How did the interview impress you?

Negatively

What was the stress level of the interview?

4 out of 10

How long was the interview?

30 minutes

Where did the interview take place?

At the school

How many people interviewed you?

2

What was the style of the interview?

One-on-one

What type of interview was it?

Open file

What is one of the specific questions they asked you (question 1)?

"Why did you take so long to decide to go to dental school? (I graduated college and went to gradschool first, but did not like it, so I left. I didn't think taking 2 years was all that long to decide to dedicate 4 years and hundreds of thousands of dollars to a career)." Report Response

What is one of the specific questions they asked you (question 2)?

"What sort of community service have you done? But before I could answer: WHat kind of community service does your father do? Does he participate in X? or Y? or accept patients with minimal health coverage? Like I said, how does this apply to me? Last time I checked, my father and I are not joined at the hip, nor do we share a brain." Report Response

What is one of the specific questions they asked you (question 3)?

"20 minutes to explain my transcript as printed by AADSAS, because apparantly it mixed up a few of my classes in terms of when I took them. Upon offering to fax a copy of my trascript directly from my school, I was dismissed and told that the dean has a copy. So why did I spend 20 minutes explaining something that could have been cleared up in a few moments upon looking at the original transcript?" Report Response

What was the most interesting question?

"Unfortunately, I wouldn't qualify any of the questions interesting, as the majority were qualifications about my trascript (what courses taken when)." Report Response

What was the most difficult question?

"Again, few questions were even asked about my drive to become a dentist or my knowledge about the field-I felt the interviewers were unprepared and unprofessional." Report Response

How did you prepare for the interview?

"read SDN feedback, school's website, spoke to current students, reread my personal statement." Report Response

What impressed you positively?

"The curriculum is theme based rather than seprated out into specific courses. Although dental students are co-taught with med students, they are supplemented with dental-specific material in the afternoons. I was also impressed with their problem based learning approach and very small class size. The student tour guides were friendly and knowledgable. " Report Response

What impressed you negatively?

"The clinics were dimly lit, and empty (lunch hour). It would have been nice to have seen the clinic in action. However, the most negative aspect I found was the interview. I felt the interviewers asked me no pertinent questions as to why I was trying to pursue a dental career, and instead focused on my father (who is a dentist), which I felt told them nothing about me, and was borderline harrassment." Report Response

What did you wish you had known ahead of time?

"I just wish that the interview had been more professional." Report Response

What are your general comments?

"The morning discussion by Dr. Thibodeau (assistant dean of admissions)was incredibly informative, yet relaxing. During our curriculum discussion, we went into a mock PBL (problem based learning) approach, which really opened my eyes as to how UCONN teaches their dental students. Dr. Thibodeau underlined that the school you choose should be the right fit, whether that means UCONN or not. He even offered to give help and advice to anyone having questions about the right program (again, whether UCONN or elsewhere). The student led tour was good, as the students were willing to answer all questions, and even share their experiences with us (positive and negative). It would have been nice to have been able to have eaten over a longer time period, but they are trying to pack a great deal into one day. In general, I was impressed by UCONN. I truly didn't think I would be, as I had heard that their students were not as clinically prepared as others. But they go through all possible elective rotations, must challenge for competency for each procedure, and average 3rd on the National Boards part 2 (as well as part 1, if you're wondering). Being a Connecticut resident, I know the area, and therefore was used to the fact that it is in a suburban location, and that a car is almost necessary (public transportation is not frequent). Up until the interview, I was quite excited about the possibility of coming to the school. However, after such an interview where I felt they were more concerned with my father (the dentist) rather than myself, I have begun to reconsider whether I would attend this school. Perhaps that is rash, as I had a good experience up until that point. Dr. Thibodeau was also nice enough to extend his services if anything went awry in the interview. After emailing him I may change my mind. I apologize as the rest of this will seem like a mild Dennis Miller rant." Report Response

Who was the tour given by?

Student

On what date did the interview take place?

11/15/2004