Steffen Timmer interviewed Giancarlo, a Notre Dame junior who went to St. Joseph’s High School.
Date: 3/4/2017
Type: User Interview
Location: Giancarlo’s dorm room in Fisher Hall
Team participants: Conducted interview alone
User Characteristics: Junior Notre Dame student, Aerospace Engineering Major
Male
Soccer Player
Father is a professor at Notre Dame
Went to St Joseph’s Grade School in South Bend for grades 1-6
Went to Trinity school for grades 7 & 8
Went to St. Joseph’s High School for grades 9-12
What is this person about – what drives him/her? Giancarlo wants to succeed in all academic pursuits while having a good time. He wants a good overall high school experience.
What is this person’s biggest point of pain? Having friends and extracurricular opportunities at a school are key. Did not want to be in an environment that was not an enjoyable time.
Memorable quotes from interview:
“I had friends going to St. Joseph’s High School”
“St. Joseph’s is generally the better high school to go to”
Top 3 Learnings:
- The only public school he considered was Adams because it was close to his house, had the IB program, and is known for placing kids in Ivy League schools.
- Family plays a big role in the decision. His parents preferred him to go to Catholic school and he had an older sibling who went to St. Joseph’s.
- Sports were a nice benefit at St. Joseph’s. While academics were the #1 reason for choosing St. Joseph’s High School, he played soccer and dove in high school and St. Joseph’s had strong teams and facilities for those sports.
Key Insight – (1) Clay does not have a good reputation for some locally. Giancarlo saw Clay as the 3rd best out of the 4 local public schools and did not consider Clay at all. (2) The IB program is not an end all advantage for Adams. Giancarlo saw academics as a very important reason for choosing high school, but was satisfied with the AP program offered by St. Joseph’s.