How does the MIT interview work? What if you do not get one?

MMIT interviews its applicants through Educational Counselors, alumni volunteers coordinated through the MIT Alumni Association, and the admissions office says there are more than 3,500 of them around the world. That sounds like enough for everyone, and it is not: MIT says plainly that availability is limited and some applicants will not be offered an interview.

Families hear that and worry on two fronts, about what a missing interview does to a file, and about whether their student will be among those left out. MIT has answered the first question directly. The second turns on details of timing that most families learn about only after the window has closed.