（一）Thoughts On The MIT Interview 

First and foremost: I am an EC, and EC's don't make admissions decisions. We are just people who once went to MIT (maybe in a time when it was easier to get into MIT than it is now) and have insights into the Institute (or how it was thirty years ago; in our internet age you might know more about it than we do now).

We don't make admissions decisions, but we do send notes on your behalf to the admissions team so they know a bit about what it is like to meet you. We hope this creates an opportunity for a more personal admissions process, that, after all, shouldn't be summed up on a few sheets of paper.

And I get to meet lots of young and interesting people who want to go to MIT. For me, it's a fun and special thing to do, and I really have enjoyed meeting everyone I have had the privilege to interview.

OK, you are probably scheduled for an interview, and would like to prepare. Here is my advice:

You of course know exactly what it is that we are seeking. Gleaned from countless sources now available, you realize we are seeking gifted students with both breadth and depth. We'd like you to be clearly destined for that next breakthough discovery (assisted of course by the double major you'll finish in three years here), but we also hope that you have side interests in archaeology, music, history and, oh yes, almost forgot... of course you are an excellent athlete (...have we told you how many people at MIT play sports?) Then just sprinkle in charm, humor, and, oh yes, leadership skills. You are a leader, aren't you? Well, AREN'T YOU??

Don't fall for it.

Yes, yes, there is a disappointingly low admit rate. Believe me, meeting all of you, it breaks my heart and I believe also breaks the heart of the admissions readers that we can't take a considerably larger number than we do. But the numbers are the numbers.

What we may realize more than you at this point is that the mythical person described above just does not exist. If they did, they would probably be an insufferable bore. Now maybe some of you think I just described you perfectly. If so, you should consider the fact that when I say insufferable bore, I might be talking about you.

Don't let the low admit rate psyche you into packaging yourself. In my opinion, it will work against you. Remember that should you go to this challenging school and become all that we hope you can, that you will have failures along the way, have lulls in your progression, pauses that slow you down but also get you to think, to introspect, and possibly to learn.

In your life so far, you have of course also found things that don't work for you and things you don't like and things that don't like you. Just like the marks in leather, these flaws make you YOU, give you character, make you unique, and bestow on you your humanity. (BTW, the dirtiest secret is that all of us are ourselves quite flawed, and if you appear perfect it is liable just to piss us off.)

So relax when you prepare to meet us, and when you fill out your essays. Preparing is not for now, you have been preparing for seventeen years. Suggesting that you "be yourself" is not a trick just to lower your guard, uncover your flaws, and deny you admission. But lowering your guard might be a good idea. I've talked to lots of candidates - and the ones who are just themselves, who can laugh at their mistakes and struggles, who seem comfortable in their own skin - inevitably show a bit more maturity, and inevitably make the best impression. Just my two cents.

Just be yourself. It's not a trick.

（二）The Interview: 10/20 Approaches

For students applying for early action, the deadline to contact your alumni interviewer (Educational Counselor, or EC) is Friday (October 20). So, if you haven't yet, go on to MyMIT, get your EC's contact info, and make the call today!

Now, what if you're applying for regular action? Well, the deadline isn't until December 1, but I recommend that if you're reading this now, you might as well contact your EC now, while you're thinking of it. And I certainly recommend contacting your EC in the next month, because once Thanksgiving hits, things start to get a little crazy.

If you have already contacted your EC but haven't yet heard back from them, don't worry. Give your EC at least a few days to respond. If you've given your EC reasonable time and haven't heard back, you can either give us a call at 617.253.4791 or drop us an email at interview@mit.edu.

What can you expect from your interview? Well, it should be like a conversation, not like a quiz. You won't get any calculus or Jeopardy-style questions. It will be more along the lines of Tell me about yourself. What do you like to do for fun? Why are you interested in applying to MIT? What might you be interested in studying? Those kinds of questions.

My MIT interview was with an elderly alum, known to me as Mr. Neighbours. He had retired to the town next to mine. I don't remember much from the interview except that it was at his house, which was quite dark, and seemed kinda scary to me. Nevertheless, he was nice if not particularly dynamic. He entered MIT just before the onset of World War II, and his MIT, while having the same values, was quite different from the MIT I would come to know (for example, there were many fewer humanities courses, student activities, and female students).

I don't remember anything about the interview itself. It was interview season, and I was doing one every week or so. But with the 20-20 hindsight of an admissions officer, I suspect that interview helped me quite a bit. At MIT, the interview is an important part of the admissions process. The interview report is often one of the most helpful pieces of the application, since our interviewers ask the questions that we wish we could ask you. It supplies depth to your application, and often serves to amplify the strongest parts of your file.

I remember several of my other interviews. My Dartmouth interviewer was so cool as to make it one of my new top choices (that, combined with a major in geography!). As you know, I ultimately didn't choose Dartmouth, but a nice alumna did make me consider it strongly. An alumnus of another Ivy League institution, on the other hand, asked me what made me special enough to attend his school. That was certainly a turn-off, though really the school is a fine place. So perhaps the lesson for this paragraph is, don't necessarily judge a school by its interviewer.

I did keep up with Mr. Neighbours for a few years after I came to MIT. He was a great resource for me during the college selection process, and ultimately turned out to be a pretty good guy. I hope that you'll also use your EC as a resource during the process and beyond.

The best advice I can give you for the interview is to be yourself. Treat the interview as a conversation, and as an opportunity for MIT to get to know the real you.

（三）Advice On How To Approach Your Interview

Today I am going to offer my advice on how to approach the interview.

First, it is your responsibility to arrange the interview. You should check your MyMIT account to see who your interviewer is and give him or her a call or write him or her an email. You should do this, not one of your parents. While we appreciate that your parents want to help, they should limit themselves to nagging you to do it, and not do it for you (this applies to other elements of your application as well).

Note: If we don't have any alumni in your area and your interview is waived, and you are going to be visiting Cambridge sometime this fall, let the Educational Council office know at and we can connect you with an Educational Counselor (EC) when you are here. If your interview was waived and you are not planning on visiting campus, you can check the site periodically as we do sometimes recruit new ECs through the year who might be able to accommodate your interview.interview@mit.edu

Here are my suggestions on how to prepare for the interview: