- Joined
- Mar 20, 2002
- Messages
- 104
- Reaction score
- 1
Hello everyone. I just returned from my Tufts interview.
The day started with the admissions coordinator meeting with us (3 people interviewed including myself). You are put somewhat at ease immediately when they tell you some statistics?one of them being that 80% are accepted that make it to the interview stage.
She talked about various aspects of the college and then went over some financial aid material. We then took a tour through the dental school. Got to see the clinics, lecture halls, simulation labs and the gross anatomy lab. Overall, I was very impressed. The facilities looked great with the exception of the gross lab, which I think is always in a grungy basement anyway. Not a big deal.
After the tour we had lunch in the dental suite and students were invited to come and meet with us. Lunch was about an hour and was composed entirely of conversation with students although I could see the admissions people were watching to see how we interacted.
At the end of lunch an older gentleman named Dr. Allen approached me and asked me to follow him to his office along with a 3rd year student. Back in the office he and the 3rd year met with me for about an hour. It was a very pleasant interview consisting of basic questions. Dr. Allen and the student were very polite and didn?t try to nail me with tough questions. It seemed as though they just wanted to be sure I could communicate and carry a conversation.
After that I was escorted back to the dental suite and we met with another admissions coordinator who informed us of what materials were still missing to complete our application. After that there were some closing remarks and opportunity for questions. We were then free to leave.
Things I liked:
-Great clinical exposure. You start the simulation labs your first year. Ample patient pool. I think you start seeing patients as early as March of your second year.
-The students seem to love the school. Students were very friendly and helpful.
-Opportunities for research.
-Low attrition rate. Only one student from the freshman class last year out of approximately 150 people dropped out although two did not make it to year two but they are still in the program. If you are struggling with a class they?ll assign you to a student tutor. The tutors are not free although the school pays half the cost.
-Also, the school transcribes lecture notes, which can be accessed via the web along with figures used during lectures.
Oh, one thing I just remembered about gross. Groups of 5 work on a cadaver. 20% of your grade comes from oral questions that are given to your group. The instructor will pick someone randomly from the group to answer a question. If you get it right, your whole group gets it right. If you get it wrong, everyone gets it wrong. You get the point.
One interview questions that made me stumble a bit was?.
Interviewer-?What would you do if someone from your gross group wasn?t studying??
Me-?I would talk to then one on one to discuss the problem.?
Interviewer-?What if that didn?t work??
Me-?UHHHH? ?BlaBlaBlaBlaaaaa? ?I can?t force them to do anything.?
They were looking for an answer such as ?I?d approach the instructor?.
Anyway, that?s my experience.
EcoRI
The day started with the admissions coordinator meeting with us (3 people interviewed including myself). You are put somewhat at ease immediately when they tell you some statistics?one of them being that 80% are accepted that make it to the interview stage.
She talked about various aspects of the college and then went over some financial aid material. We then took a tour through the dental school. Got to see the clinics, lecture halls, simulation labs and the gross anatomy lab. Overall, I was very impressed. The facilities looked great with the exception of the gross lab, which I think is always in a grungy basement anyway. Not a big deal.
After the tour we had lunch in the dental suite and students were invited to come and meet with us. Lunch was about an hour and was composed entirely of conversation with students although I could see the admissions people were watching to see how we interacted.
At the end of lunch an older gentleman named Dr. Allen approached me and asked me to follow him to his office along with a 3rd year student. Back in the office he and the 3rd year met with me for about an hour. It was a very pleasant interview consisting of basic questions. Dr. Allen and the student were very polite and didn?t try to nail me with tough questions. It seemed as though they just wanted to be sure I could communicate and carry a conversation.
After that I was escorted back to the dental suite and we met with another admissions coordinator who informed us of what materials were still missing to complete our application. After that there were some closing remarks and opportunity for questions. We were then free to leave.
Things I liked:
-Great clinical exposure. You start the simulation labs your first year. Ample patient pool. I think you start seeing patients as early as March of your second year.
-The students seem to love the school. Students were very friendly and helpful.
-Opportunities for research.
-Low attrition rate. Only one student from the freshman class last year out of approximately 150 people dropped out although two did not make it to year two but they are still in the program. If you are struggling with a class they?ll assign you to a student tutor. The tutors are not free although the school pays half the cost.
-Also, the school transcribes lecture notes, which can be accessed via the web along with figures used during lectures.
Oh, one thing I just remembered about gross. Groups of 5 work on a cadaver. 20% of your grade comes from oral questions that are given to your group. The instructor will pick someone randomly from the group to answer a question. If you get it right, your whole group gets it right. If you get it wrong, everyone gets it wrong. You get the point.
One interview questions that made me stumble a bit was?.
Interviewer-?What would you do if someone from your gross group wasn?t studying??
Me-?I would talk to then one on one to discuss the problem.?
Interviewer-?What if that didn?t work??
Me-?UHHHH? ?BlaBlaBlaBlaaaaa? ?I can?t force them to do anything.?
They were looking for an answer such as ?I?d approach the instructor?.
Anyway, that?s my experience.
EcoRI
