<p>So,,,,,,,
I had my interview today and I prepared really well for it.
I researched and practiced with my counselor.
But when I arrive, he just takes a look at my grades and says, this is good.
and that was it!
he didn't ask any questions, and just asked me if I had any questions for him.
So I asked a few but not very specific ones because he's from Sloan and I want to major in engineering.</p>
<p>So that took up 40 minutes and we were done!</p>
<p>Is this what usually happens?
because I prepared for questions like why mit or why this...
I just thought it was very odd...
what do you guys think?</p>
<p>I don’t know about anyone else but this is a very different interview experience than what I had with my EC. Only once was my grades/intelligence mentioned, and that was when he asked me about my rank. Upon hearing of my rank (not boasting but I’m 1/617), he told me that it would be a waste of time for the interview to focus any more on grades since that is clearly not an issue or a topic that would help in the interview.
He instead went on to ask me a lot of questions about my extra-curriculars, and spent the rest of the time evaluating my personality and character, instead of my grades. He told me everyone who applies to MIT is going to have good if not great forms of academic achievements, so he’d rather focus on what makes me unique outside of class.
It took around an hours, maybe an hour and 15 minutes to complete the interview.
I did ask a lot of questions, some prepared, and some that came up as the interview went along. But for the most part the interview was him asking me questions about my life and taking notes.
This is certainly odd and unexpected…</p>
<p>yeah, he looked at my grades once at the beginning of the interview an put it aside
but we just talked about random stuff. He kept talking about how the weather is really cold and stuff.</p>
<p>mine interviewed me twice, asking very personal questions trying to throw me off and then compared my answers to the second time he asked the questions. The second time was also masked, he asked them in a different way. Then he quizzed me on the current problems in Zimbabwe. And your complaining about your interview…</p>
<p>This interview also took place at like 9:30 pm at his house… he was cooking as the interview took place. He also yelled at his son at one point…
Oh and his wife… she sat in front of a tv, never saying the slightest word.</p>
<p>It just seemed weird and… I don’t know, I am little dissapointed that I didnt have a chance to present myself. I wouldn’t have wanted a difficult interview but I didn’t want an interview like this either…</p>
<p>when we were talking, he was saying how MIT was something irreplaceable and how he still remembers it after 30 years. He was very kind but not questioning exactly</p>
<p>My son also had a rather bizarre interview. Don’t want to go into the specifics at this point until the EA decisions come out. Then we may contact the admissions and let them know. My impression was that this EC did not seem to have access to internet at home, just asked his list of questions and was done in 30 minutes.</p>
<p>I’ve never been an interviewer, but this sounds fun. </p>
<p>I’ll have to think about this. How about this: Have an interview at your home, and have someone else there that you don’t acknowledge at all. Act like you don’t see them. Have your imaginary person ask random questions to your interviewee once in awhile and then look at your interviewee like they are nuts for answering.</p>
<p>Wow, and I thought I was the only one with an odd interview. I’ve had four interviews so far, and the MIT one sucked the most by far. The first question this guy asks me is what my intended major is. I tell him and then he asks, “So what’s the name of the dean in that department?” I’m clueless. He follows with, “Name the three members of that department who’ve won the Noble Prize.” Again, I’m clueless. This goes on for 45 minutes and then he tells me that I shouldn’t get my hopes up. As I’m leaving he tells me this, “Son, maybe for your next interview you should prepare a little better.” As I left his office, the only thing I could think was “I sure regret applying to MIT.” The sad thing is that I did know a lot aboutt MIT. I’ve been there twice. I have a cousin who graduated from there recently and we’re close. I just didn’t bother learning the names of deans or prize winners.</p>
<p>Old College Try you’ve GOT to be kidding. That sounds so ridiculous its actually pretty funny. I thought the interview was about the applicant, not the dean of the department you’re majoring in.</p>
<p>OCT and others: Don’t get yourself all depressed. I suspect that at MIT and at other large universities the interview carries little weight in the admissions decision. A friend of mine is a Yalie and interviews prospies like you and has done so for a few years. No matter what he says about the prospie (good or bad), the prospie he interviewed has gotten rejected, not because my friend has bad judgement (Yale keeps asking him to do interviewes) but because Yale has a <10% acceptance rate. At my kid’s high school, some admissions heads from big schools said that the interview was barely counted in the admissions decision. Some schools (Williams) won’t even do interviews. However, some schools (usually small LACs) say the interview is important because they are looking for a good “fit”. For MIT, I suspect that your grades and SAT scores are all that are important to make a good “fit”. 35 years ago, my grades and SAT scores were great, but I suspect that my essay was lousy. I have no memory of my interview except that it was at 5PM in the office of a tobacco executive (an MIT grad but clearly not then a scientist). MIT wants great future scientists and analytical thinkers, not great speakers. Your interviewer was 50+ years old with a great deal of life experience. You are only 17. You cannot possibly be expected to know everything about MIT (like department heads, etc.) for an interview. After all, your interview was not a presidential candidate’s debate. If your application is already in, just sit back and wait for the decision. If you don’t get into MIT you will flourish elsewhere. If your application is not yet in, get it in. The marginal cost is nothing, and you might get in.</p>
<p>@Old College Try: HARSH. I really don’t think that’s how an interview is supposed to go. </p>
<p>A few odd things happened at my interview. First, I saw my awesome former English teacher at Borders (where I had my interview). We chatted for about a half hour because my interviewer was late (totally legit reason- no harm done ). Then, I chatted with another (very nervous!) kid who was going to be interviewed after I was. As for the interview, it went well. I could really connect with the interviewer, and I enjoyed myself. I got to talk about all of my favorite activities, and I only had one blunder. I kind of had a brain fart on the “What do you think of when you think of MIT” question (ARRGGHH!). Nevertheless, I still walked away from it with a feeling of accomplishment. :)</p>
<p>Wow, I feel lucky. My interview was really laid back and we talked about random things… I found out that my interviewer’s old chem teacher/lab mentor was the same person as one of my lab mentors this past summer so we just talked about research and funny stories that happened in the lab… like homemade contact explosives</p>
I don’t think this is true of MIT, though I certainly do believe this of other schools. (Brown, for instance - I totally blew off their interview because I had gotten into MIT already. They accepted me anyway.)</p>
<p>The silver lining of my experience was that I have been much better prepared for my other interviews. I learn the names of the school president, dean of my department, etc. (though I was never asked those questions again). In my last two interviews, both people told me they were impressed with how much I knew about the school, so in hindsight maybe the complete beat down I took made me a better interviewee.</p>
<p>guh, my interview was kind of weird too, the ec made me felt dumb lol, a lot of random questions, there was one that was what old college try was asked, except he asked me to name us presidents that won nobel peace…anyways, the conversion ended on how google filters porn…yeah…= =</p>
<p>ugh… that sucks. My interview went really well. My interviewer works for Vanguard which just happened to be the company that runs the mutual fund that my family invests a lot of its money in, so we talked about the stock market and economic stuff for a while.</p>
<p>Well, I swear… my interview lasted like, 15~20 minutes. My questions were on what I wanted to major in; what other colleges I was applying to; and how I was planning to pay for college. D:</p>
). Then, I chatted with another (very nervous!) kid who was going to be interviewed after I was. As for the interview, it went well. I could really connect with the interviewer, and I enjoyed myself. I got to talk about all of my favorite activities, and I only had one blunder. I kind of had a brain fart on the “What do you think of when you think of MIT” question (ARRGGHH!). Nevertheless, I still walked away from it with a feeling of accomplishment. :)</p>