Hello,
We are touring some LACs, (S27) including Reed in OR next month. I am curious whether it makes sense to schedule an admissions interview at the same time as the tour? It’s an option on their request form. Is that too early if the kid is just getting a sense of the school?
Any drawback or benefit in doing the interview during the exploratory/list-building stage?
Thanks so much!
If it’s an option, then go ahead and schedule it while you’re on campus. Your kid might have questions or topics in mind after having had the tour. But it’s perfectly fine to wait till later (your kid might have better or more informed questions after seeing a few different schools), and many LACs don’t open up interviews for the next round of admissions until the summer or fall before the admissions cycle. Almost all offer options for remote interviews, and there’s no drawback to doing that.
IMO it really depends both on the kid (i.e. are they at ease interviewing, are they able to articulate why they want to attend this college, etc.), and how important you/they may feel that this college may fall in their overall list.
In some instances, it can be useful to do an interview or two at schools that might not be on the final list; it’s a way to practice, in a situation that’s low stakes.
Similarly, in the early days, visiting both 1-2 LACs as well as 1-2 Universities can be useful so that your student may have a real-life feel for the differences between the two.
So all that is to say: it depends!
If you think Reed may be at the top of their list when it comes to applying, being a little further along in composing their thoughts about their college application—how they’re going to shape their materials, and what they may be writing about in their essays—will likely be helpful in interviewing at their best.
If you’re just curious about Reed but it’s not really in serious consideration, your student might consider scheduling an interview to get their feet wet and have an idea about what it’s like.
In theory, later is better - but there’s a cost and time component.
Also, read about the interviews - some are informational and not evaluative.
In the end, you want to be prepped - it might be harder at a younger age but not impossible.
Good luck.
It looks like they aren’t part of the evaluation, but IMO it probably depends on what types of questions your son would have. If he has already spent a lot of time learning about their school, dug into their website and the many videos, and has questions that he wants to dive deep into that won’t likely be answered on a tour or info session, go for it. If he is probably wanting more basic info, I might suggest waiting. Spring junior year is prime time, but respectfully I wouldn’t waste a counselor’s time if he doesn’t have enough info for that kind of 1v1. YMMV.
There were a few schools (not LACs) that had admissions interviews when my D was applying and she did them when we visited.
Neither school was at the top of her list so it was good practice for the interviews that came later.
One of the schools I thought wouldn’t stay on her list but I think having the interview actually made them more appealing. She enjoyed talking to both interviewers and she did get some good tips for applying. Both schools ended up offering her merit (one with three stacking scholarships) and I wondered if that wasn’t because she took the time to interview.
I agree with others this depends on whether your kid feels comfortable at this point. I will just emphasize that I think that going in with an attitude something like, “I have read some good things about your school, but I am here to see if it is really going to be a good fit for me,” is actually perfect.
Like, you don’t need to go in trying to convince them you already know it is your dream school, and that you are already know you are their perfect candidate. It is actually much more “impressive” in its own way to show you are a thoughtful person with a realistic understanding of your relative strengths, but also areas where you could use some continued development, and to make it clear you are looking for a partner institution that will help you achieve your developmental goals.
In fact, my sense is people working in Admissions are typically excited about that idea themselves, that they will get to see the kids they enroll really grow and evolve and ultimately thrive at their institution. Of course there is also an implicit question in their mind about what you will bring to their community in return, but that is addressed in discussions of your strengths and current passions and such, and really just by showing you are a thoughtfully energetic sort of person.
This is all “hard” in the sense that some kids would really prefer it were like a test where they could just learn the right answers in advance. But once you sort of get into the spirit of this, it is also “easy” in the sense that you are the world’s leading expert on you, and so an honest discussion of yourself and your hopes for your college experience is really something you are already qualified to do. And as long as you put in some basic work to explain why you think their institution looks promising, you can then really take the attitude that they, as experts on their institution, are in a good position to further elaborate on why their institution is in fact a good fit for you.
As a final thought, on rare occasion an interview might end with the interviewer telling you that maybe their institution isn’t a good fit. Although that may sound like a bad outcome, it is actually extremely helpful information, particularly if you get that information well before you have invested a lot in applying. But I do think if you have done the upfront homework to find good schools to consider, that is indeed going to be quite rare.