More On The Interview

More On The Interview… I wanted to offer a few more comments on the interview. While we have a diverse group of ECs (just like the MIT student body) and they may have somewhat different styles of how the conversations will go, the main point of these meetings is for us to learn about the things that interest you and the way you go about pursuing those interests. The interviews are also a good chance for you to learn more about MIT from someone whos been a student there. College admissions is all about the match and these conversations are a way for you and for us to learn about each other in that regard. To that end, there is no expectation that you should have to prepare anything special for the interview. You should be prepared to talk about the things that interest you and the way you pursue those interests, and think about why MIT would be a good place for you. But those are things that you should be doing for the application, anyway. The interview is simply a way for you to tell us in person. Some ECs may suggest you bring resumes, some might suggest that you bring something else of interest to your interview. This is not a requirement or an expectation â€" remember that most students dont have resumes or other things â€" but if you have something, feel free to bring it. Also remember that there are no right or wrong things to talk about in the interview. There is no one profile of student we are looking for â€" MIT students have extremely diverse interests â€" and we dont value one type of activity over another. You dont need to have pulled a child from a burning building or have solved any of the worlds major problems; nobody else has. Whatever it is that you like to do is great just as it is. You dont need to glitz it up or embellish in any way. You dont have to set yourself apart from your classmates (common advice you might hear from college counselors). If you love to play the violin, play the violin even if your many of your classmates do as well. You dont need to take up the crumhorn to look different. What the ECs are looking to learn about you is simply what it is that you enjoy doing, and how you have gone about doing those things. Remember that these meetings are supposed to be fun â€" after all, what could be more fun than talking about things that you love to do! More On The Interview… Please note that, as of August 2018, our process for assigning interviews has changed (though Stus observations on the demands of our interviewers remains accurate). A description of the current interview process is posted here.   The deadline to contact your EC has passed for early action applicants. But if you are an early action applicant who has not yet contacted your EC, you should still do so! Your EC will still conduct an interview with you, write a report, and submit it as part of your application. With the deadline having passed, we cannot guarantee that your interview will be considered at the beginning of the early action round but it will be reviewed and added to your application when we receive it. Remember that our alumni interviewers are volunteers and have jobs, families, and other commitments. They sometimes travel or are otherwise unavailable for brief periods, and this can happen unexpectedly. If you have been trying to connect with your EC for some time and have been unable to reach him or her, please write to [emailprotected] and tell us; we will assign you to another EC who is available. Some of you may live in areas where we dont have alumni (or enough alumni so that we can accommodate everyones request for an interview). In these cases, your interview may be waived. (You should know that we pull out students whose interviews have been waived from the admit-rate statistics for applicants with interview vs. applicants without interview.) If your interview has been waived, you do have another option. If you will be visiting campus sometime this fall or winter, you can interview with an alum in the Boston/Cambridge area. You should write to [emailprotected] and tell us that you will be coming to campus well assign you to an EC in the vicinity of MIT. Note that you dont need to make a special trip here; this is only if you are planning to visit anyway. You should only take advantage of this if your interview was initially waived; if we have an EC available for you near your home, its best for you to interview with them. If you havent yet contacted your EC whether you are applying early or regular you should do so soon! And have fun with it!