Students Reflect on Walls Interview Process

The rigor of Walls studentry begins not, as many believe, with the start of freshman year, but with the arduous admissions process, including a key interview.

As part of this process, many Walls students assist teachers in interviewing 8th grade candidates. For some, it’s an opportunity to give back to the community. Louisa Jensen (‘27) said that she enjoyed the process of interviewing potential Walls students because it was “cool to see all of these different kids who have…different hobbies and interests, but they all have one thing in common: that they wanted to come here.” 

Others, such as Abigail Dowd (‘26), were driven by the opportunity to meet the new entering class: “I…think it’s fun to meet all the 8th graders that are applying.”  

Despite its importance in admissions, the interview itself is brief, with only a few minutes devoted first to a student, then their parents. During each interview, the student is asked three questions, and are individually scored based on the quality of their responses. The interview is used to see how well each student can fully and thoughtfully answer the questions, similar to the essay portion of the admissions process.

While every Walls student goes through an interview process, the methodology has changed over time. Down describes the juniors’ experience applying during COVID, saying she “just had an online interview after school.” Dowd also noted that the essay was not part of the process in 2022. Yasmine Wright (‘28), who completed her interview in-person, said, “I think it would have been harder to connect with the interviewer and share about myself, but I think I would have been less nervous. So, I think the in-person [interview] was a lot better.”

Although the Walls interviewers interviewed many prospective students in one day, Jensen expressed that it was interesting to witness the motivation of each prospective student.  She also added that, “It was cool to see different people’s answers, and you could directly compare them.” Though the process of interviewing may be tiring, it can be a valuable and enriching experience for sophomores, juniors, and seniors to observe and participate in.