Interview Experiences – GLADCHEMMS 2015-16

Prep School Admissions
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While it is still relatively fresh, I thought I would share DC’s interview experiences in the hopes it is helpful to others. DC applied to several schools, mostly GLADCHEMMS.

  1. Timing. There are those who say interviewing in summer gives you more time with AOs. That may be true, but our DC was too busy to do that. DC also did not want to miss any school during the first marking period, and wanted to interview in person. As a result, all interviews were in Dec. and Jan. This worked for us.
  2. Preparation. Some people on this site caution against interview prep, and warn that AOs dislike rehearsed candidates. I think a “rehearsed” candidate is one who prepped badly. No one should memorize answers (or questions) and no one should spout off inauthentic replies in the Queen’s English. But it is helpful if questions aren't coming totally out of the blue for you.

What did we do to prep?

  • looked up lists of likely questions and thought through answers
  • role-played interviewer and interviewee
  • developed a target list of things DC wanted to get across about themselves
  • researched the school’s motto
  • read school’s newspaper
  • developed a few questions for each school
  • had a page of bullet point notes to refresh before each interview
  • practiced style; the best answers are “stories”, not lists or sentences

What didn’t we do

  •   give "parent" answers
  • write out answers to questions
  • get out a thesaurus to make answers fancier
  • memorize anything
  1. The Experience. DC says interviewers were very pleasant and easy, mostly conversational. There were no trick questions. In fact many of the questions were pretty standard from place to place. DC was actually a little disappointed and wished the interviews were more challenging as DC though that might have weeded some applicants out.
  2. The questions. Here are some of the questions DC came across a. Almost all of them asked some variant of “Tell me about yourself”. Having a few bullet points (not sentences!) in your head is handy for this. b. Almost all asked “Why Hogwarts”. Again, having done research and having a few bullet points in your head helps. c. Several asked “Why boarding?” d. Favorite subjects and why. e. How do you like to spend your free time? Variant – what are you doing this weekend or what did you do last weekend. f. How do your teachers/friends/family describe you? g. What are your grades? h. How did you do on your SSATs? i. What schools are you applying to j. Tell me about your family k. What makes a perfect teacher l. How do you define success m. What are your hobbies/Sports/volunteer work/ n. Do you play an instrument
  3. Reading the “tea leaves”. DC says they have never heard a kid say they had a bad interview, and most leave thinking they did great. The interviewers try to put kids at ease and are friendly. Cynically, their motivation is to receive as many applications as possible, so that their acceptance rate stays low, a badge of prestige. So they will probably spend some time selling you, they will talk as if you are going there, they will introduce you to students or coaches or teachers that share your interests, etc. They will follow up with notes. All of that is marketing mode, and it does not have any particular meaning. I don’t think that the length of interviews matter, and if it is busy, that will be closely proscribed anyway.
  4. Miscellaneous. Wear the dress code, at a minimum. I would suggest dressing up a bit more than that, but I would not want to look totally cookie cutter either. If you wanted, I see no reason why you could not bring a notebook and pencil in, to jot down things, or even for your questions. DC did not. Don’t forget to smile. Be honest and open, it makes things more interesting. They don't expect you to be flawless and they know you are a kid.
  5. Parent interviews. The questions are pretty general, but boil down to what you think of your kid and why BS. One AO made the point that parents know their kids the best, and your words become part of the record for that kid. Definitely prepare good questions.
  6. Follow up with thank you notes to the AO, tour guides, and or coaches if applicable. I can see arguments both for paper and electronic, probably makes no difference.
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Excellent post, @6teenSearch!

I think its worth reiterating the point of having at least 3 solid questions to ask, questions which can’t be answered by looking at the website.

If the applicant is more introverted and very uncomfortable about the idea of interviewing, a mock interview with a family friend can be helpful. I did that for a friend’s son who did not do well the first go around. I also gave him a list of potential interview questions for him to think about. He wasn’t scripted in terms of answers but it took a little of the anxiety away for him. The next year, he had great success.

In the tour, encourage the applicant to be up with the tour guide as opposed to mom and dad and encourage the applicant to ask questions of the tour guide as well.

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That’s a good point about the tour, DosChicos. I would take it a step further. When we arrived for interviews or tours, DC walked in to reception first and we walked a bit behind. DC introduced us, not the other way around. We tagged behind on the tours too, allowing the kids to converse.

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@6teenSearch What a great list of ideas and prompts. What did you or your child say when asked about how many or what other schools your child is applying to?

Also, do you have any insight on the parent interview portion?

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Xystus, We answered honestly. DC’s school placement office also asks each kid to hand in their list of schools to which they are applying in ranked order. I suppose if a school is worried about yields, the placement office can then offer insight.

I mention the parent portion briefly above. The norm is that the parent goes in right after the AO is done talking to the kid. Most of the time, the AO picsk up from the conversation they just had with your kid, and at that time you might elaborate on what was discussed. I think you want to have a few points in mind that you hope to make about your child, if you can find a way to weave them in. You also have to have thoughtful questions, hopefully specific to the school. That takes a little homework, or may come from something you observe on the tour.

Some of the parent interviews seemed almost entirely designed to sell the school to us. Some of them seemed more focused on learning about our kid through us, and some were a combination of both.