Howard Rejection. . need advise

[mmguirguis]

Hey guys,

I just got rejected from Howard aftr I had my interview. I have 3.1 GPA with a 18 DAT. Ms. Clarke said I did not get in b/c i had a rough interview. I believe I need more clinical experience out in the field. Now i have many questions that i need advise on. . .

1)-Should I retake the DAT, even though it was able to get me an interview this cycle?

2)-Should I just work full time to gain more experience?

3)-Should I just take some extra biology classes along with working at a dentist office?

4)-Should I get a Masters? (even though the grades will not be added to my application) to boost my low GPA?

-By the way, Howard is my number one choicse, so thats what I wanna work toward. .

thanks guys a lot

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[mmguirguis]

no opinions?

 

[Scoopie12]

When I was at my Howard interview a student asked how much grades/extracurriculars/DAT were going to factor into the final decision. Ms. Clarke answered that your profile got you to this point and that your interview would determine if you were admitted.

Did you study the feedback section and research the school? Howard is big on knowing that you know about them. I would suggest doing some things to better your application like shadowing/working for a dentist more, taking more biologies, retaking the DAT just to improve your chances to getting more interviews next cycle. But, the biggest thing I would suggest is to analyze how your interview went and how you behaved and look to improve on your interview skills for the future.

Best of luck!

 

[Oralfixation]

Well I had the exact same questions last year. You did get an interview so they are willing to look at you. I would say that you lost it in the interview just as she said. I would focus on my community involvement and shore up any weak areas other than the DAT. The DAT can be risky unless you are sure you will score the same or better. I believe that my interview is why I did not get in last year and I decided to work on my personal skills more and get more shadow time. It worked for me. You have to be relaxed in an interview and that is hard to do. You have to condition yourself over the next year so that when you go into the interview you have decided that you are going to be your relaxed self and have fun with it. I was taking my interview way too serious because I knew how important it was. So, in summation, if you know you can score the same or higher on the DAT then take it again. Work on your interview skills by drilling it into you psyche that you can only show up and be yourself. If you can interview and just be yourself then you will stand out. And last but not least get involved in your community and gain alot of "shadowing time". Good luck and knockem dead next year.

 

[Andre3k]

Hey guys,

I just got rejected from Howard aftr I had my interview. I have 3.1 GPA with a 18 DAT. Ms. Clarke said I did not get in b/c i had a rough interview. I believe I need more clinical experience out in the field. Now i have many questions that i need advise on. . .

1)-Should I retake the DAT, even though it was able to get me an interview this cycle?

2)-Should I just work full time to gain more experience?

3)-Should I just take some extra biology classes along with working at a dentist office?

4)-Should I get a Masters? (even though the grades will not be added to my application) to boost my low GPA?

-By the way, Howard is my number one choice, so thats what I wanna work toward. .

thanks guys a lot

Well if Ms. Clarke said the reason you didn't get accepted was because you had rough interview I would focus on my interviewing skills. Forget that other stuff. I mean increasing your GPA and DAT couldn't hurt, but both are well within the range that they accept at Howard. And since she said that your interview was the problem, I would focus on that for next time.

What was it about your interview that was so bad? Were you just nervous or something???

 

[bigo711]

may i know what questions were asked?

 

[mmguirguis]

The night before my interview, some of the dental students at the school told me, "I hope you don't get Dr. ---" Well just by my luck, I got him. They kids in the dental school make fun of his insane questions he asks in class. So some of the questions he asked me were pretty tough:

1)"How are the current events in society affecting dentistry?"
2)"What are some of the issue the profession is dealing with?"
3) What are all the specialities in dentistry?
4) How can you contribute to diversity to the school?
5) What procedure did you see that really intrigued you or interested you?

 

[misstoothfairy]

The night before my interview, some of the dental students at the school told me, "I hope you don't get Dr. ---" Well just by my luck, I got him. They kids in the dental school make fun of his insane questions he asks in class. So some of the questions he asked me were pretty tough:

1)"How are the current events in society affecting dentistry?"
2)"What are some of the issue the profession is dealing with?"
3) What are all the specialities in dentistry?
4) How can you contribute to diversity to the school?
5) What procedure did you see that really intrigued you or interested you?

Theres no overnight formula to make yourself improve your interview skills. Have you had part time jobs? Perhaps, apply for some part time jobs and get interviews and do those. You gotta learn how to deal with the stress, and capitalize on your strengths and make them visible to the one interviewing you WITHOUT being a FAKE. If you have poor interpersonal skills, I highly suggest going to a place where you have to deal with a lot of *****hole customers. Go work fast food for a couple weeks, go work at a shoe retail store. I can guarentee you that will help you out.

 

[mmguirguis]

Do you guys feel all those questions are fair?

 

[joonkimdds]

Why would you want to retake DAT, and classes if interview was the ONLY reason that you got rejected? Just improve your interview skill, that's all.

I think your question is like, I got A in bio and F in math. Should I retake Bio?

 

[rewJW]

Do you feel those questions are fair /

1)"How are the current events in society affecting dentistry?"
2)"What are some of the issue the profession is dealing with?"
3) What are all the specialities in dentistry?
4) How can you contribute to diversity to the school?
5) What procedure did you see that really intrigued you or interested you?

They are pretty typical questions, at least 1,2,4,5 are. I would see the specialties question being asked to somebody who has a massive amount of dental experience - but it still wouldn't be unfair to ask any candidate that. After all, you are interested in the field so you should know at least a few of them, and if you didn't, you could have explained that you realize you have barely scratched the surface of what there is to learn about the field of dentistry but you are eager and passionate about learning, etc. etc. Any question can be turned around by you to make yourself sound good not only as a candidate in general, but more specifically as a candidate for that school. Before you go to any interview, you should know as much as possible about the school via their website. Knowing what their mission statement is can be a bonus, if you can work it into your responses. E.g. if the mission statement includes "helping underserved communities," saying something like "I also would be interested in helping an udnerserved community" can only help you.

Some undergrad schools offer mock interviews - see if yours offers such a thing. Or, have a friend or family member pull questions of SDN interview feedback and ask you. If you can't hold a straight face and answer to them, how will you do it with a total stranger? I had my bosses (various dentists) ask me random interview questions for the past few months and was definitely good preparation. I got asked some off the wall questions that they themselves had been asked at d-school interviews, so it prepared me for just about anything.

 

[DCRedskinsRule]

Theres no overnight formula to make yourself improve your interview skills. Have you had part time jobs? Perhaps, apply for some part time jobs and get interviews and do those. You gotta learn how to deal with the stress, and capitalize on your strengths and make them visible to the one interviewing you WITHOUT being a FAKE. If you have poor interpersonal skills, I highly suggest going to a place where you have to deal with a lot of *****hole customers. Go work fast food for a couple weeks, go work at a shoe retail store. I can guarentee you that will help you out.

This is very random but INCREDIBLY HELPFUL advice. Coming from someone who has worked retail on various occasions...you'd be surprised how quickly you learn how to interact with people when placed in an uncomfortable situation. Plus, you're forced to talk to strangers repeatedly, so that set of nerves is completely eliminated...best of luck!