<p>You're supposed to say what adjectives you think describe your personality. Really.</p>
<p>Seriously, there shouldn't be a lot of prep going into this interview. It should just be a conversation between you and your EC -- it's not a grill session, and it's not an opportunity for you to smile beatifically and offer canned responses to an anticipated list of questions.</p>
<p>hmm, ic. yea, i guess.</p>
<p>Don't panic about prepping for the interview. I just had mine and it went smoothly without any prepping. You can't account for all the random questions that could be asked so just know what you like and talk about that. Treat it like a normal conversation, let your personality and interests come out and you'll be fine. Don't try to screen answers to impress them because then that isn't "you" anymore. I promise that the ECs aren't out to eat you for lunch.</p>
<p>Just curious, how would you guys define a "good interview"? What do you guys actually mean when you guys say "my interview went well" (or didn't go well)?</p>
<p>Defining a good interview as a candidate is very hard. I am sure that I have had candidates who thought that they did well at the interview, who definitely did not, and I can think of at least one interview where it probably went the other way (she did much better than she thought she had done).</p>
<p>As to questions....hmmmm... Arguably the most important page on the admissions website is the page where they talk about what will get you in: The Match between a candidate and MIT (MIT</a> Admissions: The Match Between You And MIT)</p>
<p>That is pretty much what we look for at the interview. We ask questions designed to elucidate information about how well you match, and we follow those up, digging as deep as necessary to justify those characteristics, and in some cases testing those to destruction. It is not really something that you can prepare for very well.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I mean the first things that pop into my head are like passionate and dedicated. But I mean....isn't that everyone?
[/quote]
No it's not everyone, and an EC can devote as much time to exploring these as he or she wishes. So I can find out if you are more or less dedicated than any other candidates I have seen, and what it is you mean by "dedicated". Dedicated to what? How? What evidence is there to support a claim of being dedicated? How does that dedication manifest itself? If you are dedicated to your school and dedicated to your family, how do you deal with conflicts between the two. Oh, and when I finish with "dedicated", then I can start on "passionate".</p>
<p>If this sounds like an interrogation, it is not. Keep in mind that I, like most EC's, work very, very, very hard at making the candidate relax. We do try to keep it light. If it is fun for both of us, we get better answers, and a better interview. Just go along, be yourself, and that is the best possible thing. I do meet very bright students who do not match very well with MIT, and if they do not match the school, then even if they were admitted, they would not ultimately be happy on campus. MIT is looking for students who will be comfortable in the MIT environment and will thrive there. We EC's help to look for that.</p>
<p>Hope this helps,</p>
<p>It seems like all of the current MIT students talk about their interviews like they were all great, bonded with the EC, etc... But in mine it was just okay. We may have laughed a tiny bit, but I'm not sure if I just wasn't as enthusiastic as I thought I'd be or if it was just the EC who seemed to just be reading off a list of suggested questions (like it was his first time interviewing). I have no idea about the report he wrote, but to any current MIT students: did any of you have a so-so interview and still get in?</p>
<p>i'm sure most people had "so-so" interviews (not that urs sounded so-so)
many people exaggerate a lot
and also the people who have had stellar interviews post about them
so yeah</p>
<p>I had a so-so interview (from my perspective) and got in. Given the huge number of EC's, and the difficulty in managing them, the interview matters most on the edges, if it is stunningly good or bad.</p>
<p>how do you make an interview go well?</p>
<p>ana u make great generalizations lol... do u do that in real life to?</p>
<p>2 hour interview for me... it was hella fun... my EC was da bomb literally...</p>
<p>Do people here do much else than flaunt their achievements? Ambitiousteen you could elaborate at least in the smallest bit as to how your interview went well and why it lasted so long. I've already made my posts in this thread - I had a 1:45 interview that went swimmingly - but I also explained a little bit why it took so long; because the "interview" turned into a casual conversation about anything. People should know that shorter interviews aren't necessarily bad at all, they could just be more concise and to the point. Conversely, long interviews like ours could be bad for all we know.</p>
<p>shirker...very insightful post. <em>thumbs up</em></p>
<p>I had a pretty good interview; my EC was older and went to MIT in the 60s and he came off as really not liking the place. He asked me questions for about 20 minutes and we spent the next 45 minutes or so just talking about his times at MIT and just technology in general. I have to say it was one of the most genuine and coolest conversations I've had in a while.</p>
<p>I think a lot of it depends on your individual EC. You could really tell that mine was pretty amiable and admires everyone that he interviews --- he said that the work that a lot of us are doing now would be what they did during their second year at MIT in the 60s. :x wow.</p>
<p>What do you do after an interview?...Send the interviewer a thank-you email?</p>
<p>So yea I got a pretty important interview commin up.... in about 14 hours....</p>
<p>I really want to know what kind of penetrating questions is she going to ask me: Where I will be in 25 years? What did you do these past summers? Questions that are going to make me hesitate and think: I should have gone to EPGY instead of that church camp at Clear Lake Iowa...</p>
<p>So any comment, advice or info?</p>
<p>Well, every interviewer is different, but mine didn't give me any hard questions. He just basically asked what I liked to do for fun, what my favorite activity in school was, how I got interested in MIT, that sort of thing. He really let me ask a lot of questions of my own.</p>
<p>I would definitely prepare a couple of questions to ask your interviewer, but not stuff that can be found on the MIT website. Ask her about her experiences at MIT, also if she knows any alumni and how their post-MIT experiences went, that kind of stuff.</p>
<p>Be honest. Don't double guess the interviewer. Have fun! It's not meant to be intimidating.</p>
<p>The only thing I would say to prepare for is a 1-2 minute sound byte about who you are, what you like to do, and why you like MIT to start the conversation off.</p>
<p>according a friend who had his MIT interview not too long ago, your interviewer is going to ask you a couple of generic questions, the sort you can find on college applications. and when you're done talking about those, he'll allow you to ask questions. </p>
<p>so come prepared with some qns.</p>
<p>My interview was a bit more than an hour, but ended only because there was another student who was scheduled to go after me and he was waiting there for 15 minutes (my interviewer arrived about 10 minutes late). We were quite in the middle of the conversation when she realized that it was running late. It would've been nice to keep going, because it was going very well. She appealed to me as almost a peer, with the one exception that she actually HAD an MIT-obtained degree... </p>
<p>The interviewer asked me a good range of questions about my interests and my extra-currics, etc. but mostly it was a conversation back and forth. I must say that I probably asked her the same number of questions she asked me. But she was quite impressed with my academics and clubs etc. She also told me to especially keep in touch and drop her a line whenever anything moderately interesting happens in my life haha. </p>
<p>It was very good overall. I came out of the room (it was my first interview) feeling pretty confident.</p>