First Interview Suggestions?

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Congrats! To add on to the suggestion above, also be polite to everyone you meet. Definitely send thank yous! Enjoy the day. Although it may seem like a stressful experience at first, you have the opportunity to meet other people who are also passionate about dentistry and visit your potential home for the next four years. Best of luck!
 
Look at the sample questions on this site. Chances are you will hear at least a few. Have some basic response to each on your mind, which you can adjust to fit the interviewer. Business attire. Go on a business school website which has info on interviews, follow that lead.... good handshake, good eye contact, don’t get unnerved by a question you may not know how to answer. Have a legit reason why you would like that school over others.
Prep is always a good thing. Relying on your charming personality is a crap shoot. Luck comes to the most prepared.
 
If you are a minority and have strong stats, you can slap the dean of admission and still get a scholarship to that school. But if you're an avg applicant, review sdn school interview feedback and do as many mock interviews as you can.
 
As previous people have stated, look for questions that have been asked at the particular school. Look here on SDN at the Dental School interview reviews for your school. I found literally hundreds of questions that have been asked going back more than ten years at my school. Unfortunately, depending on how structured your interview is, I ended up only getting one of the questions I prepared for (the rest of the interview was lax).

Dress well, be polite to the staff (don't be fake-you know when you are doing that).

If you can, scope out where you will meet for the interview the day before, or have someone (i.e. a current student) take you to your location, do this. Less stress=more success.

Have your own questions to ask, multiple of them actually. I stumped both of my interviewers with one particular question. I can't confirm or deny that this helped my chances, but I'm sure it is different when they can't answer a question, when they are more accustomed to that from the other perspective.

Thank your interviewers via email afterwards, if this wasn't a given.

Also, know the particulars about your school and why you want to attend there. Really key in on the out-reach programs (does your school offer a clinic where you put sealants on kids' teeth in your first semester? Then state why you are excited to get early clinical experience especially with kids) and any actually enticing things about your school. Do they give B+ to distinguish you from someone who only received a B? State how this could be useful for residency and why you like that system. Is there a particular aspect of a residency you like that they offer? State that you are either interested in that specialty or that it would provide a great learning environment to be a particularly competent GP. Moral of this long paragraph: have more responses to questions than you will be asked.

Good luck, it's a truly exciting time.
 
Practice a little in front of a mirror or record yourself (I cringed a lot when I first started). You can use a script and work on fixing any bad habits. Do not use the script during your interview though, because you do not want anything to be forced during your interview. it should just roll out naturally. I am the type of person that prepares a lot before something but I know when it comes down to the interview, what I say comes out naturally. For me it's the idea of being prepared that helps and sometimes a few words or good. Everyone has their own preference on preparing, this is just mine.
Try to link any response or answer with your own personal experiences. Connecting it with your personal experiences is what will make you stand out from others. It is your time to share your story. If they ask why dentistry, tell them why through your experience. If they ask what are some of your weakness, tell them a weakness you identifed through an experience and how you turned it a strength is what many will say, but my interviewer told me then that is not a weakness, so I brought up another weakness and explained how I am still working on improving it. Try and go with the flow of the inteviewer since every interviewer has their own idea of a good interview and if you have something you really want to bring up, try and use a question the interviewer ask and transition to it. Before the interview if you are feeling really nervous, go to the restroom and strike a power pose and say something like I GOT THIS and smile when appropriate. It will help with the nerves.

Relax, breathe, stay confident and good luck!
 
These are all some amazing suggestions! Thank you guys and would love to keep hearing from more people! Also, what should I be taking me with to the interview? should I print out my application?
 
And would it be okay to travel 3 hours the day of the interview? I will reach a couple of hours before the interview session starts.
 
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