My second interview was with Stony Brook Dental.
I’d received a phone call to schedule an interview for the following week.
A quick turn-around. It was nice to receive a phone call, as every other school had sent a letter or e-mail.
At the time, my brother was a second year student, so I had already seen some of the school. My father also graduated in the third dental class from Stony Brook.
I drove down the night before to stay with my aunt in nearby Setauket.
Our day at Stony Brook started much later than other schools, we were to be at the school at 10am. From the beginning, the Stony Brook interview was much more intimate than other schools.
The admissions staff members were very friendly. Kathy led me to wait with the other interviewees.
It was a small conference room, only seven students were being interviewed. A few were from the immediate area, a few from New York City, while I and a student from Buffalo had traveled the furthest.
My interview was with Dr. Garant, a dentist who’d been with Stony Brook Dental School since it’s inception. He commented that he kept telling himself that it was his last year, but kept returning.
Dr. Garant was a very friendly character, and our talk was mostly informal conversation.
He did his best to jot notes about many of my experiences as we chatted. We had a moment of connection in speaking of Europe, a place both of us loved to visit.
He concluded the interview by saying that he very much hoped to see me back at the school. I agreed. While we walked back to the conference room, we chatted and joked in a way that made me feel as if I’d known him longer than just 20 to 30 minutes.
It was a very warming feeling, and made me feel welcome at Stony Brook.
Our day then led to a presentation by Dean Cinotti.
She mainly just spoke to us in a kind, informal manner and answered all of our questions.
She also led us on our tour. The facilities were quite good, namely the clinic. Pre-clinic labs and lecture halls were a bit dated, but in no way that would interfere with education.
In the clinic, each student adopted his/her own chair and remained there for the year.
Each chair had a computer for easy charting and reference to academic requirements. The clinics were fairly small, yielding an intimate feeling which reflected the small student-faculty ratio.
Following the tour we met with a Financial Aid representative who performed a similar spiel as to at UMDNJ. Then, two fourth-year students joined us for lunch.
They were very friendly people, and seemed very down-to-earth. All of our questions were answered in a rational manner, with smiles and cheerfulness.
There were no condescending answers as I’ve experienced at other schools.
When the lunch was concluded, Kathy from admissions came to make concluding remarks and wished us a good day.
Later I spoke with Brendon, who mentioned Dr.
Garant had come to speak with him about me.
He mentioned that it sounded as if Dr. Garant really wanted me to come to Stony Brook.
Obviously, the final decision was up to the admissions committee.
Brendon hosted a party of second-year students the night after my interview date.
There were a lot of diversity in the students that came. All were very friendly and sociable.
They also said that they wanted to see me at Stony Brook the following year, and that I ought get in.
*I was placed on the waiting list at Stony Brook during the first round of acceptances.
In May I received a direct call from Dean Cinotti who offered me a position. I’ll be attending Stony Brook this fall.
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