?
having ours coming up wednesday in a week and really want to get into Banneker.
thanks

Re: the interview. I suggest asking a family friend or two to do a mock interview with your kid. Even if over zoom. My kid is shy and this prep helped immensely. Ask about academic goals, study habits, academic challenges and how they’ve overcome, what they’ll do when the going gets rough, college and career goals, things they do for fun, how they’ll try making friends, club interests, etc.

And like a job interview, have your kid practice asking questions of the interviewers. It will be a panel of 2-3 teachers and/or other admins. They may come across as intimidating and warn about how tough school is, ask how your kid handles competition, etc. Or they might be warm and fuzzy; no guarantee who you’ll get.

I’ll be honest — the interview completely turned me off the school and I thought my kid would feel the same way. But it fired him up; he absolutely loved their approach. And the school has been a great fit.

Does anybody know how many people are in the interviews at McKinley and how it is structured? I have heard there are multiple students per interview, it is more a 'group' structure. Is that correct?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:from last year, what questions were asked during the interview and what was the writing sample about?
having ours coming up wednesday in a week and really want to get into Banneker.
thanks

Re: the interview. I suggest asking a family friend or two to do a mock interview with your kid. Even if over zoom. My kid is shy and this prep helped immensely. Ask about academic goals, study habits, academic challenges and how they’ve overcome, what they’ll do when the going gets rough, college and career goals, things they do for fun, how they’ll try making friends, club interests, etc.

And like a job interview, have your kid practice asking questions of the interviewers. It will be a panel of 2-3 teachers and/or other admins. They may come across as intimidating and warn about how tough school is, ask how your kid handles competition, etc. Or they might be warm and fuzzy; no guarantee who you’ll get.

I’ll be honest — the interview completely turned me off the school and I thought my kid would feel the same way. But it fired him up; he absolutely loved their approach. And the school has been a great fit.

Does anybody know how many people are in the interviews at McKinley and how it is structured? I have heard there are multiple students per interview, it is more a 'group' structure. Is that correct?

McKinley interviews are groups of applicants and a group of interviewers that includes at least one student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:from last year, what questions were asked during the interview and what was the writing sample about?
having ours coming up wednesday in a week and really want to get into Banneker.
thanks

Re: the interview. I suggest asking a family friend or two to do a mock interview with your kid. Even if over zoom. My kid is shy and this prep helped immensely. Ask about academic goals, study habits, academic challenges and how they’ve overcome, what they’ll do when the going gets rough, college and career goals, things they do for fun, how they’ll try making friends, club interests, etc.

And like a job interview, have your kid practice asking questions of the interviewers. It will be a panel of 2-3 teachers and/or other admins. They may come across as intimidating and warn about how tough school is, ask how your kid handles competition, etc. Or they might be warm and fuzzy; no guarantee who you’ll get.

I’ll be honest — the interview completely turned me off the school and I thought my kid would feel the same way. But it fired him up; he absolutely loved their approach. And the school has been a great fit.

Does anybody know how many people are in the interviews at McKinley and how it is structured? I have heard there are multiple students per interview, it is more a 'group' structure. Is that correct?

McKinley interviews are groups of applicants and a group of interviewers that includes at least one student.

Do they ask the kids questions one at a time, or is more a group discussion/dialogue type interview? I feel like I have seen group interviews handled well, and poorly...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:from last year, what questions were asked during the interview and what was the writing sample about?
having ours coming up wednesday in a week and really want to get into Banneker.
thanks

Re: the interview. I suggest asking a family friend or two to do a mock interview with your kid. Even if over zoom. My kid is shy and this prep helped immensely. Ask about academic goals, study habits, academic challenges and how they’ve overcome, what they’ll do when the going gets rough, college and career goals, things they do for fun, how they’ll try making friends, club interests, etc.

And like a job interview, have your kid practice asking questions of the interviewers. It will be a panel of 2-3 teachers and/or other admins. They may come across as intimidating and warn about how tough school is, ask how your kid handles competition, etc. Or they might be warm and fuzzy; no guarantee who you’ll get.

I’ll be honest — the interview completely turned me off the school and I thought my kid would feel the same way. But it fired him up; he absolutely loved their approach. And the school has been a great fit.

Does anybody know how many people are in the interviews at McKinley and how it is structured? I have heard there are multiple students per interview, it is more a 'group' structure. Is that correct?

McKinley interviews are groups of applicants and a group of interviewers that includes at least one student.

Do they ask the kids questions one at a time, or is more a group discussion/dialogue type interview? I feel like I have seen group interviews handled well, and poorly...

I'll ask my kid tonight and get back to you.