<p>Hi! Thanks for taking the time to answer my question. About 2 weeks ago, which is around 25th of november, I contacted my EC and asked him when would be the best time to have the interview. he called me from home and because I was in school, he talked to my mom. She tells me my EC was really mad because I had called him to schedule the interview very late, and he had to fill out and actually send the interview forms by december 6th. I dont understand because in the my my.mit account and in the website it says that the deadline to "contact"your interviewer is december 10, so it looks like I wasn't late at all? He said he could have an interview with me althought he was very busy, but I am sad because he has a bad first impression of me. Could anyone clarify this ? Was I really late for calling him or can there be another explanation (bec. I am an international applicant? )</p>
<p>I wouldn’t be surprised if the deadline for international students was earlier, but I don’t actually know.</p>
<p>thanks I checked on that but I could find a notification about a different deadline for int. students and I have indicated while getting my MIT account that I am international and taking the interview in an international country, but it is noted also on my account that the deadline is 10th december. I just don’t understand how this could be possible</p>
<p>aynone else?? pleaase!</p>
<p>Don’t worry. I actually had my interview after the EA contact date, and I am completely okay. Relax, take a deep breath, and just try to schedule your interview.</p>
<p>I think you should maybe explain to your interviewer that you’re not EA? Incase he doesn’t already know?</p>
<p>I have no idea why he would be so freaked.</p>
<p>Deadline for internationals is exactly the same as domestic applicants; December 10. I would know because my interviewer mentioned that in my interview.</p>
<p>well I thought maybe he thinks I am EA however international applicants are not allowed to apply early anyway (I know I would have applied early if I was) . I really dont understand why he did this :S I had my interview today and it went better than I had expected, he didnt make any comments about the situation and I didnt bring it up either but it still doesnt make any sense… Thanks a lot everyone for the help!</p>
<p>Yes, Dec. 10 is the deadline to CONTACT your interviewer for international students.</p>
<p>He’s really being unreasonable if he’s mad because you’re within the deadline set by MIT</p>
<p>I would worry about any “bad impressions” and the like. MIT interviews are not really used like normal college interviews, in that they don’t really care how the applicant performs in the interview situation, but rather, how good a ‘match’ they appear to be for MIT. From what I’ve heard interviewers assign a rating from 1-9 for each applicant based on how good a match for MIT they are perceived to be; then they have to write extended summaries of applicants all supported by evidence, so even if that interviewer was a little annoyed at those date issues, he can’t really inflect any negativity on your summary unless it’s substantiated.</p>
<p>I just have to refute the above statement. </p>
<p>MIT interviews are not like other college interviews in a very subtle way. I’ve done interviews for most of the schools I’m applying to, and MIT was the one that was most focused on results, rather than the process and how I grew. My interviewer thinks I don’t have a shot because I got a C in an extracurricular, summer college class while I had a terrible homelife, which I explained would be included in my app. My UChicago interview was more about my growth via academics and was generally much more friendly. That said, it was probably just my interviewer.</p>
<p>btw, MIT has EC guidebooks, and my interviewer was asking questions that were obviously from there. It seems like MIT has somewhat guided the questions.</p>
<p>^Sorry to hear about that interview experience - sounds very unfair. However, that does not seem at all the norm for MIT interviews, so I daresay you are right in identifying an anomalous interviewer…</p>
<p>As to the EC guidebooks, most interviewers for top colleges get various material given instructions on interviewing, like recommendations of what to ask, what not to ask, and what to write down and submit, so the fact that your interviewer relied on the printed material is not necessarily a bad thing (perhaps the interviewer was new).</p>
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<p>And I think your interviewer is very, very wrong, and I am writing this as a regional chair of the MIT Educational Council. All alumni interviews are tricky in that there are some 2450 of us and maintaining quality control is challenging. Heck, I have several ECs in my (very large) region that I have never met. They are a plane flight away. There is also some churn, I have 6 new EC’s in my region this year. That means for a half dozen interviews in my region this year, I know that the interviewer was as scared as the interviewee.</p>
<p>That being said, overall the MIT Educational counselors are some of the finest people I know. They care deeply about MIT, which I can say, because they are willing to donate tens of hours each year to MIT to assist in the admissions process. For every hour I spend interviewing, I have about three hours writing up an interview report. And I know that the report has to be good, because MIT will grade me on my interview report.</p>
<p>Everyone is looking to find colleges where you feel you can spend the next four years. Your EC will be able to help you with lots of the questions you have about why MIT could be a good choice for you. They are experts in what being a student at MIT is really like because they’ve already done it and they love to talk about what made their MIT experience memorable and why it was ultimately their choice. Overwhelmingly, I receive positive reports back of peoples interview experiences. When I see a rare negative report about any EC, I take it very seriously, and I work hard to try to correct any problem. But there are 2450 of us, and your mileage may vary.</p>
<p>PS: The original poster was right in that the deadline for international applicants is 10 December same as everyone else. However, since one’s international status is determined by your citizenship, I have interviewed “American” applicants who haven’t set foot in the US since they were a couple of weeks old, and “International” applicants who have done almost all of their schooling in the US. So even internationally, there are EA applicants. If I receive a letter in November referencing a November deadline, then I may well presume that the applicant is an EA applicant.</p>
<p>Mikalye, did you ever receive what you asked me for? Because you never replied to me.</p>
<p>No, I didn’t. Did it come via PM? I will send you another PM immediately.</p>