Tufts, Penn, U of M, Columbia

[sanara]

I have interviews coming up at these schools and was wondering if those of you who have interviewed already, have any advice for me?

Are they one-on-one or group interviews?
What type of questions do they ask?
Any essays?

Finally, does anyone know if their classes are still open?

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[reena]

sanara,

tufts: i had a pharmacology professor and two students interviewing me at the same time. no essay. and it was solely a blind interview. questions got a bit strange, but as long as long as you hold your own, you should be fine.

penn: i had a one-on-one interview with a faculty member. very very casual. we mostly talked about our backgrounds, where we grew up and her family.

umaryland: this was with a faculty member and a student. they asked very general questions, like why dentistry, why maryland, and a question pertaining to my essay. we discussed some issues on oral health.

columbia: i had an interview with a former alum--class of '37!!! he was absolutely amazing. very genuine man and seemed to really care about my future. we talked about our experiences growing up in new york city mainly. no real questions.

good luck sanara! feel free to fire away if you want more info!

 

[sanara]

Reena,
Thanks for the info.
So, which did you like best? Are you looking to stay in MD? Have you decided where you'll be going? I'm sure I'll come up with more questions as they near

 

[reena]

hey sanara,

to tell you the truth, i probably had the best feel for tufts university; they had an ideal location with a spanking new building and modern facilities, nice faculty and pleasant students. but oddly, i had left an initial deposit at penn. i wanted to keep the possibility of specializing in the future open, and penn seemed to do best in placing their graduates.... equally so would be columbia. i ended up choosing penn over columbia because of the higher cost of living in new york (i grew up in the big apple) and my boyfriend (who resides 15 minutes from penn dental). so no, i really don't have any desire to stay in maryland... i'm only here because of the national institutes of health. :wink:

 

[baracuda]

reena,

Does Tufts not give you a good chance for placing into a specialty?

 

[reena]

baracuda,
from what i know, it seems that tufts places their students into respective specialities... but they're not known to be a speciality school, like penn or columbia. in any case, i still think tufts would be a fine choice... especially for those who are undecided on choosing a speciality or not.

reena