Hi there, I'm currently a post-bac student and we just had our mock interviews to prepare us for the upcoming cycle. I just got feedback and the admissions director said that my answer to the famous "why dentistry?" question was not great and that she stated that I needed to have a "pivotal moment". I basically told her how dentistry fits my personality better than any other profession due to my background. Growing up poor my dad was a stay at home dad and we didn't have money to fix things around the house. My dad would be the one to take on these tasks and I would at first watch. Watching turned into helping him and eventually I was able to take on my own projects (fixing plumbings, making tables, etc.). This instilled certain traits in me such as independence and the joy of working with mechanical tools to create a piece of art that I can call my own. With these traits coupled with my love for the life sciences I felt like dentistry was perfect for me because it allowed me to explore many avenues of interests such as: working with my hands, being independent, business owner, etc... all at the same time being able to use these set of skills to help better the lives of others.
I can go on about the patient interactions that I see in dentistry but I felt like the background story was a better story.
That's basically the gist of it and she kept on going on about how I absolutely needed a pivotal moment to justify why dentistry was the correct path for me. I'm certain that dentistry is for me, maybe I need to articulate myself better so that it comes across more clearly? She also said that I'm too analytical and that it seems like I weighed the pros and the cons and came out with a conclusion that dentistry was the "least worse" profession for me. This mock interview was very heart breaking, hearing that from an admissions director of admissions and outreach was demoralizing 🙁. If anybody could give me some constructive feedback, please do! She asked me if dentistry was really for me, and maybe its starting to get me to think otherwise.
I can go on about the patient interactions that I see in dentistry but I felt like the background story was a better story.
That's basically the gist of it and she kept on going on about how I absolutely needed a pivotal moment to justify why dentistry was the correct path for me. I'm certain that dentistry is for me, maybe I need to articulate myself better so that it comes across more clearly? She also said that I'm too analytical and that it seems like I weighed the pros and the cons and came out with a conclusion that dentistry was the "least worse" profession for me. This mock interview was very heart breaking, hearing that from an admissions director of admissions and outreach was demoralizing 🙁. If anybody could give me some constructive feedback, please do! She asked me if dentistry was really for me, and maybe its starting to get me to think otherwise.
