Making It into Maryland: A Talk with the Admissions Director:
An excerpt from the Q&A:

Q: How do interviews factor into the process?
A: Interviews are very important. At Maryland, interviews are by invitation only. But once the invitation has been extended, the interview becomes a required part of the application.

Q: How do you decide to whom to extend an invitation?
A: Candidates who present themselves well in their application. Candidates who spark the interest of the admissions committee. The interview is a very good thing at the Smith School because it basically says you've piqued our interest, now continue the sale.

Q: What percent of applicants can expect an interview request?
A: Last year, around 40% to 50% of the applicant pool received an invitation to interview.

Q: And of those, how many people got into the school eventually?
A: Sixty percent.

Q: What types of questions can a person expect on the interview?
A: Why are you interested in the MBA? Why are you interested in the MBA at this point in time in your professional experience? What do you do for fun? Think back on your last performance-review evaluation with your employer. What were the things that your employer said were your strengths? What were the areas that need to be developed? What steps have you taken to develop those areas?

Q: Who does the interviews?
A: There are four professional staff members who interview, and there are 10 [student] admissions ambassadors that facilitate interviews, as well.

For the full version of this Q&A

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Comments from Student 1:
I interviewed with an assistant dean of admissions in her office in the Admissions office. She had thoroughly reviewed my resume, essays, transcript, and letters of recommendation ahead of time. She said that she was so impressed with the materials that she bypassed all of the "standard" questions and focused on one perceived area of weakness. I came to later learn through conversations with other prospects that they had similar experiences during their interviews with Smith.
Interesting questions included:
*How have you used your time while unemployed?
*How can we be assured that your layoffs won't hurt you when looking for internships or full-time work?
*How can you assure a recruiter that your layoffs were an aberration?
*Did you choose not to look for work? Or were you unable to find work?