Understanding the rationale as to why dental schools use interviews to assess their applications

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  1. So that they can assess the student’s emotional intelligence and non-cognitive skills.
  2. In order to assess the manual dexterity and suitability for the profession.
  3. So they can assess how you deal with complex issues, conflicts, scenarios and dilemmas.
  4. Importantly, this is the only way to assess the clarity of a candidate’s communication and how they come across which cannot be analysed from paper alone.
  5. So that they can gauge your depth of understanding of dentistry such as in your work experience.

It will be your communication, the strength of your answers and the ability to answer the questions clearly which will determine whether you receive an offer or not. Despite the above information, the university interview will only be part of the jigsaw of the overall picture that they are trying to ascertain. Of course, they will use other parameters which include your GCSE grades, your A-level grades, the content of your personal statement, work experience, extracurricular hobbies, sports,  evidence of having manual dexterity, volunteering work and any other academic/ non-academic achievements.