An Interview Guide for the Busy Pre-Dental Student!
Finals are over. Over, people! Fin! Done! Complete! The last couple
weeks have been pretty rough, but I only managed to have one complete
breakdown so I'm taking that as a win!
Anyway, I am officially on winter break, and I have to say this might be the best winter break of my life. My responsibilities this break boil down to one word: nothing. I am free to do whatever I want. Last winter break I was studying for the DAT for 6-8 hours almost every day and it was not fun. At all. I kinda feel like I didn't really have a Christmas last year and I am more than making up for that this year. I am watching the stupid Christmas movies, baking Christmas cookies, doing an insane amount of online Christmas shopping - I'm doing it up. 'Tis the season!
So with all this spare time, I thought I would write a guide to interviewing. Dental School interviews can be pretty stressful, so it helps to read about it from someone who's already been through the process. Also, a lot of these things are personal opinions. So you can take them or leave them. However, I interviewed at 6 schools and got accepted at all 6, so it's safe to say that I have a pretty good idea of what I'm talking about.
BEFORE THE INTERVIEW:
One thing to point out is that interviewing is extremely expensive, especially when factoring in airplane tickets and hotel rooms. This stuff adds up quickly, so make sure you budget your money wisely before taking on all of this. So, first you're going to want to book your flight and hotel room. Pro-tip: always, always say that you're going to an interview at the dental school when booking a hotel room. More often than not there will be a discount available for you, and it won't be anything to sneeze at. I saved a ton of money this way. (If only this worked for airfare as well.) Another tip: most hotels have a place you can store your luggage when you go to your interview, if you're worried about where to put your luggage during the day. They can check it for you, give you a little tag, and then you can go back to the hotel after your interview to get it.
Sidenote: apparently law schools pay for their students flights and hotel rooms when conducting their interviews. At least some of them do. What? WHAT?! Outrage! Anyway...
Now you're going to want to prepare yourself for the actual interview. Before going to my interview I prepared myself for it, and I prepared hard. I made an interview web that had my name in the middle and everything about myself on the outside connecting to it. My strengths, my weaknesses, why I wanted to become a dentist, what I wanted to do in the future, my hopes, dreams, desires, etc. I'll put a picture of it in case you want to do the same thing. I recommend it, it helped me a lot. If only to organize your ideas into something coherent.
I also researched the school. ALWAYS RESEARCH THE SCHOOL. Come up with three reasons why you want to attend the school. In almost all of my interviews I got asked, "Why (this) school?" And it makes sense, they want to know you're genuinely interested in attending their institution. And no, don't say things like - it's close to home, it's way cheap, or their stats are way lower than other schools so I might actually have a shot here. Please don't. I will cringe.
Example of an answer: "I want to attend the University of Teeth: School of Dentistry because I want to be involved in an institution whose actions match my goals and values. One thing I highly value is community service and I want to stay actively involved with volunteering while in dental school. I would love to be involved in your DBCCP program, Dental Bus for Children with Cat Phobias program. Another thing I'm interested in is continuing my passion for research while in dental school. I saw how you have a research program tailored for blondes interested in dental pulp stem cells which is something I could see myself involved in. Finally, I'm really interested in getting early clinical experience, and I appreciate how your school gets us in the clinic all day, everyday from the very first day. In fact you don't even use textbooks! It's perfect!"
Alright, so maybe not in those exact words, but you have an idea of what I'm talking about. You also want to make sure you have a good "tell me about yourself" answer, because I guarantee that you will have this at one point in time. Usually it's the first thing they ask. You want it to be short and sweet, less than a minute, and you want it to highlight some good things about yourself. I used this format:
a.) What are you currently doing?
*I'm currently a student at (university.) I'm getting my degree in (degree.) I'm really involved on campus in clubs such as (club) and (club). I do research on the side in (subject) and I am currently really interested in (thing.) (If you have an impressive award, or achievement, add that in here somewhere, i.e., "something I'm really proud of is (achievement.")
b.) Add something personal
*Academics aside, I'm really into (personal thing.)
*This allows you to become humanized. They won't remember what your major is, or what club you're president of, but they will remember that you're the theater girl, or you're the guy who loves fly fishing, etc.
c.) Wrap it all up
* I'm really excited to be here right now and be interviewing with you! (Or whatever, something natural, don't force it.
Also important, come up with examples of everything you ever want to say about yourself. If you say you're hard working, you better have an example that shows this. You also need to come up with examples for those "tell me about a time you..." questions. "Tell me about a time you had to deal with a difficult situation." "Tell me about a time you had to deal with an ethical dilemma." "Tell me about a time you displayed leadership." Etc. There's a million of them. Come up with good examples from your life that could work for more than one of these questions.
You will also need an answer for "why dentistry?" Please do not say because you get to be your own boss, make your own hours, and make boatloads of cash. Please don't. Share your personal story, and make it a good one. This shouldn't be any longer than a minute, as well.
Those were my most asked question, but you're going to want to go over basically every question on this webpage: http://www.scahec.net/hcp/ho/dental.pdf They're pretty great questions, and I got asked a lot of them. Prepare, prepare, prepare your answers, I can't say this enough. And practice your answers in front of other people, too. My school allows us to set up mock interviews to practice. See if you could find a family friend or someone else to practice with if your school doesn't offer this option.
Look good! If you look good, you'll feel more confident, trust me. I went a bought a skirt suit (ladies, a skirt or pant suit is fine - there's honestly not a difference between the two, trust me.) I got mine in grey because I think black is for a business meeting or a funeral, but that's just me. I went to JC Penny and got my entire suit for less than $50. I would not suggest wearing a dress with a cardigan. Does it really matter? No. But, I think a suit says you're more serious. Again, this is just my opinion. And another thing, wear pantyhose. Yes, I hate them too. Yes, I think they're the devil reincarnate in nylon, but guess what? They're proper and old-fashioned, which is exactly what most of your interviewers are going to be. So bite that bullet and slide yourself like a sausage into some control-top nightmare tights because it's just the right thing to do. Also, wear flats. You will thank yourself for your flats when you're being taken on a 45 minute tour around the dental school. And they're just as nice looking as heels, so keep the stilettos at home! (And this is coming from someone who loves high heels, LOVES them.) As far as hair and make-up go, I would put on some light makeup with some nice mascara and I would pull my hair half-up and curl the ends. You can wear it straight down too, I think that looks really nice. But don't wear it up. You can if you want, it's not going to make or break your acceptance, but wearing hair down just makes you look more professional, in my opinion! Guys, I would also suggest a grey suit and a nice basic colored tie, either blue or red. I like blue because I think it's a more friendly color. Just my opinion though! You do you. Aaaand that's about it, unless you want to slap on some pantyhose for good measure. Guys have it so easy.
DURING THE INTERVIEW:
What should you bring with you to the interview? Really, you don't need anything. I would always bring a padfolio with my application, my resume, the article I wrote for ASDA and my research paper and how many times did I show this to my interviewer? Zero. Not once. You usually leave everything in the room before going to your interview so it's essentially useless. If you want to bring it though, you can. I just never found it helpful. You can bring floss, or mints with you, as well, but I really didn't use either or these things, either.
The most important tip of all: you have to relax. I bet you are so sick of hearing this and you basically want to scream in my face right now. "Relax?! How am I supposed to relax?! THIS IS MY FUTURE." Yes, I understand this. But this is what happens when you're nervous: you make the interviewer nervous. It's uncomfortable and it's not good. It's okay to stumble over your words a bit and for your hand shake to be slightly...dewy. (Ew.) But it's not okay to be so out-of-your-head nervous that you can't concentrate on anything your saying and you start sentences before fully thinking them out and they go nowhere and you're basically losing yourself. You are so smart. Really! You are! You deserve this interview! All you need to do at the interview is show them that you are a human being. Show them that you can be a genuine, caring, nice human. Because that's what is going to make or break you as a dentist. Everyone is going to graduate dental school with the skills necessary to be a dentist - but not everyone is going to graduate with the people skills and bed-side manor appropriate for a dentist. Be nice, be thankful, and be humble. Just be you!
AFTER THE INTERVIEW:
After the interview (no, you're obligations aren't over yet) you're going to want to send a thank-you card. Apparently this gets mixed reviews on the good 'ol Student Doctor Network, but I think it's a good thing to do. This school picked you, out an applicant pool of thousands, to invite to their school. If that doesn't call for a simple thank-you card, then I don't know what does. They fed you, they took the time out of their schedule to talk to you, and they really genuinely have an interest in you. So I would buy a pack of thank-you cards, and write out a personal message for each school that interviews you thanking them for their time. Also include something personal, like "I really enjoyed getting to use your DentSim lab," or "the chicken salad sandwich from your deli was delicious!" Show them that you care, because they showed this to you.
Immediately after the interview save some time to enjoy the city you're in! Go sight-seeing, eat out at a great local restaurant. How often are you going to spend 6 months traveling the country and going to cities you never thought you'd visit? I know this is easier said than done, as some/most of you are students and have academic obligations, but for those of you that have time to relax, use it!
So you've finished all your interviews, and now you just have to wait for that acceptance. (Maybe this is the hardest part of all?) One last tip for you: stop over thinking everything you said. You could run these conversations through your mind until the cows come home, and it won't change a single thing. Instead, let it go. What's done is done and you have to give yourself a break. When you find yourself having these destructive thoughts, just shut them down and move on to something constructive. You'll thank me when it's all said and done.
Hope this helps! And if anyone has any questions, please leave a comment. Or if you have interview tips yourself, please share! I plan on writing about each one of my interviews in more detail and in an anecdotal way. Good luck to all of you with future interviews!
Until next time,
PJ
Anyway, I am officially on winter break, and I have to say this might be the best winter break of my life. My responsibilities this break boil down to one word: nothing. I am free to do whatever I want. Last winter break I was studying for the DAT for 6-8 hours almost every day and it was not fun. At all. I kinda feel like I didn't really have a Christmas last year and I am more than making up for that this year. I am watching the stupid Christmas movies, baking Christmas cookies, doing an insane amount of online Christmas shopping - I'm doing it up. 'Tis the season!
So with all this spare time, I thought I would write a guide to interviewing. Dental School interviews can be pretty stressful, so it helps to read about it from someone who's already been through the process. Also, a lot of these things are personal opinions. So you can take them or leave them. However, I interviewed at 6 schools and got accepted at all 6, so it's safe to say that I have a pretty good idea of what I'm talking about.
BEFORE THE INTERVIEW:
One thing to point out is that interviewing is extremely expensive, especially when factoring in airplane tickets and hotel rooms. This stuff adds up quickly, so make sure you budget your money wisely before taking on all of this. So, first you're going to want to book your flight and hotel room. Pro-tip: always, always say that you're going to an interview at the dental school when booking a hotel room. More often than not there will be a discount available for you, and it won't be anything to sneeze at. I saved a ton of money this way. (If only this worked for airfare as well.) Another tip: most hotels have a place you can store your luggage when you go to your interview, if you're worried about where to put your luggage during the day. They can check it for you, give you a little tag, and then you can go back to the hotel after your interview to get it.
Sidenote: apparently law schools pay for their students flights and hotel rooms when conducting their interviews. At least some of them do. What? WHAT?! Outrage! Anyway...
Now you're going to want to prepare yourself for the actual interview. Before going to my interview I prepared myself for it, and I prepared hard. I made an interview web that had my name in the middle and everything about myself on the outside connecting to it. My strengths, my weaknesses, why I wanted to become a dentist, what I wanted to do in the future, my hopes, dreams, desires, etc. I'll put a picture of it in case you want to do the same thing. I recommend it, it helped me a lot. If only to organize your ideas into something coherent.
 |
| My interview web of "Me." |
I also researched the school. ALWAYS RESEARCH THE SCHOOL. Come up with three reasons why you want to attend the school. In almost all of my interviews I got asked, "Why (this) school?" And it makes sense, they want to know you're genuinely interested in attending their institution. And no, don't say things like - it's close to home, it's way cheap, or their stats are way lower than other schools so I might actually have a shot here. Please don't. I will cringe.
Example of an answer: "I want to attend the University of Teeth: School of Dentistry because I want to be involved in an institution whose actions match my goals and values. One thing I highly value is community service and I want to stay actively involved with volunteering while in dental school. I would love to be involved in your DBCCP program, Dental Bus for Children with Cat Phobias program. Another thing I'm interested in is continuing my passion for research while in dental school. I saw how you have a research program tailored for blondes interested in dental pulp stem cells which is something I could see myself involved in. Finally, I'm really interested in getting early clinical experience, and I appreciate how your school gets us in the clinic all day, everyday from the very first day. In fact you don't even use textbooks! It's perfect!"
Alright, so maybe not in those exact words, but you have an idea of what I'm talking about. You also want to make sure you have a good "tell me about yourself" answer, because I guarantee that you will have this at one point in time. Usually it's the first thing they ask. You want it to be short and sweet, less than a minute, and you want it to highlight some good things about yourself. I used this format:
a.) What are you currently doing?
*I'm currently a student at (university.) I'm getting my degree in (degree.) I'm really involved on campus in clubs such as (club) and (club). I do research on the side in (subject) and I am currently really interested in (thing.) (If you have an impressive award, or achievement, add that in here somewhere, i.e., "something I'm really proud of is (achievement.")
b.) Add something personal
*Academics aside, I'm really into (personal thing.)
*This allows you to become humanized. They won't remember what your major is, or what club you're president of, but they will remember that you're the theater girl, or you're the guy who loves fly fishing, etc.
c.) Wrap it all up
* I'm really excited to be here right now and be interviewing with you! (Or whatever, something natural, don't force it.
Also important, come up with examples of everything you ever want to say about yourself. If you say you're hard working, you better have an example that shows this. You also need to come up with examples for those "tell me about a time you..." questions. "Tell me about a time you had to deal with a difficult situation." "Tell me about a time you had to deal with an ethical dilemma." "Tell me about a time you displayed leadership." Etc. There's a million of them. Come up with good examples from your life that could work for more than one of these questions.
You will also need an answer for "why dentistry?" Please do not say because you get to be your own boss, make your own hours, and make boatloads of cash. Please don't. Share your personal story, and make it a good one. This shouldn't be any longer than a minute, as well.
 |
| "I just love inflicting pain on people!" - Is probably something you want to keep to yourself. |
Those were my most asked question, but you're going to want to go over basically every question on this webpage: http://www.scahec.net/hcp/ho/dental.pdf They're pretty great questions, and I got asked a lot of them. Prepare, prepare, prepare your answers, I can't say this enough. And practice your answers in front of other people, too. My school allows us to set up mock interviews to practice. See if you could find a family friend or someone else to practice with if your school doesn't offer this option.
Look good! If you look good, you'll feel more confident, trust me. I went a bought a skirt suit (ladies, a skirt or pant suit is fine - there's honestly not a difference between the two, trust me.) I got mine in grey because I think black is for a business meeting or a funeral, but that's just me. I went to JC Penny and got my entire suit for less than $50. I would not suggest wearing a dress with a cardigan. Does it really matter? No. But, I think a suit says you're more serious. Again, this is just my opinion. And another thing, wear pantyhose. Yes, I hate them too. Yes, I think they're the devil reincarnate in nylon, but guess what? They're proper and old-fashioned, which is exactly what most of your interviewers are going to be. So bite that bullet and slide yourself like a sausage into some control-top nightmare tights because it's just the right thing to do. Also, wear flats. You will thank yourself for your flats when you're being taken on a 45 minute tour around the dental school. And they're just as nice looking as heels, so keep the stilettos at home! (And this is coming from someone who loves high heels, LOVES them.) As far as hair and make-up go, I would put on some light makeup with some nice mascara and I would pull my hair half-up and curl the ends. You can wear it straight down too, I think that looks really nice. But don't wear it up. You can if you want, it's not going to make or break your acceptance, but wearing hair down just makes you look more professional, in my opinion! Guys, I would also suggest a grey suit and a nice basic colored tie, either blue or red. I like blue because I think it's a more friendly color. Just my opinion though! You do you. Aaaand that's about it, unless you want to slap on some pantyhose for good measure. Guys have it so easy.
 |
| This might be a little much. But I'm sure you'd still get in. |
DURING THE INTERVIEW:
What should you bring with you to the interview? Really, you don't need anything. I would always bring a padfolio with my application, my resume, the article I wrote for ASDA and my research paper and how many times did I show this to my interviewer? Zero. Not once. You usually leave everything in the room before going to your interview so it's essentially useless. If you want to bring it though, you can. I just never found it helpful. You can bring floss, or mints with you, as well, but I really didn't use either or these things, either.
The most important tip of all: you have to relax. I bet you are so sick of hearing this and you basically want to scream in my face right now. "Relax?! How am I supposed to relax?! THIS IS MY FUTURE." Yes, I understand this. But this is what happens when you're nervous: you make the interviewer nervous. It's uncomfortable and it's not good. It's okay to stumble over your words a bit and for your hand shake to be slightly...dewy. (Ew.) But it's not okay to be so out-of-your-head nervous that you can't concentrate on anything your saying and you start sentences before fully thinking them out and they go nowhere and you're basically losing yourself. You are so smart. Really! You are! You deserve this interview! All you need to do at the interview is show them that you are a human being. Show them that you can be a genuine, caring, nice human. Because that's what is going to make or break you as a dentist. Everyone is going to graduate dental school with the skills necessary to be a dentist - but not everyone is going to graduate with the people skills and bed-side manor appropriate for a dentist. Be nice, be thankful, and be humble. Just be you!
AFTER THE INTERVIEW:
After the interview (no, you're obligations aren't over yet) you're going to want to send a thank-you card. Apparently this gets mixed reviews on the good 'ol Student Doctor Network, but I think it's a good thing to do. This school picked you, out an applicant pool of thousands, to invite to their school. If that doesn't call for a simple thank-you card, then I don't know what does. They fed you, they took the time out of their schedule to talk to you, and they really genuinely have an interest in you. So I would buy a pack of thank-you cards, and write out a personal message for each school that interviews you thanking them for their time. Also include something personal, like "I really enjoyed getting to use your DentSim lab," or "the chicken salad sandwich from your deli was delicious!" Show them that you care, because they showed this to you.
Immediately after the interview save some time to enjoy the city you're in! Go sight-seeing, eat out at a great local restaurant. How often are you going to spend 6 months traveling the country and going to cities you never thought you'd visit? I know this is easier said than done, as some/most of you are students and have academic obligations, but for those of you that have time to relax, use it!
So you've finished all your interviews, and now you just have to wait for that acceptance. (Maybe this is the hardest part of all?) One last tip for you: stop over thinking everything you said. You could run these conversations through your mind until the cows come home, and it won't change a single thing. Instead, let it go. What's done is done and you have to give yourself a break. When you find yourself having these destructive thoughts, just shut them down and move on to something constructive. You'll thank me when it's all said and done.
Hope this helps! And if anyone has any questions, please leave a comment. Or if you have interview tips yourself, please share! I plan on writing about each one of my interviews in more detail and in an anecdotal way. Good luck to all of you with future interviews!
Until next time,
PJ
Thanks for taking time to share your knowledge with us. Looking forward to more such posts in future.
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