Boarding School Visits?

Squid3940 · August 2017

Hi all,

This is my first time posting here, and I got into the boarding school application process quite late. Sorry for the really stupid question, but is it required for me to do a tour of the school? I'm not sure whether or not this will fit into my schedule. Also, would it be possible for me to have an off-campus interview, but have a visit after the application process itself?
I'm applying to some of the GLADCHEMMS schools, by the way.
Thank you.

applejuice007 · August 2017

From my experience, the tours are around 30 minutes long. I found them helpful because you got to get the atmosphere of each school and interact with the students. For some of the schools, I think that you could visit independently, but others do stop offering tours at a certain point in time. I enjoyed the one-on-one tours that were offered by several schools. During the group tours, it was difficult to ask questions and they felt less personal. It's not required to do a tour by any means. I found them helpful at Choate and Deerfield... less so at Exeter and Andover, but it was cool to see the campus.

skieurope · August 2017

would it be possible for me to have an off-campus interview

Depends upon the school.

Generally tours and interviews are linked. i.e. one does the tour and then one has an interview. But it's school specific.

queenmother · August 2017

A lot of the schools will let you interview via skype.

CaliMex · August 2017

If you live within a 2-3 hour drive, schools could interpret your NOT visiting as a sign of lack of interest. But if you live overseas or across the country, they will understand that long-distance travel is harder to schedule and more expensive.

maribrazil · August 2017

I wasn't able to visit any schools because I am international. From the 7 schools I applied to, 5 (PA, PEA, Milton, Hotchkiss, Choate) didn'tt require any materials to be submitted prior to the Skype interview. The other 2 schools ( Cate and Groton) reviewed my application before granting the Skype interview. Usually, the school's website will tell what their procedure is.

lestouffer · August 2017

We live in Atlanta, which is quite far from most,if not all, of those schools. Despite the fact we were not applying to schools through the better chance program, we were still able to use their road show to interview. And go to their presentation. For the rest of the schools, either Skype or they sent individual representatives down. She did a lot of interviewing in hotel lobbies. We saw none of the schools.

maxsanden27 · August 2017

Hello Everyone.

I also have some questions to add to this thread. Would you recommend that I tour/interview later in the admissions process so that I am fresher in the minds of the admissions staff? And for an interview I know that you're not really supposed to prepare answers but would you recommend bringing in a few pre-written questions?
Thanks.

Atria · August 2017

Hi @maxsanden27 (welcome to CC by the way)
If you have additional questions you should, ideally, start a new thread. Adding different/new questions to an existing thread can be considered as 'hijacking' the OP's thread and deviating the discussion.

Looking at your questions, before you go about creating a new thread, I think you should browse through the CC archives. Many similar questions have been asked over the years. Then if you still have questions, feel free to start a new thread

.

maxsanden27 · August 2017

Thanks for the help @Atria !

Boarding School Visits?

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