Another Ortho Residency Question

[Twang77]

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So it seems clear that being accepted into a program is never a certainty, and often requires having a bit of luck, family members in the field, connections, etc....

What I'm curious about is some feedback from residents who were in a sense "flying solo" ie simply worked hard in dental school, did research, had a great rank, but didn't have any connections in the field, friends at other schools, and so forth.

Do you have any advice for someone like me? I'd like to think I have a friendly personality and could fit into a lot of programs but you never know what they are looking for.

Do you see a lot of hard workers w/ great stats and friendly personalities not getting accepted? If so, any main reason for this? What could these type of applicants do differently? I feel that sucking up can seem in-genuine and is easy to spot, any comments on this?

I know this is a pretty vague post but any feedback would be appreciated! In that weird time right now before applying where everything appears uncertain. I've gained a lot from other posts on SDN so thank you in advance!

 

[gracin525]

So it seems clear that being accepted into a program is never a certainty, and often requires having a bit of luck, family members in the field, connections, etc....

What I'm curious about is some feedback from residents who were in a sense "flying solo" ie simply worked hard in dental school, did research, had a great rank, but didn't have any connections in the field, friends at other schools, and so forth.

Do you have any advice for someone like me? I'd like to think I have a friendly personality and could fit into a lot of programs but you never know what they are looking for.

Do you see a lot of hard workers w/ great stats and friendly personalities not getting accepted? If so, any main reason for this? What could these type of applicants do differently? I feel that sucking up can seem in-genuine and is easy to spot, any comments on this?

I know this is a pretty vague post but any feedback would be appreciated! In that weird time right now before applying where everything appears uncertain. I've gained a lot from other posts on SDN so thank you in advance!

Hey there! I think I'm one of those...friendly people with no "ins" anywhere. I worked really hard through my dental career and ended up matching this year 🙂 Neither of my parents went to college, let alone are orthodontists...not a single person in my family is an orthodontist or knows anyone who is...and they are not rich so they cannot donate!

I would say there are a lot of schools who don't give a sh** about who you are if they don't know you or they haven't seen money coming from your family. There are a bunch of schools that DO care though about what the actual person is like (Oregon, Baylor, Rochester, Detroit, Tufts, Saint Louis, Colorado, Nova, to name a few). I stuck to my guns and I didn't do any sucking up and it worked out well for me

 

[gryffindor]

You need a "hook." Something that will make you be remembered out of all the other people with friendly personalities who are also interviewing.

Hooks include running marathons, playing an instrument, golf, rock climbing, doing a mission trip or 4, being from Harvard dental school, growing up a Duggar or Honey BooBoo, etc. Hooks don't have to be something you are currently doing. It could be things from your past like being a Division 1 athlete in college or that year you spent in the Peace Corp.

For some reason, programs (especially the residents) loved asking the question "What are your hobbies?" They think that it is very important that you have hobbies and interests beyond school to create the idyllic group of co-residents. They also like to ask where else you are interviewing and then create judgements based on your answer. Be able to come up with reasons to overcome such judgements. I remember encountering the assumption that if you are from a certain part of the country, you will be less enthused about moving to a different geographic location even if you take the time and effort to come interview there.

You need to be able to win the group over and be remembered as the popular one to have the best chance of getting ranked high.

Don't do stupid things like show up to an interview in Boston and make a comment about how you don't really want to leave California. Or talk uber confidently about how you are a shoe-in at the program you are interviewing at because of XYZ reason and that's why you didn't even bother to apply to other places. I saw both of these scenarios not end well for the people involved.

I have known many hard workers with friendly personalities and good stats including myself not get accepted on their first try likely because we didn't stand out in the crowd. Everyone who wanted to get in eventually did get in. Of course now with a glut of new programs opening all the time, getting in isn't as hard as it used to be when it was only legacy programs out there.

 

[PedsDMD]

You need a "hook." Something that will make you be remembered out of all the other people with friendly personalities who are also interviewing.

I have no interest in ortho but I found your post VERY helpful. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts.

 

[Twang77]

Great info!!!!

 

[Twang77]

I see where you're coming from on the "hook" thing. People naturally want to be around interesting people so that makes sense.

 

[west coast1]

I see where you're coming from on the "hook" thing. People naturally want to be around interesting people so that makes sense.

http://youtu.be/fYdwe3ArFWA

 

[gryffindor]

http://youtu.be/fYdwe3ArFWA

Yes, he would be the most popular ortho applicant at the interview. No doubt.

 

[west coast1]

Yes, he would be the most popular ortho applicant at the interview. No doubt.

Hey, by the way, that was really good information with the "hook" advice. That makes a lot of sense. Thanks for sharing