<p>MIT will be my first college interview. Are there standard questions I should be prepared to answer? Other than the obvious "why MIT?"</p>
<p>The short answer is “No” (though “Why MIT?” is a good one to have an answer to").</p>
<p>Seriously, I try to keep my interviews as light as possible. I am trying to find out who the candidate is, and I expect them to be nervous. I definitely try to get them to relax, because that is an integral part of my job as the interviewer. As to what I am looking for, I guess the easy answer is that I am looking to find out who the candidate is in ways that are unlikely to show up on the application form (except maybe in the essays).</p>
<p>I almost never ask about SAT’s, Class rank, or anything else that is likely to show up elsewhere on the application. I also try to let the candidate do most of the talking.</p>
<p>I have had students reel off their achievements at the interview, almost straight off the application, and that’s fine, if it helps them to relax, and reminds them that they have much to be proud of, but little or nothing of that usually makes it into any interview report that I write for the admissions office.</p>
<p>I’m just trying to get a sense of who the candidate is, and why they want to go to MIT. One concrete hint, a candidate should be able to talk about why they chose to apply to MIT, what attracted them to the Institute, and possibly what concerns they might have about going there.</p>
<p>But the interview is nothing more than a conversation, and a bad interview (and they can exist) is quite unpleasant for the interviewer as well as the interviewee, so most interviewers do work hard to avoid them. [And of course, your milage may vary, etc. ]</p>
<p>The interview is one of the better opportunities that both sides have to work out the likelihood of a good match. The interviewer is trying to work out what characteristics of the candidate are unlikely to show up on paper, and to try to bring context to the application. We are also looking to identify whether the candidate shares MIT’s values.</p>
<p>The interviewee is trying to figure out if the school is right for them. I have had candidates ask me about the judo team, what it means to live in a fraternity, and about the theatre program tours (Dramashop went to the UK last year). I have also had candidates ask me “what majors are offered at MIT?” and other questions which suggest that the candidate has never been to the MIT website. That question does not reflect well on a sense of intellectual curiosity.</p>
<p>Fundamentally the interview is a (hopefully) relaxed chat. Its an opportunity for the interviewer to find out who you are without the constraints of a word-limited essay. There are of course other constraints, but that’s a separate post. I try very hard to put my interviewees at ease, and I try very hard to ensure that I reflect my candidates accurately as possible to the admissions staff. Very often the interview can be enjoyable for both parties.</p>
<p>And it works. You only have to look at the admissions statistics for interviewed versus non-interviewed candidates to see the value that MIT places on this chat. For this purpose, those candidates whose interview was waived as there was no interviewer nearby count as interviewed.</p>
<p>Thanks for the great advice. It actually makes me feel more comfortable to know all this. Hope it goes well and the interviewer has a sense about me and how I will fit at MIT. Wish me luck!</p>