<p>Hi,</p>
<p>Im applying to MIT and well, would really like to take an alumni interview because it apparently has heavy weightage in the admit process. But i have concerns about me speaking well. Actually, i have a moderate stutter in my speech(accentuates in interviews), and i dont feel i can give quite an accurate presentation of my thoughts and ideas in the interview. </p>
<p>Can anybody advise me whether to interview or not? I dont want the interview to break my application.</p>
<p>I would do the interview. Those who don't do it have a lower admit rate. It's a fact that it hurts you to skip the interview. It is unknown whether having a stutter will hurt your application.</p>
<p>It depends on where you live. Near cities where large numbers of students go to HYPMS, interviews are almost expected. If you live in the Middle of Nowhere, not doing an interview might not be an issue.</p>
<p>If you do not live near those kinds of areas - NYC, Jersey, DC/VA, Boston, it might not hurt you to skip the interview. Collegealum, the reason those who don't do it have a lower admit rate is probably because those kids are less enthusiastic about going to MIT in the first place or have weaker apps and more doubts about going to MIT. Not going to an interview is not the big reason for the diff. in admit rates for interview/non-interview applicants.</p>
<p>I think the stutter might be a bit of a weakening factor since, as you say, you have 'moderate' and not 'mild' stutter, and stutters inevitably get worse in high-risk situations like interviews. An interviewer might get the wrong impression of you, although I doubt MIT interviewers are that ignorant. But again, location is a big factor.</p>
<p>^^You don't have to live in a city to get an interview. Of course it won't hurt you if MIT doesn't have anyone in your area, but obviously MIT knows whether or not you could have interviewed.</p>
<p>The director of admissions at MIT said that people who skip the interview have lower admit rates in an answer to someone who asked whether they needed to do the interview. It was implied that skipping the interview (assuming one was available) sent a signal to MIT that you weren't serious about going there.</p>
<p>thats not really a unique problem anyways</p>
<p>
[quote]
The director of admissions at MIT said that people who skip the interview have lower admit rates in an answer to someone who asked whether they needed to do the interview. It was implied that skipping the interview (assuming one was available) sent a signal to MIT that you weren't serious about going there.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Or perhaps she simply dodged the question by quoting a statistic that seems relevant to answer the question, but really gives no definite answer about whether an interview significantly boosts an applicant's chance of admission. Having gone to a load of college meetings with admissions officers, I've seen 3 out of 4 of those admissions people dodge the majority of the questions asked them, or just bite around the bullet.</p>
<p>Yes, you don't have to be living in a big city to have access to an interviewer. I just meant that since MIT knows what areas are likely to have interviewers, and they know there's not going to be much of an opportunity in, say, South Dakota, location should be a factor in OP's decision, that's all. If you live in a place where a lot of MIT applicants do get interviewed, you should probably go ahead and interview.</p>
<p>^^well, it was on his blog and he was answering a question emailed to him I think. If he wanted to dodge the question, he could have just not written about it.</p>
<p>I am actually from Pakistan, and am still confused. And btw, it is really 'mild' in daily circumstances, and i know will go severe in the interview.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies though.</p>