Private school interview tips
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
| Our family is starting our interviews for private school admission next week. I’m feeling pretty nervous about it and am not sure what to expect. We have a daughter applying to the 6th grade (all academically rigorous schools). Her previous schooling has been all public. Please give us some tips for a successful interview (parents and kids) Thanks! |
Anonymous
| Talk to your kid about how to answer questions like, what don't you like about school and what about school is challenging. You don't want her to sound overly coached, but you also want her to give appropriate answers to the negative questions. |
Anonymous
| Be honest and be yourselves because first and foremost you should be looking for a good fit for your family. if you try and be something you're not, you will suffer long-term because it's not the right environment for your family. |
Anonymous
|
Don't be nervous. The questions are very easy for a child to understand. She'll be fine.
The best thing you can do is assure her once she is done that the outcome is not her fault or her responsibility, and that she is a great student no matter what the school decides. |
Anonymous
| is your daughter on board to make the switch? if not that is a challenge. PP has good advise - talk about how to answer possible questions (favorite class, why are you interested in this school ) have some questions that you and your DD will ask - I also suggest reviewing the website of the school as a family. Hopefully you can ask about a program, sports, academics that you read about on the website. If you have friends at the school or are in private school talk to them about their experiences Good Luck - remember, your family is also interviewing the school |
Anonymous
| Thank you all so much for your responses! |
Anonymous
|
My daughter interviewed for 6th a few years ago. For 6th, the admissions folks were all incredibly warm and friendly. They were just trying to get to know a little more about her (favorite classes, activities she enjoys outside school, etc). She did not get any of the hard questions that a student would get for HS admissions. You should probably have her practice saying what her favorite classes and activities are and why (kids like to answer the bare minimum so encourage her to explain the why even if she’s not specifically asked). Unique activities are great to mention as long as they are legit. She should also have an answer for why she’d want to switch schools—can be a very light answer—smaller classes, all girls, etc. Maybe prior to each different interview peek at the website and try to find something in particular that interested her about that school (club, elective, course, etc). Also come up with some questions for her to ask about the school (can be kid-friendly in her realm of interest—what electives or sports do they offer, do they have plays, how often is PE, do they get to do experiments in science, do they get to go on field trips (post covid). Coach her to keep the questions positive.
Separately it’s a good idea if you as parents have your answers somewhat aligned with hers in terms of her interests, and activities. Do not overstate that she has a passion for science if she’s going to say she love reading and language arts. Keep in mind during the parent and student interviews, they are just trying to get to know you better and the more you can leave them with a specific positive lasting memory the better. This is where unique activities can come into play—tons of kids play soccer and do well in school—try to think of something she or your family does that is slightly unique. Or make a common activity more specific (I love basketball—I play on a travel team, I play fantasy basketball—my favorite player is x, etc) Good luck! |
Anonymous
| If the school is looking for another "pea in the pod" make sure you are not sounding unique. If the school goes through HS and you can see that few if any students are accepted to Tier 1 colleges, make sure you and your kid sound more normal and average. You can research the admissions team name and they may publish their strategy at conference presentations or even a linkedin bio. |
Anonymous
This assumes that the admissions team is aligned with the school. That is not always the case. |
Anonymous
What does that mean?! |
Anonymous
|
Teach your kid to avoid saying like and you know and ummm...
If she has a phone, have her turn it off and give to you, or leave it at home completely. Have her come up with two semi-intelligent questions. Have a couple of those yourself. |
Anonymous
I had this experience applying to a private. Admin/board is in a different place from the admissions team. Meaning, you can get lots of ideas from admissions that your student is a good fit, but if the board or admin does not want your DC, you do not get offered admission. |
Anonymous
| Dress up |
Anonymous
I didn't think the board or admin had any say in admissions of most kids, do they? |
Anonymous
|
At our former school our head of outplacement/6th grade, who previously worked for one of the 7-12 private schools in admissions, gave all of us parents a list of 32 prospective questions they asked at said former school (which is the most competitive school in our area - no, not in DC/East Coast).
I emailed a word doc of the questions to DS, he wrote all of his own answers to each question, printed the list and studied it in the car to/from school for a few weeks before any of his interviews started up. He knew the answers well enough to respond to them with a thought out, real answer but not in a robotic, memorized way. This sounds intense now that I read this back but going through this exercise made him feel very confident walking into every interview. |