QuantumArbiter

Ok, if my interviewer asks why I'm interested in physics, I'm kinda unsure about how to respond.
My interest stemmed from religious reasons (Vedic knowledge explains how the world works)...but in contemporary world, physics actually explains how the world works, etc etc.

But I'm afraid if my interviewer asks exactly what the Vedas say about the world....I don't feel comfortable explaining religious stuff to strangers, and I'm not sure if he'd acknowledge religious beliefs.....i've heard scientists are very atheistic....and its MIT...
I'm applying to MIT because its liberal, and MIT would acknowledge religious values...but I'm not sure how this specific interviewer would feel.

What should I do?

oasis

You're totally overthinking it. Don't worry!

My interviewer asked me why I wanted to be a chemical engineer (yes, that was back in the day when I wanted to be course X cuz i thought "chemical engineering" sounds cool), and I pretty much said I don't know. This is pretty much what I said, "Well, I've taken a lot of chemistry in high school and I find the subject area quite fascinating and I like how everything is very logical. However, at this point I must admit that I don't know too much about chemical engineering and I would like to explore this in greater detail once I get to MIT." And that was it! Don't worry, no one is trying to "get you."

I highly doubt that your interviewer will ask you about the Vedas in an interrogational manner. More than anything else, they probably will be more curious than trying to confront your beliefs. Interviews are, more than anything, a conversation between you and the EC - it's not a test!

Good luck! :]

QuantumArbiter

Oh...so he really won't like try to...

Its just that I had a bad experience with an interview before...the interviewer made me look like a joke, and I ended up in tears quietly after it was done...

cgar514

Just be yourself. I don't think the interview does a whole lot. One interviewer from another school told me that he doesn't think they do much.

LongPrime

How much emphasis/weighting does MIT put on undergrad interviews prior to application or after application?

1moremom

MIT is not looking for undergrads who have all the answers; they are looking for students who are curious and ask interesting questions. Relax and be yourself and you'll be fine. I think for my son his MIT interview was the least stressful because it was easy for him to connect with the interviewer, unlike his interviews with less tech-oriented schools.

swenson

I was really stressed about my interview, too, but it went really smoothly- just calm down, they aren't going to grill you or anything. My interviewer was extremely cool about the whole thing, even when I started babbling on and on, and just sort of asked general questions and gave me plenty of time to explain myself.

So don't feel worried about having to explain yourself- they want to know about all sides of you, not just what your application says. If your faith is/was important to you, they want to know that too.

megmno

My DS had his interview a couple of weeks ago and it went really well. The interviewers are looking for students who are intellectually curious. Since the interviewers are alumni (i.e. ex-students) they are usually very intellectually curious themselves, so they may find your views fascinating. (They sound very interesting to me!)