Ortho Interview

[slayer]

Hi,

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[SeaBass]

slayer,

I remember someone talking about one of their ortho interviews and saying that they were asked to share something they learned about one their fellow interviewees. Other than that I believe there were some typical questions, 'why your interest', 'what have you done to learn about the field', etc. I don't remember anything else at this point. I would be interested in hearing how it goes if you get a chance. Also, do you know what it takes to get an interview for this program?

Congrats and best of luck!

 

[slayer]

no

 

[sck]

Hi Slayer,
I am exactly in the same boat as u.. i have applied to about 17 programs, am a foreign dental graduate and have got 2 interview calls. would u like to share from which place are u and your interview place.
Thanks.

 

[texas_dds]

hi - i just got an interview for iowa's ortho program... is there anything special I should know? im really freakin nervous now! and broke, damn plane tickets to smaller cites are $$$ on short notice!

 

[dc-10]

would people who got interviews mind posting their stats? I would like to see what one needs to get an interview for ortho.

 

[texas_dds]

only b/c you asked

rank 1
NB-1 96
research - 3 AADR abstracts, 1 publication, etc.

 

[marmoreus]

Iowa interviews are pretty much like all the others. Dr. Southard will ask you one really strange question just to test how you think on your feet. Decent program overall.

 

[gryffindor]

Iowa interviews are pretty much like all the others. Dr. Southard will ask you one really strange question just to test how you think on your feet. Decent program overall.

I think I remember hearing that it's a husband-wife team of professors that pretty much run the Ortho dept. at Iowa (from my friend who interviewed there). And that the airport is not near the dental school.

 

[grtuck]

For those of us following in your footsteps next year at this time, could you folks post about your interviews once you return from them? Like what was the atmosphere at that school, how were the clinics, residents, what question did they ask, what seemed to impress them about your application, etc?

Thank you very much!!!

grtuck

 

[jpollei]

Agreed. Any insight you have would be much appreciated. Especially things that you were less-than-impressed with (not to be pessimistic, but because every school tries to put their best foot forward and can cover up some of the less than desirable attributes on any give day). Cheers.

 

[TrojanDDS]

What are people's take on these socials the night before the interview? I know it's suppose to be a relaxed occasion where it's intended for our personalities to shine, but should we stay away from asking questions about the program (knowing that the opportunity will arise during the interview) or is it better to ask away to show more interest?

 

[Jone]

hey Slayer, would you mind posting your stats?

you said you "only" got 1 interview, and i'm wondering what kind of stats you had in order to pull that ratio.

best of luck. i hope you get in!

 

[UABDentist]

Well Ive applied for MS Ortho as well for 2005. No news on any interviews as yet but hey Jone did you apply too?
I scored 92 on part 1
rank 5th
currently doing MPH
And a research project is on right now....on Ni-Ti wires..
What are your stats? and slayer and all the others plz share your stats...did u get thru with that one interview call? and sck u too

 

[texas_dds]

yes i dont know what to make of the informal night before w/residents. the iowa one is at a place called the brown bottle - sounds like a beer place, but that is not the night i want to be drinking anything! i will nurse one for a while if i have to. and what do you wear? this is getting more expensive every day

 

[marmoreus]

yes i dont know what to make of the informal night before w/residents. the iowa one is at a place called the brown bottle - sounds like a beer place, but that is not the night i want to be drinking anything! i will nurse one for a while if i have to. and what do you wear? this is getting more expensive every day

The Brown Bottle is a little Italian restaurant. There may be a bar there, but it's really more of a restaurant.

 

[UABDentist]

Hey texas dds With stats like urs... ur sure 2 get into a Ortho program pal!
To tell you.. i got to knw from Uiowa that I was not one of the people they have sent interview calls to...
guess there will be more of these ...for me.. and my feet are shaking already..Being a foreign trained dentist..things just get more and more complicated...a thousand and one requirements to fulfil and just spending a lotta money on applications...
Ive applied to 18 schools in all..how many have u applied to?

yes i dont know what to make of the informal night before w/residents. the iowa one is at a place called the brown bottle - sounds like a beer place, but that is not the night i want to be drinking anything! i will nurse one for a while if i have to. and what do you wear? this is getting more expensive every day

 

[texas_dds]

hi
glad to hear that its a restaurant, that seems more reasonable
and i applied to 12 to the person who asked. seemed like a good idea at the time, but interviews at even 2 or 3 is about to break my bank

 

[kellehe]

Hello all, I just wanted to chime in on this thread. I am applying to Ortho this year also. I have applied to sixteen schools with about 5 or 6 that had Sept. 1 deadlines. I was wondering if anyone knows when these programs will start contacting students for better or worse. If I get any interviews I will certainly post my thoughts on the school and any questions that they ask. For those who are concerned about the cost of interviews there a federal student loans that you can recieve for covering the cost of interviews and relocation. I think the interset rate now is about 4% and you can borrow up to 10K. I know there was a post from a student last year who estimated the cost of applying to be about 5k for a similar number of schools. Best of luck to all !

 

[gryffindor]

What are people's take on these socials the night before the interview? I know it's suppose to be a relaxed occasion where it's intended for our personalities to shine, but should we stay away from asking questions about the program (knowing that the opportunity will arise during the interview) or is it better to ask away to show more interest?

The socials are good if you have nothing better to do with your time. A free meal and a chance to meet the residents and find out what they're like outside of the school environment. All the ones I attended last year were casual affairs held at either restaurants or bars. Nothing fancy. Sometimes the residents have a say in the admissions process, in which case the social is a time for them to check you out and see what you're like. Otherwise, I wouldn't stress too much over them.

 

[tooth_sleuth]

Sorry to stray from the topic a bit....but what's the difference between schools that give a Certificate vs. Masters Degree in terms of being able to practice? I know Masters require research etc., but does either degree allow you to practice once you've graduated?

With all you stars applying, thank god i'm applying next year!!

 

[Jone]

i think the Cert programs cost more. a lot of times the MS programs give you research or teaching assistantships if i'm not mistaken.

Sorry to stray from the topic a bit....but what's the difference between schools that give a Certificate vs. Masters Degree in terms of being able to practice? I know Masters require research etc., but does either degree allow you to practice once you've graduated?

With all you stars applying, thank god i'm applying next year!!

 

[slayer]

PArt 1 - 93

 

[ItsGavinC]

Sorry to stray from the topic a bit....but what's the difference between schools that give a Certificate vs. Masters Degree in terms of being able to practice?

Nothing at all.

 

[drben]

The socials are good if you have nothing better to do with your time. A free meal and a chance to meet the residents and find out what they're like outside of the school environment. All the ones I attended last year were casual affairs held at either restaurants or bars. Nothing fancy. Sometimes the residents have a say in the admissions process, in which case the social is a time for them to check you out and see what you're like. Otherwise, I wouldn't stress too much over them.

With respect to residents helping making admission decisions it depends on the program. At my program (IU) we had veto power, but sometimes Roberts would override the veto argh!! At Virginia, the residents have a vote each and may actually outweigh the faculty, and alumni. At Iowa Tom Southard may ask you about what you know about fractal geometry, number theory, way out there political questions, whatever comes to mind. Just relax shoot the breeze with him, and if you don't know what he is talking about just tell him you don't know enough about the subject to give an intelligent answer.

At the interview parties have a good time, visit with the residents, and DON'T be a TOOL...it's not a good time to talk about rank, board scores, publications, etc. Get to know the other interviewees, a lot of them you'll see at multiple interviews, and most are cool. There are always those that act like automatons and just spout off their "numbers"...stay away from these folks they are universally disliked.

Good luck to all of you! Ben

 

[texas_dds]

Well Iowa City is a pleasant change from the rest of Iowa - strangely reminded me of Austin, TX - a total college town. Lots of fun little shops and backpack-clad 20 year olds all over. The night before w/residents was cool - after dinner we went to a bar, but I made sure to only have 1 drink! I think a few applicants stayed out pretty late - not a good plan if you ask me. They looked like hell the next day. I was in bed by 11. So, out of about 20 applicants, there were only 3 women including myself! I didnt expect that kind of ratio at all. Anyways, the campus of UI is nice, very Big 10-ish. Overall, I would say that the only drawback is the lack of an airport in the town. Cedar Rapids is close, but expensive to fly into. I flew into Des Moines instead, which meant a 2 hour rental car trip each way.
The dental school was more than decent, and the ortho program itself is probably one of the top 5 or so in my mind. The clinic set up is adequate - I am finding out how spoiled I am on that here in San Antonio. There were a ton of current residents from Iowa - almost all of them it seemed. ALso lots of Iowa interviewees. I guess that is normal. There were 5 x 20-25 minute interviews - most really laid back. BRING QUESTIONS! because they ask you if you have any questions about 10 million times. one interviewer (a DDS PhD) seemed to really want to talk about research (go figure) - so that could be a problem if you didnt do much research. One interviewer asked a bunch about what other schools you applied to, in particular if you were thinking about any OEC schools. She seemed relieved to hear a "no" to that question. Overall, no wacko questions or any specific knowledge about ortho required. Be sure you know what to say if they ask "why orthodontics?" because I promise every single person will ask.
some other info: no laptop or camera purchase required. $5K stipend and tuition is $5K for residents and $12K for nonresidents. You do not buy your instruments, you lease them for $2K. They have just moved to digital pan/ceph w/the dolphin imaging system. Also, there are several really freakin nice digital cameras for residents to use - they dont want you to buy a crappy one. You trim your first 20 models and make your first 40 hawley retainers, the rest are done by the in house lab tech. Iowa has a special reputation for a lot of exposure to surgical ortho, including a lot of cleft lip/cleft palate work.
so in the end, i would absolutely love to be matched there. but it was the first interview so we shall see!

 

[grtuck]

Thank you VERY much for sharing!

It sounds like a really good school.

grtuck

 

[TrojanDDS]

One of the most frustrating aspects of this application process (so far) has been the lack of notification by Ortho programs. I wish that they would throw us a friggin bone! They ought to post a specified cut-off date for calls for interviews so that we won't be waiting in the wings left wondering.

I guess my best analogy for this process would be to dating: 1) if it was meant to happen, it will happen & 2) it will happen when you least expect it! In fact, my 1 lone interview is looking more and more GORGEOUS every day.

 

[texas_dds]

trojan - lots of places havent started calling yet
but SOON! fingers crossed for everyone on here!

 

[KobeInnocent]

Hi, I am a predent here and I am curious about this board exam that you guys are talking about. What score is it out of for part I and II, and what score is 90%tile? What score is avg? What score is the avg for the ppl who got matched in non GPR or AEDG? Please enlighten me. Thanks

 

[kellehe]

One of the most frustrating aspects of this application process (so far) has been the lack of notification by Ortho programs. I wish that they would throw us a friggin bone! They ought to post a specified cut-off date for calls for interviews so that we won't be waiting in the wings left wondering.

I guess my best analogy for this process would be to dating: 1) if it was meant to happen, it will happen & 2) it will happen when you least expect it! In fact, my 1 lone interview is looking more and more GORGEOUS every day.

I feel your pain...I have gotton 1 interview (LSU) so far out of 4 schools w/ 9/1 deadline dates...I have not heard a peep from any others. I did breakdown and call one program on friday 9/24 and the secretary said that they had started to contact people but had not finished..that really did not make me feel any better..best of luck ..hopefully we will all here SOMETHING this week..

 

[Jediwendell]

I have an interview at Rochester out of the 9/1 schools that I applied to. UK, Ohio State and Illinios were the others. Haven't and won't call them.
W

 

[kellehe]

I have an interview at Rochester out of the 9/1 schools that I applied to. UK, Ohio State and Illinios were the others. Haven't and won't call them.
W

I heard from WV today requesting an interview. They have a 9/15 applicatoin deadline date. I also applied to UK and Rochester but have not heard anything from them yet. The other 9/1 school I applied to was UMKC and I haven't heard from them either. If you don't mind me asking when did you hear from Rochester ? I hope we will all hear from some more schools this week..good luck to everyone !

 

[texas_dds]

i heard from Oklahoma and Washington today!!!!!!!!!!!!!
gawd, im walking on air
if this is a dream, dont wake me

 

[trypmo]

i heard from Oklahoma and Washington today!!!!!!!!!!!!!
gawd, im walking on air
if this is a dream, dont wake me

W00h00!!!!




Enjoy the air-walking - heaven knows you deserve it!!

 

[texas_dds]

Hi, I am a predent here and I am curious about this board exam that you guys are talking about. What score is it out of for part I and II, and what score is 90%tile? What score is avg? What score is the avg for the ppl who got matched in non GPR or AEDG? Please enlighten me. Thanks

both part 1 and 2 are reported as percentiles 0-99
you need at least a 90 for ortho, endo, oms etc
maybe a bit lower (but not below 80) for gpr and aegd
but higher is always better

 

[texas_dds]

thank you trypmo

 

[Jediwendell]

yeah, so I talked to Dr. Kluemper at Ky today, and he said they hadn't called anyone yet. They are going to interview on the 12th of Nov., however, which seems to be a very popular date. I heard from Rochester at the end of last week.

 

[Jediwendell]

Oh yeah, Texas dds person. Where are you located? I am in San Antonio. Was doing an OMFS residency there for three years until I lost my mind and decided that I wanted to go through this interview nonsense again in a switch to orthodontics.

 

[texas_dds]

jediwendell, i think i may have assisted you when i was a junior dental student and you were an OMFS resident... im now a senior at the health science center
hope to see ya on the interview circuit

 

[gryffindor]

Hey guys,

I didn't apply to any of the programs mentioned in the last few posts b/c I am applying mostly to east coast programs. My 9/15 deadlines I haven't heard anything from are Tufts, Howard, Univ. of Maryland, Harvard, and NYU. Anyone heard of interviews from these places yet?

 

[texas_dds]

Hey guys,

I didn't apply to any of the programs mentioned in the last few posts b/c I am applying mostly to east coast programs. My 9/15 deadlines I haven't heard anything from are Tufts, Howard, Univ. of Maryland, Harvard, and NYU. Anyone heard of interviews from these places yet?

griffin, negatory on those schools so far

 

[tooth_sleuth]

My bf just heard from Temple. Does anyone know about interview process there? He has a social the night before and then the interview the next day.

 

[templedentist]

I go to Temple Dental School (not yet a dentist). I don't know the interview process, but I do know the ortho instructors and residents. Don't be intimidated by Tuncay, he likes to say that grades and Board scores aren't very important to him. He says he likes the high GRE scores and other things that you have going for you other than scores, i.e. are you an engineer? Well, the ortho residents say that he is full of it and you actually get accepted because of your board scores, class rank and GPA.

By the way, I will be applying next year and my stats are:
Boards part I: 96
Class Rank: 2
Research: minimal, doing some right now

Can anyone tell me my chances at specializing in ortho? Maybe you can tell me what you know about other people's stats that apply. My back-up plan is endo, I hear that is easier to get in to and is the only other thing that interests me.

My bf just heard from Temple. Does anyone know about interview process there? He has a social the night before and then the interview the next day.

 

[ItsGavinC]

My back-up plan is endo, I hear that is easier to get in to and is the only other thing that interests me.

Endo is typically NOT easier to get into than Ortho straight out of school (which is what you are referring to). If you have some practice experience, or do a GPR or AEGD, then Endo *is* easier to get into than Ortho.

 

[Jone]

Agreed.

As I mentioned before, some schools will throw your application in the trash if you don't have at least one year of post-DDS/DMD experience (either in a residency or in practice)... yes for some schools it is MANDATORY.

Endo is typically NOT easier to get into than Ortho straight out of school (which is what you are referring to). If you have some practice experience, or do a GPR or AEGD, then Endo *is* easier to get into than Ortho.

 

[texas_dds]

anyone hear from baylor or houston for ortho interviews?

 

[DDSSlave]

anyone hear from baylor or houston for ortho interviews?

Give it another week. Houston and Baylor notify you 2-3 wks before your interview. I'm sure you'll get an interview at both.

In regards to endo, the key word is "some". Some schools prefer/require GPR/AEGD/private practice experience, and some do not.

 

[gryffindor]

My 9/15 deadlines I haven't heard anything from are Tufts, Howard, Univ. of Maryland, Harvard, and NYU.

Harvard just sent out its e-mail invite for interviews today. Haven't heard about any of the others listed above yet, even though the deadline was 9/15. UPenn has also been handing out interviews, but it seems to be on a rolling basis since their deadline was 10/1 although some candidates had heard about interview invites there prior to 10/1.

If Temple has already called for invites, then I can cross them off my list since I didn't hear from them. Oh well, after visiting Philly this weekend, I'm not terribly keen on going there next year anyways.

 

[Jediwendell]

Anybody know anything much about Southern California? Is it more competitive than average? I just got a card in the mail today wanting 65$, and I am not really sure that I am too hip on sending them the money if I don't have a shot at interviewing.