Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:yes, polo shirt and khakis are just fine for a visit. The school probably will tell you want is appropriate anyway -- depending on the activities/weather/program, etc.

It really depends on the school. Polo and khakis at GDS, for example, will clearly mark you as an applicant/outsider, where tshirts rule the day. Tshirts at Beauvoir, however, probably gets an x next to your DC's name. No shirts at Burke probably gets you auto admitted!

This is absolute nonsense. First of all, no school that purports to celebrate "diversity" should be labelling anyone as an "outsider" based on something as superficial as what clothes their mother had clean for them on a given morning in November when they went to GDS for their school visit.. If they do judge someone based on a polo shirt, then that puts the lie to all the claims they make about tolerance, differences and diversity.

Secondly, DC went to Beauvoir for 5 years and wore T-shirts and jeans ( many times with holes in one knee or both) nearly everyday, and his reports were glowing with no trace of an "X" anywhere near him for the fact that his Mom liked mini boden, and tea. Maybe three times a year DC wore a blazer and dress shoes for Thanksgiving chapel of graduation or something like that. That does not constiture a big deal or a "cultural shift". Its called you are inside a cathedral, dress nice. period. Similarly, I would not send my DC to a Bar Mtzfa in jeans and a T-shirt as that would be dissrepectful to the family, their religious community, and the other gathered guests.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:yes, polo shirt and khakis are just fine for a visit. The school probably will tell you want is appropriate anyway -- depending on the activities/weather/program, etc.

It really depends on the school. Polo and khakis at GDS, for example, will clearly mark you as an applicant/outsider, where tshirts rule the day. Tshirts at Beauvoir, however, probably gets an x next to your DC's name. No shirts at Burke probably gets you auto admitted!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From what I have seen - yes- it matters at certain schools - and usually the whole family is attractive, athletic and dresses well.........

Looks count, of course. But for those who are not the best looking, they can fall back on "looks the part, professional and well dressed" and "talks the talk" or "speaks the language" Great car helps also. In our school, the power moms all look the same -- like they should be in a catalog -- Very few who are not attractive.

Of the selective schools where DC interviewed, only at Maret, I think, was there some risk the AD would look out her window and see our family getting out of our crappy car. We would never have qualified for FA, so they might have concluded we'd be hopeless at the auction or annual fund, and they would have been right. At the other K-12 schools, our car was hidden in the garage or off-street parking. DC got into a Big 3 which didn't get to peek at our car. You can call me nuts, and sometimes I wonder, but mostly I'm joking about this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From what I have seen - yes- it matters at certain schools - and usually the whole family is attractive, athletic and dresses well.........

Looks count, of course. But for those who are not the best looking, they can fall back on "looks the part, professional and well dressed" and "talks the talk" or "speaks the language" Great car helps also. In our school, the power moms all look the same -- like they should be in a catalog -- Very few who are not attractive.

Of the selective schools where DC interviewed, only at Maret, I think, was there some risk the AD would look out her window and see our family getting out of our crappy car. We would never have qualified for FA, so they might have concluded we'd be hopeless at the auction or annual fund, and they would have been right. At the other K-12 schools, our car was hidden in the garage or off-street parking. DC got into a Big 3 which didn't get to peek at our car. You can call me nuts, and sometimes I wonder, but mostly I'm joking about this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From what I have seen - yes- it matters at certain schools - and usually the whole family is attractive, athletic and dresses well.........

Looks count, of course. But for those who are not the best looking, they can fall back on "looks the part, professional and well dressed" and "talks the talk" or "speaks the language" Great car helps also. In our school, the power moms all look the same -- like they should be in a catalog -- Very few who are not attractive.

Anonymous wrote:If the school has a dress code, follow it. Example: If shirts without collars are not allowed...don't put DC in one on tour day. If nail polish is not allowed, don't have her wear it. If hair cuts must be neat, don't send your kid looking like Bieber circa 2010.

Anonymous wrote:We shouldn't have brought the chips to the interview? But my DC offered them, all orange and sticky, to the admin director. We got in--we are very dark. Do not need to be light to shine

Anonymous wrote:From what I have seen - yes- it matters at certain schools - and usually the whole family is attractive, athletic and dresses well.........

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:yes, polo shirt and khakis are just fine for a visit. The school probably will tell you want is appropriate anyway -- depending on the activities/weather/program, etc.

It really depends on the school. Polo and khakis at GDS, for example, will clearly mark you as an applicant/outsider, where tshirts rule the day. Tshirts at Beauvoir, however, probably gets an x next to your DC's name. No shirts at Burke probably gets you auto admitted!

Anonymous wrote:yes, polo shirt and khakis are just fine for a visit. The school probably will tell you want is appropriate anyway -- depending on the activities/weather/program, etc.