Temple University Kornberg School of Dentistry

I interviewed at Temple early january, and received an acceptance recently. I will share with you my experience there and what to expect. I made this very long and detailed cause i know there are people out there ( like myself) that want to know EVERY DETAIL so that nothing would be surprise. Part 1. INTRODUCTION It took some time to find the office, the building was somewhat confusing to myself and the other applicants( 2 of them) I met on the elevator on the way up. So make sure you get there 30 min early, min(IMO). You walk into the room, there are seats where about 10 of us were going to wait. The room was silent when I walked in, and Jeremy ( one of the ppl that works there) just kept saying oh guys dont be so quite. I just started up a convo with everyone, saying " so where is everyone from", just to try to break the silence. ADVICE: don't just sit there and not talk, Temple knows you look good on paper, what they are trying to assess is your personality. IF you just remain silent throughout the day, you prob dont look like a person that could interact with patients successfully. also, DONT BE LATE!!!.some student came in about 30 min late, it looked really bad. he said he got lost, well thats the reason why you leave your house ALOT EARLIER than the interview time. Part 2. PPT and CONFERENCE ROOM Brian comes out, and takes us to a smaller room where you sit in a ovale desk( conference room), and stare at the projector screen where he reads of his Power Points and explains the school and what it has to offer. Let me just say, Brian is awesome, he is a very down to earth guy, and very honest. Once you sit down, he will go around, and ask you to say your name, where your from, your school, and your hobbies. ADVICE: be prepared to answer questions based off your description about yourself. Some examples of questions Brian asked: Why Temple?......What is your first choice school?.....What is the craziest thing you have seen( this is one of the toughest questions i have heard.haha). so, when you describe yourself, be prepared to answer a question based off of what you had described ( example: i love watching basketball- if this is what you said during your tell me about your self portion, he might ask: who will win the championship this year?) - Also, after everyone introduces themself, if you have a question, ASK IT. dont hold back, I asked plenty of questions, but dont ask questions just to seem like you want to get your foot through the door dont try to BS him.haha. I just asked questions pertaining to the info he provided on the slides, just normal questions, such as oh where do students usually live, etc etc. -This is ENTIRELY MY OPINION: I truly believe Brian DOES have influence of the admissions committee( i may be wrong.haha). I dont know how much, but it seems to be silly to have him ask questions, and interact with the applicants all day and not have any influence on the admissions committee. so try to be REAL with Brian. I have heard he appreciates honesty ( obviously) and can read through those being fake( he seems like an intelligent man). so that is what I tried to do, i didnt put on a show or anything, i just acted like myself. Part 3: LUNCH you eat with the current temple dental students( I had a few 4th year students) I also acted like myself, just ask them whatever your concerned about). During the lunch, I just asked, hows dental school, do you have time to yourself( how much, what do you do on your free time)? What do you want to do post graduation? etc etc. ADVICE: DO NOT let down your guard completely during lunch. you will not be with Brian or any admissions people, just students. Although I dont feel that they influence your admission chances ( maybe they do, you never know), its safe to stay away from sensitive topics ( money, do you drink, how are the girls man? etc etc). Part 4: WRITING AND VIDEO After all this, the HARD PART COMES.haha. the writing sample and the VIDEO( 3-5 min long). So, we all sat back in the waiting room that we originally were in. He gave everyone a clipboard with one piece of paper on it with one short question on the top of it. I will not tell you the question, but the question is not the same everyday so it wont matter. It was very basic, and I just wrote 3 paragraphs and filled about 60 percent of the page. let me just say, i am a HORRIBLE writer and Speller. so please dont stress over this. I guarantee most of you are better than me at writing and spelling. While people are writing , Brian just asks people to go into the room to do their video, he didnt care what particular order it was. You walk into the room and its another ovale desk. you sit on one end, and an undergrad student( at my interview) sat on the other side with a basic video camera on the table. the camera is about 5-7 feet away from you. you sit in your chair, and you can ask her ( Brian said its ok) if you dont want her to look at you. I personally asked her if she can not look at me, cause I would be too nervous to have someone look at me. MY HEART WAS BEATING SOO FAST FOR THE FULL 4 min that i did it for. IT did not slow down., its the most nervous I have ever been...ever.haha. I personally memorized and recited over and over about 15 times exactly what i was going to say ( prior to the interview). The girl sitting on the opposite side of the table tells you: we will start whenever you are ready". I just began saying my name, what my major was, and some of my hobbies. I said why i wanted to do dentistry, and mentioned some extracurricular actives I had did and related it to how it would make me a good dentist. IT SAYS YOU CAN DO WHATEVER, I AM NOT SAYING YOU MUST COPY WHAT I SAID.haha. everyone does something different. you dont have to memorize what you will say, some people i spoke to just had certain topics they were going to mention, and kind of winged it. I DID stutter a few times, i stuttered one time for about 3 seconds.haha. it is NOT THE END OF THE WORLD, i still got in. even though i memorized it, i put passion in my words, and smiled. DO not just recite something as if you memorized it in a monotone voice.