Key takeaways
- Interviews test communication, judgment, professionalism and fit, not memorized answers.
- Know your own application cold: every activity and every line of your statement.
- For MMI and ethics scenarios, show your reasoning: the people affected, the options, and a sensible course of action.
- "Why our school" needs specifics you found yourself, linked to your own experiences.
- Practice out loud, with a timer, and get feedback.
Interview formats
| Format | What it looks like | What helps |
|---|---|---|
| Traditional (one-on-one) | A conversation of roughly 30 to 60 minutes with a faculty member, student or admissions officer | Clear stories from your experiences; genuine questions |
| Panel | Several interviewers at once | Eye contact with everyone, not just the person who asked |
| Open-file vs closed-file | Open: the interviewer has read your application. Closed: they know little or nothing | In a closed-file interview, give context; never assume they know your story |
| MMI | A circuit of short stations, each with a prompt read for a minute or two, then several minutes to respond | A consistent approach to scenarios; staying calm; reset between stations |
| Group | A task or discussion with other applicants | Listening, including quieter people, building on others' ideas |
| Virtual | Any of the above by video | Test your setup, eye level camera, quiet room, good light |
Timing, format and length vary by school. Schools usually explain their format in the invitation.
Common question themes
- Motivation: why dentistry, why not medicine or another field, when you knew.
- Why this school: what draws you, how you would contribute.
- Your experiences: shadowing, work, service, research, leadership.
- Teamwork and conflict: a time you disagreed, a team that struggled.
- Behavioral questions: a failure, a challenge, a time you showed integrity.
- Ethics: honesty, patient autonomy, confidentiality, professional responsibility.
- Current issues: access to care, cost, teledentistry, community water fluoridation, workforce.
- Manual dexterity: what you do with your hands.
- Academics: a weak grade, a DAT score, a gap in your record.
Our interview question bank has original practice questions for every theme, each with what interviewers look for and a framework for answering.
Answering "why dentistry?" and "why our school?"
- Start from an experienceA specific moment that drew you toward dentistry.
- Show you tested itShadowing, work or service that confirmed it, including the less glamorous parts.
- Name what fits youThe combination of science, precision with your hands, long-term relationships with patients, prevention, or community impact that suits you specifically.
- Address the alternativeIf asked, explain why dentistry rather than medicine or another field, respectfully and without criticizing them.
For "why our school", research before the interview: the mission statement, clinic structure and community programs, curriculum, research, student organizations and location. Connect two or three specifics to your own experiences. "Your community clinic rotations fit my experience at the free clinic" is far stronger than "your school has a great reputation."
Ethics scenarios and MMI stations
Scenario questions rarely have a single right answer. Interviewers listen for how you think. A reliable approach:
- Clarify the situation. What do you know, and what would you need to find out? Avoid jumping to conclusions about anyone's motives.
- Identify the people affected and what each needs: the patient, colleagues, the public, you.
- Name the principles in tension, in plain words: honesty, patient wellbeing, avoiding harm, respecting a patient's choices, fairness, confidentiality.
- Lay out options, including a middle path, and weigh them.
- Choose and explain a reasonable course of action, including who you would talk to and when you would escalate.
- Reflect briefly on how to prevent the situation next time.
Ethics in dentistry has its own guiding principles, set out in the ADA's Principles of Ethics and Code of Professional Conduct: patient autonomy, nonmaleficence (do no harm), beneficence (do good), justice (fairness) and veracity (truthfulness). Knowing them gives you vocabulary, but explain your reasoning in everyday language.
Behavioral questions: the STAR approach
- SituationBrief context: where, when, who.
- TaskWhat you needed to accomplish or the problem you faced.
- ActionWhat you did, specifically. Most of your answer belongs here.
- ResultWhat happened, and what you learned or would do differently.
Prepare eight to ten stories from your experiences that can each answer several questions: a challenge, a failure, leadership, teamwork, conflict, an ethical choice, helping someone, a time you received criticism.
The day itself
Next steps
General guidance written by Dental School Map, not official policy. Schools set their own requirements, and rules change each cycle: confirm details with ADEA, the ADA, Acuity Insights and each school. Spot something out of date? Tell us.