I touch lightly on how my daughter approached this in our main interview preparation article. In this article, I will outline the guidance I gave my daughter to help her prepare. This article is organized into five short sections: (1) why students should ask questions; (2) what makes a 'good' question; (3) what students should avoid asking; (4) a simple framework to craft questions; (5) topics that work well.
To be clear, I will not post my daughter's questions; this is an important exercise for students to go through themselves, as it's a good forcing mechanism for students to think intentionally about what they wish to get out of their experience at each boarding school.
Why Students Should Ask Questions
Schools want to admit students who will fully participate in community life—academically, socially, and interpersonally. When a student asks thoughtful questions, it signals:
- Interest:they (students) are not applying on autopilot or because their parents want this for them
- Curiosity:they want to understand how they might fit in
- Self-awareness:they know what matters to them
- Engagement:they are actively imagining themselves at the school
A student who does not have any questions at the end is not likely to get penalized; but the interview—as a whole, may end up feeling flat.
What Makes a 'Good' Question
Most all questions are good questions—and especially good when they are: specific, personal, and aligned with the student's real life interests. For example:
- 'I [read about / saw during the tour] the robotics lab. Are students able to use the lab independently to build their own projects?'
- 'I am really into creative writing; beyond the courses I've seen in the curriculum, do students have opportunities to go deeper—like through retreats or selective seminars or independent studies?'
- 'The opportunities to travel globally are super exciting; please tell me a bit more—such as if the school goes to the same or new countries each year, the sizes of each group, the most popular destinations or missions.'
- 'Sports, music, and art are all important to me; do a lot of students consistently do all three throughout the year, and how do they balance workload?'
These questions are not fancy. They're rooted in genuine curiosity. And if the Admissions Officer does not know about a specific topic, they will likely offer to find a department/person to which you may redirect the question.
What Students Should Avoid Asking
As noted above, all questions are generally good questions ... caveated with (in my opinion), the following:
- Questions with answers easily found online (e.g., do you offer AP classes, or how many students are there in each grade)
- Questions about admissions strategy (e.g., are any parts of the application weighted more heavily than others)
- Questions about sensitive topics, such as: controversial events or discipline policies (if you or your child are curious about anything sensitive, these are the types of topics / questions that are best saved for parent conversations with Admissions Officers)
- Questions that make the student look uninterested (e.g., how is the food)
I'd like to make sure that these example questions are *not* taken at face value as 'bad' questions. I tried making this nuanced point to my daughter: the quality of a question is largely determined by intent and framing / positioning.
The examples above are not inherently bad topics to broach. For example:
- About AP classes: while asked in a simple 'yes / no' format that could easily be learned by oneself online, maybe the student actually wants to ask about how deeply a student can go into certain topics. A better question about APs would be: 'in addition to AP-level courses, what classes or options do students have to go extra deep into certain topics that they may be really passionate about?'
- About how many students there are: perhaps the student is looking to clarify whether *all* vs. certain topics / classrooms tend to have those small teacher to student ratios; for example, are introductory science or social studies classes larger?
- About food: perhaps the student has stringent dietary concerns, and is keen to understand how those are handled at the school.
The point is: good questions are rooted in real curiosity; and bad ones tend to be lazy and/or asked for the sake of asking.
A Simple Framework To Craft Questions
When students get nervous or overwhelmed, it helps to give them structure:
- Look up something that interests you, such as an academic department, club, dorm, sport, community events, global programming; it does *not* need to be school specific
- Name the thing to show you've done your research (this can be school-specific, if applicable / possible)
- Ask an opinion of the Admissions Officer, about the experience, but through a student's point of view
- For example: 'I read about the Harkness system. What do students say is the most challenging or rewarding part of this learning philosophy?'
This format can be helpful especially for students who are shy.
Topics That Work Well
These are categories that are easy to talk about and have a wealth of content to draw from:
- Academic pathways (e.g., humanities vs. STEM; core vs. electives; interdisciplinary programs)
- Independent research opportunities
- Dorm culture and community traditions
- Clubs, affinity spaces
- Student leadership opportunities / roles
- Advising and other student support systems
- Specific arts or athletic programs
- The new student experience