Common DSA Questions Asked In Interviews

You helped your child applied for DSA (Direct School Admission) and you are jumping with joy when your child receives an invitation from the school to go for an interview.

Good interview performance plays an important role in clinching a place in the coveted school. Preparation is key to acing the interview.

First, read up on the desired school with your child so he or she knows what the school is about and how to answer the questions appropriately.

Second, coach your child to prep for the interview questions and how to answer them. The answers should be based on the child’s opinions so it sounds natural to the interviewer. You may want to check out “Success Strategies for Direct School Admissions (DSA)”, a book by Jackeline Carter. In this book, Jackeline has compiled over five years of research and experience coaching students through this often daunting process. The purpose of writing this book is to level the playing field for all students who are interested in studying in an Integrated Programme school, no matter their financial background.

In this post, I have also compiled some commonly asked DSA Questions for your reference:

Personal Interview Section

Students are asked to talk about themselves — share the following info: name, age, school currently attending, any hobbies, likes, dislikes etc.

• Tell me about yourself?
• In one sentence, introduce yourself.

Maturity and Reasoning

Questions to determine why you pick the “desired” school and demonstrate the reasoning skills — share reasons to support your points.

• Why do you want to come to our school?
• Why did you apply to our school / programme?
• Why do you wish to come to our school?
• What are the things you like about our school that other schools do not include?
• How many schools have you applied to and which school is your first choice?
• Did you apply to other schools?
• Are you applying to our school because it is a branded/ elite school?
• What is a good school?
• Why should we accept you among all the great candidates /applicants who apply?
• What are the problems of accepting students to a school based on their exam results?
• Tell us what you enjoy doing when you are NOT attending school

Tell Us About Your Ambition

Whatever ambition you have, state reasons why you chose it and what your plans are for the future.  For example: If your ambition is to be a scientist, give reasons why being a scientist attracts you so much and what innovations that you wish to bring to humankind.

• Who is the greatest influence in your life or who do you admire the most?
• What do you think about Steve Jobs and iPhone?
• Tell us about an event that is significant in your life?
• What is your goal for life?
• What are your strengths?
• What are your weaknesses? How do you overcome them?
• What is your favourite subject? Coach your child to support his/her answer with some reasons even though it sounds like a straight forward question.
• How do you think you can help the CCA achieve greater heights?
• Do you have any question about our school?
• What questions would you like to ask us?

The above questions were compiled from the following sources:

• https://dsasingapore.wordpress.com/
• https://agirlwhowishestoliveinafantasy.wordpress.com/2013/07/22/rgs-dsa-interview-2/
• http://full-time-mothers.blogspot.sg/2012/08/our-journey-of-dsa.html
• http://thinktankcentre.blogspot.sg/2012/07/direct-school-admission-dsa-interview.html
• http://smartification.net/how-to-handle-dsa-interview-questions/

On the DAY of Interview:

• Make sure your child is relaxed and well rested the night before the interview.
• Wake up with a clear mind when you head for the interview.
• Try to arrive early (30 minutes) BEFORE the interview begin so your child does not feel rushed.
• Last, but not least, encourage your child to believe in him/herself.

Good luck with your DSA application!

Let us know your thoughts on the process of DSA and if you have any tips to share with us. Help Us grow by sharing if this post was helpful to you. We will love to connect on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.