Tell me about yourself?

[Smooth Operater]

I am pretty sure this question is very typical in interviews. I could go on and keep talking about myself. But how long do you think one should spend on talking about himself/herself?

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[Montserrat]

Humility and brevity are your friends.

 

[yorkiepoo]

my pre-med advisor told me after my mock interview to talk more about myself and not skimp on details and go into things more and not to be modest because this is the only chance u get to show who you are to admissions of the d-school.

 

[Shunwei]

Humility and brevity are your friends.

I agree. This question is probably THE question thrown around at interviews, and the general rule of thumb is to not go beyond 1-2 minutes. Avoid extraneous details not relevant to the object under scrutiny--get into the school--and avoid running off the mouth too much. This latter is what kills a lot of people.

 

[Smooth Operater]

Are you guys going to talk about things that are not mentioned on your PS and applications? I was planning to talk about some interesting facts about myself, but I don't think those interesting facts tie to dental school.

 

[nabajane]

I really don't know what I should focus on when answering this question...
Since I have already mentioned many things in the application, I was thinking maybe focusing on my personality..

What do you think is good to mention and focus on answering this question?

 

[Regmata]

I kept it short and simple...a few attributes/characteristics, what i like to do, a bit about my academic style and work ethic. Put all that into a few sentencse...Talking too much gets you into trouble.

 

[Smooth Operater]

I was planning to tell the interviewer how I become a typical studious Asian wanting to pursue dentistry (typical Asian dream) from a popular school's superstar in sports in high school. I don't think it's really reverent, but I thought it's good to hear this side of me.

 

[wizziefiend]

I am pretty sure this question is very typical in interviews. I could go on and keep talking about myself. But how long do you think one should spend on talking about himself/herself?

Can you make up your own mind on anything?

Seriously something like this would suffice:

Tell Us About Yourself:

"I'm Smooth and I am a student at No-Name University. I am studying little boys and I rather enjoy the degree. I'm an active participant of our campus rowing club and I am really excited about our upcoming match against Girl Scout Troop 763. I am on 100% academic scholarship so I have a part time job at the library where I make friends with the local bumms."

You just covered: Name, Home/University, general academic interests, a EC activity and what you have done extra with that activity, a scholarship and an outside school thing like work. All in very little time. They may only like you for your research so you wouldn't want to waste 5 mins talking about your job. You don't know that yet.

MOST schools already read your application so you don't have to spill your guts to them. And if they haven't (which you can call them a few days before and ask how they run it), THEN you change your game plan and give them something to base their questions on.

Just use your common sense. If you have an interview, you are already good enough for them academically...so they just trying to get to know you and get a good match to their own atmosphere.

 

[714guy]

During my mock interview with my friend he asked me this same question. I proceeded with the usual... "I am so and so and attended yada yada school and so-on.. " He told me it was so typical and that probably the interviewer wouldn't remember my answer at all. He said I should pretend that the interviewer was some hot girl at the bar asking me that question and my answer should capture her attention and make her want to know more about me. Thinking of it that way helped me so much.

my answer now would be something like. " I like to think of myself as an Emeril Lagasi type of person.. I love to cook and entertain my friends.. cooking allows me to get creative with food and I enjoy cooking for my friends since I know they'll give me there honest opinion on my cooking... and now you slowly make a transition to the typical stuff like I went to so and so school and yada yada yada....

I found this approach to help me a lot with answering the interview questions and not sounding so typical. Good Luck to you all!!!

 

[TheWiredNerv]

I kept it short and simple...a few attributes/characteristics, what i like to do, a bit about my academic style and work ethic. Put all that into a few sentencse...Talking too much gets you into trouble.

I agree. Talking too much is looked down upon. Talk as little as possible and just answer their question. Don't go off into another subject. The more they hear their own voice, the better the interviewer probably felt the interview went.

 

[whiskeysour]

Just tell them that you're the dude on SDN that asks a lot of questions [without ever providing any answers]... they'll know exactly what you're about

WS

 

[TheWiredNerv]

I love Whiskey Sours. Perhap my favorite drink!

See, look how few words I answered that interview questions. lol.

 

[djeffreyt]

I think you should say you're a typical asian. I think that bit of stereotyping yourself will probably go over pretty well at most dental schools.

 

[blankguy]

I think you should say you're a typical asian. I think that bit of stereotyping yourself will probably go over pretty well at most dental schools.

But the whole idea is to standout.

 

[714guy]

But the whole idea is to standout.

can't you sense his sarcasm?? hehe well at least i hope..

 

[ivo0006]

Well my undergraduate career was quite rocky, I had a lot of problems going on at home and blah blah, I ended up with a 3.0 science. I did a 1 year MS in biology with a 3.6 and then 30 credits of Post Bacc w/ a 3.9. However, my mom had a totally unexpected Heart Surgery during second semester finals of my masters. Do I take this opportunity to discuss how I can manage personal life with my academics now (Surgery and MS and working) and show them with this scenario, I don't really touch on this in my application?

 

[Vapor1122]

...I should pretend that the interviewer was some hot girl at the bar asking me that question and my answer should capture her attention and make her want to know more about me. Thinking of it that way helped me so much.

my answer now would be something like. " I like to think of myself as an Emeril Lagasi type of person...

That's an interesting way to think about it... though I'm pretty sure that comparing yourself to Emeril wouldn't result in getting any action