NOVA interview - my impressions

[Bereno]

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Hey guys! I interviewed at NOVA not too long ago. If you have any questions about the interview process or anything of that nature, post them on here and I might be able to answer them for you. 👍

 

[JcRoughriders]

Good luck dude!
What time did you finish the whole interview? and what was the hardest question you had?

 

[Bereno]

Good luck dude!
What time did you finish the whole interview? and what was the hardest question you had?

Thanks man!

I was waiting for a while... The interview itself was about 25 minutes. In the email, they said to expect to be here till 4:00, but the last guy was probably there till about 5:00.

Toughest question? I don't really know because they were all pretty basic. Why dentistry, why NOVA, etc. If I had to choose, I would say the "why NOVA" was the hardest for me to answer.

My impressions of NOVA:

Overall, its a good school. You will pass your boards, (99% pass rate), and will get lots of time with patients. I like that they use cadavers for anatomy (that was the impression I got at least). Also, I like that the students take their Part 1 exams after the first year. The students seemed happy, and its also live in a great place for the weather. It also seems that the students have no problem meeting their requirements due to a good patient pool. They also seemed to have no real problem with getting a chair because they were able to schedule around each other.

I was not impressed with their curriculum though... Seemed too "easy" if you will. A lot of the students seem very happy, yes, but a lot of them also seem very ditsy and lackadaisical. This may or may not be the case, but it is what they SEEMED like. Don't get me wrong, I like to have a good time like anyone else, but it seemed an awful lot like undergrad in that they were more focused on who was playing in this weekend's football game or where they were going that night than on dentistry. I guess I could be biased, since this is only my second interview, but it was still my first impression. Also, it seems that a very low percentage of their students end up specializing. I'm not really looking to specialize for sure, but I would at least like to go to a school that generates a strong enough student to specialize if they want to and/or are able to.

All said and done, I would go there if they accepted me. Would I be happy here? Probably. Its hard to say for sure, but I think this would be a good school to go to, and I would probably enjoy my time here. Is it my top choice? No, definitely not. Could I become a solid dentist here? Yes, I think so. Could I become the best dentist I could be here? No, probably not the best, but I could become a good one.

To anyone looking to go to, or is attending NOVA: I cant really make a totally educated opinion due to how brief the tour was. These are just my impressions from a quick tour and interview at the campus. 👍

 

[bing12]

Thanks man!

I was waiting for a while... The interview itself was about 25 minutes.The interview itself was about 25 minutes. In the email, they said to expect to be here till 4:00, but the last guy was probably there till about 5:00.

Toughest question? I don't really know because they were all pretty basic. Why dentistry, why NOVA, if you were stranded on an island, who would you choose to join you, etc. If I had to choose, I would say the "why NOVA" was the hardest for me to answer.

My impressions of NOVA:

Overall, its a good school. You will pass your boards, (99% pass rate), and will get lots of time with patients. I like that they use cadavers for anatomy (that was the impression I got at least). Also, I like that the students take their Part 1 exams after the first year. The students seemed happy, and its also live in a great place for the weather. It also seems that the students have no problem meeting their requirements due to a good patient pool. They also seemed to have no real problem with getting a chair because they were able to schedule around each other.

I was not impressed with their curriculum though... Seemed too "easy" if you will. A lot of the students seem very happy, yes, but a lot of them also seem very ditsy and lackadaisical. This may or may not be the case, but it is what they SEEMED like. Don't get me wrong, I like to have a good time like anyone else, but it seemed an awful lot like undergrad in that they were more focused on who was playing in this weekend's football game or where they were going that night than on dentistry. I guess I could be biased, since this is only my second interview, but it was still my first impression. Also, it seems that a very low percentage of their students end up specializing. I'm not really looking to specialize for sure, but I would at least like to go to a school that generates a strong enough student to specialize if they want to and/or are able to.

The thing that really sticks out to me though is how the interviewers answered one of my questions. I asked "If you were in my shoes, would you go to back into dental?" I was expecting the "of course and this is why..." This was not the response that I got. They said that they would likely not go into dentistry if they were to do it again. This stuck with me... Dont really know what to make of it.

All said and done, I would go there if they accepted me. Would I be happy here? Probably. Its hard to say for sure, but I think this would be a good school to go to, and I would probably enjoy my time here. Is it my top choice? No, definitely not. Could I become a solid dentist here? Yes, I think so. Could I become the best dentist I could be here? Probably not the best, but become a good one.

To anyone looking to go to, or is attending NOVA: I cant really make a totally educated opinion due to how brief the tour was. These are just my impressions from a quick tour and interview at the campus. 👍

I have heard the exact opposite

 

[duckdds]

Thanks man!

I was the second to last person to interview, so I was waiting for a while... The interview itself was about 25 minutes. In the email, they said to expect to be here till 4:00, but the last guy was probably there till about 5:00.

Toughest question? I don't really know because they were all pretty basic. Why dentistry, why NOVA, if you were stranded on an island, who would you choose to join you, etc. If I had to choose, I would say the "why NOVA" was the hardest for me to answer.

My impressions of NOVA:

Overall, its a good school. You will pass your boards, (99% pass rate), and will get lots of time with patients. I like that they use cadavers for anatomy (that was the impression I got at least). Also, I like that the students take their Part 1 exams after the first year. The students seemed happy, and its also live in a great place for the weather. It also seems that the students have no problem meeting their requirements due to a good patient pool. They also seemed to have no real problem with getting a chair because they were able to schedule around each other.

I was not impressed with their curriculum though... Seemed too "easy" if you will. A lot of the students seem very happy, yes, but a lot of them also seem very ditsy and lackadaisical. This may or may not be the case, but it is what they SEEMED like. Don't get me wrong, I like to have a good time like anyone else, but it seemed an awful lot like undergrad in that they were more focused on who was playing in this weekend's football game or where they were going that night than on dentistry. I guess I could be biased, since this is only my second interview, but it was still my first impression. Also, it seems that a very low percentage of their students end up specializing. I'm not really looking to specialize for sure, but I would at least like to go to a school that generates a strong enough student to specialize if they want to and/or are able to.

The thing that really sticks out to me though is how the interviewers answered one of my questions. I asked "If you were in my shoes, would you go to back into dental?" I was expecting the "of course and this is why..." This was not the response that I got. They said that they would likely not go into dentistry if they were to do it again. This stuck with me... Dont really know what to make of it.

All said and done, I would go there if they accepted me. Would I be happy here? Probably. Its hard to say for sure, but I think this would be a good school to go to, and I would probably enjoy my time here. Is it my top choice? No, definitely not. Could I become a solid dentist here? Yes, I think so. Could I become the best dentist I could be here? Probably not the best, but become a good one.

To anyone looking to go to, or is attending NOVA: I cant really make a totally educated opinion due to how brief the tour was. These are just my impressions from a quick tour and interview at the campus. 👍

Thanks for that. Appreciate it.

Did you choose what time you can get interviewed, or do they choose for you? I was hoping to catch an earlier flight at 4:40 PM...

I am pretty shocked how your interviewers said they wouldn't go into dentistry again. Doesn't sound very encouraging, did they tell you why?

I'm interviewing there tomorrow so I will post here with my impressions and we can compare

 

[Jackson-Ave-Dental]

Thanks for that. Appreciate it.

Did you choose what time you can get interviewed, or do they choose for you? I was hoping to catch an earlier flight at 4:40 PM...

I am pretty shocked how your interviewers said they wouldn't go into dentistry again. Doesn't sound very encouraging, did they tell you why?

I'm interviewing there tomorrow so I will post here with my impressions and we can compare

Employer... coworkers... or random dentists that I've met all enjoy the actual dentistry. It's the other stuff that grinds on your nerves

 

[dentalWorks]

Nova? good patient pool? No, I've never heard of that, I've heard (and believe it to be true) the exact opposite.

Matter of fact,, during the interview,, when they wanted me to ask them questions.... I ask how many patients does their clinic see per year and they spun around this question and never answered it. Usually schools with STRONG patient pools will use that piece of information as bragging rights, examples:
-Buffalo claims their clinic sees over 30,000 patients a year
-Temple, about 80,000 (yeh WOW)
-NYU, over 90,000
-Detroit, school clinic is like 15k, but DMC clinic is I think MUCH higher

 

[Bereno]

I have heard the exact opposite

That would not surprise me... It seems that some feel there are plenty of patients, but they do have to schedule around each other. This could potentially generate conflicts or other things that could rub someone the wrong way. Also, if I remember correctly, some students might lose patients, but they still seemed to have enough to get another one so that they can get the requirements in...

Thanks for that. Appreciate it.

Did you choose what time you can get interviewed, or do they choose for you? I was hoping to catch an earlier flight at 4:40 PM...

I am pretty shocked how your interviewers said they wouldn't go into dentistry again. Doesn't sound very encouraging, did they tell you why?

I'm interviewing there tomorrow so I will post here with my impressions and we can compare

They asked us if we had time constraints. Those who did got to interview first. They had a few reasons, but I would rather not discuss them here. PM if you want.

Employer... coworkers... or random dentists that I've met all enjoy the actual dentistry. It's the other stuff that grinds on your nerves

haha, I think thats true about any profession, no? 😀

 

[Bereno]

Nova? good patient pool? No, I've never heard of that, I've heard (and believe it to be true) the exact opposite.

Matter of fact,, during the interview,, when they wanted me to ask them questions.... I ask how many patients does their clinic see per year and they spun around this question and never answered it. Usually schools with STRONG patient pools will use that piece of information as bragging rights, examples:
-Buffalo claims their clinic sees over 30,000 patients a year
-Temple, about 80,000 (yeh WOW)
-NYU, over 90,000
-Detroit, school clinic is like 15k, but DMC clinic is I think MUCH higher

I hear the opposite as well. Thats why I asked them lol. The student I asked said there were plenty of patients, so I am just relaying their answer... They did not give me a quoted number though. When I was at UConn, the dean of admissions stated that they see 140,000 patient visits a year! INSANE

 

[PreDent321]

I hear the opposite as well. Thats why I asked them lol. The student I asked said there were plenty of patients, so I am just relaying their answer... They did not give me a quoted number though. When I was at UConn, the dean of admissions stated that they see 140,000 patient visits a year! INSANE

Ahem, bullsh*t. Don't be so gullible.

 

[jeffity]

Ahem, bullsh*t. Don't be so gullible.

I was thinking the same thing. 140,000 is massive. No way UConn is pulling more than Temple or NYU.

 

[Bereno]

Ahem, bullsh*t. Don't be so gullible.

lol, its not that I'm gullible son. Don't forget that UConn has its own hospital, along with other satellite locations.

Scroll about halfway down:
FYI: http://sdm.uchc.edu/about/facts.html

Don't be so quick to post something derogatory, there are other ways to say that you don't believe it. 👍

 

[SeattleRDH]

Hey Bereno, would you mind filling out the SDN Interview Feedback survey?

http://www.studentdoctor.net/schools/?view=dental

 

[Bereno]

Hey Bereno, would you mind filling out the SDN Interview Feedback survey?

Sure, I am about to head to bed now, so I will try and do it tomorrow when I fly back home. 👍

Now that I think about it, that is probably a better place to report my impressions... Though I was hoping for more questions from people on here lol 😀

 

[Jackson-Ave-Dental]

• Largest provider of dental care to the underserved in the state of Connecticut. In 2009-10:
  • 139,000 total patient visits
  • 94,000 patient visits at the Farmington campus clinics
  • 45,000 patient visits at affiliated sites
  • 18,000 visits for children under 18 years of age; largest single provider of dental services to Medicaid-covered children in Connecticut
  • 68% of those served on public assistance
  • Largest provider of emergency dental services to adult Medicaid clients in Connecticut
• In 2009-2010, provided an estimated $6.6 million of uncompensated dental care to citizens in need

This is the main number that we should be concerned about because those are the possible patients that you will see.

Let's face it, every single dental school will pull marketing tricks to make themselves seem more attractive. This entire application process is a two-way street. Not only do we as applicants need to appear attractive, so do the schools!

Number is pretty good though! I believe its relatively reasonable since they are the only dental school in that state.

If columbia did not exist, NYU's number would go up even more... 😉

 

[rav4182]

Thanks man!

My impressions of NOVA:

I was not impressed with their curriculum though... Seemed too "easy" if you will. A lot of the students seem very happy, yes, but a lot of them also seem very ditsy and lackadaisical. This may or may not be the case, but it is what they SEEMED like. Don't get me wrong, I like to have a good time like anyone else, but it seemed an awful lot like undergrad in that they were more focused on who was playing in this weekend's football game or where they were going that night than on dentistry. I guess I could be biased, since this is only my second interview, but it was still my first impression. Also, it seems that a very low percentage of their students end up specializing. I'm not really looking to specialize for sure, but I would at least like to go to a school that generates a strong enough student to specialize if they want to and/or are able to.

you will not find hardcore gunners in my class. yes ppl may seem ditsy, yes ppl may seem concerned more with their social life sometimes, but dont let that mislead you. our class is straight up full of geniuses. nova did a very good job in picking the c/o 2015. everyone i've talked to has like 21+ on their dat's. out of the 115 students i can honestly say there are no socially awkward nerd-type students. dont judge a book by its cover, you might think someone is not that smart based on first impressions, give them a test and they'll ace it. our class averages for exams are ridic high. i was considered very smart in my undergrad, but now im considered avg here. you gotta realize its not all books and test to get into dental school, let alone be a good dentist.


about the specializing thing. dude realize dental school sucks no matter where you go. you can specialize from anywhere you just have to do well in all your classes and make the right connections. the only reason schools like harvard and uconn are known for specializing because those are the type of students they choose. its not the school that matters, its you.

this forum made me sorta reluctant to go to nova in the beginning. im about 2 months into it and i love it here. yeah im busy as hell but i enjoy (almost) every minute of it. dont beleive everything on the forum, dental school is what you put into it. if your lazy and you want everything handed to you on a silver plate, your gonna get eaten up alive. and thats not just at nova, thats everywhere. learn to adapt and go with the flow


additional note
about the patient pool thing, this is how it works. when you start clinic 3rd year you get assigned 5 patients at a time. now the ppl who complain and say nova doesnt have enough patients are frustrated because their patients cancel on them or are no-shows. this is the time where you gotta put in EFFORT. either drop those patients immediatly and get new ones, or constantly chase them trying to get them to come in. its not that nova has a small patient pool, hell is actually got a huge one. the problem is patients dont show up and **** over students. the responsibilty falls on the student to go ahead and manage his patient list. if your proactive and learn to manage your patients well you'll get plenty of experience.

 

[JcRoughriders]

hey i have one more question...
did the D1 students showed you guys around again? seems like that was the case last year
and what was your impression on their clinics?
thanks!

 

[iralex801]

I was not impressed with their curriculum though... Seemed too "easy" if you will. A lot of the students seem very happy, yes, but a lot of them also seem very ditsy and lackadaisical. This may or may not be the case, but it is what they SEEMED like. Don't get me wrong, I like to have a good time like anyone else, but it seemed an awful lot like undergrad in that they were more focused on who was playing in this weekend's football game or where they were going that night than on dentistry. I guess I could be biased, since this is only my second interview, but it was still my first impression. Also, it seems that a very low percentage of their students end up specializing. I'm not really looking to specialize for sure, but I would at least like to go to a school that generates a strong enough student to specialize if they want to and/or are able to.

I actually see what you wrote here as a positive. A student body where everyone is happy and not always worried about school? That seems like heaven to me lol. I'm sure these students are smart because they got accepted into dental school. The way you describe them is pretty similar to how I act. I come off ass dumb also if you met me in person. I sit in the back of class, sleep during class, skip class, play games on my iphone during class, talk like I'm uneducated, wait to the last minute to study, etc but I'm not dumb.

 

[PreDent321]

This may be a wild idea but....

could it be possible that the students were instructed to make a concerted effort at appearing happy and positive on interview days for the sake of the program?

 

[rav4182]

This may be a wild idea but....

could it be possible that the students were instructed to make a concerted effort at appearing happy and positive on interview days for the sake of the program?

is that a serious question? c'mon man

 

[MowgliR]

number of patient visits is different from the number of patients.

 

[Bereno]

Hey Bereno, would you mind filling out the SDN Interview Feedback survey?

http://www.studentdoctor.net/schools/?view=dental

Done 👍

 

[Bereno]

• Largest provider of dental care to the underserved in the state of Connecticut. In 2009-10:
  • 139,000 total patient visits
  • 94,000 patient visits at the Farmington campus clinics
  • 45,000 patient visits at affiliated sites
  • 18,000 visits for children under 18 years of age; largest single provider of dental services to Medicaid-covered children in Connecticut
  • 68% of those served on public assistance
  • Largest provider of emergency dental services to adult Medicaid clients in Connecticut
• In 2009-2010, provided an estimated $6.6 million of uncompensated dental care to citizens in need

This is the main number that we should be concerned about because those are the possible patients that you will see.

Let's face it, every single dental school will pull marketing tricks to make themselves seem more attractive. This entire application process is a two-way street. Not only do we as applicants need to appear attractive, so do the schools!

Number is pretty good though! I believe its relatively reasonable since they are the only dental school in that state.

If columbia did not exist, NYU's number would go up even more... 😉

Its not just the Farmington campus that students use. I was under the impression that the d3 and d4 students go to a lot of different facilities that are associated with the school. Either way, its not lacking patients lol

you will not find hardcore gunners in my class. yes ppl may seem ditsy, yes ppl may seem concerned more with their social life sometimes, but dont let that mislead you. our class is straight up full of geniuses. nova did a very good job in picking the c/o 2015. everyone i've talked to has like 21+ on their dat's. out of the 115 students i can honestly say there are no socially awkward nerd-type students. dont judge a book by its cover, you might think someone is not that smart based on first impressions, give them a test and they'll ace it. our class averages for exams are ridic high. i was considered very smart in my undergrad, but now im considered avg here. you gotta realize its not all books and test to get into dental school, let alone be a good dentist.


about the specializing thing. dude realize dental school sucks no matter where you go. you can specialize from anywhere you just have to do well in all your classes and make the right connections. the only reason schools like harvard and uconn are known for specializing because those are the type of students they choose. its not the school that matters, its you.

this forum made me sorta reluctant to go to nova in the beginning. im about 2 months into it and i love it here. yeah im busy as hell but i enjoy (almost) every minute of it. dont beleive everything on the forum, dental school is what you put into it. if your lazy and you want everything handed to you on a silver plate, your gonna get eaten up alive. and thats not just at nova, thats everywhere. learn to adapt and go with the flow


additional note
about the patient pool thing, this is how it works. when you start clinic 3rd year you get assigned 5 patients at a time. now the ppl who complain and say nova doesnt have enough patients are frustrated because their patients cancel on them or are no-shows. this is the time where you gotta put in EFFORT. either drop those patients immediatly and get new ones, or constantly chase them trying to get them to come in. its not that nova has a small patient pool, hell is actually got a huge one. the problem is patients dont show up and **** over students. the responsibilty falls on the student to go ahead and manage his patient list. if your proactive and learn to manage your patients well you'll get plenty of experience.

Thanks for the heads up, its always good to hear from current students. 👍 I guess I should clarify my comments above. I'm not concerned with now smart the students are... Like you said, a lot of them might be very smart! The thing I'm more concerned with is how focused I'm going to be in dental school. After all, I am paying a butt-load of money to get a professional degree. I am nearly done with undergraduate, and am looking forward to attending a professional school. I dont want to expect 4 more years of undergraduate haha. Who knows though, that might be what its like at most schools... I am honestly ignorant of that because I have only interviewed at one school. Once again, these were merely my impressions, not facts. 🙂

hey i have one more question...
did the D1 students showed you guys around again? seems like that was the case last year
and what was your impression on their clinics?
thanks!

Yeah, it was D1 showing us around... I would have preferred D4, or even D3, but we had D1. I did get a few questions shot off at a D3, so that was nice 😀 The clinics seemed average for a dental school. A lot of schools are renovating, so even with a good clinic, there are some amazing ones at other schools. This said, the clinics seemed very capable, no problem there.

I actually see what you wrote here as a positive. A student body where everyone is happy and not always worried about school? That seems like heaven to me lol. I'm sure these students are smart because they got accepted into dental school. The way you describe them is pretty similar to how I act. I come off ass dumb also if you met me in person. I sit in the back of class, sleep during class, skip class, play games on my iphone during class, talk like I'm uneducated, wait to the last minute to study, etc but I'm not dumb.

I tried to show that I like that the students are happy - I also think this is a good thing, and this is one of the better attributes about this school! This might sound weird, but I was expecting the students to talk about dentistry, or patients, or medicine, or something of that nature, but they never did. They talked about what football teams were playing or about the time they went out to Miami, etc. This made it seem like they were simply getting the degree, and were not terribly passionate about the subject(s) they are studying... Its hard to convey my point via writing, but I hope it is at least a little apparent haha. Once again, these are only my impressions, not facts lol

This may be a wild idea but....

could it be possible that the students were instructed to make a concerted effort at appearing happy and positive on interview days for the sake of the program?

I doubt it

number of patient visits is different from the number of patients.

True. I wonder how many schools publish # of patients, vs # of patient visits. Also, I think another important statistic to consider if comparing these is patient retention (# of repeat patients, and/or number of visits per patient, etc). Either way though, UConn has plenty of patients for sure.

 

[theheatles]

You would really enjoy Nova. I am currently a D1 and the vibe I got from the student body is one of the main reasons I chose Nova. The most important thing about dental school wherever you go is to balance the academics with a social life. At Nova we do a great job of that. The fraternities do a good job of planning socials for our class as well as academic reviews and sim lab tutorials. In addition our D1 class has a flag football team and a fantasy football league. So for you to say the fact that students are talking about football as a negative impression is a little bizarre to me. At Nova we balance our social life with our academic life and all of us are excelling on our exams thus far.

 

[dentalWorks]

You would really enjoy Nova. I am currently a D1 and the vibe I got from the student body is one of the main reasons I chose Nova. The most important thing about dental school wherever you go is to balance the academics with a social life. At Nova we do a great job of that. The fraternities do a good job of planning socials for our class as well as academic reviews and sim lab tutorials. In addition our D1 class has a flag football team and a fantasy football league. So for you to say the fact that students are talking about football as a negative impression is a little bizarre to me. At Nova we balance our social life with our academic life and all of us are excelling on our exams thus far.

I don't doubt that... you guys are like 15 minutes away from the beach lol. I wish Detroit had that kinda tropical setting.

But seriously, Nova school itself, has one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen, its like a 5-star hotel. You walk in, and its all granite floors and tops.

 

[startrak]

D2 Nova student here (on a side note, why does everyone on this forum type it as NOVA? its not an acronym!) Hopefully I can clear up some stuff here.

hey i have one more question...
did the D1 students showed you guys around again? seems like that was the case last year
and what was your impression on their clinics?
thanks!

There will be more D2s leading tours this year than in previous years.


As far as patients go, there is absolutely no lack of them. From what I hear firsthand, the wait list is the better half of a year. Cancellations and no-shows are a reality that affects every dental school and every dentist, you just have to get used to it.


The negative talk about Nova is recurring every year and based off of nothing. I don't know who the OP could say the curriculum is "too easy" based off of an interview day. Your first semester here you take 29 credits... this includes every class every other dental school has and then some. It is insanely vigorous and my classmates are wiz kids. Take a look at the ADEA Guide to dental schools and see that the entering GPA of the 2014 class is top 5 or 6 amongst the other schools.

The balance between academics and social life is great. When I moved here, I thought it was going to be all work, no play, but ASDA and the two dental fraternities do an incredible job at planning social events (beach volleyball, pool parties, trips to dental conventions etc).

I love it here, and I hope many of you get a chance to interview here and see our school. best of luck to you, I might catch you guys on your tour here.

 

[Bereno]

You would really enjoy Nova. I am currently a D1 and the vibe I got from the student body is one of the main reasons I chose Nova. The most important thing about dental school wherever you go is to balance the academics with a social life. At Nova we do a great job of that. The fraternities do a good job of planning socials for our class as well as academic reviews and sim lab tutorials. In addition our D1 class has a flag football team and a fantasy football league. So for you to say the fact that students are talking about football as a negative impression is a little bizarre to me. At Nova we balance our social life with our academic life and all of us are excelling on our exams thus far.

I agree, I think I would like it there, as I said in my post.

When I was mentioning the football thing, I was not saying that talking about football is bad. I like football, its a great sport. I just did not hear anything about dentistry. At all. That was the bad thing lol

D2 Nova student here (on a side note, why does everyone on this forum type it as NOVA? its not an acronym!) Hopefully I can clear up some stuff here.


There will be more D2s leading tours this year than in previous years.


As far as patients go, there is absolutely no lack of them. From what I hear firsthand, the wait list is the better half of a year. Cancellations and no-shows are a reality that affects every dental school and every dentist, you just have to get used to it.


The negative talk about Nova is recurring every year and based off of nothing. I don't know who the OP could say the curriculum is "too easy" based off of an interview day. Your first semester here you take 29 credits... this includes every class every other dental school has and then some. It is insanely vigorous and my classmates are wiz kids. Take a look at the ADEA Guide to dental schools and see that the entering GPA of the 2014 class is top 5 or 6 amongst the other schools.

The balance between academics and social life is great. When I moved here, I thought it was going to be all work, no play, but ASDA and the two dental fraternities do an incredible job at planning social events (beach volleyball, pool parties, trips to dental conventions etc).

I love it here, and I hope many of you get a chance to interview here and see our school. best of luck to you, I might catch you guys on your tour here.

About the school seeming easy:

Part of the reason I applied to Nova is because they have respectable stats: 19.6 average AA, and a 3.7 average GPA. The students are no slouch, but they way the students came across is that they were not covering a whole lot of material. When our tour leaders were talking about the course load, they never said anything about 29 credits. I wish they had lol. As a matter of fact, all they did say is that they "just learn the basics for being a dentist" This could be wrong, but this is what they told me. This is why I got the impression that the course load seemed potentially too easy. Hope this clarifies. 👍

This is another reason that I would have liked a D4 as our tour leader; they could have much better represented their school to potential dental students. Either way, I still think they are a solid school. 🙂

 

[dentalWorks]

D2 Nova student here (on a side note, why does everyone on this forum type it as NOVA? its not an acronym!) Hopefully I can clear up some stuff here.




There will be more D2s leading tours this year than in previous years.


As far as patients go, there is absolutely no lack of them. From what I hear firsthand, the wait list is the better half of a year. Cancellations and no-shows are a reality that affects every dental school and every dentist, you just have to get used to it.


The negative talk about Nova is recurring every year and based off of nothing. I don't know who the OP could say the curriculum is "too easy" based off of an interview day. Your first semester here you take 29 credits... this includes every class every other dental school has and then some. It is insanely vigorous and my classmates are wiz kids. Take a look at the ADEA Guide to dental schools and see that the entering GPA of the 2014 class is top 5 or 6 amongst the other schools.

The balance between academics and social life is great. When I moved here, I thought it was going to be all work, no play, but ASDA and the two dental fraternities do an incredible job at planning social events (beach volleyball, pool parties, trips to dental conventions etc).

I love it here, and I hope many of you get a chance to interview here and see our school. best of luck to you, I might catch you guys on your tour here.

how would you know that if your DS2?

and I think people are confusing patient pool/availability with COMPLETING REQUIREMENTS. You will get patients, plenty of them where ever you go, but there seems (so I heard from graduates of that program) to be issues completing requirements.

as far as "based off of nothing goes".... you might be right, no one knows for sure. But you will NEVER convince me (or anyone for that matter) that Nova is going to provide its graduates the same level of clinical exposure as (say) a school like Temple, Buffalo, Detroit, etc.

 

[K0713]

I actually see what you wrote here as a positive. A student body where everyone is happy and not always worried about school? That seems like heaven to me lol. I'm sure these students are smart because they got accepted into dental school. The way you describe them is pretty similar to how I act. I come off ass dumb also if you met me in person. I sit in the back of class, sleep during class, skip class, play games on my iphone during class, talk like I'm uneducated, wait to the last minute to study, etc but I'm not dumb.

I agree.. I found what he said as a PLUS, students actually enjoying their time in dental school? what a shock.. like that's something i'm looking for in a dental school. Just because they seem to have fun that doesn't mean it's a bad school or that they're dumb. obviously it is a good school, they have a 99% board pass rate.. come on now.

 

[Bereno]

I agree.. I found what he said as a PLUS, students actually enjoying their time in dental school? what a shock.. like that's something i'm looking for in a dental school. Just because they seem to have fun that doesn't mean it's a bad school or that they're dumb. obviously it is a good school, they have a 99% board pass rate.. come on now.

You guys are killing me lol. Please re-read post #23. I tried to show in my first post, that I think it is GOOD that the students are happy, I LIKE that students are happy. I was never making this into a bad point. What I was concerned about was what seemed like a complete lack of interest in dentistry. Nobody talked about dentistry while there... They only talked about extra curricular activities. I want to go to a professional school, and take it seriously. Thats just me though. 🙂

 

[startrak]

how would you know that if your DS2?

and I think people are confusing patient pool/availability with COMPLETING REQUIREMENTS. You will get patients, plenty of them where ever you go, but there seems (so I heard from graduates of that program) to be issues completing requirements.

as far as "based off of nothing goes".... you might be right, no one knows for sure. But you will NEVER convince me (or anyone for that matter) that Nova is going to provide its graduates the same level of clinical exposure as (say) a school like Temple, Buffalo, Detroit, etc.

1) ummm.... because I go to school here? and I am close with a large amount of D3s and D4s, and spend time in the clinic.... how wouldn't I know? we have regular rotations at the main campus and 3-4 off-site NSU dental clinics.

2) absolutely absurd statement.

3) seems to be quite a coincidence that you were accepted to those three schools.

 

[bing12]

1) ummm.... because I go to school here? and I am close with a large amount of D3s and D4s, and spend time in the clinic.... how wouldn't I know? we have regular rotations at the main campus and 3-4 off-site NSU dental clinics.

2) absolutely absurd statement.

3) seems to be quite a coincidence that you were accepted to those three schools.

regardless, Nova's clinical reputation is deff not the best. I agree with Dworks, in that regardless of what anyone says, it will be hard to convince me otherwise ( bad reputations take a great deal of time and effort to improve).

 

[jhanago]

Who did you interview with? I had Dr. XXX

 

[Bereno]

Who did you interview with? I had Dr. Coolbeans

You have a PM 👍

 

[Veloce]

Personally I have heard nothing but bad things about Nova.

There are a lot of rumors going around so it's hard to know what is true and what is not. I do go to a different, perhaps rival school, so that may color things I have heard, though rumors are somewhat rooted in truth.

Word on the street from dentists is that Nova does not produce good clinicians.
But dental school is dental school, and it is what you make of it like others have said. If you don't get in anywhere else, work hard, and you'll make as good a dentist as you desire to be.

 

[Bereno]

Personally I have heard nothing but bad things about Nova.

There are a lot of rumors going around so it's hard to know what is true and what is not. I do go to a different, perhaps rival school, so that may color things I have heard, though rumors are somewhat rooted in truth.

Word on the street from dentists is that Nova does not produce good clinicians.
But dental school is dental school, and it is what you make of it like others have said. If you don't get in anywhere else, work hard, and you'll make as good a dentist as you desire to be.

I would not call it a bad school. It seems fine to me. Even then, don't forget that even the "bad" schools can turn out good dentists. I think being a good dentist has more to do with the student than the school.

Don't let your UF-Nova rivalry tint your glasses too much haha

 

[jhanago]

Personally I have heard nothing but bad things about Nova.

There are a lot of rumors going around so it's hard to know what is true and what is not. I do go to a different, perhaps rival school, so that may color things I have heard, though rumors are somewhat rooted in truth.

Word on the street from dentists is that Nova does not produce good clinicians.
But dental school is dental school, and it is what you make of it like others have said. If you don't get in anywhere else, work hard, and you'll make as good a dentist as you desire to be.

You gotta imagine that it has a lot to do with students.. In the end, it's up to the students to study and put all that extra effort it. The professors can't do your labs for you or tell you to study the boards.. you have to do it yourself. That's why I dont really pay attention to whether or not good clinicians are produced because all the information and lab practice is there for you, you just have to use it.

 

[kaDa]

Thanks for the feedback - I'm pumped to check out this school. As for everyone spouting numbers and whatnot...sounds like you guys aren't too confident in your ability to manage patients 😉. A few years of good work ethic after D-school is the great equalizer, IMO.

 

[Bereno]

Thanks for the feedback - I'm pumped to check out this school. As for everyone spouting numbers and whatnot...sounds like you guys aren't too confident in your ability to manage patients 😉. A few years of good work ethic after D-school is the great equalizer, IMO.

Cool! I am glad you found it helpful. Thats the point of me posting on here 👍

You bring up a very good point about being post d-school. I think a lot of us (me included) can get a little caught up in the numbers. Do you have an interview at Nova??

 

[kaDa]

Word, we're the blind leading the blind 😀. Yep I got a view in a few weeks! Sounds like my kind of place...chill, fun, but with an academic/professional bite. We'll see how it goes, though!

 

[Bereno]

Word, we're the blind leading the blind 😀. Yep I got a view in a few weeks! Sounds like my kind of place...chill, fun, but with an academic/professional bite. We'll see how it goes, though!

Good luck then!! You should post your impressions of the school as well on this thread 👍

 

[JJspin]

I know this is really late........but
if you are still active on SDN (or whoever's out there),
How is the student body like? many internationals? diverse?
and what is roughly the acceptance rate after one gets an interview??

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[DentalDoge]

Dont bring up old ass threads like this one with no relative information. Just make a new post, pretty sure everyone else in this thread (bar from @dentalWorks) are mostly dental students now and probably graduating next year or so.

Word, we're the blind leading the blind 😀. Yep I got a view in a few weeks! Sounds like my kind of place...chill, fun, but with an academic/professional bite. We'll see how it goes, though!

They have no idea what theyre talking about anyways.