<p>How do I know if the interview went well? Like, is it usually possible to tell whether an interview went well? What's the average length of an interview? Mine was 30 minutes. But some friends of mine had 45 min and 50 min long interviews with the same person. I'm thinking longer the interview, the more interested the interviewer was. Also I regret some of the responses I gave T_T. I explained some things very poorly. I guess I'm being paranoid, but please offer some thoughts on this.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about the length of the interview- some interviewers are chatty and have plenty of time, others are busy and glean everything of importance quickly. </p>
<p>Interviewers also understand students are very nervous, so they are forgiving of normal human faux pas. Not all that much weight is even given to interviews, anyway. It’s MIT, not the Today Show, so they are looking at your humaneness and intelligence, not Hollywood star quality.</p>
<p>Don’t worry. Mine was 30mins long and he said we went really fast, and that happens. I even had a hoarse/nonexistant voice. It doesn’t matter on length. He said I crammed more things into 30mins than he has ever seen.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry about it too much. And about the answers you claimed you messed up on… it’s okay. Really. The interview is meant to be a laid-back/informal event, so just talk to the interviewer as if he/she was your best friend :D</p>
<p>Seriously, don’t worry about the length of the interview. </p>
<p>I have nothing to do with MIT. I do interview for my own alma mater. Some of my long interviews happen because I really like the applicant and/or we have a lot in common. Some long interviews happen because the kid has really underwhelmed me and I want to make sure that I’ve given the applicant every possible opportunity to reverse a bad first impression. </p>
<p>So, there is no way that anyone could guess how I felt about an applicant from the length of the interview.</p>
<p>I had my MIT interview which only went for like 35 - 40 mins.</p>
<p>It’s okay. We only talked about what I would consider “real” interview stuff for 5 mins.</p>
<p>We then just talked about random stuff and some specific programs at MIT but nothing really critical. </p>
<p>Mostly the interview is just to make sure you are friendly and likable.</p>
<p>dude, it’s chill. dont worry about it</p>
<p>my interview was about like sports, and student life lol, no typical “why mit” questions at all :/</p>
<p>I feel like mine went well, my interviewer and I got off on a tangent and started discussing the finer points of quantum mechanics. I feel like it went well, but I guess you never know for sure. Mine was ~ 1 hour and 30 minutes.</p>
<p>The interview is more to make sure you’re not crazy and are a decently nice person to be around. And to make alums feel important and included. :)</p>
<p>Don’t stress about it, as it likely will neither keep you out nor get you in.</p>
<p>They actually weigh interviews somewhat heavily, because there are certainly parts of your application that can come through much more clearly in your interview. Also, there are seemingly small things that can help you in the long run from the interview. For instance: my EC said at the end of our interview that he would mention that I was the first to contact him and that I was very aggressive in requesting an interview. Although this is not a deciding factor in my application, I think it will definitely help - since I saw a webcast from MIT that said typical MIT students are go-getters, and cited the interview situation I just described as his example of that. I’m hoping for the best though. Side note, MIT directly states that they weigh personal qualities higher than anything else, and test scores fairly less.
Good luck!</p>
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<p>But we all know that’s pretty much fairy tale.</p>
<p>My MIT interview took 2 hours, while my Princeton one took 30 min. It really varies from EC to EC, so don’t worry.</p>
<p>what quomodo said. </p>
<p>Their purpose is to weed out kids who stare at their shoelaces for 30 minutes, smell like a garbage disposer (or football locker, end of season), or cause the interviewer to quickly verify that there’s an unobstructed path to safety :)</p>
<p>If you didn’t do/smell/cause any of the above three, you get 100% for your interview.</p>