Informational interview with Ryan Humphreys:
1. Why did you select this individual to interview?
Ryan is a dental student. He is about to start school at Ohio State College of Dentistry in Fall of 2016. He was on the e-board for a dental club with me and we went on a trip to the Dominican Republic together over winter break. He went through the dental school application process very successfully and was able to give me advice on what to do and what not to do during the process since I will be applying in a couple of years.
2. Describe the major responsibilities associated with their current role.
Currently, Ryan is still in undergraduate. However, when he starts dental school, he will have a lot of responsibilities with his schoolwork the first two years since OSU dental school classes are all pass/fail. During his third and fourth year, he will be doing more clinicals and get to work with patients.
3. Discuss how the person prepared for this role, and if they provided you with any advice as what you might be able to do to prepare for a similar career.
Ryan studied really hard during his undergraduate years, was very responsible with managing deadlines for the AADSAS (online dental school application), prepared well for interviews, and did well on his DAT (dental admissions test). Because of his responsible choices, he was able to interview at and choose between quite a few dental schools in the U.S.
4. Summarize any insights from the interview that might be helpful in your academic or career preparation.
Ryan told me very specifically how he studied for each section of the DAT, when to open the AADSAS application, how to write a convincing personal statement, how to approach professors for letters of recommendation, very typical interview questions to prepare for, and many other things. I took notes on all of this and it was all extremely helpful. I feel a little bit better about the whole process after interviewing him.