Tell me about yourself.

Almost always the opener. They're assessing whether you can be interesting, organized, and human in ninety seconds under pressure.

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

The trap

Two classic wrecks. The chronological march from birth through college, which is a résumé read aloud. And opening with 'I've wanted to be a dentist since I was six,' which spends your most memorable moment on your least memorable sentence.

How to structure your answer

Three to five threads that paint a full picture — where you're from, what you do, what you love, something unexpected — then land on how it connects to dentistry.

Keep it to 90–120 seconds
Lead with a person, not a credential
Include at least one thing that isn't on your application
Finish with the connection to dentistry — don't start there

A weak answer

What most people say

Sure. I grew up in Sacramento and went to high school there, then studied biology at the state university. In college I joined the pre-dental club and did research for two semesters. After graduating I took a gap year to work and study for the DAT. I've wanted to be a dentist since I was about six years old.

A resume read aloud, then the least memorable sentence in the room.

A stronger answer

What lands

I'm the person my family calls when something has to be fixed by Friday. My parents run a dry cleaner and I worked the counter from the time I was twelve, which mostly meant telling people things they didn't want to hear, gently, about a stain. I swim in open water on Sunday mornings year round, badly. I'm also the first in my family to finish college. All of that is really one skill, staying steady with somebody while you tell them the true version, and that's the part of dentistry I want.

Leads with a person and saves the dentistry line for last.

The first answer starts at birth and ends at a credential. The second starts with a person and arrives somewhere.

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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