Okay, so yesterday I had my interview with an MIT alumni. I got to the coffee shop nice and early, sat down, and then an older guy came and sat right next to me and set out a notepad. We made small talk about the weather. I turned to him and said, “You must be Mr.[insertname], it is great to finally meet you!” He replied with a vacant, “yeah.” then he proceeded to shake the hand I had extended in front of him, then he promptly got up and walked away with a concerned look on his face. A few short puzzling minutes later, another man sat down next to me with a notepad. He introduced himself as the MIT interviewer and I proceeded to shake his hand and introduce myself. As it turned out, I had spent five minutes talking to a stranger about the weather, how much I love theoretical computer science, and began to verbally spill all of my accomplishments and interests to him. He probably walked away thinking I was the strangest, most arrogant extroverted nerd ever. Despite this misunderstanding, my actual interview went great 
That’s hilarious…but I guess that older man kind of set himself up for that one by randomly sitting down by a high school student.
Hahaha, that’s hilarious! Btw, any advice you have for people who haven’t had their interview yet?
There are MIT blog posts for exactly this! I read over blog posts from past interviewers and picked up tips like:
- Have an answer to “Why do you want to go MIT” p.s DONT SAY RANK and “What do you like to do and why?”
- Evaluate yourself. What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses?
- Consider having a ‘mock interview’ with a teacher.
- Dress nice, but casually. No need to slick your hair and wear a tux.
- You are allowed to bring things to show your interviewer (art, blogs, games you made, etc.)
- Be yourself, take time to think about answers before you say them if you need to, and most importantly try and be calm. If you are nervous, it is okay to tell them right off the bat. They wont judge.
Also, follow up emails thanking the interviewers is polite. They do not require this, but its a kind thing to do. AND ARRIVE EARLY.
Wait–how did you interview already? Apps aren’t even due for over a month. Hinky.
I requested one? I definitely had my interview. You can directly contact the alumni through the MIT website.
That’s so funny. Good practice for your real interview 
It really was! I was chuckling to myself, and I felt a lot more natural.
Did you tell the interviewer what had happened?
I actually didn’t, but I should have! We were busy talking about other things. I made up for the loss of comedy in other ways.
Haha, I hope you did great. I’m swamped this week with the SAT. But I’ll be having my interview in about 2 weeks. Haha, to bad I’ve already met my EC and know that that interview will take place in his office. Hopefully this doesn’t happen to me unless his twin brother decides to fill in for the day! 
I’m swamped with the SAT as well. Good luck to the both of us!
I’ll add another tip: Have some questions for the interviewer. I’ve interviewed students and when I ask them if they have any questions for me; I just get a blank stare. The whole college experience is new for you. MIT is a very interesting place. Be excited about the possibility of going there. Have some questions!!!
PS. You don’t necessarily need to be early but at least be on time. And definitely never say you want to go there because it’s “the best”. One such candidate answered that way and I asked him; What if a new poll came out and it wasn’t “the best”, would you still want to go there? He couldn’t answer that one in any meaningful way.
As an MIT interviewer, please ask for the interview as soon as you are ready for one. I get it if you are not yet ready, but every single year we have a horde of applicants ask for the interview at the last possible minute. The interview scheduling deadline is October 20th for Early applicants and December 10th for Regular round applicants, and every year this is missed. The latest that I have had someone request an interview was March 1 (by which time the application has already been read and is in committee). Please don’t wait to the last minute. Please.
But what is the point of the interview for MIT? There isn’t a point for certain colleges…
Personally, I loved the interview process and gained a very cool contact. I learned a lot about myself, the school, and my interviewer. There is only no point if you decide to see it that way.
@rhandco According to MIT’s Common Data Set, they rank the interview as “important” when considering an application.
MIT is interested in knowing about the “whole person” and that does make the interview important.
MIT’s web site also states that something like 11% of those applicants who had an interview were admitted but only about 1% of those who did not were admitted. Don’t know how old that data is but the difference in admit rates is significant. The interview itself would not account for the whole difference, but it also tells one about the student: whether they are organized enough, outgoing enough or ??? to request the interview. It is those qualities that are probably more the driver on the admit rates.