As independent schools seek ways to understand applicants beyond the traditional interview, experiential assessments offer a powerful alternative. This session examines how a collaboratively designed escape room can serve as a structured, equity-minded admissions assessment, revealing how students engage, persist, collaborate, communicate, and problem-solve in real time. Grounded in an implemented admissions escape room and a bias-aware observation rubric, the session highlights how hands-on problem-solving surfaces strengths often overlooked in traditional admissions processes. Participants will explore design principles, observation strategies, and practical considerations for adapting experiential assessments to their own school contexts. Learning Objectives: Understand how experiential assessments can generate meaningful, observable data about prospective applicants’ engagement, collaboration, persistence, and problem-solving beyond what traditional interviews reveal. Identify ways to integrate an escape-room-style experiential assessment into existing admissions interviews, enhancing rather than replacing current practices. Explore strategies for involving faculty and staff in the admissions process through structured observation, creating a more collaborative and professionally rewarding experience for teachers. Examine how bias-aware observation tools support more equitable evaluation, particularly for students whose strengths may not emerge in conventional interview settings. Begin designing or adapting an experiential assessment model aligned with their school’s mission, resources, and applicant age range.