<p>I’m a member of USIEF. I attend some of their sessions.</p>
<p>Hi Arunay,
My daughter has similar credentials, but not from Delhi or Mumbai. She did not get an interview request from MIT. Did you ask for one? Since the page said “waived” she never requested for an interview. When she requested in late Jan, they said all interviewers were allocated.
BTW, did you apply to Princeton? Did you have an interview? She had one in December
Regards</p>
<p>Its not the selective part of it…They start evaluation this monday!!! Its probably another reason:)
Oh and 99% of people applying get Princeton interviews:)
Oh but 1 question…when you submitted the app…it said interview waived…right!!</p>
<p>Yes, it always said, Waived and it continues to say so. However, we found out later that you could request for MIT interview</p>
<p>It said waived earlier. But later, I got a call. And the same thing happened to a few others.</p>
<p>Well, then @anunay when did you submit your app? Maybe it is based on the date of filing of application.</p>
<p>I applied super late. Like the last day. </p>
<p>I got an email for an interview in early feb from an alum in bangalore. I live in delhi so that was a problem.
But nonetheless i flew down for a day and gave an interview. </p>
<p>a lot of my friends who applied didnt get the interview. whats the scene ? why are interviews being given selectively.</p>
<p>Thanks Anunay, I guess the interview process is really random, I can’t even find a pattern.
Certain cities seem to have been included, I can infer, Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai.</p>
<p>Nope!! I do not think so(at least in Bangalore…since neither I nor my friends were given an interview…)</p>
<p>But I guess I didn’t get an interview cause I had to submit after the deadline…issues with my account::</p>
<p>It’s obvious. If you don’t get an interview, game over.</p>
<p>With massive number of applicants coming from India, MIT would definitely not want to waste time on all applicants. I suppose, the people who got interviewed cleared the ‘first’ stage.</p>
<p>juveli!!! You are soo wrong!!! Go check up the MIT faq site…I just asked mollie that very same question…check out her reply:)
Oh and 1 more question…why would MIT make their rejections that blatant…(though I am pretty sure I’ll get rejected come march…anyways:D)</p>
<p>So guys pls don’t give a **** even if u didn’t get one!!!(It might be even to your benefit):)</p>
<p>Normally I would agree, but why is it that only the medal winners/published researchers and “accomplished people” in the traditional sense have been offered interviews? I don’t know a single applicant from my immediate circle of friends, who all lack such accomplishments, who has been offered an interview. Not that I know that many applicants. In fact, I’ll be much happier if someone can contradict me and provide me an example of an interviewee without international awards and medals.</p>
<p>^Umm…If it helps you in any way, I am an international applicant from Mumbai who was not offered an interview despite having an olympiad medal. Looks like I will not have to wait until pi day to know my result 
***</p>
<p>MIT trains ECs to conduct interviews unlike Princeton. This explains why almost every princeton applicant (domestic or international) gets an interview and why MIT offers selective interviews. So if you got an interview, maybe you made a good good first impression. For others, don’t lose hope. Maybe, they might discover something remarkable in your application later but that is, only if they review it later (unlikely) and if your app looks decent enough you might get waitlisted.</p>
<p>@eltanin- An example of how MIT interviews are not AT ALL selective is me. I’m a normal student who’s incredibly passionate about Maths and Sci. I knew nothing about olympiads before so never even gave them before this year. I did qualify the 1st rounds this year but MIT only got to know (through my Mid-Year) AFTER my interview. I have no international medals whatsoever, never discovered a cure for cancer, and have only been published in school magazines (and the occasional national daily).</p>
<p>I’m trying not to even think about pi day but I had an interview in the same way as all these other people on this forum. What I do have is a passion for Science (Aerospace Engineering in particular) and a will to do better than my best.</p>
<p>All I’m trying to say is that while people like anunay and others are incredible students, they’re not just looking for medals and research papers (atleast not at the interview stage). You have a chance, probably a better one than me… So don’t get your hopes down!</p>
<p>@firefliesdance… I think you have really breathed life back into many of the people here. Not getting in may be one thing, but knowing beforehand that you won’t is a big blow. Not that I am really hoping to get in.</p>
<p>MIT does not offer selective interviews based on merit. People are given their EC match as soon as it is available (in some cases, before anything other than the very basics like name & email are known by MIT - obviously, this is before any type of application review). Anyone will get an interview provided there is an EC in the area.</p>
<p>Your EC’s name and contact info will appear on your my.mit.edu account near the beginning of the application cycle. It is completely regardless of your merit/application. Most domestic applicants will have the chance to interview.</p>
<p>International applicants may or may not be matched with an EC. It is not merit based, it is simply dependent on if an EC is available in your area. If you are not offered an interview, it will not be held against you (however, if you are offered one and choose not to interview, it will very likely detract from your chances of admission).</p>
<p>P.S. I got a (domestic) interview without any big-deal accomplishments (no awards, published research, etc.), just rigorous courses, strong math/science abilities, extracurriculars, and hard work :)</p>