Does anyone mind sharing their ON-CAMPUS interview experiences before actually going into the actual interview (Examples: when you were in the waiting room, how you signed in, how long you waited, when the interviewer came to get you, were you taken into a separate room, etc.,)? Were your parents with you while interviewing or did they wait in the waiting room?
Please also mention the school where you had your on-campus interview, if you feel comfortable with it.
The reason why I am asking this is so that I can be prepared prior to visiting.
OK little swimmer, we visited 5 schools in 5 days back in October. I’m not going to tell you which ones, but the experiences were similar in all of them.
Arrive at the admissions office. There's a desk there for you to check in. It was always "manned" by someone who had a list of students they were expecting that day.
Take a seat in the waiting area and after a period of time (depending on how early we had arrived), student guides arrived. The longest we waited was maybe 15 minutes. The admissions admin person (who had checked us in) introduced us, and the student took us on the campus tour. For 3 of the 5 tours it was one student guide and our family only. For 1 tour it was 1 guide and two families (because other student guides were sick). For 1 tour it was 2 guides and our family only.
After the tour (which was about 1 hour) we returned to the admissions office and took a seat to wait for the interview. The student went back for a one-on-one interview first, and after about 30 minutes the student returns and the parents to back to the office for adult only discussion. For all of the schools where the swim coach met with our kid, the coach came when we (the adults) were back in the office with the admissions officer.
My husband's family has a legacy connection to two of the schools we visited. The AO made mention of it at his alma mater, and the alumni office sent someone over to speak with us at the school his father and grandmother had attended. That happened during our wait in the admissions office.
All of the admissions offices had plenty of seating, coffee, tea and water available, and restrooms nearby. Most had plenty of parking, but at a couple the parking was tight. Some had wifi access available for guests to use while waiting, but not all. It would be wise to bring a book or something to occupy your time while you are waiting for your parent(s) during their time with the admissions officer.
This all sounds similar to our experience a couple of years ago (except that we had no legacy connections). The only thing is that in some cases you do the tour and then the interview, but, in some cases, you do the interview first and then the tour. It depends on the time of your interview and when tour guides are available. You never have to wait long.
Wanted to add on some things:
At all three schools I toured at, it was a student tour guide with just me and my parent, tours first and then interview. At one school the interviewer requested that for the parent interview, I be there too.
I don’t know if this was assumed or not, but generally other kids interviewing are in the waiting room with you. Often if you don’t want to bring a book/forgot, there are student newspapers, sometimes yearbooks ex. that are imo fun to read to get a different look into the school.
It seems most interviews+tours go about the same way jmtabb described, except I assume it might be different if a meeting was arranged with a coach or something.
Interviewed on campus for two liberal arts schools. Basically you go in there and there’s someone sitting at a desk usually and you say “Hi I’m here for the interview” and they usually tell you to sit down and someone will be with you shortly. I wasn’t with my parent, she was walking around exploring the campus. I then turned off my phone and waited in the waiting room while going over some topic points in my head. Both times there were people who were also waiting and people coming out of different rooms. Like ten minutes after the appointment someone came up to me and we introduced ourselves, then I was taken to a small room and then after he came out to the front with me and we shook hands for one school and then for the other he kind of took me to a specific place on campus to show me something i was interested in. Dont worry, youll be fine!
They almost always approach you. And if they don’t, the person at the front desk will tell you that Mr./Mrs. Interviewer is ready for you and you go in.
