Applicants generally found the interview experience at U of M to be less stressful than expected, with positive feedback on the virtual format, the MMI process, and the opportunity to discuss current issues. Some applicants appreciated the school's research opportunities and reputation, while others expressed concerns about the interview format, crowded conditions, and aspects of the school's presentation.
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Good overall
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I think this was my favorite type of interview and was actually a lot less stressful than I thought it would be. I was able to stay home and do it virtually, so I didn't have to worry about traffic.
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Not a bad experience but no typical questions like why dentistry or why this school.
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Not impressed by the "#1 dental school"
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Perfect school for me.
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Don't be afraid of MMI, it's less stressful than regular interviews
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Awesome school - hoping for good news on Dec 2nd!
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Enjoy the experience, U of M is amazing.
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Michigan's mission to go mobile with apps and stuff is really cool. i hope other schools also implement that. overall, my interview day was pretty stress free! one thing that bothered me was that with the MMI, we were all sitting in a lab room(about 30 of us? plus 30 interviewers) and the talking would go from this awkward silence (at the beginning of the question) and then crescendo to this buzzing roar as applicants tried to make sure their answers were audible and came across to their interviewers.
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Not as bad as I thought, although it is very nerve-racking to be interviewed by 10 faculty and students. >_<
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If you want to do research, this is the place to be. The staff was great and the school has a great reputation. And Ann Arbor is a great city.
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Overall a great program.
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School is good, good patient pool but their attitude is not very nice. although i got acceptance but i am not going there.
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I hope that helps. Have fun and good luck! ...future colleagues :P
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MMI was a fun experience - it was really cool being able to speak to many different people at the stations; UMich wasn't really on my radar as a top choice, but it definitely is now!
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Overall, I really liked the school and to my surprise I really liked the interview format, unlike most others in my interview group. I thought they were fun and gave you the opportunity to think critically and discuss current issues, which I thought was really fun. I do agree though that it may be hard to gauge an applicant solely based off of that interview format. Some people thought they were very stressful but by the 2nd to 3rd station I was pretty relaxed and started enjoying it. As long as you keep up on current events, there shouldnt be any major concerns. Oh yeah and the interviews last for almost 2 hours! Dont worry, that time actually does fly by!
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School is great! It has a great reputation and program. Dont be discouraged with the interview or a tour guide as it doesnt represent the school. I didnt like neither MMI or how I did, as well as the tour but never the less was admitted to the program. Good luck!
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A lot of ethics questions: you spend eight minutes interviewing with someone at each of ten stations. At 9/10 stations, you read a prompt off a laminated sheet of paper and then proceed with the simple direction of "discuss." Essentially they're giving you medically and dental-related issues and scenarios from which they're gauging your knowledge of the profession (and issues of), your goals in being a dentist and your basic personality as it pertains to acting in a professional setting. While this sounds stressful, it really isn't. I could tell some of the interviewers were trying to grill me, but in the end all 10/10 of them turned out to be very supportive. You won't get a smile from all of them, but they won't bully you around like they might at some other schools either. In preparing for the prompts, I'd just recommend really knowing why you want to be a dentist, have a defined role of "what a dentist is" in your head, and really be able to describe (rather succinctly) how as a dentist you'll be able to ACTUALLY HELP others. Good luck!
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All-in-all I had a really bad time and decided not to go to U of M based on it. Everyone was so rude, I really was uncomfortable, and my interviewer asked me to refill his coffee, twice, how rude! On my way out a homeless guy was puking on the steps... how classy!
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It was unbearably easy. Just be social with the other students present and be yourself.
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Overall, I think the MMI sucks!! I think it's a waste of time. I was expectations for this school were a 10 but I left with an impression of about a 6. I don't think I will choose this school b/c the students weren't excited aobut what they were there for. That tells it all...
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It was informative, interesting and even a little bit fun. At first it seemed intimidating but after talking with the interviewers I felt much more comfortable.
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Decent. The process is different than anywhere else, but not effective, in my opinion. It needs to be more personal to the student. The point of an interview is to learn who the applicant is behind the numbers, and they missed the point.
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Great school. MMI's are interesting, students and faculty interview you which was nice.
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This was an interview for the ITDP..It was very exhausting...First day morning we had an intro and then the MMI's..4 of em..2 with faculty and 2 written.This was pretty easy.Then there was lunch break and we had the OSCE's.About 10 stations and it was so tiring!! So much to write but very lil time....case scenarios were given and we had to give our opinion/treatment plan for each.Ppl came out looking like something had just hit them!!No wonder Umich has the reputation of having the toughest interviews among dental schools!! The second day was the bench exam.They gave us a columbia typodont and we had to do 2 class II preps..one to be restored..and one cl III and one PFM crown. We were give 3.5 hrs for finishing the preparations which was ample time. They gave us all the instruments including mask and protective eyewear.Overall..it was a stressful but very different experience.
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The overall interview was verry long. Everything is very drawn out. The day begins by sitting around a conference table where you do an icebreaker. Then different faculty members come to speak to you about the school and program. After that they give you an ethical situation and you have to write a couple of paragraphs about it. (It isnt as bad as it sounds...I thought I did horrible but I still got in...so im not sure how much emphasis is given on that part)! Then we split into two groups and one group went for interviews while the other had lunch and thier tour. After the interviews and tours were completed we all met up in a room and someone came to speak to us about research opportunites. I was incredibly nervous about the interview but it is actually pretty laid back... they do things a lot differently at this interview but dont let that intimidate you!
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Though MMI was interesting and made me think about ethics, current issues, etc., overall I was disappointed because there were just too many students there to be interviewed... very difficult, if not impossible, to find out more about each candidate in 10 minutes per interviewer...
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Make sure you get there EARLY!!! I was 15 minutes early and there was nowhere to sit. Also stay at a hotel the night before, I felt so terrible for the West Coasters who flew in the morning of the interview. Morning was an endless stream of talking and presentations, but at least we got "breakfast", which was a Nutri-grain bar. Then had lunch... it was a sandwich platter (which I would rate a 6.5/10 compared to the stuff they fed us at NYU... mmmmmmmmm). MMI was an interesting method of interviewing... kinda awkward to have 2 minutes of silence as you try to figure out when you should say SOMETHING!!! As stated later or before, the 20 min interview itself went horribly. Still got admitted into the school on Dec 1... therefore I have NO idea how the University of Michigan ranks their dental applicants.
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Pleasant, friendly, unintimidating.
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They day was too long. I didn't think the MMIs were so bad, but they were kind of disorganized. Too many unnecessary presentations--save it for orientation! I had a pretty good experience over all aside from the boredom.
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Some people were great with thought provoking ethical questions, and some were not. Was not as excited about this school when I left.
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I was deffinatly challenged but never degraded. The MMI's give the interviewee a better chance to get a feel for the school. Some of the interviewrs were really unique
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Very relaxing environment. Nothing to worry about, but it seems like Michigan is trying to use all of these cute, orginal ways(Mini Monitored Interviews) to get to know applicants and whether they are committed to dentistry. Theyre a waste of time if you ask me. You really only have 20 minutes, if that, to sell yourself and tell them what youre all about. make the most of it.
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This was my first interview experience, and I was incredibly nervous beforehand but I can say now that there was really no reason to be. The interview was incredibly relaxed and casual. My interviewer took the time to study my application beforehand and asked me about really ineresting things from my application. I was happy to speak about things that really mean a lot to me--not all related to dentistry. The MMI's were a good exeperience, but some of the interviewers were quite intimidating, others really cool. Overall I liked my experience there but it snowed--in October!!
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It appeared to me that Michigan's philosophy of the whole interview process was much less about ranking or scoring the prospective dental students and more about helping them know more about the program and making the right decision. The interview is very casual, during the hour lunch break. Mine was conducted standing up, really just a friendly casual conversation. It was fun to visit with the other predents (there was a group of 35!). Everyone had a great time. The faculty were friendly and tried to be honest about the school. They did not go on and on about how great their school was like I have seen at other dental schools.
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I was impressed with the school. I really enjoyed the MMIs as they were more conversational than I expected. All the faculty/students participating in the MMIs were great.
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A lot of people there, so make sure you arrive there early. Since mine was the first group interviewed, the whole day was a little bit disorganized. Their Lunch wasnt as good as I expected, I saw many other people didnt finish their plate. MMI is unique compare to other school interviews, but I am not sure what's the point of doing that if the person u discuss with doesnt seems care about the issue?
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It was by far the best interview I went to. Although it was not my first choice, I have come to love it and will attend such a fine institution.
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Initially I was very nervous, but the atmosphere was very laid back and eventually I was able to relax and express my personality and my professional goals.
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The morning was filled with presentations about the programs at the school from 9am till lunch. We had lunch and were interviewed, then broke up into groups for MMI's and the tour.
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Extremely laid back.
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It was a wonderful experience, completely convinced me.
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Overall, it was a very informative experience. The faculty seemed to really care about the students.. hey they live by constant feedbacks from students..
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I would say it was a very positive experience, no single part of it was that bad... but be prepared to sit for 3 and a half hours and listen to people talk at you.
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It is a good school. Dean Woolfolk was very nice and friendly. I thought I was ready for the 3 hrs presentation in the morning since I really like the research theme of Michigan. but I have to admit that it was just tooo long. We then split into two groups. toured the campus ( The student who gave the tour really didn't give a good impression to us I wish they had someone more entheusitic)and then the MMIs. Overall I wish the school was better than the other schools I have interviewed.
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Overall the interview was laid back and friendly. I really liked the facilities and faculty.
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Went in, got seated around a conference room table. The interviwees started spilling out to the surrounding chairs as the time approached 9:00 am. After this, was a couple of presentations, and then the 15 minute Essay. Then, a couple of more HOURS of presentations (It was getting ridiculous). Then, lunch, where the interviewers would just pull you away for 5 mins and interview you. Then the tour/MMIs (we were split in two groups, one went to MMIs, and the other went to the tour). After that, another speech by Dr. Woolfolk for closing and then you were free to go. Pretty stress free experience overall, just seemed really long with all the presentations.
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Overall, it was a great experience. Very little stress.
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High stress with writing an essay, doing an interview and doing the MMI's
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I was in contact with Mrs. Katcher and she says the interview process at Michigan is going to change...in a positive way for both students and admissions committees. She didn't give me specifics but just letting anyone reading this know.
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As expected for U of M, they spent the entire 5 hours bragging about themselves. Their facilities were ancient. My high school science labs were bigger, better, and more up to date than theirs. The personal interview was more like a conversation in a bar, as most other reviews warned me. In comparison to the other schools where I interviewed, U of M definately had the oldest of everything. Not to be so negative, but that's exactly how it was.
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Packed in about 60 kids in a room, had about a dozen of speakers, then lunch, with an informal interview
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The interview was awful...it was very short and in a room full of other candidates who could openly hear everything that was being said...not only is that unnerving, but the sheer noise was deafening..I could hardly concentrate on the questions at hand. I was totally unimpressed. It made me feel as though the staff was not making a strong effort to get to know their candidates. In addition, there were far too many people at this interview...there were about 40 people...either they do not have enough interview dates...(I was offered a choice between 2 days)...Or, they are just interviewing too many candidates...it was just overall a cold day compared to my other interviews.
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Great experience! Hope I am accepted!
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YOu can get teh clinical experience, but it wont come to you. If you go out and get it by showing interest, it is there. If you want to do some research... they get some 1 out of every 3 NIH dollars (Dont quote me on that)
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Overall, my opinion of the school did not change much. I know Michigan has a great reputation, and I wouldn't let something about the interview process change my mind.
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Nice people, you don't have to be stressed out
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Be prepared to sit and listen for a while. The day goes by quickly, you start by giving a writing sample, you have 15 minutes, our topic was "list the pros and cons of using manikins on the state licensure exams." The interview is dependent on the faculty member you draw. I had a research oriented person that really pounded home that I'd get bored with dentistry and should do research, i thought that was a little weird but sometimes you play along.
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I went in with a negative attitude, the admissions department had not been too friendly with me through the process, so i figured that i would not like the school. however, i was completely wrong, i really enjoyed it. after speaking to multiple people i realized that what people say about umich not being a good clinical school is wrong. you will not get as much experience as at a small clinically based school, but you get more than enough to be a competent dentist. umich has one of the best names in the country, and now i know why
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Overall, the interview was very relaxed. It's over lunch. They do ask you to write a short essay in 15 minutes. It's no biggie. Everyone at the interview is pretty friendly. Do make conversation with others, they are watching you...how you interact socially. (I mean...do that anywhere you interview....you never know who's watching you)
The information sessions do get a bit long...but they just wanted to make you stay informed- so bear with it.
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Not impressed. Following my interview, my interviewer informed me that my application was very strong, but their strict affirmative actions policies often make it nearly impossible for a white male to get in. In which case, I shouldn't be dissapointed if my application is not accepted. This was a bit of a slap in the face; I was accepted anyway, but so insulted that I turned U of M down.
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I walked in not really knowing what to expect, hoping to walk away with more of a desire to attend this school, but didn't really get that. It just came across as another dental school trying to pound into your head how wonderful they are. THe whole day goes by pretty fast, just expect to be sitting in a room with about 35 other students listening to presentations. The actual interview is (i'm sure you all know by now) over lunch when one of the faculty members pulls you aside. No biggie.
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Lots of speaches, then a tour and a very informal 20 minute interview
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Very impressed by the college town and surrounding area. Students overall were knowledgeable and personable. Relaxed atmosphere.
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This was probably the most interesting interview I attended. There were about 30-35 people crowded around one large conference table. Interviews were conducted during lunch in the same conference room. That said, Dr. Ester gave a great presentation on the school, and I was highly impressed with the extensive research opportunities available to students.
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Very relaxed
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They made the whole process way too long. It lasted from 9-2, where we had to sit through all these presentations. Some were very informative about their program, others were useless. We also had to write an essay on a given topic (ours was pros and cons of amalgam vs. composite). We were given a tour by students and then we all came back to eat lunch and be interviewed. The day ended with a financial aid session.
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The interview is stress free. The most difficult part is the essay, and even that was not very hard. The faculty seemed genuine. I really liked the facilities. The University of Michigan is a great school and my first choice.
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Great school, beautiful campus
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It was great, I'm glad I made the trip. It is now my first choice after my state school. I really liked their opportunities for research, and the fact that they teach you the latest about dental implants.
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Introducing ourselves to the 35ish other candidates, 15-minute essay on a dental issue, presentations about the school/curriculum/research opportunities, student-led tour, lunch/mingling/interview, financial aid workshop.. All this from 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
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It was a really long day, 8am- 4pm. The first activity was a short essay, then 3 hours of presentations. During lunch there is a short interview. After lunch are the MMIs. After MMIs there is a tour and a short Q&A.
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I had a really nice time, all the faculty and staff seemed extremely friendly and approachable, the interview was very informal over lunch and nothing to worry about. i think my interviewer and i had a really nice conversation, it was all standard questions and i was asked several times if i had any questions for them. the series of presentations that they had at the beginning of the day really answered a lot of questions i had. the students were all very friendly too and really wanted to answer questions. students said that most people have more or less of a cooperative attitude and are not overly competitive.
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No stress, easy interview
accepted, but luckily got into my first choice
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If you want to do research, this is a great school. My interviewer and the admissions staff were very warm and helpful. The interview was nothing to worry about
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It was a great experience the interview is conducted during lunch which I really enjoyed. Everyone was very attentive and showed a genuine concern for our making our visit a memorable one.
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I loved the school, the interview was during lunch and enjoyable.
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The interview was completely pointless. no questoins were asked and the professor told me that I would get in on the spot.
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Overall, I left feeling unimpressed and rather disappointed.
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I was very impressed with the school and the interview was not stressful at all.
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It was crowded (about 40 of us). I felt as if my interview was a lot harder than the other applicants because we all had different faculty members interviewing us (and I happened to get one of the more stringent ones.) Also, I did not like how they crammed so many questions into such a short little time. I really like the school's curriculum though, but an interview should not be crammed into 15 minutes like that b/c it's not fair to the applicant. I was asked close to 25 questions in 15 minutes.
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Overall, I was very impressed. The other SDN reviews were very negative, but the actual visit to the school gave me a MUCH better picture of what the school is like. The whole day is very laid back. I wouldn't be worried at all if I had to do it again. U of M is definitely my number one choice now.
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Be prepared to sit for awhile. We were all cramped (like 40 students) in a hot room to listen to presentations all morning. And then it's kinda crazy for interviews. I just got through getting my lunch and I had my interview before i even ate. I bet it only lasted 8 minutes, and was nothing more than a casual conversation. Others lasted 15 minutes and seemed much more difficult.
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When you see people drinking at 10 am, you'll understand why i didn't go to Michigan!
