<p>Ok, I’m really panicking.</p>
<p>My EC still hasn’t got back to me! I even contacted MIT and they haven’t replied either (maybe it’s coz i’m in china or something). Is there anything else I can do?</p>
<p>When did you first contact your EC? Also, the admissions office is closed until the 4th of January.</p>
<p>First Contact - Dec 1st. he replied then disappeared after dec 8th. i gave him some time like MIT told me to. by dec 18, desperate, emailed him and mit. no reply</p>
<p>Is there some kind of emergency contact?</p>
<p>Do you not have his phone number? He’s probably out of the country or otherwise busy. They don’t have to file their report until January 6th.</p>
<p>“When did you first contact your EC? Also, the admissions office is closed until the 4th of January”</p>
<p>And that would explain why neither of my rec letters show up as being received.</p>
<p>Yeah. They always post a blog when they’ve finished processing all of their mail. If you don’t have something up on MyMIT tracker by then, you can fax it to them and they’ll add it. They aren’t punitive if something doesn’t get in for whatever reason.</p>
<p>Confused92, it can happen, albeit rarely. This year in my region I had one EC in hospital in December, another on her honeymoon, one sent to the middle-east for work unexpectedly. Given that you had made contact with your EC, you may well get an interview yet. MIT is usually fairly understanding in these cases.</p>
<p>I certainly hope so. The stats for interview vs no interview are pretty scary</p>
<p>my interviewer didnt ask me A LOT about myself… just saw my ECs and asked me a bit about my community service activities and something about the ECs… he talked a lot about research at MIT when i told him im interested in researching and a bit about educational system of different countries and the atmosphere at Boston… im really worried though cuz he didnt ask me a lot about my hobbies,etc. unlike others ive seen here and i dont know if it was a very good interview but it definitely wasnt very bad…but my interest in MIT did go up a lot (though it was already very high) after talking to him</p>
<p>I just had my interview a couple of days ago and after the initial question of “What do you do in your spare time?”, we ended up just talking about all sorts of science stuff. We talked about breakthrough in modern physics and both loved the same topics and scientists! He then asked me what were the most satisfying things I experience and I said the “ah-ha!” moment after hours without progress on a problem. He says that he’s an avid puzzle guy and that the community at MIT is really similar in the fact that they enjoy solving problems without the aid of cheat sheets and things like that. We then talk about different games and the value of strategy as he makes various recommendations to me as to books I should read, magazines I should read, and games I should play. He was a really interesting guy and the experience I had was much less stressful than I thought it would be. He said that I’d be a good fit for MIT from what he saw of me. He says that so long as my essays convey the same thing, I’d be a good fit to which I respond that it’s really difficult to convey an entire person in 1000 words. He agrees and walks me through some anecdotes he had about deadlines and constantly cutting down his work until it was basically garbage. We share a laugh or two and end the interview there. It was about an hour’s worth of conversation.</p>
<p>I felt like it was a good interview, but it only accounts for so much in the entire scope of things. I really hope that my teacher recommendations and my essays will complement his evaluation. >_<</p>
<p>^ Nice, you had a very interesting EC I suppose. 
So are all ECs like that?</p>
<p>My interview went horrible…horrible…horrible… T_T I feel like I’ve made a bad impression…
The dude barely smiled
If the EC asked me what 1+1 is…I think I’d say…1 (excluding the fact that my teacher said 1+1=1 from reading a book)</p>
<p>Well, for people who are being interviewed next year and are lurking these forums advice. I’ll try to share some tips, even though I phail.</p>
<ol>
<li>Wikipedia Google that bad boy (MIT).</li>
<li>Relax…sing songs before the interview.</li>
<li>Arrive early at the interview location. Get used to it and pick a nice seat where you can have an audible chat. </li>
<li>Always ask the EC a few questions.
Questions the EC asked:</li>
<li>Why MIT</li>
<li>Other schools you’re applying to</li>
<li>Other than academics, how do you spend your time.</li>
<li>Some books you read</li>
<li>Projects you’ve done</li>
<li>If you could have a dinner with anyone, who would you choose.</li>
</ol>
<p>And really, just be yourself! I was not myself… I always paused when I was talking and wondered hmmm should I reveal this personal information…</p>
<p>I’ve been reading through this thread and really wished I was more open!</p>
<p>^@nikki93</p>
<p>Well, my interview was 15 minutes long I reckon. After that it was just free chat.</p>
<p>There was another person before me and his was scheduled to be 30 minutes before mine… Then that interviewee turned up late (there was a huge traffic jam that day, I was very nearly late too) and his interview lasted about 15 minutes too! My interviewer seemed to be busy with work. But maybe it’s because I said something wrong T_T? I feel kind of bad for the other interviewee because if I was scheduled first, I’d probably have skipped the ‘free chat’ because there’s someone else waiting.</p>
<p>I had 2 ‘prepared’ questions it appears,
- What I wanted to study
- What other schools I’m applying to</p>
<p>Didn’t really get to say what I wanted to say. Though he was a very nice guy.</p>
<p>^Sunoikeo</p>
<p>Hey at least you got as far as those questions.</p>
<p>^pfaocltd
All the questions and the bad answers. For me, the 15 mins would be better than the hour I had…
yeah that stinks yours was only 15mins</p>
<p>I forgot that I did this just to try and really no hopes of getting in to any prestigious college, so I should just sit back and continue being a loser. I’m so negative… like that character in Wild Things… RAWR</p>
<p>^</p>
<p>Anyway, my interviewer said something to the effect of, “Now there are so many qualified applicants from China who don’t have a chance to take an interview. And here you have so many people who had done the interview.”</p>
<p>I have no idea what is “Wild Things”, but hm, I’m sure you have a chance at “any prestigious college”. It’s normal to take a negative outlook at things; you don’t feel the strength of gravity when you’re at the center of it ;)</p>
<p>As I live in Ecuador, my interview was waived… Do you think that will be a trouble when selecting the new students??</p>
<p>Dargor, no it won’t hurt you. It only hurts someone when they decide not to have an interview by choice. Since in your case, an interview was not possible, MIT will not hold it against you.
Good luck!</p>
<p>My advice: it will help if you start working on the short answer questions before you take your interview… The questions I got were incredibly similar to the supplemental stuff, and some of them were the same I think! o.o</p>
<p>My interviewver was a very decent person-though he didn’t ask me anything specific=S- it was also about 15 minutes
- he asks me if I have any Q’s- i did- he answered.
2)he asks me if i have anything to say(almost exact words=S) and i just launch into how i think politics is the best profession but politicians are the worst professionals…then i tell him i want to be a good one- and then i gave him reasons why other professionals are needed in politics and not just lawyers/illiterates(as is the case in india)-our present agricultural minister doesn’t have a college degree even=/=0. So i tell him if i was a biotechnologist in that position i could do much better job clearing the red tape for better genetically modified crops or other decisions and stuff like that. - We then just had a discussion on the education systems in out country…and that was it(he seemed to have another appointment and was in ahurry to get there-guess i couldn’t engage him enough)</p>
<p>Anyways All the Best To evry1 applying-and remember MIT wont make or break your future;)</p>