[AZK]

Mr. P - You are absolutely right, for most people doing poker would probalby be a bad idea, my personal statement was not entirely Poker, it mostly just served as an intro. to get the reader hooked. I wouldn't say I received several interviews, the first year I applied really late with late MCAT and got 4 interviews and 4 waitlists, I was interviewing in Jan/Feb when most people were interviewing in Sept/Oct, I probably applied to about 20 schools that year.

The 2nd year I applied much earlier and only about 16 schools, I got 4-5 interviews and 3 acceptances, with me canceling the other schools before they had a chance to reply. The 2nd time around was much smoother, my interviews went a lot better and I was more comfortable

mmb- Fim and it's not even close.

Lenny - I applied to maryland (in state) and they put me on hold waiting for my first semester grades from georgetown (I did a masters there) so that took some time, when I finally got my interview (again way late in cycle I think feb.) I was happy but I was already into 2 schools so the pressure of having to go somewhere was off, that being said, I really wanted to go to maryland, I interviewed and had the best interview I have ever had with one guy here who I think is kinda a big deal, it's really the only reason I think I got in, I mean I was a competitive applicant, but nothing really distinguished me from anyone else. This guy and I just clicked and the interview went really really well. I heard back in two weeks. Normally I'm told it takes a month or 2. They normally make a pretty good effort to interview people if they are competitive, and they don't fill their class early, I've always been told that UMD is behind in general compared to other schools in their admissions processes... so don't lose hope. If you get an interview let me know what day and I can come to your interview luncheon (they normally have M1s talk to interviewees). Best of luck.