<p>I was told not to interview at MIT due to my location (western Canada) (I visited MIT in the summer, talked to the ball coach and the admissions staff). I applied, stated that the reason I did not interview was due to location, but am now worried as I realize most interviews run via phone and skype. </p>
<p>Does this mean my application is screwed? It gives me the contact number of my educational councillor but its so late that I can't realistically think of contacting her. Is there anything I can do? Can I send an email to her explaining how I was previously told to not interview due to location but just wanted to contact her to make sure. </p>
<p>It’s not that the admissions officers will be angry or look down on your application because you didn’t have an interview. But not having an interview means that you missed an opportunity to show MIT what you are like in person, and perhaps to expound on some aspects of your application. It’s not as though it’s an automatic mark against you, but you missed an opportunity for extra credit.</p>
<p>There’s no need to send anything to your EC.</p>
<p>I believe the people who had an interview are more likely to be more willing to attend the MIT(is this a strange sentence?). This why admission rate amongst the people who had an interview is higher. The people who were pushed by their parents to apply to the MIT probably tend to have lesser interviews and less motivated essays. If you wrote great essays, your application should not suffer much.</p>
<p>most interviews are in person - I think it’s relatively rare and also discouraged to have either a phone or Skype interview. Mikayle deals with international applicants, so he would know more specifically about this, though.</p>
<p>I think it’s more that if you really, really want to go to MIT, you’re going to be really, really excited to interview. You won’t forget the deadline, and you might even be willing to drive really far just to have the opportunity to interview. And, of course, MIT has a tendency to like people who like them, so this might be where the disparity is coming from.</p>
<p>Almost all interviews are in person. Telephone interviews suck outrageously, but are still better than no interview in my opinion. We run at roughly 2% telephone interviews in my (large) region. EC’s do not exist everywhere, for example the EC directory shows me that this year there are no active EC’s in Azerbaijan,. So if there is no EC possible, then the interview report is waived, and MIT understands why you did not have an interview. If you were assigned to an EC, then MIT assumes that an interview is possible. </p>
<p>The assigning software is pretty good in the US, but has its quirks internationally, and it is possible to be assigned to an interviewer many hundreds of miles away. In that case, you can contact the admissions office and ask for a closer EC, or contact your EC and ask what you should do. In most of those cases, you would be assigned to an EC closer to you, or in rare circumstances there might be a telephone interview or to have the interview waived.</p>
<p>However, there is a big difference between MIT waiving the interview, and you deciding not to contact your EC. Whether or not to waive an interview is ultimately MIT’s decision, usually after communicating with the EC, or with the regional chair for that region. Your not communicating with an assigned EC is usually interpreted as choosing not to have an interview.</p>
<p>Now the interview is not required. Every year students who do not interview are accepted. That being said, though the international applicant pool is highly competitive, and an interview can really help. Good luck.</p>
<p>I didn’t have an interview. I got my wires crossed about which school had what deadline for scheduling one. I thought I was screwed for sure.</p>
<p>It is an advantage to have had an interview, and the international pool is competitive enough as it is. I won’t lie, you would probably have had a better chance if you’d interviewed. But it is not <em>impossible</em> to get in without an interview. Many people do each year.</p>