College Interviews

For us, the next step in this college search and application ordeal has been a return visit to Elsa's top choice schools to interview. We have elected to do as many as possible during the summer because next fall will be jam packed with club and varsity soccer (NYC girls will play in the fall now thanks to Title IX,) SAT II's, the ACT, overnight visits and college soccer games. Oh, and there are also the essays to write and applications to fill out, on top of homework!

Elsa's first interview was scheduled at Franklin and Marshall after our tour during our April college tour trip. Elsa interviewed with an admissions officer, which was great, but the interview conflicted with the information session, and as a result, I don't feel I know as much about the school as I would like. I may have to return on my own to attend an information session. Her second interviews were last week, at Wesleyan and Connecticut College, and both were conducted by senior student interviewers.



This past week, she interviewed at Haverford and Swarthmore. At Haverford, Elsa interviewed with a senior and at Swarthmore, a really cool adult admissions officer named Nick. So far, all of her interviews have consisted of really great conversations. They have not been hard or dreadful or challenging for Elsa at all. We like revisitng the campuses again. Whenever possible, we will stop by an visit the soccer coach again. So far, none have been available. Next week: Smith and Mount Holyoke...

Haverford

Elsa's spring college tour began April 4th with a visit to Haverford. We were invited to junior recruit day for women's soccer and field hockey players.

It was a wonderful day-long event which began at 10:15 with a presentation from an admissions director, Lydia, an economics professor, Ann Preston, and then a general "how to apply to college as an athlete" power point presented by Coaches Fink and Gluck. I immediately noticed how friendly and cheerful everyone at Haverford seemed. We most definitely felt welcome.

After the group presentation, the players divided by sport, and we followed Coach Gluck and her team to the gym to sit and talk in a panel style discussion. The mostly freshmen and sophomore soccer players introduced themselves and then Coach Gluck tossed out questions which they answered individually. It was funny because the coach asked most of our "better" questions herself and left us scrambling for additional questions for Elsa to ask during her personal interview with the coach later on.After the panel discussion, both groups went out on a campus tour, led by Emily. The campus is beautiful, but not huge. I love both the old and new stone buildings, the spacious lawns and the overall look of the school. We only saw one newer dorm and no classrooms, but we did see the one main dining hall on campus, complete with a cozy working fireplace. It's interesting that everyone on campus gathers in one place to eat. It's kind of communal.

After the tour, back at the athletic center, we chatted with some of the soccer players about all sorts of things. We had quite a while before Elsa's interview, so we decided to have lunch in Haverford and then take a drive around Bryn Mawr. In town, we saw lots of excited Villanova students all wearing V tee shirts and sweatshirts. We later realized that there was a huge final four game later that day. Bryn Mawr is also beautiful, but we didn't get much information as the admissions office was closed. I got a brochure and took a few photos.




We returned to Haverford and to the athletic center a bit early, which was lucky because Coach came looking for Elsa at 4:22, eight minutes early. They had a nice chat and Elsa felt very happy afterwards. Coach Gluck will be at both the MAPS tournament as well as the Columbia Invitational tournament in Maryland. Lucky! Not many coaches we've met will visit those showcases.

Elsa liked Haverford a lot and loves the coach and the team. For her, the idea of a female coach is very appealing and a new concept. Elsa's overall rating: 9. My rating: 10.