If you were to specialize, which one — and what makes you say that?
Whether your interest is grounded in real exposure or in prestige and income figures you read online.
How to structure your answer
- 1Name the specialty
- 2The specific experience that pointed you there
- 3What about the work itself fits you
- 4Honest acknowledgment that it may change
- Name one specialty rather than hedging across three
- Tie it to something you actually saw or did
- Talk about the nature of the work, not the salary or the schedule
- Say plainly that dental school may redirect you
A strong answer
What lands
Periodontics, and it came from an odd direction. I worked in an optometry practice for three years. I didn't necessarily love optometry itself, but I did love that optometry involved the same patient coming back while something about their condition slowly changes. Then I shadowed a periodontist on Thursdays for four months, and I saw the parallels between optometry and periodontics. Perio involves managing a chronic disease with one person over years instead of fixing one thing once. That appeals to me. Plus implants are so exciting.
Real exposure, and the appeal is the long relationship rather than the procedure.
A weak answer
What most people say
Probably oral surgery. I've always been drawn to the surgical side of medicine, and I like the idea of doing procedures that genuinely change someone's life. It also seems like the most challenging path, and I want to be pushed. That said, I'm keeping an open mind, because I know a lot can change once I'm actually in school.
Prestige with nothing behind it. The obvious follow-up ends this in one move.
The trap
⚠Naming oral surgery or orthodontics with nothing behind it but reputation. Faculty hear this constantly and the follow-up — 'what does a Tuesday look like in that specialty?' — ends it fast.
Reading it isn't the same as saying it.
Most people can explain a good answer and still fall apart saying one out loud. Admitted asks you all 100 questions in a faculty voice, records you, and scores your pace and filler words.
Try one interview freeGet the guideMore specialty questions
- Do you want to specialize, or practice general dentistry?Specialty
- Specialty programs mean two to six more years and often more debt. Are you prepared for that?Specialty
- What do you actually know about the day-to-day of that specialty — not the highlights?Specialty
- What if you get to third year and find you love general dentistry instead?Specialty