Student Stories – Josh’s Dental School Interview Experience

Meet Josh Calder, a first year dental student at the Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry at the University of the Pacific. Josh has generously offered to share some insights from his dental school interviews!

What type of interviews did you have? (traditional, MMI, etc.)

The dental school interviews that I had were mostly traditional, although I did have one that followed an MMI format. For the more formal ones, I was generally assigned two 20-30 minute faculty interview sessions that took place with either a single faculty member or a pair of faculty members. These were very conversational, although there were specific questions that were asked. Most of these faculty interviews were followed by some sort of student interview, most of which seemed slightly less structured than the faculty interviews.

What most intimidated you while you were preparing?

I was intimidated the most by not knowing what to expect. I didn’t know what questions were going to be asked, and I was worried about trying to answer questions the ‘right’ way. Each program has a different interview process, so I felt intimidated because I didn’t feel like I knew how to prepare for them.

How did you deal with your nerves on your interview day?

Before each interview, I took a minute to take a few deep breaths, and I reminded myself that the interviewers aren’t out to get me – they just want to get to know me and see how I think. The fact that I am in an interview means that I am good enough to qualify academically for the program. I reminded myself to just be myself and then stood up straight to help me feel more confident.

What tips do you have on being a clear communicator?

Try not to babble! It is much better to give a thoughtful, well-formulated response than it is to start talking and hope that the right words come out eventually. It is totally okay to say “Can I have a moment to think about that?” and then take 20-30 seconds to pull your thoughts together before you answer.

Also, work on body language! A smile goes a long way. Sit with good posture and make eye contact with each person as they are speaking.

What advice would you give to someone preparing for their interview?

Make sure that you do your research on each program you are interviewing for. Take a couple of hours to browse through their website and make notes on the aspects of their program that are unique – being able to bring these up or ask about them can help show an admissions committee that you are actually interested in their program.

Remember that these programs are looking for potential future doctors; embrace that and act and speak respectfully and maturely.

Also, don’t fixate too much on preparing an answer for every possible question that you have every heard of being asked in an interview; just be yourself and don’t stress too much. And be friendly! Talking to students, faculty, and staff will give you a good idea of what a program is like, so don’t miss out on an opportunity to meet someone.