My DD was asked how she felt about going to an all girls School and gave a thumbs down. Which is very strange since we've talked about it and she has told me she was fine with it. I think she was just feeling off... We'll see what happens!

I honestly don't think they mean very much.

For 9th grade last year:
My son really clicked with one interviewer (the conversation went for over an hour) and he didn't get in.
In another interview, the person asked "what was the last book you read in English class?" He blanked and said "I don't remember". It was a super competitive school and he got in for 9th.

I honestly cannot tell you what makes a bad interview vs. a good interview. We could hear all of our kid's interviews last year b/c they were on zoom. I thought that the first two interviews were absolute and complete disasters and that he hit it out of the park on the last one. (For example, asked what book DS liked to read and he said "audiobooks" even though he had a tome sitting next to him that he had been devouring.) He got into the first two schools and not the last one, and the last one was the least competitive of the three. I have no clue what makes a "good" interview. My DS was polite, asked 2-3 prepared questions, and responded like a deer in headlights to the questions. I think that the interviewers can see beyond what we see.

Bad topics—

-Complaining about your other private school
-Talking about your super advanced child without letting school evaluate and decide
-Admitting you didn’t pay tuition that was contracted
-Asking about % Ivy League Admittances. Admitting it’s the only thing you care about
-Complaining about annual fund and parent service at another school
-Describing how you’re litigating against a school
-Arguing with spouse and kid about a school

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any correlation between great interviews/student visits and acceptance? Or do I assume that interviewers are trained to be professional and congenial and not put any weight on that?

Thanks if you have BTDT and can weigh in!

Yes and any tips (apart from not acting crazy)? Any topics to avoid at all costs? What topics are safest?

Definitely avoid anything like "my son is gifted, can you support this kind of kid?" Or anything of the like. I've been on private school tours and there are always a few clueless parents who ask this while the rest of the crowd cringes.

Anonymous wrote:Any correlation between great interviews/student visits and acceptance? Or do I assume that interviewers are trained to be professional and congenial and not put any weight on that?

Thanks if you have BTDT and can weigh in!

Yes and any tips (apart from not acting crazy)? Any topics to avoid at all costs? What topics are safest?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you think the importance of these components is different for Pre-K/k applicants compared to 4th/7th/9th grade applicants?

No one is interviewing PK/K applicants. Or even 4th grade applicants. Pre-covid, I think playdates for the younger kids, where the school could see for itself how kids interacted with other kids and adults, probably mattered a great deal.

My PK kiddo applied last year and had either a virtual playdate (group) or one on evaluation/interview (virtual except for one) for every application last year. We applied to several expecting her to bomb a few. She was not engaged in any of the group playdates and was not offered a space. She was very engaged in the virtual one on ones and received offers or was waitlisted and encouraged to apply again. Anecdotal example, but I do think the interviews/one on ones factored into the decisions.

I’ve always assumed that for play dates that serve as the interviews for younger kids they’re mostly screening for the basics. Does the kid hit/shove/bite/snatch things from others/scream in class? Can they follow basic directions and school-type routines? If the answers are no and yes, it’s hard to believe that they’re going to successfully judge much beyond that.

Anonymous wrote:Do you think the importance of these components is different for Pre-K/k applicants compared to 4th/7th/9th grade applicants?

No one is interviewing PK/K applicants. Or even 4th grade applicants. Pre-covid, I think playdates for the younger kids, where the school could see for itself how kids interacted with other kids and adults, probably mattered a great deal.

Do you think the importance of these components is different for Pre-K/k applicants compared to 4th/7th/9th grade applicants?

Agree - a bad interview might keep you out if it exposes your family as crazy or antagonistic, but a great interview, by itself, is not going to get you in.

I always thought school interviews were to screen for difficult kids or parents. Once you’re deemed uncrazy it’s a minor boost.

My DC had good stats but I think it was the interview that really got him in. The interviewer could not stop talking about him during the parent portion of the interview. But I wouldn’t worry about it too much. How much weight it carries probably varies in each school.

Curious about this as well.

DD just blew one of her interviews after a string of great interviews... So I'm hoping there's not TOO much weight put on it... Interviewer was cold/stoic and DD just couldn't be herself.

Any correlation between great interviews/student visits and acceptance? Or do I assume that interviewers are trained to be professional and congenial and not put any weight on that?

Thanks if you have BTDT and can weigh in!