From Jennifer Hines
The Private School Interview: A Former Dean's Complete Guide
A private school interview is a guided conversation, not a test, and preparing a child for it, especially a quiet one, is smaller and calmer work than most families believe. I spent twenty years as a Dean of Admission reading kids across that table. This guide is everything I know about the process, organized so you can start where your worry lives: what actually happens in the room, how to prepare a reserved kid without over-coaching, what the questions really ask, your own side of the day, and the special situations: boarding school, Zoom, the youngest applicants. Nothing here requires your child to become someone else. The whole approach fits in one sentence: same child, less distorted.
The five parts of this guide
The Interview, Explained
What happens in the room: the formats, the timing, and what interviewers actually evaluate.
Quiet / Shy / Introverted
The complete approach for reserved kids: what actually goes wrong, the fixes that work, and when to stop. Start here.
Questions, Decoded
The questions your child will actually hear, and what each one is really asking.
The Parent’s Side
The parent interview, your role in the prep, and interview day itself.
Special Situations
Boarding school, Zoom interviews, the youngest applicants, and the hard cases.