Questions to ask the interviewer

[umc27]

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What are some good questions to ask the interviewers at the end of the interview?

 

[RxTech]

What are some good questions to ask the interviewers at the end of the interview?

so, am I in?

 

[DDS2BE]

First of all, I would find out everything about that school of my interest. Then come up with questions that interest me about that particular school. My approach is to treat every school I applied as my first choice school 🙂 ...

 

[drat]

So, lots of schools ask, "Why do you want to come to ______?" I'd like to throw this back at them and ask, "Why should I come to _____?" Or would this be a bad move?

 

[MrBenny]

um, yes.

 

[JavadiCavity]

I'd like to throw this back at them and ask, "Why should I come to _____?" Or would this be a bad move?

Maybe, depending on the way you ask it. I think you can ask questions that fish out of the interviewer why they think their school is great. However, you probably won't have to ask these questions since most schools go out of their way during your visit to make sure you know why they think their school is the best in the country.

For me, I like to ask what type of clinical experiences will we have avaiable to us during our 3rd and 4th year. That is, do we partcipate in external clerkships, externships, etc. I think it's a great when the schools start talking about the clinical portion of our education because the clinical work is what gets me most excited about dentistry! So, most of my questions tend to be directed towards clinical experience.

 

[Sprgrover]

The interview is not just an opportunity for the school to interview you, it is an opportunity to interview them. After all, if you go to school X, they'll be teaching you for four years and you'll be there learning for four years. What do you value in a school? Are alumni relations of importance? How about training for the business side of dentistry? What are some of your professional interests (community based service, occasional international work, teaching, etc.) and can that school help you develop them? These are some questions for you to consider. I would also consider asking them about the cost of living and the characteristics of the area - do you have to dodge bullets on your way to school or are housing rates so high that you have to live in another county and commute to school? I wouldn't worry about asking the 'right' questions so as to impress the interviewer as I would about asking sincere questions that will help me make an informed decision. Not only will such questions give valuable information they will demonstrate that I (or you) have done some research and background into the school and the community.

 

[River13]

If you're possibly interested in specializing:
How many students get accepted into specialties each year and in what fields? What type of research opportunities are there? Is there time given for externships between 3rd and 4th year and if so how much? What's the average class board score on part I? Is there something like a concurrant masters program that can be completed during dental school?

If you want the best clinical training possible ask:
How many root canals does one need to graduate? (also crowns, bridges)
Are students taught how to extract impacted 3rd molars? Are students taught how to do endo-retreats, or is it all sent to grad programs? Is rotary endo taught? How much exposure is there to veneers and cosmetic dentistry? Etc.

 

[rocknightmare]

river13.. what school did you go to that lets you do extractions of impacted 3rd molars??

 

[River13]

I went to Louisville, and they DIDN'T allow us to do that, or endo retreats, or place implants, which always ticked me off...my currant fellow co-resident graduated from Creighton, and he was taught how to take out impacted 3rd molars, and how to do endo retreats, and he placed implants in dental school...reasons being there's no grad programs at Creighton, while at Louisville everything got sent to them that was remotely challenging.

Downside- in my opinion, if you want to specialize, there's some real advantages to going to a school with specialty programs...maybe there's a d-school out there that lets you have both...