University of Oklahoma?

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mcataz

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I doubt I will receive too many answers to this question but I was wondering by chance if anyone attends or interviewed there. Could you provide some insight about the school.
 
Hey mcataz,

I applied there last year and interviewed. They were very laid back during the whole interview. I applied there late last year (January of this year). I interviewed with 4 spots left and.

I met with the Dean a couple of months ago and he said they had a record number of resident applicants last year.

Anyways...I was placed on the alternate list and was next in line to be called as of the first day of classes on the 1st of July. Needless to say I was not called. Unfortunately they do not have a policy of accepting those on the waiting list for the following year. I am going through the whole process again. It builds character and shows determination...right.

I have spoken with Dr. Miller (Dean of student affairs/admissions) on numerous occasions and have been very impressed with him. I moved here to OK last June from Arizona. At the time of my move there wasn't a whole lot of info on the school in AZ. I had met Dr. Dillenberg (spelling?) at was impressed with his enthusiasm and determination to make it a great school.

A year prior to our move I came out to Oklahoma to visit some family and one of my friends had been accepted to OU's dental school so I had the opportunity to tour the school and meet Dr. Miller for the first time. As you can see it left a positive impression and we decided we wanted to attend here.

Long story longer...Do you have any specific questions about the interview or school. I have a few friends attending OU and have spoken with them for hours about OU.

They did just receive a 3 million dollar grant. They will be redoing their onsite clinics over the next three years. Each year they will be spending a million dollars of the grant.

They have just rolled out a new program for scheduling patients and collecting money so the students in clinic get credit for the work they perform. The past program required the students to do their own scheduling and collect from patients. If the patients did not pay then the student would not get credit for that procedure. This led to students paying the bill to get credit for graduating requirements.

Students now just get their schedules and work on patients rather than running down patients and payments. Students will get credit for all the work they do now regardless of payment. Those who schedule for the students will also take care of collecting the payment.

OU is a great school and is continuing to improve upon their procedures and facilities. Don't hesitate to ask more questions. I was excited to see someone asking about OU.
 
I live here in Oklahoma and am applying this year. Many of my friends go to dental school there. What I can tell you about OU is that they give Oklahoma residents prefrence in the application process. I believe they admit about 5-10 out of state applicants a year. My friends said that there interviews were very laid back. Two faculty interview you. I agree that Oklahoma is a great school that graduate top of the line clinical dentists.
 
When I spoke with Dr. Miller he mentioned that they are most likely going to initiate an alternate list for non-res. They are going to shoot for accepting about 10 non-res a year. However, Austin1 is correct. They do have preference of residents over non-res but just about every state school is that way. They just raised the number of students they accept to 60 from 54 as well to allow room for more non-residents.
 
I'm sorry if I came off the wrong way guys. I am not trying to discourage any out of state applicants. I don't think that someone has a better chance than anyone else. I was just giving info. DDSdude, I did notice that they raised the limit to 60 students. Are they going to continue that? That would be great!
 
Yes, 60 will be the new number. It is great news!! I didn't feel you were negative.
 
Originally posted by Austin1
I'm sorry if I came off the wrong way guys. I am not trying to discourage any out of state applicants. I don't think that someone has a better chance than anyone else.

But in-state students DO have a better chance.

You can't deny that, and there is nothing wrong with it.

That's the story of state schools.
 
I still carry my Oklahoma resident status which I recently confirmed with the school. I was told that ALL residents who apply are granted interviews. Susan, the "friendly" secretary/admissions assistant/gatekeeper revealed this to me on the telephone. Of course, she stated that this policy isn't set in stone, and that things could change if they received more state residents applying.

Nonetheless, I find this hard to believe. Can anyone confirm this?
 
I have been working/conversing with Susan for the last couple of years. That is correct. If you are a resident you will have an interview. Even last year they interviewed residents with a record number of residents applying.

Just a disclaimer though... things could change this year. They haven't received all their apps yet or even started the interview process. I don't think it will but you never know.

ItsGavinC is correct. Residents always take precedence over non-res at state schools. Just the nature of state schools and their funding.
 
Hey DDS

Yeah, I have some questions.

1. I heard that the interview is pretty key at OU dental. It's not just a formality like at some schools. However, I also hear it's laid back. I know the interview at OU medical school is the second coming of the Spanish Inquisition. I was expecting their dental interview to be the same? How is it they place so much importance on it yet they are so easy going about it?

2. How do they treat borderline candidates. My GPA is 3.1 I noticed that their average is 3.5., Does't look good for me.

3. What have you heard about the school itself? Do they have an entirely different curriculum or do they stick you in with the med students the first two years.

4. When do they start interviewing?

5. Do students like the school? I have heard that students don't enjoy their experience at OU dental?


Thanks for any answers your might have.
 
Hey DDSdude, do you know when OU will begin sending anything out for interviews?
 
I will try my best here my peeps!:laugh:

1. I heard that the interview is pretty key at OU dental. It's not just a formality like at some schools. However, I also hear it's laid back. I know the interview at OU medical school is the second coming of the Spanish Inquisition. I was expecting their dental interview to be the same? How is it they place so much importance on it yet they are so easy going about it?

Interviews are KEY!!!!! I cannot express this enough. You can take an average or well below average candidate and turn it around in the interview. Some of the laid back approach comes from the fact that this is OK. You should know that. ;-) It is laid back here, much more than Arizona. Their approach also can throw you off if you are not prepared. There is a fine line as far as taking on their laid back approach. If you are too laid back they may see that as a lack of confidence or maturity. It is important to take the interview very seriously and come with your A game. Their attitude may be laid back but the answers they are looking for as they do their probing are very specific. I can elaberate on this more if you would like me to. Dr. Miller told me that in the interview your entire purpose or job is to convince them you are the person they need to fight for in front of their peers in the admission committee meeting. Don't take this the wrong way or think I am bragging but when I met with Dr. Miller (after the school year started and my alternate list "number was not called") he told me he wished he had a video camera in my interview. He said I don't know exactly what you said but you definately did your job in the interview. My stats are lower than yours, I was competing for four spots left when my application arrived to OU and there were another 1000 or so applicants I was up against I was still able to pull off a spot on the alternate list. So the Interview is very crucial to your chances of getting in.

2. How do they treat borderline candidates. My GPA is 3.1 I noticed that their average is 3.5., Does't look good for me.

Don't let your GPA discourage you. During the interview they may ask you questions about that but be very confident and don't shy away from the question or give excuses. Just be honest and explain. It can be difficult to not sound like you are giving excuses. They are looking for reasons that will not show up on your app. Such as a death in the family, birth of a child, marriage, work commitments. Life altering events. Not things like, my teacher was a jerk or I got the shaft from that teacher.

3. What have you heard about the school itself? Do they have an entirely different curriculum or do they stick you in with the med students the first two years.

They have a similiar curriculum as most dental schools. You will be taking some classes with the Med students, like Neural anatomy, bio-chem, etc. Something I like that they do that most other schools do not is start classes on July 1st. They have taken the dental students out of the med student's gross anatomy class and you will take it for 6 weeks prior to the semster starting. They feel that taking this class by itself will lighten the load a little bit during your first semester. The calss is after lunch until 5:30 or so. The morning you spend studying. The class moves pretty fast but the students I have spoken with are glad to get that class over with before the semester begins.

4. When do they start interviewing?

Interviews begin the first week of October. The first committee meeting is the week of Thanksgiving and the first round of letters go out the 1st of December. At that time you are accepted, deferred or denied.

5. Do students like the school? I have heard that students don't enjoy their experience at OU dental?
😉 😉

To be honest I have spoken with about 10 students there from different years, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th and they love it. The clinical experience is great and most of it is on campus. There are some hospital rotations as well.

Austin1, to answer your questions they begin sending out letters about this time, September.

Hope this info helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.
 
Thanks DDSDude. I am just getting a little anxious about receiving something from the school. Do they not give you much notice on when you have your interview?
 
It depends on where you live. If you are out of state they may give you a couple of weeks or month. Being a resident they may call you and see if you can come interview the following week. It doesn't always come in the form of a letter. They may call you intially to set it up and then they will send a letter in the mail confirming your interview with the specifics on time, location, and sometimes the interviewers.

When I interviewed last year I was called on a Thursday and was asked if I could interview the following Thursday.
 
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