Helpful Tips to Prepare For Your Dental School Interview
It is a rewarding feeling, after putting all the work into your undergraduate degree, to work hard on your application to dental school and receive the notification that you are invited to interview with a potential school. While it is an amazing accomplishment and extremely exciting, it can also be nerve-racking to figure out what you are expected to know and discuss during your interview. We want to offer some guidance and helpful tips to start you on your preparation journey.
Why Do Schools Interview?
Dental schools interview for the same reason you might be interviewed for a job. Schools want to ensure they are putting their confidence in a student who is going to fit in and do well in their learning environment. The admissions department wants to ensure the person on paper matches the personality before them.
Helpful Tips
There are certain aspects of an interview that should be common sense, such as dressing appropriately, arriving early and acting professionally. We want to share some advice that can help you get ahead of your competition:
Learn the Format of the Interview
Research and ask ahead of time if the interview is going to be a traditional one-on-one interview, a panel style interview, or a series of mini interviews each covering a different topic. It will help you better prepare yourself.
Prepare Unique Questions
It is always important to prepare unique questions that you can ask the interviewer. Be sure that it is not a simple question that can easily be searched online. You want to give the impression that you have done your research and therefore ask a more difficult question.
Prepare With Mock Interviews
Use every opportunity available to you. Search out locations where you can attend a mock interview. It will help you practice your answers and feel more comfortable with being put on the spot.
Be Yourself
The last piece of advice is to remember to be yourself. You don’t want to attend a school that doesn’t want you for the wonderful and hardworking student you are!
If you are not yet at the part of your journey that would require a dental interview and are still in the stage of determining your future, we suggest learning more about the scholarship opportunity provided by Dr. Michael Krochak. The next scholarship application period will be opening up again very soon, in June 2022.
2023 Scholarship Award Details
The Dr. Michael Krochak Pre-Dental Scholarship was developed to encourage young men and women to enter the field of dentistry. The scholarship helps students pursuing careers in dentistry to meet the rising cost of college tuition. The 2023 award applications will be accepted from June 2022 through January 2023. If you are a college junior or senior enrolled in a U.S. accredited college or university, and are engaged in pre-dental studies with a 3.3 GPA or better by the end of your sophomore year, you are eligible to apply for this one time $1,000 scholarship.
Best of luck!