Which statement sounds more like you: 'I hate to lose' or 'I love to win'? Give an example of a time you proved this.

Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
How to Answer
Answer Example

Your interviewing team at the dental school you are interviewing with wants to know more about your love of winning and the impact that loss has on you. During your formal training to be a dentist, you will experience the highest of the highs and the lowest of the lows, and they want to ensure that you can handle both with ease during your time with their program.

Choose which of the two statements sounds most like you, and then be prepared to give the interviewer an explanation. For instance, if you hate to lose, you might express to the interviewer that the pain of losing has a more significant impact on you than the love of winning. You could follow up your response by talking about when you failed at something, how it felt, your actions to recover from the loss, and what you learned from the situation. The goal of your response is to express the fact that you have a healthy competitive side and to show the interviewer that you have the drive to win and succeed as a dental student.

"For me, I would say that I love to win. In the field of dentistry, I consider saving a patient's tooth or helping to bring a great outcome to be wins, and these wins would be celebrated by a large team. I love when we can all celebrate a win together, and I look forward to leading wins like these in dental school. With that said, I also hate to lose. Whenever I feel like I underperform, I use that as a lesson to move forward and learn from. Looking back over my path to this point, my biggest wins have come in teams when I was playing sports in high school and college. I find being part of a team very rewarding."

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How to Answer: Which statement sounds more like you: 'I hate to lose' or 'I love to win'? Give an example of a time you proved this.

Advice and answer examples written specifically for a Dental School interview.

2. Which statement sounds more like you: 'I hate to lose' or 'I love to win'? Give an example of a time you proved this.

Why the Interviewer Asks This Question

Your interviewing team at the dental school you are interviewing with wants to know more about your love of winning and the impact that loss has on you. During your formal training to be a dentist, you will experience the highest of the highs and the lowest of the lows, and they want to ensure that you can handle both with ease during your time with their program.

Written by Ryan Brunner on January 15th, 2022

How to Answer

Choose which of the two statements sounds most like you, and then be prepared to give the interviewer an explanation. For instance, if you hate to lose, you might express to the interviewer that the pain of losing has a more significant impact on you than the love of winning. You could follow up your response by talking about when you failed at something, how it felt, your actions to recover from the loss, and what you learned from the situation. The goal of your response is to express the fact that you have a healthy competitive side and to show the interviewer that you have the drive to win and succeed as a dental student.

Written by Ryan Brunner on January 15th, 2022

Answer Example

"For me, I would say that I love to win. In the field of dentistry, I consider saving a patient's tooth or helping to bring a great outcome to be wins, and these wins would be celebrated by a large team. I love when we can all celebrate a win together, and I look forward to leading wins like these in dental school. With that said, I also hate to lose. Whenever I feel like I underperform, I use that as a lesson to move forward and learn from. Looking back over my path to this point, my biggest wins have come in teams when I was playing sports in high school and college. I find being part of a team very rewarding."

Written by Ryan Brunner on January 15th, 2022

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