Talk about a time you felt like you could have communicated better. What did you learn from that situation?

Before your interview, think of a time you could have communicated to someone better. The situation you describe should show that you learned a lesson and took action to make the situation right. No matter how you answer, make sure your interviewers walk away from your time together knowing that you are cognizant of the fact that your communication skills are important as a dental student and that you will take every conversation at their institution seriously.

"During my Bachelor's degree program, I worked on a group project with a team member that wasn't doing their fair share of the work. After our initial meeting and planning to discuss how we would tackle the project, the four of us agreed on how we would divide and conquer the work, and we planned to meet up again in two weeks to set the rest of our work plan in motion. At that second meeting, a member of our group admitted that she hadn't gotten any work done, and I immediately got angry and let her know that she had put the entire project in jeopardy in front of our other two team members. Following some exchange of words, she cried, apologized, and asked how she could make it up. After I took some time to cool off and listen to the whole story, I regretted the way I communicated and apologized. In this situation, I learned the importance of listening to the whole story and taking a step back to analyze things before I let my emotions get the best of me."