The article outlines what to wear for your dental school interview to make a strong first impression. We’ll discuss interview outfit tips for both men and women. We’ll also cover interview preparation strategies to help you stand out from 99% of the competition with your answers and presentation style.
Getting accepted into dental school is a competitive process with acceptance rates ranging between 3%-30% based on the school to which you apply and the number of applicants. You want to put your best self forward in every single category to give yourself the best chance of success with the admissions committee. Your interview outfit on interview day can help make a good first impression. Dental school interviews typically have a formal dress code which looks like the following for men and women. These guidelines apply for both in-person, traditional interviews as well as online interviews.
Men: What to Wear
Wear a dark navy or black suit on the day of your dental interview. If you have purchased a new suit for the occasion, ensure that it has been properly tailored meaning the sleeves and pants are just the right length. Tailoring is often required when buying off the rack suits so don’t leave this important purchase to the last minute. A white shirt or blue dress shirt are smart choices. Your shirt should be crisp and wrinkle free which typically requires ironing or steaming. A dry cleaner can steam a shirt for you for a low cost. Add a traditional tie to finish the look – no crazy patters or colors. A bow tie can work as well, again keeping it simple and distraction free. For shoes, pick dress shoes that match your suit. Black shoes to match a black suit and dark brown or tan shoes to match a navy suit. You may do a lot of walking around campus the day of your dental or medical school interview so also make sure your dress shoes are also comfortable shoes. If your shoes are new, wear them around the house a couple days before the interview to break them in.
Women: What to Wear
Similar to men, you want to dress as formally as possible opting for a pant suit, skirt suit or dress suit. Stick to dark, traditional colors such as black or navy. A tucked in, silk blouse (collar or no collar both work) looks sharp underneath your suit jacket. A dental school interview is not the time to make a fashion statement so shy away from any overly bright colors or patterns. If the weather is cool and you are wearing a skirt or dress suit, wear nylons or tights that complement your suit color. Wear closed toe, comfortable dress shoes – flat or heels can both work. Ensure that your clothing is free from wrinkles, fold marks or lint of any kind. I can’t emphasize the wrinkle free part enough! These finishing details go a long way when it comes to making strong first impressions.
Accessories
Keeping accessories to a minimum is a good practice. For women, this might involve simple earrings and a necklace. Avoid any bracelets that jingle or clink together when you speak. I would leave any smart watches at home for fear that some kind of alarm or alert might go off during the interview. For men, I would stick to a ring or two if you wear them and a basic watch.
Make-up
I personally love a full make-up look as I think it enhances my features, brings more color to my very fair complexion and creates a polished look. A make-up free, natural look is also perfectly acceptable if that aligns with your personal style and makes you feel most comfortable. If you don’t typically wear make-up but are looking to boost your overall look, I think most women can benefit from mascara, blush and a coat of lip gloss.
Interview Tips
Now that we have reviewed the professional business attire that will give you the right look, let’s dive into what to do and say to continue making the best impression during the admissions process.
- Participate in mock interviews before your actual interview. This may look like you pulling a list of the most commonly asked dental school interview questions and practicing your answers with a friend, college professor or family member. An important step during your preparation should involve video recording you answering questions so that can make adjustments to your body language, tone of voice or answers. For example, when reviewing a video, you may notice that you have a tendency to touch your hair or face when speaking. Maybe you use excessive filler words such as “like” or “um.” One of the best ways to improve any kind of public speaking, which includes interviewing, is to understand your baseline and determine where to focus on improvement efforts.
- If possible, speak with first year current students at the dental school for which you are interviewing. Often the admissions department can facilitate an introduction to a current student if requested. In addition to asking the student how they like the school, ask them for advice during the interview process based on their previous experience. Do they remember any challenging questions they received?
- Focus on delivering crisp, clear answers in as few sentences as possible. Simply answer the question and then stop talking. When we get nervous, we have a tendency to go on and on. The more you can practice answers to common questions, the better prepared you will be to manage the nerves that will inevitably accompany your in-person or online interview.
- On the day of the interview, ff you are seated when the interviewer comes out to meet you, stand up, make direct eye contact and greet the individual by name. “Hi Kate, nice to meet you.” If a handshake feels comfortable to you, offer your hand.
- Beyond the initial greeting, try to use the person’s name a few times throughout the interview. This will set you apart from 99% of the competition. It might feel strange the first time but using someone’s name regularly in conversation can quickly become second nature. If the interview is a panel interview where several people from the dental school are present, see if you can get their names in advance of the interview. The Admissions Department office manager or your interview coordinator will be able to provide these details. Usually you can find a picture of the person on the school’s website. Start to build name and face recognition so that it is easier for you to use names during the interview. A great way to incorporate names is during the portion of the interview when you get to ask questions. For example: “Kate can you tell me more about the specific program for students interested in mission-oriented dentistry?” or “What would you say, Dan, makes your program different from Utah State’s dental program?”
- Demonstrate strong body language throughout the interview. Keep your hands in your lap and try to keep them there as much as possible to avoid excessive hand talking or face touching. Sit up straight (no slouching) and keep your attention and eyes focused on the interviewer. If multiple people are in the interview, rather than scanning the group back and forth with your eyes when answering a question, hold eye-contact with each person for 5-seconds before moving on to the next person. This strategy builds stronger 1:1 connection and ensures that each member of the selection committee is focused and engaged as well! Holding eye contact for 5-second intervals takes practice. You can easily practice this method with friends or family members or even at home alone. Pretend that objects in your home are people, and lock eye contact for five seconds with each.
- Perhaps the most common question you will likely get asked during an interview is “Tell me about yourself.” This may seem like a super easy question but if you haven’t thought through a thoughtful response, it can quickly turn into a rambling, non-relevant statement. Prepare your answer in advance of the interview and keep it to 3-5 sentences. It might look like this: “I am a Colorado native and started skiing when I was 3 (touch on your roots / share a personal tidbit). I absolutely love the outdoors. As early as I can remember, science was my favorite subject in school and typically where I scored the highest (highlight 1-2 key academic achievements). In high school, I had an opportunity on two different occasions to travel to Latin America to support US dentists as they provided free dental care. These opportunities were through my church for students who excelled in science. I loved interacting with patients during these trips and they made me realize that a career in dentistry would allow me to showcase my science aptitude while also interacting with people on a daily basis.” (what inspired you to pursue a career in dentistry). Practice delivering your 3-5 sentences until it comes out smooth and succinct.
- It is perfectly normal to feel a bit nervous before and during an interview. If you happen to get stumped on a question and can’t think of an answer after 30 seconds or so of thought, ask the interviewer if you can come back to that question later in the interview. Also, it is perfectly ok to allow silence while you are thinking of answer.
- Review your dental school application prior to your interview so that what you shared is fresh in your mind. If you had to write a personal statement, be prepared to summarize what you wrote in a few sentences if asked. Prepare doing this succinctly in advance.
- Ideally your cell phone is nowhere in sight. My recommendation is to leave it in your car to avoid any calls or text messages you could receive during the interview. You’ll have a lot on your mind the day of the interview and very well could forget to put your phone on silent mode. If you choose to bring your phone inside to the interview, make sure the phone is on silent and keep it in a purse or pocket during the entire interview.
- No gum chewing or eating of any kind during the interview. Totally fine to accept a glass of water if offered or bring your own if you feel you may need it.
Good luck you’ve got this!
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