<p>I see. I wasn’t complaining–I know that people are not glued to their email, but it’s just one of my friends had recieved a response the day of. So, I just wanted to be sure that what I am going through isn’t weirdly atypical. </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Nope, not weirdly atypical. I’m inclined to believe your friend’s case is more atypical O.O </p>
<p>Give it a week from the sending date. After that, I’d contact Admissions.</p>
<p>Thanks. After I e-mailed them they already changed the name of the EC. Yet, it doesn’t show that the interview is done. My EC said that he will write his report sometimes before the weekend (but he didn’t mention the weekend of which week), and that I will be able to see what he wrote, “There’s no secret here” he said.</p>
<p>So, how long it takes “usually” for ECs to write the reports? Am I going to be able to see the report (this sounds weird, before the interview I was convinced I cant see the report of EC, but now…) ?</p>
<p>I don’t think you’ll be able to see the report. I also don’t think you should worry either. Worry about the other parts of your application :)</p>
<p>I did get a response. It arrived 5 days later, but two of them were the weekend, so technically just 3 days to respond. However, the time that I was offered could not work, and I responded to say so. Since my response, it has been another 6 or 7 days. I assume that it is because this is Thanksgiving week, and interviewers are busy, but how long without a response should I go before contacting admissions? Is it possible that I am being ignored?</p>
<p>Hello MITworld, :)</p>
<p>I called my EC for the first time late September. He told me to call him again by mid-November. Then I called him a few days ago. He said that my biographical info did not reach him yet. I submitted Part I of the MIT application weeks ago in September. So don’t you think that it’s taking too much time for MIT to process the information and send it to my EC? Should I drop in a mail to <a href=“mailto:interview@mit.edu”>interview@mit.edu</a>?</p>
<p>Sure, send an email.</p>
<p>Don’t think you’re being ignored. I have a friend who missed the interview deadline for another school, but she went through extra bounds and contacting more people than necessary to get an interview spot (which she did!). So just hit them up with a call or email: don’t be scared of being pushy! It shows your determination.</p>
<p>I haven’t got a response in 12 days!!</p>
<p>I understand it can be frustrating when people take a long time to get back to you, but I promise you that you are not being “intentionally ignored” or anything like that. It’s likely that your EC has a lot going on and has just not had the time to respond- or even that they forgot about you, but even that should not distress you. It’s frustrating, but remember that ECs are volunteers who interview students on the side of their own real jobs. If they lose your message in their inbox, this is not a reflection on you, and it will not reflect poorly on you.</p>
<p>If a substantial amount of time has gone by and you are concerned that you will not be able to schedule an interview on time, let the admissions office know. (I believe interview at mit dot edu would be the appropriate address for that.) They will poke your EC, assign you a new one, waive your interview, or otherwise resolve the situation.</p>
<p>I believe you shouldn’t stress about applications at all, but if you must- stress over the things you actually have control over. This is not one of them, so take a deep breath and relax!</p>
<p>I have been waiting for this interview in years. Noooooooo…!!!</p>
<p>Hey LauraN,</p>
<p>Thanks for the response. I have a question though, since MIT says to contact the EC before December 10 for regular admission, and if my interview does not take place before that date, am I to blame or will I be penalized? Also, if my interviewer still does not give me a response in another week or so, should I contact admissions? How will they know that I have contacted my EC reasonably early, and that it is not just me trying to squeeze out of the interview?</p>
<p>
The December 10 deadline is the latest date you can contact your EC, not the latest date you can have an interview. Each EC will have a different date after which he/she would prefer not to give interviews (so that he/she will have enough time to write and submit the interview report before MIT’s deadline), but rest assured that interviews will continue through the month of December.</p>
<p>
They will assume good faith on your part – someone who is trying to “squeeze out” of an interview isn’t likely to go to the extent of contacting admissions, right?</p>
<p>What Mollie said. Thanks, Mollie! =)</p>
<p>Thank you for this wonderful post. I am going to have my interview in few days and everything here is going to help me alot. However, there is sth that i don’t understand: Correct me if I’m wrong, but If we are not supposed to talk about the stuff that we mention in our application, which are usually the impresive stuff and the best stuff about us, then, we wouldn’t be able to impress our EC. As a result, our EC might not recommend us to MIT admission office.
Am I not correct?</p>
<p>^MMaverick, If the stuff on your application comes up, it’s not a bad thing. You don’t have to skirt around the things that are on your application. If you’re big into … band, let’s just say … and your EC asks you what you’re passionate about, or how you spend the majority of your free time, and band is it … well, it’s going to come up, and you can feel free to talk about it. </p>
<p>I think the point is, they don’t want the interview to be a regurgitation of the application. They already know what’s on the application – numbers, and stats, and activities. </p>
<p>They want to learn more about you from your interview, and that might be in terms of communication skills, how you carry yourself, analytical skills, thinking on your feet, passion, and, idk, basically just what makes you “you.” </p>
<p>I tell my kids that there are no wrong answers at college interviews. Just be yourself. Truly. I think that’s the best advice. These schools know what they’re looking for – and they’re nearly all looking for diversity within their incoming class – lots of different kids with different ideas (so you can’t lose for being you), but also a commonality that they think of as “theirs.” </p>
<p>So, if you’ve done a good job choosing schools that are truly a good match for who you are, then you’ll likely be a good match for who they want. And if you’re simply yourself, then you can’t lose! If they like you as candidate for their school, then no harm for being yourself. If any school doesn’t “like you” as candidate for their school (not personal – but rather, because they don’t see you as a good fit), then you’ve also probably lost nothing… because they probably know a bad fit when they see one. And if you’re a bad fit, then you wouldn’t want to be there.</p>
<p>With schools like MIT, lots of “good fit” candidates will not be able to attend, because there are far more applicants than slots. But still, it WON’T be the interview that hurts you. So, just be yourself. You’re already as prepared as you need to be, chances are, IF you’ve been the kind of person they’re looking for all along.</p>
<p>I’m currently the record holder for shortest interview, clocking in at just over 10 minutes. Haha. It went well though, my EC was very informative and laid-back. I never really had the opportunity to talk about myself too much but he cleared up some questions and provided some context which I really appreciated. I was really nervous so I didn’t talk much, but hopefully that doesn’t kill my chances.</p>
<p>Thanks molliebatmit and LauraN,</p>
<p>I guess you are right about that. Sorry if I seemed impatient–I’m just nervous for this interview, especially since it is for MIT. Is there any way to sort of “prepare” or at least be ready? It says that the interviews are “evaluative” so I take it that it is the interviewer’s job to find and report on what your flaws are? I don’t mean to say that the interviewers are mean, but is this what they are told to do?</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>Oh man, and I thought mine was short at 30 minutes.</p>
<p>No. Dude. Chill. Interviewers aren’t looking for your flaws. They just want to get a first-hand impression of you. Make sure you’re not a psycho and that you can generally talk to people, that kind of stuff. Have a conversation with them. Seem engaged (or rather, be engaged), and interesting, and you’ll do fine.
My interviewer last year was very chill, very friendly. Obviously not every interviewer will be nice - they’re real people, too, and sometimes people aren’t awesome. But MIT admissions is definitely not about finding out the secret ways in which you suck, exposing them, and DESTROYING YOUR HOPES AND DREAMS. That is what exams are for, once you get here.
I kid. (NOT REALLY.) But seriously, the best thing you can do is just to be confident and friendly, without seeming like a sociopath or an arrogant jerkface.</p>