Tell me about your shadowing. What surprised you?

Depth of exposure and whether you were actually paying attention or just logging hours.

Written by Victoria Young, DDS · NYU College of Dentistry '24 · Penn Dental Medicine

The trap

'I was surprised how much I loved it.' That's not a surprise, that's a compliment to yourself. Real surprises sound like: how much of the job is talking people down, how physically demanding the posture is, how often the ideal treatment plan loses to what a patient can afford.

How to structure your answer

Brief context on where and how long → the specific thing that surprised you → what it changed in your understanding.

Name a real surprise, including an unglamorous one
Show you watched the human dynamics, not just the procedures
Mention something you saw the dentist handle badly or find difficult — it proves you were awake

A weak answer

What most people say

I shadowed a general dentist for about eighty hours last year. Honestly, the thing that surprised me most was how much I loved it. I thought I might find some of it repetitive, but every patient was different and the days went by fast. It really confirmed for me that this is what I want to be doing.

That isn't a surprise; it's a compliment he's paying himself.

A stronger answer

What lands

Eighty hours with a general dentist outside Bakersfield, mostly Tuesdays. Two things surprised me. He watched patients' hands more than their faces. He told me hands tell you somebody is about to panic a full minute before the eyes do. And he remade a crown at his own cost because the margin wasn't right, and he was genuinely irritated about it for the rest of the morning. I'd assumed that stopped happening once you had twenty years in. It doesn't.

Watched the human dynamics, and watched the dentist have a bad morning.

The first answer proves he enjoyed the room. The second proves he was watching what happened inside it.

These are illustrations, not scripts. An answer you memorize sounds memorized — the point is the shape and the specificity, in your own words and about your own life.

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.

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