I would actually turn this around and say that the interview is evaluative, so the interviewer’s job is to find and report on all the ways you are awesome. </p>
<p>The ECs have the fun job – they get to meet and have conversations with some of the most interesting high school seniors in the world, and they don’t have to deal with actually accepting them or rejecting them the way the admissions officers do. If an EC interviews twenty amazing applicants in one year, he or she is free to write twenty amazing interview reports.</p>
<p>funnyman- no worries, I understand it can be stressful. (I am applying to grad school right now and remembering all the joys of the process. =P) Just try to relax a bit.</p>
<p>Also, what everyone else said about the interview. They are definitely looking for your good points, not bad ones. </p>
<p>If you’re really stressed, look over your resume and try to remember what good stories you have (keeping in mind that good stories can be about bad things!) about your experiences. I don’t know what specific questions you’ll be asked, but in general interviews tend to have a lot of “Tell me about a time that…” sort of questions, and if you’ve got a lot of stories queued up you’ll be able to think of a great reply faster, even if you hadn’t prepared for that specific question.</p>
<p>In other words, don’t try to “prepare,” just think about the things you’ve done, the things you’ve liked, the things that have gone well, the things that have gone poorly, the things you’ve learned, the things that have excited you…it can be a fun, introspective adventure, crystallizing how you have grown as a person from all the various classes and activities and random fun things with friends you’ve done over your life so far. =)</p>
<p>That sounds like sound advice! Thank you. One thing about the resume though–should it be like a formal, properly formatted resume, or can it just be sort of an activities summary sheet? I was told that I didn’t need to bring anything to the interview, so I take it that the EC does not actually collect or read your “resume”? </p>
<p>Also, is it fine to show up with your backpack? My interview I think will most likely happen in a cafe or some other public place (as many of my friends have), so I wonder could this get in the way or be cumbersome? </p>
<p>Maybe I am still a bit nervous for it, but I am glad since it does not seem to be one of the “Let’s try to figure out what is wrong with this guy” interview horror stories.</p>
<p>My interviewer did not look at my summary sheet–you don’t need a formal resume regardless–or even ask for it. If he did prior to the interview, bring whatever you have. Obviously, a backpack is no problem. I left it in my EC’s office closet, along with my rain-soaked jacket.</p>
<p>I contacted my EC. he replied and suggested that we do the interview by phone! As an international student whose first language is not English, I’ve always found it more difficult to understand people on the phone. what should I do? Can interviews be on phone? It would be a great disadvantage for me. Chris and the others, please help!</p>
<p>Oh, right, your EC may not actually want to see your resume. (You should always bring one anyway, just in case, and leave it in your bag unless they ask for it.) I’m just biased because I have been on a lot more job interviews than college interviews lately. =P</p>
<p>Looking over my resume is just the way I prepare for interviews, even if I’m not bringing my resume or the person interviewing me already has a copy. Don’t you have a resume already prepared from filling out college apps? Just use that one.</p>
<p>^Did you already state your preference to do the interview in person? If not, couldn’t you just say something like (what you mean) “If it’s at all possible, I would really prefer to do my interview in person. Is that something that would work for you?”</p>
<p>They’re just humans … you’re allowed to talk to them like people, lol. :)</p>
<p>If he can’t do it in person, then I guess you’ll just have to do your best on the phone. After all, you’ll probably have to speak a little English at MIT, no? I’m really wishing you the best, MMaverick. Hang in there! :)</p>
<p>I have tried to contact two of my interviewers, one for 3 weeks straight, and one who has just been reassigned. No answers, yet, whatsoever…Even via phone. I’m so worried if my 2nd assigned interviewer failed to answer my interview call like the last one till December 10. What would happen if such thing happen? Won’t I ever get an interview? Isn’t that not fair?</p>
<p>Thank you SimpleLife. I haven’t replied to my EC yet. first, just wanted to know if MIT allows phone interviews. I’ll talk to my EC and hopefully we’ll figure it out. But if that is going to be by phone, it would be a great disadvantage. :(</p>
<p>I contacted my interviewer Nov 20, no reply, interviewer changed, I contacted new interviewer Nov 29, it’s now Dec 5, no response. Should I resend? What do I do if it’s Dec 10 and there’s still no reply? There’s no phone number listed, by the way. If we manage to set up interview after Dec 10 will it be allowed (I have friend whose applying, maybe their interviewer would agree to do it, but would MIT)?</p>
<p>Yes, every year in my region we schedule a few interviews after 10 December but almost always in cases like you have described, where you have tried to contact your interviewer well in , but through no fault of yours , the interview did not happen. It varies from region to region, but it is not an exact science, and sometimes interviewers need to change. I have one interviewer who can only interview during the week, and they are assigned candidates who are only available at weekends. By the time this problem is identified, and the EC asks for a reassignment, then it might go past the 10th, but most areas aren’t that bothered. The candidate contacted their EC prior to 10 December. No real problems. It happens, and as we get closer to 10 December it sometimes happens a lot. This year is shaping up to be a particularly tricky one in my region: I have reshuffled 15 students between EC’s this weekend alone.</p>
<p>Hello CC! I would like some help… About 2 weeks ago (Nov. 24th to be exact) I tried contacting my EC via email. This is what I wrote (which is quite informal…)</p>
<p>“Hey Dr. Griffor! This is Joeson Wong! I’m one of those prospective applicants who want an interview with you! What times are you free? Where do you suggest to meet? Please get back to me with some information! Thank you.”</p>
<p>To this day, I have no reply. So, I decided to call him/her and a lady picked up on the phone (I wasn’t sure if this was the EC or not). I told them that I’m applying to MIT and that I would like to schedule an interviewer. After a couple seconds of no response, I said “hello?” a few times and the call ended… Any suggestions on what I should do? I called once again and this time no one answered. I also just emailed MIT about the situation (the email located at the bottom of this guide) about five minutes ago. </p>
<p>Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you.</p>
<p>Thank you I’m glad someone replied. This is what I wrote for my email to MIT</p>
<p>"Hello, this is Joeson Wong. I am an MIT applicant that has tried to contact my EC and have failed to get a reply. I messaged Dr. Edward Griffor almost 2 weeks ago and have not gotten a reply yet. Also, I have just called the the home phone number as well, but apparently the call ended out of nowhere when I stated my cause for the call when I was talking to the other person on the line. Should I try contacting him/her again? </p>
<p>Thank you! "</p>
<p>Hopefully I can get some information… I wanted to get the interview done but now it seems like I may be overdue because of this inconvenience…</p>
<p>Wait, question: Do we have to have the actual interview before Dec 10 or just have scheduled one by Dec 10, where it can actually take place after that?</p>
<p>You need to contact your interviewer to schedule an interview before December 10. Your interviewer will tell you when the last date is that he is able to interview in order to get his interview report in on time.</p>
<p>My interview’s scheduled for tomorrow at 5pm (It’s currently today at 8:30pm:D).
Ironically (and to me irony sucks), it took me a while to schedule it, going so far as going against my advice of not waiting too long to contact your EC. Didn’t really have time until now though.
Wow, I’m kind of nervous. MIT is a dream school
One sec.
<em>Goes off to read post #1 in order to remember what he preached</em></p>
<p>Hey everyone, I’m also applying to MIT this year, I contacted my EC and after a few days, I got a mail stating that the space for interviews with my EC I’ve been assigned to is full and therefore they can’t accommodate an interview for me. They did say that my chances won’t be hurt by it though. My question was that what option should I pick in the “Interview” option listed on Page 8 of Part 2 of the MIT application, can someone help me please?</p>
<p>Murtaza101, Send a note to <a href=“mailto:interview@mit.edu”>interview@mit.edu</a> and tell them what you just typed here. They will take care of it.</p>
I’m glad someone replied. This is what I wrote for my email to MIT</p>