Walls vs Private- How Would You Compare

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure I'm buying the above, not here in the Information Age. These days, a really determined, super hard-working, bright kid from a middle-class family can learn a great deal from the Internet, on-line libraries, and enrichment camps during school breaks. I've done a lot of volunteer interviewing for my Ivy in the DC area in the last 20 years, interviewed many applicants from DC's most expensive private schools, WIS, Sidwell, Maret, NCS, St. Albans, GDS etc. Few of these applicants blew me away, or got stellar write-ups from me, but some of the applicants I've interviewed from Walls, BASIS, Wilson/JR and Latin did. When a kid is spoon fed excellent academics at a tony private from a young age, chances are good that said applicant is only so thoughtful, interesting and resourceful by senior year in HS. Hint: colleges admitting in the single digits in this country are seeking the intellectually entrepreneurial.

Real question - do you think perhaps, you might be biased towards public schools? We are considering switching from BASIS to private for various reasons.

Yes, no question that I'm biased toward public school applicants. But that's my prerogative as a public high school and Ivy League grad who interviews applicants to be of service to my alma mater.

When I attended my Ivy, in the late 80s, graduates of ordinary public schools (vs. Stuyvesant, Boston Latin etc.) on a great deal of fi aid like me were just starting to become a force on Ivy campuses. We were Pell Grant recipients, not legacies. Now we're in our 50s, and we get a little bit of say in who's admitted.

My particular Ivy seems to rely on interview reports in making admissions decisions to a greater extent than some of our sister schools. Of the roughly DC 150 applicants I've interviewed over a 25-year period, I can't think of an applicant who has been admitted after I urged admissions officers not to admit him or her in no uncertain terms. That said, I used to work at BASIS and do not send my children there. I don't care for their one-size fits all approach to education, their top down management, the way they hit parents up to finance teachers' bonuses, or their aversion to PTAs/PTOs and parental involvement in the school in general.

Being biased is not your prerogative as an Ivy League alumni interviewer. Worse, it is a violation of the rules and guidelines governing such interviews.

Shame on you.

-Long-time Ivy interviewer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure I'm buying the above, not here in the Information Age. These days, a really determined, super hard-working, bright kid from a middle-class family can learn a great deal from the Internet, on-line libraries, and enrichment camps during school breaks. I've done a lot of volunteer interviewing for my Ivy in the DC area in the last 20 years, interviewed many applicants from DC's most expensive private schools, WIS, Sidwell, Maret, NCS, St. Albans, GDS etc. Few of these applicants blew me away, or got stellar write-ups from me, but some of the applicants I've interviewed from Walls, BASIS, Wilson/JR and Latin did. When a kid is spoon fed excellent academics at a tony private from a young age, chances are good that said applicant is only so thoughtful, interesting and resourceful by senior year in HS. Hint: colleges admitting in the single digits in this country are seeking the intellectually entrepreneurial.

Real question - do you think perhaps, you might be biased towards public schools? We are considering switching from BASIS to private for various reasons.

Yes, no question that I'm biased toward public school applicants. But that's my prerogative as a public high school and Ivy League grad who interviews applicants to be of service to my alma mater.

When I attended my Ivy, in the late 80s, graduates of ordinary public schools (vs. Stuyvesant, Boston Latin etc.) on a great deal of fi aid like me were just starting to become a force on Ivy campuses. We were Pell Grant recipients, not legacies. Now we're in our 50s, and we get a little bit of say in who's admitted.

My particular Ivy seems to rely on interview reports in making admissions decisions to a greater extent than some of our sister schools. Of the roughly DC 150 applicants I've interviewed over a 25-year period, I can't think of an applicant who has been admitted after I urged admissions officers not to admit him or her in no uncertain terms. That said, I used to work at BASIS and do not send my children there. I don't care for their one-size fits all approach to education, their top down management, the way they hit parents up to finance teachers' bonuses, or their aversion to PTAs/PTOs and parental involvement in the school in general.

Being biased is not your prerogative as an Ivy League alumni interviewer. Worse, it is a violation of the rules and guidelines governing such interviews.

Shame on you.

-Long-time Ivy interviewer

NP. It is an interview. By definition the interviewer brings into the room all of their life experience and provides some sort of judgement on the interviewee. It is a subjective exercise. The interviewer is human which means they of course have their own biases into the room. The fact that you seem to think you are engaging in an objective exercise and that your assessment of candidates is fact or truth is frightening.

-Someone without an Ivy league degree who thinks you should take your sanctimonious garbage somewhere else

[Anonymous]

Ivy league grad here and I think this interviewer sucks. Similar to my boss who revels in giving crappy reviews to 9/10 kids he interviews "on principal."

Thankfully these schools don't put any stake in these interviews.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there is any credit due for this girl it is her parents and Basis.
Her mom when to Harvard and Harvard Law School. Her dad went to Oxford.
She attended Basis DC through 8th grade and started Algebra there as a 5th grader. She went on to Walls and took 1, max 2 math classes there and then took at least 5 college level math classes at GW, including vector calculus and linear algebra
Basically her STEM education was at Basis DC followed by George Washington University.

So she’s a legacy?

She’s a Harvard legacy. She’s not a Rhodes Scholar legacy.

Btw, I know students who are double Harvard legacies who were rejected. Legacy status (especially without deep pockets) may get your application a second look at Harvard. It doesn’t guarantee admission.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure I'm buying the above, not here in the Information Age. These days, a really determined, super hard-working, bright kid from a middle-class family can learn a great deal from the Internet, on-line libraries, and enrichment camps during school breaks. I've done a lot of volunteer interviewing for my Ivy in the DC area in the last 20 years, interviewed many applicants from DC's most expensive private schools, WIS, Sidwell, Maret, NCS, St. Albans, GDS etc. Few of these applicants blew me away, or got stellar write-ups from me, but some of the applicants I've interviewed from Walls, BASIS, Wilson/JR and Latin did. When a kid is spoon fed excellent academics at a tony private from a young age, chances are good that said applicant is only so thoughtful, interesting and resourceful by senior year in HS. Hint: colleges admitting in the single digits in this country are seeking the intellectually entrepreneurial.

Real question - do you think perhaps, you might be biased towards public schools? We are considering switching from BASIS to private for various reasons.

Yes, no question that I'm biased toward public school applicants. But that's my prerogative as a public high school and Ivy League grad who interviews applicants to be of service to my alma mater.

When I attended my Ivy, in the late 80s, graduates of ordinary public schools (vs. Stuyvesant, Boston Latin etc.) on a great deal of fi aid like me were just starting to become a force on Ivy campuses. We were Pell Grant recipients, not legacies. Now we're in our 50s, and we get a little bit of say in who's admitted.

My particular Ivy seems to rely on interview reports in making admissions decisions to a greater extent than some of our sister schools. Of the roughly DC 150 applicants I've interviewed over a 25-year period, I can't think of an applicant who has been admitted after I urged admissions officers not to admit him or her in no uncertain terms. That said, I used to work at BASIS and do not send my children there. I don't care for their one-size fits all approach to education, their top down management, the way they hit parents up to finance teachers' bonuses, or their aversion to PTAs/PTOs and parental involvement in the school in general.

Being biased is not your prerogative as an Ivy League alumni interviewer. Worse, it is a violation of the rules and guidelines governing such interviews.

Shame on you.

-Long-time Ivy interviewer

NP. It is an interview. By definition the interviewer brings into the room all of their life experience and provides some sort of judgement on the interviewee. It is a subjective exercise. The interviewer is human which means they of course have their own biases into the room. The fact that you seem to think you are engaging in an objective exercise and that your assessment of candidates is fact or truth is frightening.

-Someone without an Ivy league degree who thinks you should take your sanctimonious garbage somewhere else

Give me a break. We all have or biases in this world. Best to be honest about it.

Kids attending 40K DC privates just don't need a leg up in college admissions. I think it's great that the odd Ivy interviewer might give particularly able public school students the benefit of the doubt, plug for them a little. I wish there were more Ivy grads like that. A lot more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure I'm buying the above, not here in the Information Age. These days, a really determined, super hard-working, bright kid from a middle-class family can learn a great deal from the Internet, on-line libraries, and enrichment camps during school breaks. I've done a lot of volunteer interviewing for my Ivy in the DC area in the last 20 years, interviewed many applicants from DC's most expensive private schools, WIS, Sidwell, Maret, NCS, St. Albans, GDS etc. Few of these applicants blew me away, or got stellar write-ups from me, but some of the applicants I've interviewed from Walls, BASIS, Wilson/JR and Latin did. When a kid is spoon fed excellent academics at a tony private from a young age, chances are good that said applicant is only so thoughtful, interesting and resourceful by senior year in HS. Hint: colleges admitting in the single digits in this country are seeking the intellectually entrepreneurial.

Real question - do you think perhaps, you might be biased towards public schools? We are considering switching from BASIS to private for various reasons.

Yes, no question that I'm biased toward public school applicants. But that's my prerogative as a public high school and Ivy League grad who interviews applicants to be of service to my alma mater.

When I attended my Ivy, in the late 80s, graduates of ordinary public schools (vs. Stuyvesant, Boston Latin etc.) on a great deal of fi aid like me were just starting to become a force on Ivy campuses. We were Pell Grant recipients, not legacies. Now we're in our 50s, and we get a little bit of say in who's admitted.

My particular Ivy seems to rely on interview reports in making admissions decisions to a greater extent than some of our sister schools. Of the roughly DC 150 applicants I've interviewed over a 25-year period, I can't think of an applicant who has been admitted after I urged admissions officers not to admit him or her in no uncertain terms. That said, I used to work at BASIS and do not send my children there. I don't care for their one-size fits all approach to education, their top down management, the way they hit parents up to finance teachers' bonuses, or their aversion to PTAs/PTOs and parental involvement in the school in general.

Being biased is not your prerogative as an Ivy League alumni interviewer. Worse, it is a violation of the rules and guidelines governing such interviews.

Shame on you.

-Long-time Ivy interviewer

NP. It is an interview. By definition the interviewer brings into the room all of their life experience and provides some sort of judgement on the interviewee. It is a subjective exercise. The interviewer is human which means they of course have their own biases into the room. The fact that you seem to think you are engaging in an objective exercise and that your assessment of candidates is fact or truth is frightening.

-Someone without an Ivy league degree who thinks you should take your sanctimonious garbage somewhere else

Where colleges are admitting in the single digits the reality is that the odds of admissions success are awful for almost everybody.

One of the questions my own alma mater (a SLAC) asks on its application interview report a graduate submits is "Did you enjoy your conversation with the applicant." If the interviewer didn't enjoy the conversation, they're free to note that. Arrogant, entitled private school families take note.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ivy league grad here and I think this interviewer sucks. Similar to my boss who revels in giving crappy reviews to 9/10 kids he interviews "on principal."

Thankfully these schools don't put any stake in these interviews.

You're wrong. A decade back,I worked on an Ivy admissions committee for two years. We'd get over 2,000 applications from the DC Metro area with offers made to less than 200 of the applicants. In this age of rampant grade inflation where high school teachers, coaches, mentors, college counselors and other adults providing recommendations don't dare write "Johnny's a jerk," we appreciated frank assessments by alums on interview reports. Reports didn't always sway an admissions decision, but sometimes they did. No question.

[Anonymous]

Current parent of a Walls senior here. The best thing about Walls is the student cohort. I would expect private to be superior in many ways educationally, but my DC works best in a hardworking cohort and they have that at Walls and they really like the experience at Walls, even with all its warts. I cannot speak to the cohorts since they changed the admissions process and standards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure I'm buying the above, not here in the Information Age. These days, a really determined, super hard-working, bright kid from a middle-class family can learn a great deal from the Internet, on-line libraries, and enrichment camps during school breaks. I've done a lot of volunteer interviewing for my Ivy in the DC area in the last 20 years, interviewed many applicants from DC's most expensive private schools, WIS, Sidwell, Maret, NCS, St. Albans, GDS etc. Few of these applicants blew me away, or got stellar write-ups from me, but some of the applicants I've interviewed from Walls, BASIS, Wilson/JR and Latin did. When a kid is spoon fed excellent academics at a tony private from a young age, chances are good that said applicant is only so thoughtful, interesting and resourceful by senior year in HS. Hint: colleges admitting in the single digits in this country are seeking the intellectually entrepreneurial.

Real question - do you think perhaps, you might be biased towards public schools? We are considering switching from BASIS to private for various reasons.

Yes, no question that I'm biased toward public school applicants. But that's my prerogative as a public high school and Ivy League grad who interviews applicants to be of service to my alma mater.

When I attended my Ivy, in the late 80s, graduates of ordinary public schools (vs. Stuyvesant, Boston Latin etc.) on a great deal of fi aid like me were just starting to become a force on Ivy campuses. We were Pell Grant recipients, not legacies. Now we're in our 50s, and we get a little bit of say in who's admitted.

My particular Ivy seems to rely on interview reports in making admissions decisions to a greater extent than some of our sister schools. Of the roughly DC 150 applicants I've interviewed over a 25-year period, I can't think of an applicant who has been admitted after I urged admissions officers not to admit him or her in no uncertain terms. That said, I used to work at BASIS and do not send my children there. I don't care for their one-size fits all approach to education, their top down management, the way they hit parents up to finance teachers' bonuses, or their aversion to PTAs/PTOs and parental involvement in the school in general.

Being biased is not your prerogative as an Ivy League alumni interviewer. Worse, it is a violation of the rules and guidelines governing such interviews.

Shame on you.

-Long-time Ivy interviewer

NP. It is an interview. By definition the interviewer brings into the room all of their life experience and provides some sort of judgement on the interviewee. It is a subjective exercise. The interviewer is human which means they of course have their own biases into the room. The fact that you seem to think you are engaging in an objective exercise and that your assessment of candidates is fact or truth is frightening.

-Someone without an Ivy league degree who thinks you should take your sanctimonious garbage somewhere else

Since you have no knowledge of the process, keep your irrelevant views and biases to yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure I'm buying the above, not here in the Information Age. These days, a really determined, super hard-working, bright kid from a middle-class family can learn a great deal from the Internet, on-line libraries, and enrichment camps during school breaks. I've done a lot of volunteer interviewing for my Ivy in the DC area in the last 20 years, interviewed many applicants from DC's most expensive private schools, WIS, Sidwell, Maret, NCS, St. Albans, GDS etc. Few of these applicants blew me away, or got stellar write-ups from me, but some of the applicants I've interviewed from Walls, BASIS, Wilson/JR and Latin did. When a kid is spoon fed excellent academics at a tony private from a young age, chances are good that said applicant is only so thoughtful, interesting and resourceful by senior year in HS. Hint: colleges admitting in the single digits in this country are seeking the intellectually entrepreneurial.

Real question - do you think perhaps, you might be biased towards public schools? We are considering switching from BASIS to private for various reasons.

Yes, no question that I'm biased toward public school applicants. But that's my prerogative as a public high school and Ivy League grad who interviews applicants to be of service to my alma mater.

When I attended my Ivy, in the late 80s, graduates of ordinary public schools (vs. Stuyvesant, Boston Latin etc.) on a great deal of fi aid like me were just starting to become a force on Ivy campuses. We were Pell Grant recipients, not legacies. Now we're in our 50s, and we get a little bit of say in who's admitted.

My particular Ivy seems to rely on interview reports in making admissions decisions to a greater extent than some of our sister schools. Of the roughly DC 150 applicants I've interviewed over a 25-year period, I can't think of an applicant who has been admitted after I urged admissions officers not to admit him or her in no uncertain terms. That said, I used to work at BASIS and do not send my children there. I don't care for their one-size fits all approach to education, their top down management, the way they hit parents up to finance teachers' bonuses, or their aversion to PTAs/PTOs and parental involvement in the school in general.

Being biased is not your prerogative as an Ivy League alumni interviewer. Worse, it is a violation of the rules and guidelines governing such interviews.

Shame on you.

-Long-time Ivy interviewer

NP. It is an interview. By definition the interviewer brings into the room all of their life experience and provides some sort of judgement on the interviewee. It is a subjective exercise. The interviewer is human which means they of course have their own biases into the room. The fact that you seem to think you are engaging in an objective exercise and that your assessment of candidates is fact or truth is frightening.

-Someone without an Ivy league degree who thinks you should take your sanctimonious garbage somewhere else

LOL. You probably defend racists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure I'm buying the above, not here in the Information Age. These days, a really determined, super hard-working, bright kid from a middle-class family can learn a great deal from the Internet, on-line libraries, and enrichment camps during school breaks. I've done a lot of volunteer interviewing for my Ivy in the DC area in the last 20 years, interviewed many applicants from DC's most expensive private schools, WIS, Sidwell, Maret, NCS, St. Albans, GDS etc. Few of these applicants blew me away, or got stellar write-ups from me, but some of the applicants I've interviewed from Walls, BASIS, Wilson/JR and Latin did. When a kid is spoon fed excellent academics at a tony private from a young age, chances are good that said applicant is only so thoughtful, interesting and resourceful by senior year in HS. Hint: colleges admitting in the single digits in this country are seeking the intellectually entrepreneurial.

Real question - do you think perhaps, you might be biased towards public schools? We are considering switching from BASIS to private for various reasons.

Yes, no question that I'm biased toward public school applicants. But that's my prerogative as a public high school and Ivy League grad who interviews applicants to be of service to my alma mater.

When I attended my Ivy, in the late 80s, graduates of ordinary public schools (vs. Stuyvesant, Boston Latin etc.) on a great deal of fi aid like me were just starting to become a force on Ivy campuses. We were Pell Grant recipients, not legacies. Now we're in our 50s, and we get a little bit of say in who's admitted.

My particular Ivy seems to rely on interview reports in making admissions decisions to a greater extent than some of our sister schools. Of the roughly DC 150 applicants I've interviewed over a 25-year period, I can't think of an applicant who has been admitted after I urged admissions officers not to admit him or her in no uncertain terms. That said, I used to work at BASIS and do not send my children there. I don't care for their one-size fits all approach to education, their top down management, the way they hit parents up to finance teachers' bonuses, or their aversion to PTAs/PTOs and parental involvement in the school in general.

Being biased is not your prerogative as an Ivy League alumni interviewer. Worse, it is a violation of the rules and guidelines governing such interviews.

Shame on you.

-Long-time Ivy interviewer

NP. It is an interview. By definition the interviewer brings into the room all of their life experience and provides some sort of judgement on the interviewee. It is a subjective exercise. The interviewer is human which means they of course have their own biases into the room. The fact that you seem to think you are engaging in an objective exercise and that your assessment of candidates is fact or truth is frightening.

-Someone without an Ivy league degree who thinks you should take your sanctimonious garbage somewhere else

Since you have no knowledge of the process, keep your irrelevant views and biases to yourself.

Do you think the way the Ivey leagues do interviews is any different than how any other college does them? Or any other interview? Do you think Ivy grads are so special don' brig subjectivity into a room?

My brother-in-law used to work as a senior level admissions officer for an Ivy university in New Haven. He and his colleagues used to laugh at and about the alums who would volunteer to do interviews. These people were so thirsty to continue to be affiliated with the Ivy that they'd do almost anything. Grown adults who peaked at 18 and wanted every opportunity to let everyone they knew know they went to an Ivy. Sound familiar?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure I'm buying the above, not here in the Information Age. These days, a really determined, super hard-working, bright kid from a middle-class family can learn a great deal from the Internet, on-line libraries, and enrichment camps during school breaks. I've done a lot of volunteer interviewing for my Ivy in the DC area in the last 20 years, interviewed many applicants from DC's most expensive private schools, WIS, Sidwell, Maret, NCS, St. Albans, GDS etc. Few of these applicants blew me away, or got stellar write-ups from me, but some of the applicants I've interviewed from Walls, BASIS, Wilson/JR and Latin did. When a kid is spoon fed excellent academics at a tony private from a young age, chances are good that said applicant is only so thoughtful, interesting and resourceful by senior year in HS. Hint: colleges admitting in the single digits in this country are seeking the intellectually entrepreneurial.

Real question - do you think perhaps, you might be biased towards public schools? We are considering switching from BASIS to private for various reasons.

Yes, no question that I'm biased toward public school applicants. But that's my prerogative as a public high school and Ivy League grad who interviews applicants to be of service to my alma mater.

When I attended my Ivy, in the late 80s, graduates of ordinary public schools (vs. Stuyvesant, Boston Latin etc.) on a great deal of fi aid like me were just starting to become a force on Ivy campuses. We were Pell Grant recipients, not legacies. Now we're in our 50s, and we get a little bit of say in who's admitted.

My particular Ivy seems to rely on interview reports in making admissions decisions to a greater extent than some of our sister schools. Of the roughly DC 150 applicants I've interviewed over a 25-year period, I can't think of an applicant who has been admitted after I urged admissions officers not to admit him or her in no uncertain terms. That said, I used to work at BASIS and do not send my children there. I don't care for their one-size fits all approach to education, their top down management, the way they hit parents up to finance teachers' bonuses, or their aversion to PTAs/PTOs and parental involvement in the school in general.

Being biased is not your prerogative as an Ivy League alumni interviewer. Worse, it is a violation of the rules and guidelines governing such interviews.

Shame on you.

-Long-time Ivy interviewer

NP. It is an interview. By definition the interviewer brings into the room all of their life experience and provides some sort of judgement on the interviewee. It is a subjective exercise. The interviewer is human which means they of course have their own biases into the room. The fact that you seem to think you are engaging in an objective exercise and that your assessment of candidates is fact or truth is frightening.

-Someone without an Ivy league degree who thinks you should take your sanctimonious garbage somewhere else

LOL. You probably defend racists.

WUT! How'd you get from someone telling you that interviews are by their very nature subjective to defending racism?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure I'm buying the above, not here in the Information Age. These days, a really determined, super hard-working, bright kid from a middle-class family can learn a great deal from the Internet, on-line libraries, and enrichment camps during school breaks. I've done a lot of volunteer interviewing for my Ivy in the DC area in the last 20 years, interviewed many applicants from DC's most expensive private schools, WIS, Sidwell, Maret, NCS, St. Albans, GDS etc. Few of these applicants blew me away, or got stellar write-ups from me, but some of the applicants I've interviewed from Walls, BASIS, Wilson/JR and Latin did. When a kid is spoon fed excellent academics at a tony private from a young age, chances are good that said applicant is only so thoughtful, interesting and resourceful by senior year in HS. Hint: colleges admitting in the single digits in this country are seeking the intellectually entrepreneurial.

Real question - do you think perhaps, you might be biased towards public schools? We are considering switching from BASIS to private for various reasons.

Yes, no question that I'm biased toward public school applicants. But that's my prerogative as a public high school and Ivy League grad who interviews applicants to be of service to my alma mater.

When I attended my Ivy, in the late 80s, graduates of ordinary public schools (vs. Stuyvesant, Boston Latin etc.) on a great deal of fi aid like me were just starting to become a force on Ivy campuses. We were Pell Grant recipients, not legacies. Now we're in our 50s, and we get a little bit of say in who's admitted.

My particular Ivy seems to rely on interview reports in making admissions decisions to a greater extent than some of our sister schools. Of the roughly DC 150 applicants I've interviewed over a 25-year period, I can't think of an applicant who has been admitted after I urged admissions officers not to admit him or her in no uncertain terms. That said, I used to work at BASIS and do not send my children there. I don't care for their one-size fits all approach to education, their top down management, the way they hit parents up to finance teachers' bonuses, or their aversion to PTAs/PTOs and parental involvement in the school in general.

Being biased is not your prerogative as an Ivy League alumni interviewer. Worse, it is a violation of the rules and guidelines governing such interviews.

Shame on you.

-Long-time Ivy interviewer

+1000. You’re only agenda should be that of the admissions committee of the school. If you can’t interview without bringing your own agenda to it, then don’t do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure I'm buying the above, not here in the Information Age. These days, a really determined, super hard-working, bright kid from a middle-class family can learn a great deal from the Internet, on-line libraries, and enrichment camps during school breaks. I've done a lot of volunteer interviewing for my Ivy in the DC area in the last 20 years, interviewed many applicants from DC's most expensive private schools, WIS, Sidwell, Maret, NCS, St. Albans, GDS etc. Few of these applicants blew me away, or got stellar write-ups from me, but some of the applicants I've interviewed from Walls, BASIS, Wilson/JR and Latin did. When a kid is spoon fed excellent academics at a tony private from a young age, chances are good that said applicant is only so thoughtful, interesting and resourceful by senior year in HS. Hint: colleges admitting in the single digits in this country are seeking the intellectually entrepreneurial.

Real question - do you think perhaps, you might be biased towards public schools? We are considering switching from BASIS to private for various reasons.

Yes, no question that I'm biased toward public school applicants. But that's my prerogative as a public high school and Ivy League grad who interviews applicants to be of service to my alma mater.

When I attended my Ivy, in the late 80s, graduates of ordinary public schools (vs. Stuyvesant, Boston Latin etc.) on a great deal of fi aid like me were just starting to become a force on Ivy campuses. We were Pell Grant recipients, not legacies. Now we're in our 50s, and we get a little bit of say in who's admitted.

My particular Ivy seems to rely on interview reports in making admissions decisions to a greater extent than some of our sister schools. Of the roughly DC 150 applicants I've interviewed over a 25-year period, I can't think of an applicant who has been admitted after I urged admissions officers not to admit him or her in no uncertain terms. That said, I used to work at BASIS and do not send my children there. I don't care for their one-size fits all approach to education, their top down management, the way they hit parents up to finance teachers' bonuses, or their aversion to PTAs/PTOs and parental involvement in the school in general.

Being biased is not your prerogative as an Ivy League alumni interviewer. Worse, it is a violation of the rules and guidelines governing such interviews.

Shame on you.

-Long-time Ivy interviewer

+1000. You’re only agenda should be that of the admissions committee of the school. If you can’t interview without bringing your own agenda to it, then don’t do it.

There was a time when we used to teach people not to bring their biases into the room. We would laud people who said things like "I; don't see color" or "I don't have any biases." Then the last 2 decades or so happened and we realized that is an impossibility and we started to programs on implicit bias and bias awareness. Surprising how ignorant so many you you Ivy leaguers seem to be on such basic concepts. But hey, maybe an Ivy league degree makes you impervious to bias.

[Anonymous]

Universities track the reviews that interviewers give. If you are only recommending public school kids (or only recommending private school kids) then your reviews are disregarded. Nothing is done in a vacuum at these schools.
Plus at baseline these basically mean nothing for admissions. They are done as a service to alumni.

--former admissions staffer.