MIT: Master Interview Thread

<p>omgomgomgomgomgom</p>

<p>ZOMGGGG.</p>

<p>my interview is in 3 hrs. PANIC KAS FAS GFADG <em>cries</em> (apparently im not emotionally stable for MIT)</p>

<p>any advice besides being relaxed and happy?</p>

<p>This is from the previous page, but just a note about after the interview:</p>

<p>YES make sure to e-mail your interviewer and thank them! This is also a good time to ask any further questions about MIT or to clarify anything that you guys discussed in the interview (but NOT a time to continue to make your case). It's a nice touch and generally considered the socially correct thing to do, and it lets your interviewer know that you took the interview seriously. Most interviewers will probably tell you to contact them if you have any questions - they actually mean this. My interviewer was extremely nice and willing to find answers for my questions, and she still checks up on me periodically to see how I'm doing.</p>

<p>But seriously, write a note to thank them. You have their e-mail addresses and it takes five minutes, but it's a thoughtful gesture that they will appreciate.</p>

<p>my interview is also in 3 hours ahhhhhh! gluck prime235!</p>

<p>zomgggg.</p>

<p>LESS THAN 1 HOUR AHHHH. ok, relax, relax..../AHHHHAHdf drfas fa .</p>

<p>good luck to you too huliaj</p>

<p>Calm down guys, there are no hard questions on this interview :)</p>

<p>nonchalant interviewer: "what have you done that will 'wow' and amaze me?"
me: <em>sobs</em></p>

<p>
[quote]
nonchalant interviewer: "what have you done that will 'wow' and amaze me?"

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Yeah, nothing like that. Have some hobbies/passions and a reason you want to go to MIT and you should have no problem. My interview was a blast.</p>

<p>Hi, guys,,,
I have a question about what question to ask the interviewer..
Apparently my interviewer is 75+ years old and graduated 55 years ago,,,
Should I ask like how recently did he visit MIT? Is this gonna look like I am challenging his memory or something?</p>

<p>
[quote]
nonchalant interviewer: "what have you done that will 'wow' and amaze me?"

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Ever watch the movie 21? ;)</p>

<p>haha, yup, thats what i was thinking about.</p>

<p>my interviewer was actually really nice and polite. lasted like 1.5 hrs.</p>

<p>but the thing is, it doubt the time really matters. sometimes they keep talking just cause they don't want to be rude and end the interview or something. </p>

<p>so iono. sometimes there were weird silences when I was trying to think, or I didn't articulate myself well. but she also liked some of the stuff I did.</p>

<p>hm, just for the sake of knowing, what would a "bad" be like?</p>

<p>"Bad" might be an interview that lasts 20 minutes and regurgitates only stuff from your application.</p>

<p>I'd say if you liked you liked your interviewer and the interview lasted 1.5 hours it's a good interview.</p>

<p>^Haha, then I guess I had a good interview. :)</p>

<p>
[quote]
"Bad" might be an interview that lasts 20 minutes and regurgitates only stuff from your application.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Yes, but not as you would believe. Remember that EC's do get graded by MIT for the quality of our interview reports. Such as interview is likely to result in a failing interview report, which is more of an issue for the EC, than for their candidates. I do not know for sure, but I might guess that such students would almost be treated as if their interviews had been waived. That being said, it could be a problem for a candidate if the interview report reads "Try as I might to move the conversation in any direction, the candidate refused to do anything but parrot his application back to me."</p>

<p>Just did my interview earlier today. It didn't go too bad. A lot of the things my interviewer said were interesting. We could only talk for an hour, though, since he had to go. Didn't let me get to talk a lot about my participation in a program called People to People, though.</p>

<p>Mikalye,</p>

<p>what do u mean by "parroting his application back to me"?
the EC doesn't even know what's in our application.</p>

<p>
[quote]
the EC doesn't even know what's in our application.

[/quote]

That's of course true, but I have had students who feel a desire to reel off test scores, and grades earned, misconstruing that that is what the interview is about. Although I have never seen the application, I do know that grades and scores are already well covered elsewhere in the application.</p>

<p>For an example of what I mean, look at the overwhelming majority of "chances" threads on this board. Most of them give a lot of evidence to prove that the student is academically well qualified for MIT, but contain nothing that allows anyone to assess the match. Since match is what gets you in, and is what the interview is about, these chances threads are basically useless.</p>

<p>ic what you mean. so by "parroting the application," you mean spitting out meaningless test scores and numbers.</p>

<p>ok, I didn't do that. I just talked about my EC's and stuff. But when you said "application," I'd got worried a bit since EC's are part of the application, and I was thinking maybe there was something else I had to talk about...</p>

<p>How much does missing the interview deadline/not getting an interview affect your app?</p>

<p>^^^not much according to MY perspective. My interview totally sucked, the interviewer just talked about her major-- computer science, all the time; wanted me to do computer science instead of my projected Aerospace major.</p>

<p>BTW i got deferred in the EA round.</p>

<p>I remember seeing a statistic on the MIT website that said admit rate with interview was 17% and without was 9% or so. I think that if you get a good one, it'll put you over someone you're very close to as far as admissions goes that didn't interview.</p>