20 Questions

[xdianaax]

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I am putting together an interview with the dean of admissions at Nova. Part of this interview is to ask 20 most commonly asked questions that pre-dents would like answered. I'm willing to take some questions from you guys so that I get a feel for all the different types of questions. If you have a question(s) post it below and I will do my best to include it into the interview. Hopefully it will then be posted as an article on SDN. Thanks!

 

[johntara04]

How are M&M's candy shells put on the chocolate without any imperfections?

I know this has nothing to do in dentistry on its face value, but it is a wonderful interview question, as it makes people think, and tests their creativity. You need these qualities in dentistry, as you need to improvise to get the treatment to work with the patient; ie, a tipped mand 2nd molar with a supra erupted max tooth in the gap where you are trying to put a bridge. There are a lot of ways to fix it, but you need to be creative and use many different techniques to get it to work.

So, if they can come up with a realistic way M&M's get their candy shell without any imperfections, they can probably figure out how to treatment plan when they actually know the techniques.

 

[Nasem]

Heres a question:

"what are your thoughts about the people who keep getting rejected from a specific school, but they keep reapplying.... Im mostly talking about people who are applying for thier 4th and 5th times (etc etc)..."

 

[Regmata]

He probably likes their donation of the application fee...

After the third time, you atleast must admire the applicants tenacity. Although, I would you think you would also question their intelligence for continually trying to do something that rather obviously is not going to happen.

Johntara...why would you have to test the creativity of the dean of nova...I would think that he/she has already proven that they have what it takes to succeed in the field lol

 

[johntara04]

Johntara...why would you have to test the creativity of the dean of nova...I would think that he/she has already proven that they have what it takes to succeed in the field lol

Yeah, after I had typed up my response I realized what I had done. But I had written so much I didn't want to delete it. I guess next time I should take my own advice and read and comprehend the post before I do. 😀

 

[Regmata]

Heh...gotta love when that happens

 

[OceanBlue]

i got two.....
what are you going to do with all that money you made? Can you pay for my tuition if I get in?

 

[xdianaax]

any productive questions?

 

[jim85213]

I would like to know why secondary application fees are so high when they just ask for the same information that is already found in AADSAS. I know that might be considered a "tough question" but I would like to know.

 

[armorshell]

What are dental schools doing about access to care in underserved areas?

Note that I don't neccesarily think this is an awesome question, but it's a nice softball to throw the guy. Use it to balance out a more predatory question. 😀

 

[jim85213]

Use it to balance out a more predatory question. 😀

yeah like mine

 

[shane.]

What comprises an ideal applicant?

A balance between academic perfomance and community service?

What do they look for during interviews?

And to lighten things up...

Say hypothetically someone wanted to buy their way into an instituatin such as Nova. What amount of a donation are we talking here?



Did the dean of admissions already agree to the interview. I think that's pretty cool on his part to offer his time.

😉

 

[xdianaax]

Yeah he already agreed to the interview. It was incredibly nice of him as I'm sure he has a ton of things to do.

 

[boston23]

-What do you like most about Nova (or what about the school makes me most proud)? Do you like working here? Why?
-What do you like least about the school (or what do you wish you could change about it)?


I like asking those types of questions because even though the person has a stock answer memorized, it can give you insight into what the school wants to emphasize (especially about what they're proud of).

 

[I'mFillingFine]

When I was interviewing, I was interested in questions like these:

~What are some dynamics of the faculty-student relationship? Do students always call faculty "Dr. X"? Do faculty attend school social events or just zoom home at 5? Have there ever been cases of favoritism? (These make a huge difference during school.)

~What are some of the clinical requirements needed for graduation?

~What do graduates tend to do after graduating? (private practice, GPR, specialty placement rates, etc.)

~How are the four years organized? How are the academic, preclinic and clinical curricula structured?

~What do students do for fun and balance?

~What scholarships and awards are available?

~What are some of the student organizations and some different ways to get involved?

 

[johntara04]

What are the advantages/disadvantages of allowing students to see patients sooner/later?

Some schools let you do sealants in the first year, others make you pass your Part I boards, others do it in between.

 

[ingemar]

How does the admissions committee view applicants who have applied to medical school in the previous cycle?

 

[UOP_Dentist]

some of the most interesting question i ran into while interview were:

What are your hobbies?

What makes a balance dental student?

What do you believe is more important in a candidate.....grades or experience?

What can you contribute to the community? the dental school? your class?

Why __insert school here___?

Why dentistry?

just from the top of my head.

 

[chrisvocker]

a common one that I've heard is:

What can you bring to <insert school> that will be unique to your entering dental class?