Dental students sitting on the admissions committees?

[grinningrice]

Just curious what you guys all thought about dental students sitting on the admissions committees at dental schools. WHen i was at U of L they talked about how they have a few students on the admissions commitee. We were sitting there eating lunch with a few students and one student stood up and said, a few of us are on the admissions committee, so if there is anything you want to apoligize for saying, it would be advisable to say it now. I wonder how smart of a move that really is, what is your opinion?

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[KY2007]

Just curious what you guys all thought about dental students sitting on the admissions committees at dental schools. WHen i was at U of L they talked about how they have a few students on the admissions commitee. We were sitting there eating lunch with a few students and one student stood up and said, a few of us are on the admissions committee, so if there is anything you want to apoligize for saying, it would be advisable to say it now. I wonder how smart of a move that really is, what is your opinion?

Don't worry about offending students sitting on the admission commitee. Since when did faculty care about what students have to say.

 

[grinningrice]

Don't worry about offending students sitting on the admission commitee. Since when did faculty care about what students have to say.

I was contemplating starting this thread cuz I did not want to offend anyone, but hey, Im gonna be a dental student too. I just think that sometimes, dental students may not have the experiance and the knowledge to pick students. People on the admissions comittees are professors and counslers with alot of degrees and expierance with picking students, something that some dental students lack.

 

[airvent]

I was contemplating starting this thread cuz I did not want to offend anyone, but hey, Im gonna be a dental student too. I just think that sometimes, dental students may not have the experiance and the knowledge to pick students. People on the admissions comittees are professors and counslers with alot of degrees and expierance with picking students, something that some dental students lack.

I agree. I really don't see the point of having students on the committee. They lack experience, insight, and in some cases maturity. Imagine SDNers arguing about which school is better, whose motives are sincere, prestige,etc then have them assess you qualifications. At one interview I was talking to a student on the committee and I felt like I was talking to my niece in high school.

 

[wimmcs]

Actually I did the hiring (staffing) for several big companies (including Honeywell) for a number of years, so I know a lot about recruiting and selection. I would love to participate as a student interviewer and hope to get to do it.
I think that a student may be more perceptive to see if the candidate they are interviewing may be a good "fit". I think that is the main reason why some schools use student interviewers. I would hope that schools chose carefully who these students interviewers are and that they get some training on this. I know my friend at Louisville said the school choses carefully who they want as interviewers, so I'm surprised by what the OP said.
I only had one student interviewer in all my interviews and she was accompanied by a staff memeber, so she wasn't all by herself. I felt her questions were very well put together and when I asked her something, she was very articulate and very receptive to what I was saying. Overall I was impressed by the "caliber" of student she was and enjoyed her having as student interviewer. Actually at Louisville, both my interviewers were extremely tough, both started questioning all my "flaws" right away, but since I was already accepted at at couple of schools at the time of my interview, I didn't mind answering "straight up" and being assertive with my answers, so I had a sort of confidence that I believe I would lack had I not been accepted already. I also strongly believe this "confidence" I possessed during my interview got my an acceptance, I truly believe so. Sorry to get off tangent...

 

[aphistis]

Actually I did the hiring (staffing) for several big companies (including Honeywell) for a number of years, so I know a lot about recruiting and selection. I would love to participate as a student interviewer and hope to get to do it.
I think that a student may be more perceptive to see if the candidate they are interviewing may be a good "fit". I think that is the main reason why some schools use student interviewers. I would hope that schools chose carefully who these students interviewers are and that they get some training on this. I know my friend at Louisville said the school choses carefully who they want as interviewers, so I'm surprised by what the OP said.
I only had one student interviewer in all my interviews and she was accompanied by a staff memeber, so she wasn't all by herself. I felt her questions were very well put together and when I asked her something, she was very articulate and very receptive to what I was saying. Overall I was impressed by the "caliber" of student she was and enjoyed her having as student interviewer. Actually at Louisville, both my interviewers were extremely tough, both started questioning all my "flaws" right away, but since I was already accepted at at couple of schools at the time of my interview, I didn't mind answering "straight up" and being assertive with my answers, so I had a sort of confidence that I believe I would lack had I not been accepted already. I also strongly believe this "confidence" I possessed during my interview got my an acceptance, I truly believe so. Sorry to get off tangent...

I participated in admissions interviews last year, and really enjoyed the experience. I don't have time to do it this year, but I'm hoping to get involved again next cycle. The biggest contribution you can make on interview panels is answering the applicant's questions from a student's perspective to give them a real answer, rather than a professor's, which is often too far removed from student life to be helpful.

 

[drat]

. We were sitting there eating lunch with a few students and one student stood up and said, a few of us are on the admissions committee, so if there is anything you want to apoligize for saying, it would be advisable to say it now. I wonder how smart of a move that really is, what is your opinion?

I don't have a problem with students serving on ADCOMs, assuming they are mature, open-minded, considerate, etc. people. I do, however, think it's terrible to have students on ADCOMs "planted" and talking to interviewees who aren't aware they represent ADCOMs. The best part of the Interview Day is when you get to eat lunch/tour with the students and ask them whatever you want. Their answers tend to be less "canned" and seemingly more genuine.

 

[DrTacoElf]

I think students on adcoms can either be good or bad. What you don't want is a student with a powertrip or a grudge on the committee. I ran into this at VCU and the guy just kept badgering me about how my switch from medical to dental was not valid even though I gave tons of reasons -- in depth. He was like say what you want but come 3rd year you will be sorry and want to be an MD. "its a status thing man - everyone wants an MD" Which so totally isn't the case for me. I think he was simply expressing his desire for the MD degree

 

[The Godfather]

I had several student interviewers in my experiences, and at one school I know that they sat on the admissions committee. I have no problem with this. As someone else wrote, it does indeed give the faculty and staff a good idea if they will "fit in." Also, students tend to be less guarded with a peer (I know I was). I suppose that's another reason why they use them - to get a better sense of who a candidate "really is." At the same time, realize that the student's impression is probably given less weight. I think it's a good idea to have the students interviewing and sitting on committees - it gives them a more complete picture of who you are. This should be a good thing, right?