What do you like to do for fun?

Whether you're a whole person. Committees actively worry about applicants with no life outside the pre-dental track — they burn out, and they make dull classmates. It also gives them something easy to talk to you about.

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

The trap

Picking a hobby because it sounds relevant. Saying 'pottery, because it's good for hand skills' when you've thrown three pots is transparent — two follow-ups and it collapses. The other failure is going blank, which suggests there genuinely isn't anything.

How to structure your answer

Name it without hedging → one specific detail that shows it's real → a flash of why you actually enjoy it.

Answer like a person, not a candidate — this is the easiest question you'll get
Pick something true, even if it seems trivial or unimpressive
One specific detail does the work: how long, how often, the last time you did it
Let genuine enthusiasm show in your voice
Any connection to dentistry is optional; don't force it

A weak answer

What most people say

I've gotten into model kits, the little scale ones. I've built two of them so far. I think it's been good for my fine motor control, which obviously matters for dentistry, and it's relaxing after a day of studying. It's nice to do something with my hands that isn't schoolwork.

Chosen to sound relevant, and two follow-up questions would empty it out.

A stronger answer

What lands

I fix up old bicycles. I bought an '87 Schwinn at a swap meet in March for forty dollars and I've been slowly getting it rideable. The bottom bracket was seized and I spent most of a Saturday on it with a friend's shop press, swearing. Sundays I ride out to the lake with two guys from my building. Honestly the part I like is that a bike either works or it doesn't. Nothing about it is a matter of opinion.

A price, a month, a seized part. Nobody invents details in that shape.

The first hobby exists so it can be mentioned in an interview. The second one has a Saturday and a broken part in 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.

Try one interview free Get the guide