University of Texas Health Science Center-Houston School of Dentistry Interview Feedback

“Break the ice with the interviewees. Break the ice with your interviewer when walking to the interview office. Ask, ask, ask questions.”

“My interviewer had access to my application but did not look at it before the interview. There were not any surprise questions that I hadn’t already seen on SDN.”

“I think the interview experience depends completely on your faculty interviewer. My interviewer was extremely “by the book” and not really casual at all. Other interviewees were asked just one question and had a really chill time.”

“Really nice new building, interviewer had sheets in front of her with questions on them. She wrote them down as I replied.”

“U r not the only who is nervous at the interview, try to find some smart, interesting questions to ask the committee. If ur not a morning person like me, get a couple sip of really sweet creamy coffee, and u’d be amaze at how talkative you will become :P”

“Relaxed atmosphere. Interviewers are friendly. Just don’t be shy and be confident and yourself.”

“Houston is the slowest Texas school, so it requires a lot of patience!”

“Nothing unexpected. Plan your answers to the four main questions. Make sure to engage your interviewer and get them to talk a bit about themselves (why he/she chose academia over clinical practice) and why Houston should be your destination. Also, ask good, relevant questions, e.g., how the school is adapting to advances in dentistry, any changes in curriculum or clinical that he/she expects in the near to mid-term, what advice he/she would have for a pre-dent in final year of undergrad, etc.”

“Questions, questions, questions….make sure you have plenty of them. They want to see you WANT dentistry…if that makes any sense.”

“Dr. Pierpont is great, as is the rest of the UTDB faculty, staff, and students. The lunch with students was a good Q&A that they gave us a lot of opinions since there were several students from each year represented.”

“The people were so friendly and students were happy. The health insurance is not so expansive.”

“UTDB is STILL my numero uno!!!”

“they guy who interviewed me talked most of the time”

“Super relaxed, more of a conversation than anything. Each applicant is paired with a professor so its hard to say who will interview you, however they introduced themselves to us and all seemed very friendly, very caring. There was no intimidation here whatsoever.”

“My best interview. Top notch school. I would be very happy to attend this school.”

“Super low-key and get-to-know you experience.”

“You sit in the conference room, and assistant dean gives a short presentation. Then committee board members come in and you have to stand up and tell them about your self, like where you went to school, where are you from, and what was your major. Then you have a one on one interview with the member, and then you have a tour. Good thing is that you are done with the interview first thing, so the rest of the day is not stressfull. ”

“The interview was very low stress. Besides basic questions that are given on the other reviews it was just a conversation. ”

“The interview consisted of standard questions that everyone is asked. I was encouraged to ask questions about the school. I was also doing some interviewing myself… pretty much and open floor discussion for anything about the school and/or medical center.”

“Very good overall. If I get accepted I would accept happily. From what I experienced it seems that I would have a great experience there.”

“Like at UTSA, you arrive and sit in a conference room waiting for everyone to arrive. I was there 20 minutes early and I was still one of the last to arrive. They even started the interview a few minutes early b/c so many people had arrived. One of the dean’s sat and asked us a bunch of questions in a sort of group interview. It was a little nerve racking but just remember everyone is nervous. The member of the staff come in afterwards to take you for your personal interview. The professor who interviewed me was very nice and welcoming. We involved talked about her office decor. After the personal interviews, a tour of the school was given and then lunch was served. After lunch, they gave some presentations about UT Houston and the financial aspects of going to dental school. Then there was a sort of closing and the day was over. During lunch, similar to UTSA, fellow dental students come in and talk to you about what dental school is like (w/o administrators nearby) and get a chance to ask some questions. This was fun and so many more students arrived at UT Houston than UTSA. I was accepted here and would have gone here over the other TX schools if my first choice (out-of-state school) and had not accepted me.”

“Experience was very good. Interviewed witha Ph.D. faculty member. Asked the main questions and then had a normal conversation.”

“A really good school. I would be proud to attend this school”

“This school is awesome — their facilities are nice and up to par — not as “advanced” in some areas as San Antonio likes to brag about but they are great and they have friendly faculty and students to make up where they might lack in personal computers?”

“AWESOME!”

“Go to the specified room. Meet with everybody and Dr. Johnson. Then brace yourself for a storm of presentations. Then either interviews right away or a tour first followed by your interview. Then lunch… nice, dessert too 🙂 And then what??? More presentations!! All in all, about 7 hours long, only 25-35 minutes of which are the interview.”

“It was very informal and easy. Don’t even worry about it. ”

“No difficult or particularly unconventional questions asked. Very relaxed, students there seemed happy.”

“The interview was great! I don’t have anything negative to say about my day. I would advise anyone to make sure you get a good night’s rest because it is a long day!!!!”

“The interview went well. I like Houston, the school, the atmosphere. The cost of living in Houston is excellent. Expect to graduate with about 90K dollars of debt, as opposed to some of the ridiculous sky-high prices of other schools.”

“The faculty were really nice I just didn’t like how the tour and the interview were sandwiched with time fillers that weren’t necessary.”

“Great school, everyone there is very attractive. Nice people. I hope i get accepted, will go there for sure!”

“All gathered in board room. Black professor sits at head of table and gives us quiz on physiology and biochemistry…(He was not serious…just trying to make us aware). He asked me what my favorite dessert was. Director spoke to us. Financial aid lecure. Faculty members enter. We all introduce ourselves. A faculty member picks you out to take you to their office for an interview. Long interview for me.
”

“My interview went really well. I not only got to talk about myself and my life, but my interviewer spoke about his backround and career also. I felt that we were having just a good conversation. ”

“Excellent. Interviewer was very nice, I think I hugged her afterwards. Everyone there is extremely friendly…and “good looking””

“It went really well. I felt that I connected with my interviewer, and that I left a positive impression about myself with him/her. The school is very family-like in that everyone is friendly and wants each other to succeed. The students were excited to be there, and they have a strong emphasis on clinical (begining 2nd semester of 2nd year) and a strong emphasis on research. Also, they have about 93% pass of national boards. ”