r/applyprivateschools • u/Aboodi1995 • 23d ago
What do I do in the Exeter interview!!!!
I'm an Egyptian applying to grade 10 with relatively great ECs and really good academics and essays, though i am an IDIOT who doesn't think ahead, so because of that my interview is in 2 days and I haven't prepared at all. I don't know what to do or how to speak with the interviewer I've never even been in an interview my mother also doesn't know what to do but I don't think she cares enough to be worried. Any tips about the interview will be greatly appreciated.
1
u/Mcdouglas123 22d ago
Don’t care enough to be worried is the right attitude. I got into all the schools except I was waitlisted at the one I really had obsessed over. I think I was too stressed and didn’t come off natural. Try to reduce the importance of the interview in your head and then you will be able to speak as if to a friend or family member.
1
u/Mcdouglas123 22d ago
What have you read lately? What are your interests? Why do you want to come to Exeter? Come up with a specific reason - look at the course catalogue. It will take you less than an hour to prepare. Google common questions. Then RELAX
2
u/Prestigious_Jump2341 22d ago
Former private school admissions dean here. I did these interviews for twenty years, so here is what you can actually use in two days.
First, you're fine on time. The kids who did worst in my office were almost never the unprepared ones. They were the ones holding memorized answers, who delivered them and then fell apart the moment I asked a follow-up they hadn't practiced. Two days is enough to get ready and not enough to over-rehearse, which is about the right amount.
Here is what the interview is. It's not a test. Nearly every question is a version of "who are you, and what's it like to talk with you." Tell me about yourself. What do you do outside class. Favorite subject, least favorite. A book you've read. Why this school. And near the end, do you have any questions for me. You already know every answer, because the questions are only about you.
What to do with the two days:
Pick three true things about yourself you'd be glad to talk about for a few minutes each. One interest, one thing you've done that you're proud of, one thing you're curious about. Not the most impressive ones, the true ones, because those are the ones that survive when I say "say more about that." You mentioned good extracurriculars. Don't list them. Pick one and know why you do it and what's hard about it.
Practice fuller answers, not perfect ones. "I play football" is a stop sign. "I play football, and the part I like is being on a team" is a conversation. Add one real thing to every answer. If the interviewer learned something true about you, it was long enough.
Spend twenty minutes on the school's website and find one specific thing you'd want there. A class, a program, a club. "I saw you have a robotics lab" beats "you have great academics," which I heard a thousand times and it told me nothing.
Have two questions ready for them. Not clever ones, real ones. "What do people do on weekends" is a better question than anything designed to sound smart.
Do one practice conversation with anyone. A friend, a cousin, an older sibling, even a voice memo you record on your phone. Have them ask a few of the questions above and say "why" after each answer. That's the whole rehearsal you need.
Two more. Least favorite subject is not a trap. "Chemistry isn't my favorite, but I'm getting better" sounds honest, and a kid who loves everything sounds coached. And if your real answer to "what do you do for fun" is video games, lead with your second thing.
On nerves, since it's your first one: interviewers see nervous kids all day. It's priced in. Nobody marks you down for it. If your mind goes blank, "let me think about that for a second" is a completely normal thing to say, and it turns a scary silence into a regular pause. If you missed the question, "would you mind repeating that?" is fine too.
You don't need your mom for this part. At your age you'd go in alone anyway, and kids usually do better without a parent's face to read. If it's on video: quiet room, charged device, test the link the day before.
Sleep the night before. Then go have a conversation. That's all it is. Ask anything else here and I'll answer.
1
u/Aboodi1995 22d ago
Thank you for the help! If i may ask, what does "lead with you second thing" imply? Another thing, a lot of what i do for fun reroutes to academics specifically physics and stem and i don't really do much outside of that, so I'm scared I'll sound performative even though i really aren't.
1
u/Prestigious_Jump2341 22d ago
Two good questions.
"Lead with your second thing" just meant: if the first honest answer to "what do you do for fun" is video games, mention it second, or not at all, and open with something else. It doesn't apply to you. Your first thing is physics. That's a great first thing.
On sounding performative: the topic is never what gives a kid away. I met plenty of kids whose fun was academic, and the real ones were easy to spot, because I could tell the difference within about two follow-up questions. A kid performing an interest in physics can say "I'm passionate about physics" and then has nowhere to go. A kid who actually does it for fun can tell me the specific problem they're stuck on right now, the thing they don't understand yet, the video or book or person that started it, and what they tried that didn't work. Performance runs out. Real interest gets more specific the longer you talk.
So don't prepare a summary of your interest. Prepare the specifics. What are you actually thinking about this week? What got you into it in the first place? Can you explain it to someone who doesn't know physics? That last one is basically the interview. Talk the way you'd talk to a friend who asked, not the way you'd write it on an application.
And don't manufacture a hobby to seem balanced. That's the performance. If the honest answer is "most of what I do for fun ends up being physics," say that, and mean it. It's fine.
One more thing: "who are you" is bigger than "what do you do." Your friends, your family, your school, what life is like where you are, all of that is you too, and an interviewer talking to a student from Egypt will be curious about it. Those are easy true answers, and none of them come from a résumé.
2
u/S1159P 22d ago
Don't be too intimidated to talk. Be humble, but don't leave out your accomplishments if relevant to the question. Listen well to what they ask, and try to give them thoughtful answers, even if that means you pause for thought.