UW SOD Interview Prep Guide (2025-2026)

The University of Washington School of Dentistry (UW SOD) uses a multi-station interview format (a Multiple Mini-Interview style) studentdoctor.net that has been described as moderately stressful overall studentdoctor.net yet friendly and fair. The school’s mission emphasizes community service, innovation, and improving oral health for all dental.washington.edu, and its program reflects these values through initiatives like a rural outreach training track and strong research and clinical education. Admissions are holistic: beyond academic metrics, UW SOD highly values non-academic attributes such as leadership, integrity, and a sustained commitment to underserved communities blackstonetutors.com dental.washington.edu. Past interview questions have spanned personal motivations, ethical scenarios, and healthcare policy issues studentdoctor.net studentdoctor.net, mirroring the school’s values and expectations of future dentists. The 2025–2026 admissions cycle follows a typical timeline with early application (deadline November 1, 2025), virtual interviews in the fall, and rolling acceptances beginning in mid-December dental.washington.edu dental.washington.edu.

In recent cycles, UW SOD has shifted from traditional in-person interviews to a virtual assessment through the Kira Talent platform dental.washington.edu. Previously, interviews were conducted on-site in a one-on-one format and were open-file blackstonetutors.com studentdoctor.net, meaning interviewers had access to the applicant’s full application. Many applicants report that the school utilizes a Multiple Mini-Interview (MMI) approach with several short stations or prompts studentdoctor.net. Despite the structured format, the interview atmosphere is generally relaxed and conversational, with interviewers often noted to be friendly and welcoming studentdoctor.net. In some years, the interview day has also included a brief manual dexterity exercise to evaluate candidates’ fine motor skills blackstonetutors.com.

Approximately 180 candidates are invited to interview each year blackstonetutors.com. With a class size of around 60–65 students, this means roughly one-third of those interviewed will ultimately matriculate, and well over half may receive an acceptance offer (for example, about 112 offers were extended to fill 63 spots in one recent class) discodent.com. Securing an interview at UW thus indicates a strong chance of admission. The interview process is well-organized, and most candidates have described it as only moderately stressful studentdoctor.net. Overall, the format is designed to give each applicant multiple opportunities to demonstrate their qualities in different scenarios, providing a comprehensive view of the candidate.

The UW School of Dentistry’s mission is to advance oral and craniofacial health as a global leader in collaborative education, personalized patient care, service to community needs, and continual innovation dental.washington.edu. This mission highlights the school’s commitment to improving oral health for all and staying at the forefront of dental education and research. The school’s core values are Excellence, Collaboration, Service, Respect, Innovation, and Integrity dental.washington.edu. These principles guide the program’s faculty and students, shaping everything from curriculum design to community partnerships. An applicant’s alignment with these values – for example, a genuine dedication to service or a mindset of continuous improvement – is naturally of interest during the selection process.

The University of Washington offers a four-year Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) program on its Seattle health sciences campus, operating on an academic quarter system. The entering class is typically around 60 to 65 students dental.washington.edu. As a public dental school, UW gives strong preference to regional applicants: roughly 85–90% of each class are Washington State residents, with the remaining seats allocated to students from designated WICHE states (such as Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, and Wyoming) blackstonetutors.com dental.washington.edu. Applicants from outside Washington or those seven western states generally are not admitted, reflecting the school’s mission to train practitioners who will serve the region.

UW’s DDS curriculum is known for its integration with the broader health sciences and a recent modernization to better prepare students for contemporary practice. Many of the foundational biomedical courses are taught jointly with medical school faculty discodent.com, ensuring dental students gain a strong grounding in human health. In the past few years, the school implemented a redesigned curriculum organized into thematic “threads” that span all four years dental.washington.edu. This new curriculum includes third-year clinical clerkships and a fourth-year general practice model that mimics real-world practice settings dental.washington.edu. The result is a more interdisciplinary and hands-on training approach, intended to produce graduates who are clinically competent and adaptable to emerging trends in dentistry.

A hallmark of the UW program is the Regional Initiatives in Dental Education (RIDE) track, an educational pathway focused on serving rural and underserved communities dental.washington.edu. RIDE students complete part of their training in Spokane through a partnership with Eastern Washington University and UW Medicine’s WWAMI network, and they gain extensive experience in community clinics. The impact of this program is significant – since the first RIDE cohort in 2012, about 80% of its graduates have gone on to practice in rural or underserved areas dental.washington.edu. In addition to community-focused training, UW offers robust research opportunities for dental students. The School houses specialized research centers and encourages student research through programs like the Summer Research Fellowship (SURF), allowing students to work with faculty on cutting-edge oral health research projects dental.washington.edu dental.washington.edu. These facets of the program – from RIDE to research – not only enrich the student experience but also provide great talking points for candidates during interviews.

Applicants should be prepared with insightful questions that demonstrate their interest in these unique features of UW’s program. For example, an interview is a perfect occasion to ask about the school’s distinctive offerings and how they benefit students.

• Could you tell me more about the RIDE program and how it prepares students for practice in underserved or rural communities? dental.washington.edu
• What opportunities do students have to get involved in research during the DDS program, for instance through the Summer Research Fellowship (SURF)? dental.washington.edu
• How has the recent curriculum redesign (the thread-based model) impacted the student learning experience and clinical training? dental.washington.edu

Given the School of Dentistry’s public mission and its role in the region, certain policy issues and trends in oral healthcare are especially pertinent. Interviewers have been known to touch on broader healthcare and policy topics, so familiarity with these can provide useful context during an interview. Some relevant topics include:

• Access to care in underserved areas – Washington State, like much of the country, faces disparities in oral healthcare access between urban and rural communities. UW’s RIDE program itself is a policy-driven initiative aimed at addressing the shortage of dentists in rural areas dental.washington.edu, highlighting the importance of workforce distribution and incentives to serve underserved populations.
• Healthcare coverage and insurance – Broader healthcare reform debates influence dentistry as well. For example, candidates have been asked their opinions on universal healthcare blackstonetutors.com, reflecting discussions about including dental care in universal coverage and how changes in insurance or programs (like Medicare or Medicaid expansion) might impact dental patients and practitioners.
• Public funding and community oral health programs – Government policies around funding can directly affect dental care delivery. In Washington, for instance, state budget decisions led to cuts in adult Medicaid dental benefits around the time of the Great Recession, which resulted in a decreased patient pool for dental clinics and training programs studentdoctor.net. This illustrates how policy changes (funding, reimbursement rates, public health initiatives) can impact access to care and the educational environment.

UW SOD takes a holistic approach in evaluating applicants, placing significant weight on experiences and qualities beyond grades and test scores. A strong record of service is essentially a requirement – the school expects to see sustained community service involvement and commitment to helping others, as well as substantial exposure to the dental profession through shadowing or work experience blackstonetutors.com. Personal attributes are also carefully considered. The admissions committee looks for evidence of integrity, compassion, respect for others, and emotional maturity in candidates, in line with the expectation that students possess the character needed to become caring, ethical dentists dental.washington.edu. Leadership experience and teamwork are highly valued; in fact, interviewers commonly explore applicants’ leadership roles and collaborative experiences during interviews studentdoctor.net. Manual dexterity and creativity are similarly important for a hands-on field like dentistry. Some interviewees have even encountered a brief manual dexterity test on interview day blackstonetutors.com, and it’s not uncommon for interview questions to probe hobbies or activities (such as artwork or musical instruments) that demonstrate fine motor skills and creativity studentdoctor.net. Involvement in research or other substantial extracurricular achievements can further strengthen an application, but above all UW is looking for well-rounded individuals who align with its mission of service and have the personal qualities to succeed in a patient-centered profession.

As an accredited dental school, the UW program is structured to ensure that graduates meet all the competencies required for entry into the profession dental.washington.edu. In fact, the recent curriculum overhaul explicitly organized the DDS program around a set of core competency “threads” that integrate key domains of dental education throughout the four years dental.washington.edu. These threads correspond to broad areas of professional competence. For example, the curriculum emphasizes Critical Thinking (training students in evidence-based practice and problem-solving) and Ethics & Professionalism from the very start of the program, rather than treating these as add-ons later in training dental.washington.edu dental.washington.edu. Other threads focus on comprehensive patient care skills – such as Foundations of Human Health and Disease (ensuring dentists understand general health), Health Promotion & Communication (public health and patient communication), Practice Management, Care of Diverse Populations, as well as the technical competencies like Oral Surgery and Restorative dentistry dental.washington.edu dental.washington.edu. This competency-based framework reflects the school’s goal of producing well-rounded, “practice-ready” dentists. It also aligns with what the school looks for in applicants: qualities like ethical reasoning, communication skills, cultural competence, and the ability to think critically are inherently part of these competencies, and the interview process is one place where candidates may demonstrate their aptitude in these areas.

The content of UW’s interview questions has consistently reflected the school’s holistic outlook and values. Many common questions explore an applicant’s motivations for pursuing dentistry and their understanding of the profession – for example, discussing what led them to dentistry, their experiences in dental settings, or where they envision their career ten years in the future blackstonetutors.com. Interviewers frequently pose ethical or scenario-based questions, which is in part due to the MMI-style format. Candidates might be asked how they would handle a challenging situation requiring integrity (such as discovering a peer cheated on a requirement) or to define professionalism in the context of an ambiguous scenario blackstonetutors.com. There is also an emphasis on broader healthcare awareness: applicants have reported being asked about their views on issues like universal healthcare or why certain populations lack access to dental care blackstonetutors.com, indicating that the school values awareness of how dentistry fits into the bigger picture of health and society. Additionally, personal development and interpersonal skills are a theme – questions about leadership experiences, teamwork, and communication challenges have been mentioned, as well as inquiries into how candidates spend their time outside academics (hobbies, creative pursuits, community activities) studentdoctor.net blackstonetutors.com. Even open-ended prompts like “Tell us about yourself” can appear, especially given the open-file setting where interviewers may dive deeper into interesting aspects of an applicant’s background. Overall, the interview questions are diverse, but they tend to circle back to key themes: a candidate’s passion for dentistry, ethical compass, commitment to service, ability to work with others, and readiness to navigate the future of dental care.

The following are key dates and deadlines for the UW School of Dentistry’s 2025–2026 admissions cycle (for the DDS class entering in 2026):

• June 2025 – Application cycle opens. The ADEA AADSAS application portal opens in early summer (June), and UW SOD begins receiving applications at that time dental.washington.edu. It’s recommended to apply as early as possible once ready.
• November 1, 2025 – Application deadline. This is the final date to submit your AADSAS application (by 9:00 P.M. Pacific Time) and the last acceptable date to take the DAT dental.washington.edu. Applications or DAT scores submitted after this deadline will not be considered for the 2025–26 cycle.
• September 2025 – January 2026 – Interview assessments. During this period, selected applicants will complete a virtual interview assessment via Kira Talent in lieu of traditional on-site interviews dental.washington.edu. Invitations to participate in the Kira assessment are sent on a rolling basis throughout the fall, roughly between early September and January.
• December 15, 2025 – Initial acceptance offers released. UW adheres to the national date of December 15th to begin issuing offers of admission dental.washington.edu. Admissions are rolling, so additional offers are made to candidates after December 15 as needed until the class is filled (this can continue through the winter and spring months).
• July 1, 2026 – Academic requirements deadline. All prerequisite coursework and any degree requirements must be completed by this date (the end of spring term) prior to matriculation in the DDS program dental.washington.edu. The incoming Class of 2026 is expected to begin classes later in July 2026.

In summary, preparing for an interview at the University of Washington School of Dentistry involves understanding the school’s unique format and demonstrating awareness of its mission-driven culture. The interview is as much about who you are – your commitment to service, teamwork, ethics, and growth – as it is about what you have achieved on paper. By familiarizing themselves with the program’s values, distinctive offerings, and the broader issues facing dentistry, applicants can confidently engage in conversation with interviewers. Combined with diligent attention to application timelines and requirements, this holistic preparation will help candidates put their best foot forward in the interview.