<p>I scheduled my interview for this Sunday--my very first one ever. I am scheduled for a 45 minute interview. Because myy EC has another interview right afterward, the time is pretty inflexible.</p>
<p>After reading through some posts, now I realize how short 45 minutes really are and would like to reschedule.</p>
<p>Do you think this would annoy my interviewer enough to negatively affect my interview??</p>
<p>Don't reschedule it at this point...yes, that would look bad.</p>
<p>45 min. is a long time. If you're in the middle of some discussion, the interviewer may make the next person wait.</p>
<p>45 minutes is more than enough. If anything, schedule another interview. These interviews aren't about getting into the school, they're for you to learn more about the school. It's also a chance for the school to learn more about who you are.</p>
<p>any tips you can offer on cliched things to avoid? or formalities to follow? I don't particularly like interviews, and I've never been good at them either...</p>
<p>I'm contacting my local MIT EC within a week to schedule an interview...would I need to wear shirt&tie?</p>
<p>45 minutes is plenty of time. if you're interviewer didn't think it was long enough he wouldn't have scheduled yall like that. my interview was only like.. 35 minutes. and i thought it went really well.</p>
<p>lol that's a pretty silly reason to reschedule. 45 minutes is fine, and you should just make the most of the time you have with him/her.</p>
<p>spraypray: dress shirt and pants are usually standard. Tie optional</p>
<p>
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I'm contacting my local MIT EC within a week to schedule an interview...would I need to wear shirt&tie?
[/quote]
You should wear whatever you would want to wear when you were dressing up a little nicely -- just one step up from what you normally wear. For some people, that means a polo shirt and khaki pants, while for others, it means a shirt and tie. (And for some, it means a t-shirt and a non-holey pair of jeans, and that's okay too.)</p>
<p>45 minutes is fine - it may go very quickly, or may drag for hours, depending on the vibe between you and the interviewer. If you are really worried, wear a watch so you can pace yourself.</p>
<p>My D has had several interviews, and most are scheduled to be 1/2 hour, especially if they are with an admissions officer. Actual results: 2 admissions officers took about 1/2 hr, the other 2 scheduled a 1/2 hr and took 45 min and 1 hour respectively. (Though they did not have any one else scheduled after her.)</p>
<p>Remember, admissions officers are talking with tons of folks - they have to stay pretty much on time, or they are going to get really, really behind.</p>
<p>With alum, it's different, you can get some really chatty ones, and they are usually not talking to as many people.</p>
<p>I dressed up and the guy was surprised. I dont think he was too thrilled. Don't dress formal, but don't dress real casual either. But quite honestly, unless you look really horrible, I find it hard to believe they'll be juding you off of waht you wear. And if they do, thats stupid. What you wear has nothing to do with who you are as a person.</p>
<p>Yea my interview was only 45min.</p>
<p>As for the question about dressing up, it totally depends on the venue. Also, your interviewer might tell you how you should dress. My MIT interview was at the EC's office, so I wore dress pants and a blouse. My Columbia interview was at the coffee shop in the local Barnes and Noble, and while I can't remember exactly what I wore, I can guarantee you there were no heels or collars involved.</p>
<p>don't wear jeans and a T-shirt...</p>
<p>NO 45 misutes may not be enough, trust me. I expectited mine to be 30 min, but it ended up being over an hour. </p>
<p>Your interviewer may rush you. Reschedule, if possible.</p>
<p>Ha, my interview was in August so it was only fitting that i wore dress pants/shirt/tie/JACKET....most uncomfortable half hour of my life....but my interviewer came in these really short running shorts...</p>
<p>^^^^ Was your interviewer a hot girl?</p>
<p>Ha! No, it was a somewhat older guy who could not control his saliva....it looked sorta like rabies...but he was pretty awesome so its all good =)</p>
<p>EDIT: the last post and/or this one sounded slightly "off" haha.... only meant to comment on the extraneous effort to get dressed up... =P Its been a looonnnnngggg day</p>
<p>i wore a dress because my khakis weren't clean. and i didn't know what else to wear! but mine was on the UT campus, on a weekday. i felt kinda crazy running around the UT campus in a dress. but oh well...</p>
<p>The "What to wear?" question comes up every year. This is how I (as an interviewer) answered it last year on this board:</p>
<p>
[quote]
I can understand why people fuss over what to wear; its one of the things you can control completely in advance. I'm an EC (interviewer) and I have had people show up very casually and very formally. When I interview, I am trying very hard to put the candidate at ease (and to be at ease myself). The clothing should not interfere with that.</p>
<p>If you wear a suit all the time (that tiny, tiny percentage of HS students male or female) and you feel comfortable in a suit, there is no problem wearing a suit. If you never wear one, it is likely to make it harder for you to relax, and you will come across as uncomfortable. Anyone who has ever seen news footage showing some petty criminal dressed up in a suit for trial has encountered this. You definitely don't want the "defendant" look.</p>
<p>The opposite side of the coin is that you do want to show that you care about the interview. That badly ripped t-shirt and cut-off jeans may not work well with all interviewers.</p>
<p>Basically, you are looking for presentable, comfortable clothes in which you feel at ease.</p>
<p>Strong caveat: This is modified by both the interviewer (there are a lot of us, and your milage may vary) and by the location for the interview. I normally choose coffee bars for my interviews, but others interview at their offices, or almost any other location.</p>
<p>If you need to make a sartorial choice that you have some doubts about, or if you are genuinely unsure as to the appropriate clothing for the location, then ask the interviewer when setting up the interview ("Ummm... I'm coming straight from work, is it ok if I wear my Happy Burger uniform to the interview?" or "Given that the interview is at the beach, is a bathing suit appropriate?"). Both of these are exaggerated a little for effect; I am unaware of any beach interviews, but there may well have been one.</p>
<p>One last note, I want both people in the chat to be comfortable. Certain choices make that harder. As a rule, see-through clothing or very revealing clothing makes for a difficult interview. That applies for both men and women. It just makes it harder for both people to be at ease.
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</p>
<p>As to the 45 minute thing, if that is what your interviewer has asked for then go with it. Rescheduling it is tricky. You don't want to come across as saying "I know that you think that you can evaluate me in 45 minutes, but I am so very interesting and complex, that I know that you will need longer" or something equally pretentious. </p>
<p>Longer is not always better, my longest interview ever was prompted by my searching for something, anything, that the candidate felt strongly about. I searched for roughly two hours and then gave up.</p>
<p>"I searched for roughly two hours and then gave up."</p>
<p>Ouch.</p>
<p>I just had my interview tonight, and it was quite enjoyable. He definitely kept me talking and we shared anecdotes and seemed to have stuff in common. The 1 hour, 10 mins. flew by.</p>
<p>However, I think 45 mins is def. sufficient. (In my interview at least) my EC had gotten the main substance of the interview out at the 45 min. mark. The rest of the time was spent talking about his time at MIT and MIT in comparison to other schools.</p>
<p>My son met his interviewer at a Pizza Hut halfway between our two towns. I made him wear a sports jacket, tie, dress shirt and pants. This made it easier for the EC to find him at the Pizza Hut. EC was wearing all of the above except a jacket. Told my son to offer to pay, but the EC paid for both. Took slightly over an hour.</p>