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Hey everyone and welcome back to another episode of DOSENAL's podcast.

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The focus of this podcast is your undergraduate and dental school experience between dental

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students and dental professionals through valuable discussions.

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Through sharing the journeys and stories of current dental students and dental professionals,

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your goals help you find answers or guidance for your own pre-dental journeys.

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We are super excited to have current NYU dental students, Mark and David Abayev as our guests

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today.

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Mark and David both graduated from Rutgers University.

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They are now D3 students at the NYU College of Dentistry.

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Their experiences shadowing, assisting and immersing themselves into their pre-dental

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society of Rutgers culminated into pursuing a career in dentistry.

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Guys, welcome to the podcast.

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How are you guys been?

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How's your D3 here been treating you?

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So well man, thank you for having us.

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Doing awesome, doing awesome.

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Great to be here.

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That sounds great.

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So I know you guys are in D3 year.

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So how I guess we'll start with that.

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How's that been?

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So yeah, D3 has definitely been a roller coaster.

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They don't lie when they say it's the last pit stop before smooth sailing.

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But yeah, it's been going well.

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We're going to be headed into our second semester in the upcoming new year.

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And can't wait to get started.

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Yeah, kind of like Mark said, D3 really is like that last final pit stop before.

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You're really like full blown into clinic.

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Really D3, the toughest part about D3 is the adjustment between juggling clinic with

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the didactics.

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So it's a mix of like half and half.

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So the way NYU does it is we have two days we're fully in clinic and the other days could

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be rotation days.

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The toughest part about juggling that is you're having a full day in clinic, eight to five,

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treating patients, walking 100 feet all day and then finding the willpower to sit home

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and study and get it done when we have exams every single week.

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It can be tough to do, but with good time management, it's always possible.

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And that all sounds great.

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We'll definitely get into the nitty gritty of how dental school really is.

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But let's start at the beginning.

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So once you guys still slip by yourself, like where you're from, where you grew up, what

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you'd like to do for fun, stuff like that.

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For sure.

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So pretty much we grew up in Jersey.

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We moved out from Queens, New York when I was five or what you have.

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And David was a year younger.

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So we were pretty young, grew up mostly in Jersey.

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So we're Jersey boys and decided to go to Rutgers nearby.

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So I majored in bio and from there, just decided to explore dentistry as a profession.

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I was always interested in medicine.

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But right before I started Rutgers, I actually decided to do some more research.

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And dentistry was a better fit for me.

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But yeah, I've been loving it ever since.

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Bibi.

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Yes.

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A similar remark.

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I grew up alongside of in Jersey, ever since I was three or four years old.

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We pretty much did everything together from a young age.

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Our parents really encouraged us to stick together and just have each other's backs.

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And so going into it, we both knew that we wanted to attend Rutgers, something that

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was close to home, a little bit on the cheaper side because of the in-state tuition.

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And so while I majored in bio, I also started off as a bio major and then decided pretty

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literally, my second thing is here, I decided it really wasn't for me.

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I really didn't enjoy it.

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So I decided to change over to public health, which kind of pushed me back in terms of graduating

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in terms of the timeline.

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But honestly, I love that decision.

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I really feel like it will really make me into a better dentist overall in order to

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see a bigger picture of the community.

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And so yeah, since then, decided to go full force of public health and never looked back.

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That was awesome.

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So let's start at the beginning.

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So why did you guys get a dentistry?

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What made you choose this path, obviously?

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So I mean, David will tell you guys a funny story.

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But I always was interested in health care from that standpoint.

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But being in the volunteering in the hospital setting, I realized that really wasn't for

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me.

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I see a good foundation of patient physician relationship.

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So I thought, let me look into another health care profession.

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And David had suggested that he's always been interested in dentistry.

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So I kind of decided to look into it myself and found that there was a better relationship

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between the dentist and the patient.

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And just from growing up, going to the dentist, I saw that firsthand.

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I always had a good relationship with my dentist.

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The whole stick between floss every day and brush twice a day always stuck with me.

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And I felt going into this profession with my brother alongside would be definitely a

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good thing.

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Just because we always grew up together and did everything together, kind of like David

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suggested.

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So looked into it a little further, did some shadowing and thought this was it.

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So I stuck with it ever since.

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So for me, kind of like how Mark mentioned, I knew I wanted to do dentistry for a while.

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I really don't know why, but in the seventh grade, my social studies teacher had us write

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a paper that was going to be a letter that we write to ourselves that wouldn't be open

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until you graduate high school.

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And in that letter, there was a portion where you had to input what you want to do as a

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career.

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And I don't know why, but I took that assignment really, really seriously.

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I did a lot of research and I found dentistry.

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And I guess at the time, what was it, like 12, 13 year old David at the time was like,

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wow, dentistry is an awesome fit because I'm able to help people while also having the

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autonomy to run my own business one day, God willing.

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So everything kind of culminated into like, wow, dentistry is the perfect fit.

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Let me commit to this.

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And in that letter, I wrote the very first sentence of the career portion.

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I wrote, when I draw up, I want to be a dentist and I want to go to NYU College of Dentistry.

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I wrote that verbatim in that letter.

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Fast forward to interview days.

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I was able to read that letter with me to my interview, showed it to the admissions committee,

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and they loved it.

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They loved it.

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And kind of how Mark said, I was able to kind of bring him over to the dark side of dentistry

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for taking him away from medicine and bringing him over to dentistry and convince, and listen,

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this is something that we're both going to be committed to when we have each other and

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really, as long as we have each other's backs and there really shouldn't be anything that

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gets in our way.

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So ever since then, we stuck through it and stuck in college with it and then applied

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together and then God had all worked out, all knowns place.

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I mean, that's like very unique to have.

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It's like proof, right?

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That you're not lying on your application.

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You can think that, right?

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That's kind of crazy.

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And yeah, I mean, a lot of people ask me, personally, why don't you just go to medicine?

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Why did you decide to go dentistry?

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Because a lot of times people view dentistry as like, oh, so you were premed, but you just

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decided to branch off into this.

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Why did you do that?

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Easier or whatever.

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Med school chopouts.

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Exactly.

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And I'm like, that's not the mentality you should have because it's more like, the dentistry

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is a whole different, I guess, side of patient interaction, right?

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Because even when I'm as an assistant myself, on the daily, I'm like dealing with the patient.

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I feel like dental assistants deal with the patient more than a doctor asks you sometimes

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because of how much time you spend with them, right?

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So that's a part I love about it because I mean, every patient is different and every

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day is different.

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So that's awesome.

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And the fact that you had that letter with you to the admissions team, that's pretty unique.

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Yeah, we'll get to the interviews too later.

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But so, David, so now that you knew that you wanted to go dentistry as a young age, right?

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So how did you go into college knowing that this is what you want to do?

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How'd you organize your experiences and even a mark and chime in on this as well?

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Yeah, so it definitely made my transition into college a lot smoother.

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Going into Rutgers, Rutgers is a really large school.

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So it could be kind of like a little bit of a wake-up call.

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Coming in from a high school, going into a classroom that has over 400 people in one

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class, one lecture hall, really could be intimidating.

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But knowing that I wanted to be dentistry and knowing that that was my goal at the end

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of the day, it really allowed me to kind of develop my schedule, my course load accordingly.

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From the early from the gate, I knew exactly that I needed to approach my health professions

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office.

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I needed to take certain courses that would allow me to graduate on time, which ended up

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not happening, but some new yards today, it's all good.

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But it really just makes the transition a lot smoother.

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And that's something that I really encourage a lot of people to do, is to really figure

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it out early.

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So while you're in high school, take that time to shadow, take the time to assist, take

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the time to network with other dentistry community and really get to understand their experience

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and maybe see if that's something that you'd want to do.

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And if it is, really just commit to it.

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And everything else will fall into place eventually.

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For sure.

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And I mean, the transition from high school to college, it's meant to kind of see where

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you're at and kind of evolve as you get into college.

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Not everyone has that ability to kind of know what they want to do before they head into

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a college.

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So David and I were more or less kind of lucky in that aspect where we kind of knew more

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or less what we wanted to do.

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But going into college, I saw it all the time.

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People just switched from pre-med to pre-dental or whatever it may be, from business to pre-med

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or vice versa.

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So you see that evolution happen as you're taking all these classes.

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But the whole thing is, as long as you have a passion for it and you're capable of just

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pushing through the rigors of the curriculum, nothing should be stopping you at the end

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of the day.

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A good support system at home really does help.

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And having David a year apart really does help.

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I just push you through that rigor.

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And it's kind of weird that everyone has this expectation to figure it out when you're like

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17 or 18 years old.

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And even me personally as a freshman, which is like two years ago, but as a freshman, I

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went in pre-med just because I knew I wanted to do something science.

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And pre-med just seems like the best title to put on that for now, until you figure it

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out.

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And as you go through college and stuff and you kind of take it upon yourself to explore

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other things, that's kind of where I found dentistry as this awesome profession where

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you use your hands, your great patient interaction, you see a variety of things, stuff like that.

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So that's kind of where I found that through shadowing and eventually assisting.

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So what kind of role did shadowing and assisting playing your guys's pursuit of dentistry?

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So we actually both did a fellowship.

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And this fellowship actually contained a lot of shadowing in terms of different aspects

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of dentistry.

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So there was the general dentistry portion at a federally qualified health center.

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That's pretty much where low income individuals go where they could get their care.

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And aside from that, we also were shadowing in specialty offices, you know, your endo,

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your ortho.

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And that kind of gave us a broad overview of what dentistry was as a profession because

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it's not just general dentistry.

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It's a whole facet of other, I guess, specialized professions within dentistry.

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And it kind of opened us to a realm of various other parts of dentistry, which I really liked.

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And that gave me a better understanding of what dentistry was because general dentistry

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is only the foundation and then you have your other portions of what dentistry really is.

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And aside from that, you know, the volunteering that I mentioned in a local hospital that

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really helped just understand the patient-physician relationship and what it's meant to be a provider

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in your local community.

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So I definitely think shadowing is important, but only to a certain extent.

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I think if you get something like a dentistry, something that you're just starting to look

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into or you just found out about, it can definitely help you, it can help open your

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eyes to what dentistry really is.

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But I don't think shadowing is good in the long term.

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Say for example, you know dentistry is what you want to do, like you're committed to it,

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I would really encourage people to look into assisting instead because as great as shadowing

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can be, that's really all you are, your shadow.

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And a lot of times it can be kind of hard to see what the dentist is doing, see what's

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going on in the procedure.

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That's really challenging.

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And that's why I felt going into shadowing these various dentists that I have is that

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I really didn't get to see all there is to dentistry.

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So I would really encourage a lot of people to look into assisting instead once they figure

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out that dentistry really is for them.

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And that's definitely something I kind of realized as I went on with the shadowing process because

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when you're shadowing, you're standing behind the dentist and there's an assistant there

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also.

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And the mouth is this big.

236
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So there's not much you can see.

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If it's a knee surgery, I understand you can see everything you want.

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But with the mouth, and especially one tooth, maybe they have like, maybe they're working

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on 31 or something.

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How are you going to see that unless you're on a certain angle?

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00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:56,480
So that's kind of where I was like, you know what, I love this, but I want to get in there,

242
00:14:56,480 --> 00:14:57,480
right?

243
00:14:57,480 --> 00:14:58,480
That's the next thing.

244
00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:01,720
So I'm going to go with shadower and then dental assistant and then go to dentist, right?

245
00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:06,120
So I, you know, I, I surraise, you know, this, this is really generous.

246
00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:07,120
That's really, really generous.

247
00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:08,800
And I mean, and also, yeah, it depends.

248
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Like some people have like maybe this, they got, oh, it's crazy.

249
00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:13,640
Yeah, you'll definitely be seeing that.

250
00:15:13,640 --> 00:15:14,640
Yeah.

251
00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:15,640
Yeah.

252
00:15:15,640 --> 00:15:19,720
And so, you know, we go from, you know, shadowing with general dentists to ever just started

253
00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:22,480
working for like a general dentist and dental, we would just implants and all these other

254
00:15:22,480 --> 00:15:23,480
things.

255
00:15:23,480 --> 00:15:27,800
So the way I kind of approached it as I started assisting general with implants and like he

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00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:31,720
does, he does root canals, crowns, all these different things, but he doesn't do ortho.

257
00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:34,080
He doesn't do like hard, hard corando.

258
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He doesn't do, this is like oral surgery kind of thing.

259
00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:43,080
So I feel like once, you know, a student can get into the, the assisting around the realm,

260
00:15:43,080 --> 00:15:46,080
they can maybe shadow specialties that they don't have at their office, right?

261
00:15:46,080 --> 00:15:48,360
Cause that's kind of, you know, you're not like double dipping.

262
00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:50,400
So I guess that's one way to get around it.

263
00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:53,600
But you know, obviously the beginning want to shadow us the best thing to do.

264
00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:55,000
And then keep going from there.

265
00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:56,000
Sure.

266
00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:57,000
Yeah.

267
00:15:57,000 --> 00:16:00,600
So I mean, you spoke about how you seek a gap here, right?

268
00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:03,880
And I think you got, you got your masters, right?

269
00:16:03,880 --> 00:16:08,040
So I actually, yeah, I got a masters from Rutgers, New York.

270
00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:11,520
So that's where the dental school is Rutgers dental school.

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00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:14,440
So the masters was in biomedical sciences.

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00:16:14,440 --> 00:16:19,960
It, you have like a two year timeline, but you could finish it off in a year.

273
00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:25,680
So the program is great in that you could transfer credits from dental school back into

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that program at Rutgers.

275
00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:31,280
And that, and that's what I did.

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00:16:31,280 --> 00:16:36,640
I honestly finished off the program in a year and a half and then did that other, finished

277
00:16:36,640 --> 00:16:41,720
that other semester from dental school and transferred over the credits.

278
00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:44,200
But yeah, the program was, was really great.

279
00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:50,840
You know, I experienced a lot of shadow, shadow, but research that I did within the dental

280
00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:52,800
school actually.

281
00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:55,240
And that's something I actually have never done before research.

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So that's something new to me, but I learned a lot in, you know, what research, what research

283
00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:03,760
is.

284
00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:10,440
And I think the masters program really prepared me well for the Rutgers of dental school.

285
00:17:10,440 --> 00:17:15,040
And yeah, looking back at it really helped for sure.

286
00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:16,040
Yeah.

287
00:17:16,040 --> 00:17:18,120
I mean, also you guys took gap here.

288
00:17:18,120 --> 00:17:20,120
So I'm assuming that's what you did in your gap.

289
00:17:20,120 --> 00:17:23,040
You decided to go for a masters, right?

290
00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:24,040
Yeah.

291
00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:25,040
Yeah.

292
00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:29,640
So I just decided to fill in my time just with, with something that will help, you know,

293
00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:31,600
my application stand out.

294
00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:34,920
And I think the research really helped me get where I am today.

295
00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:35,920
For sure.

296
00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:36,920
Yeah.

297
00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:40,680
For me, so my, my gap year was, was kind of interesting.

298
00:17:40,680 --> 00:17:44,600
So like I mentioned, I've changed my major a little bit late in the game.

299
00:17:44,600 --> 00:17:49,120
So because of that, that required me to take an extra semester of undergrad.

300
00:17:49,120 --> 00:17:54,280
So I ended up taking, I was supposed to graduate in May 2019.

301
00:17:54,280 --> 00:17:56,080
But because of that, I had to take the extra semester.

302
00:17:56,080 --> 00:18:02,400
But what ended up happening was I took my DAT that summer in August, you know, did pretty

303
00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:04,840
well, but didn't do too well in reading comprehension.

304
00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:08,680
I got a 15 in reading comprehension and that completely, you know, ruined all the other

305
00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:10,160
scores that I got, unfortunately.

306
00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:13,880
It's pretty much my, you know, biggest fear came true.

307
00:18:13,880 --> 00:18:18,120
And so really that, like that week after I took the DAT was kind of like game time for

308
00:18:18,120 --> 00:18:19,120
me.

309
00:18:19,120 --> 00:18:20,120
You know, I was like, what am I going to do?

310
00:18:20,120 --> 00:18:21,120
What's my next step?

311
00:18:21,120 --> 00:18:26,240
So I ultimately decided that that extra semester, instead of taking it that fall, I'm going to

312
00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:31,520
take it in the spring and I'm going to use that fall to study for the retake of the DAT.

313
00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:32,880
And that's exactly what I did.

314
00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:39,440
I ended up retaking the DAT in December, granted, still got the 15 reading comprehension.

315
00:18:39,440 --> 00:18:41,920
But I ended up deciding to apply either way.

316
00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:45,120
You know, I decided to send out my application that September.

317
00:18:45,120 --> 00:18:49,040
I actually got an interview invite from Toro that following month and then NYU came in a

318
00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:50,280
couple months after that.

319
00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:56,320
So really went to show for myself at least that even though I had that 15 in reading comprehension,

320
00:18:56,320 --> 00:18:59,480
which is arguably a really important section that they look at, just because apparently

321
00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:04,040
there's some correlation with how you do on the boards and reading comprehension.

322
00:19:04,040 --> 00:19:08,280
It really showed me that dental schools genuinely do look at your application from a holistic

323
00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:13,520
point of view because otherwise I wouldn't be in that in this position where I am today.

324
00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:14,960
And I'm really grateful for that factor.

325
00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:17,840
So that's pretty much how I set my gap here.

326
00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:22,680
So one semester studying for the DAT and the other semester finishing up that extra semester

327
00:19:22,680 --> 00:19:26,000
that I needed to for my public health degree.

328
00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:29,400
And that's normality now.

329
00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:31,440
Someone in our comments actually talked about this.

330
00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:35,200
They were like, you guys are figuring out as juniors in college, it doesn't make any sense.

331
00:19:35,200 --> 00:19:38,280
I figured it out when I was 24, like 25.

332
00:19:38,280 --> 00:19:46,560
And that opened my eyes up to the expectation for undergraduates nowadays to get out in like

333
00:19:46,560 --> 00:19:48,240
three, four years, right?

334
00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:51,160
That's the expectation just because that's how it's structured and stuff.

335
00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:55,680
But what is your advice to people who don't want to take gap year, but they feel that

336
00:19:55,680 --> 00:19:58,880
they're considering it just because they feel like it might give them up or edge on their

337
00:19:58,880 --> 00:19:59,880
application?

338
00:19:59,880 --> 00:20:02,560
David, go for this.

339
00:20:02,560 --> 00:20:03,560
Sure.

340
00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:08,720
So I kind of have a love-hate relationship with gap years.

341
00:20:08,720 --> 00:20:10,760
I'll tell you why.

342
00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:16,520
The love aspect of gap years really stems from the fact that it really allows you to

343
00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:20,680
take that year to just do whatever you want because demo school is challenging.

344
00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:22,760
These next four years is an investment.

345
00:20:22,760 --> 00:20:26,800
It's investment not only in your education, but also in your future overall.

346
00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:32,840
So that can be really intimidating for someone that's in their low to mid-20s really doesn't

347
00:20:32,840 --> 00:20:34,440
have a lot of stuff figured out.

348
00:20:34,440 --> 00:20:40,240
So gap years are awesome for people like that that just want to explore, want to do something

349
00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:45,760
aside from sitting down on the desk and just studying all day.

350
00:20:45,760 --> 00:20:47,440
So that's really awesome.

351
00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:48,800
That's really unique part about gap years.

352
00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:53,680
The fact that the average age of entering demo students, incoming D1 students is like

353
00:20:53,680 --> 00:20:57,680
27 or something like that really shows that you're not really behind.

354
00:20:57,680 --> 00:21:02,120
If you take that one year gap year, it's not going to really put you behind everybody else.

355
00:21:02,120 --> 00:21:03,840
It's completely normal.

356
00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:09,480
We actually have a student in our class right now who started off as a lawyer, decided that

357
00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:10,480
wasn't for him.

358
00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:12,600
At the age of 40, decided, hey, you know what?

359
00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:14,400
I'm going to go to demo school.

360
00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:15,760
And so that's exactly what it did.

361
00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:16,760
So it's not too late.

362
00:21:16,760 --> 00:21:18,960
It's not too late.

363
00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:24,640
The hate part of the gap year is that you're already in the flow of things.

364
00:21:24,640 --> 00:21:25,840
You're just finished on a grad.

365
00:21:25,840 --> 00:21:31,480
You already know exactly how tiring studying could be and you just want to get it over with.

366
00:21:31,480 --> 00:21:34,280
Just want to get it done.

367
00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:38,320
So at the end of the day, I really encourage at least one or two years to really take it

368
00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:40,360
to yourself if that's what you want.

369
00:21:40,360 --> 00:21:43,440
But really more than that, you really have to start thinking about the finances in the

370
00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:44,440
future.

371
00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:47,720
And that's something that a lot of dental students and dentists in general really miss

372
00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:51,040
the boat on is the dental business side of it.

373
00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:55,440
So you really have to think, okay, every single year that I don't work as a dentist, I'm losing

374
00:21:55,440 --> 00:22:00,400
on about $150,000 of dental income, give or take.

375
00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:04,840
So after the one or two years, that's really something that people should really start

376
00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:07,360
to consider is really the future.

377
00:22:07,360 --> 00:22:09,920
So that's my perspective.

378
00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:10,920
Yeah.

379
00:22:10,920 --> 00:22:13,080
I'm just going off of that.

380
00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:18,080
Just like David mentioned, there are a lot of functions for what a gap year should be.

381
00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:25,040
And for me, that was just doing the masters and retaking my DAT, kind of like David.

382
00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:31,880
And it gave me some time to really sit down and aside from doing the research, aside from

383
00:22:31,880 --> 00:22:39,000
doing the masters, just really buckle down and get that DAT out of the way.

384
00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:46,720
So I took my DAT three times in total, the first two times I averaged about 18, 19 in

385
00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:48,560
the AA.

386
00:22:48,560 --> 00:22:54,320
And then I got it up to the third time, 20 AA.

387
00:22:54,320 --> 00:23:01,720
And I think that's the score that I was looking for in terms of pairing that up with my master's

388
00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:10,960
GPA and GPA back from college, just to show the admissions office that I'm committed and

389
00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:13,240
this is what I want to do.

390
00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:18,520
But also, aside from just doing school and your regular curriculum, I think you should

391
00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:24,920
take some time to yourself and just kind of explore what you're about and take those

392
00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:33,360
years or so just to kind of visit other countries or do something because you're not going to

393
00:23:33,360 --> 00:23:35,800
have that time in dental school.

394
00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:41,080
The four years in dental school are meant for you to kind of grow your knowledge in that

395
00:23:41,080 --> 00:23:44,000
profession that you're going for.

396
00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:45,200
You're not going to have a lot of time.

397
00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:53,920
So I think taking that year off or two, making the most of it really helps just kind of make

398
00:23:53,920 --> 00:24:03,200
you a more well-rounded person aside from the typical GPA, DAT scores, all the stats.

399
00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:09,400
I think admissions want a real conversation and having something like that, like a trip

400
00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:17,040
or a volunteering trip of some sort, that really goes to show that you're capable of

401
00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:18,280
community service.

402
00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:21,920
You're willing to just be more than a number.

403
00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:30,000
So I feel like gap years take a little bit of stress off of finishing very fast.

404
00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:34,240
And also, it gives you an opportunity to expand your application because you get to do more

405
00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:35,240
things.

406
00:24:35,240 --> 00:24:38,640
You have more time to really hone in on stuff that maybe even your own interests that you

407
00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:40,920
like to do that you can show on application.

408
00:24:40,920 --> 00:24:45,640
I know that Dr. Gallagher, who's, he goes to NYU as well.

409
00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:50,800
You guys probably know him, but he told me that his interview was literally about him

410
00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:54,600
playing the violin because nothing else, just the violin, because that's just what he does

411
00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:55,600
as a hobby.

412
00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:59,200
So, I mean, you can do all these clinical things, but at the end of the day, at that

413
00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:01,520
interview, I guess they want to know who you are, right?

414
00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:04,160
And you guys probably tested that.

415
00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:06,840
So like before we get to the interview, I want to talk a little bit about how do you guys

416
00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:08,520
like formulate your dental spot location?

417
00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:11,600
Like did you, you know, how was a personal statement like, how'd you kind of approach

418
00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:14,920
all these different things and how'd you kind of put all together so that, you know, whatever

419
00:25:14,920 --> 00:25:19,120
you looked at you guys, they're like, yeah, I want those guys in my class.

420
00:25:19,120 --> 00:25:28,000
Right, so for me, the personal statement was an evolution of many edits.

421
00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:31,480
So I had a lot of mentors in terms of, you know, from undergrad.

422
00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:37,560
And then when I went to the masters, I had a couple of mentors there.

423
00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:43,000
So I had a lot of eyes to look at, you know, the personal statement.

424
00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:48,320
And you know, really the second time around when I applied, I really liked, you know,

425
00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:53,840
my personal statement there because I feel like it really put the bow tie in the end

426
00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:58,560
in terms of, you know, the research that I did, you know, the community service, the

427
00:25:58,560 --> 00:25:59,640
shadowing.

428
00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:07,440
So at that point in, you know, in that application cycle, I felt I was just, you know, more prepared.

429
00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:14,440
And I think the personal statement is really meant to highlight all that you did and all

430
00:26:14,440 --> 00:26:19,960
that you are to the admissions office and just, you know, really showcase what you're

431
00:26:19,960 --> 00:26:26,360
about that way when it does come time to interview, you're capable of referring what you wrote

432
00:26:26,360 --> 00:26:30,760
in your personal statement and what's on your resume.

433
00:26:30,760 --> 00:26:39,480
And you know, it really should flow as almost like a conversation, you know, almost as if

434
00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:44,400
you're talking to someone, the personal statement really should be vibrant in that regard.

435
00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:50,560
Where they really, you know, maybe it's a story that you're writing about or maybe it's

436
00:26:50,560 --> 00:26:53,560
an experience that you had.

437
00:26:53,560 --> 00:26:57,680
That way they're engaged because they see so many personal statements at the end of the

438
00:26:57,680 --> 00:27:02,760
day, thousands of applications, you're just one out of so many.

439
00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:08,920
So trying to do your best in making it engaging and interactive as best as you can really

440
00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:11,240
helps.

441
00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:18,160
And application-wise, just I think just having David and having each other, I think we're

442
00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:23,040
able to look at applications from different standpoints and, you know, we have different

443
00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:25,320
experiences growing up.

444
00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:32,160
And I think that really helps get us in the door and get us that interview for sure.

445
00:27:32,160 --> 00:27:33,520
Right.

446
00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:37,920
So kind of what Mark was mentioning, a personal statement really is one of the most, if not

447
00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:41,200
the most important part of your application, because at the end of the day it really tells

448
00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:44,200
the admissions committee who you are as a person.

449
00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:45,320
What makes you you?

450
00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:49,600
Why is it that I should completely put aside all the other personal statements and why

451
00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:52,280
should I just focus on yours?

452
00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:55,360
So a lot of times people, you know, I see a lot of pre-dental students are looking for

453
00:27:55,360 --> 00:27:56,360
that wild factor.

454
00:27:56,360 --> 00:28:00,040
You know, they want to start off that personal statement with something that's like, like

455
00:28:00,040 --> 00:28:01,040
something crazy.

456
00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:04,920
Like I jumped out of the plane, you know, into Cambodia and I went into this dental clinic

457
00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:10,240
and I help, you know, these, you know, you know, individuals there, you know, it's like

458
00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:14,480
they're always looking for something great, which is awesome, which is great.

459
00:28:14,480 --> 00:28:15,640
And it's definitely encouraged.

460
00:28:15,640 --> 00:28:20,040
But at the end of the day, the admissions committee wants to really know who you are

461
00:28:20,040 --> 00:28:21,040
as a person.

462
00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:23,840
And if that's who you are, awesome, stick with it.

463
00:28:23,840 --> 00:28:27,240
So really just your personal statement, you really wanted to embody everything that you

464
00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:31,560
are as a person and everything that you want to commit to as a dentist.

465
00:28:31,560 --> 00:28:33,040
That's really the most important part.

466
00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:37,720
In terms of the other application, this is kind of where knowing, you know, that we wanted

467
00:28:37,720 --> 00:28:42,160
to do dentistry coming into college really helped us out because right out the gate,

468
00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:46,680
we were able to understand that, okay, by the time we start applying to dental schools,

469
00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:48,600
we're going to need letters of recs from professors.

470
00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:52,760
So kind of establishing that relationship with professors early on was really, really

471
00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:54,280
important for us.

472
00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:59,200
And especially in my case, the fact that I applied solely in September, I really tried

473
00:28:59,200 --> 00:29:03,560
to make sure that my entire application was ready to go that way right after I took my

474
00:29:03,560 --> 00:29:07,480
DAT, you know, a week or so after I could send it out.

475
00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:12,000
And so, you know, a lot of these professors, a lot of these dentists are super busy.

476
00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:17,120
So you really want to give yourself enough time to, to, you know, allow them to write

477
00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:20,560
a really solid, you know, a letter of rec for you.

478
00:29:20,560 --> 00:29:24,120
So really just having everything all together, putting everything all together before you

479
00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:26,600
take your DAT or before you're ready to send it out.

480
00:29:26,600 --> 00:29:27,600
That's really the most important part.

481
00:29:27,600 --> 00:29:30,360
So really kind of getting a head start on your personal statement, getting a head start

482
00:29:30,360 --> 00:29:35,040
on requesting those letters of rec, getting a head start on your, you know, DAT and studying

483
00:29:35,040 --> 00:29:36,320
for that.

484
00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:41,840
That's really something that I would encourage for, for pre-dentalists to really look into.

485
00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:44,960
And yeah, just kind of developing those relationships with professors with dentists.

486
00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:46,720
That's super, super important as well.

487
00:29:46,720 --> 00:29:50,280
And kind of like how Mark mentioned, you know, the fact that we had each other to, you know,

488
00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:54,640
glance over our personal statements and our application overall, it really helped because

489
00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:58,560
even though Mark and I are so close and we do literally everything together, we are different

490
00:29:58,560 --> 00:29:59,560
people.

491
00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:04,160
I like to say that Mark's kind of the yin to my yang, you know, the strengths that I

492
00:30:04,160 --> 00:30:09,000
have, he might not, you know, be so strong and vice versa, you know, so we're able to

493
00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:15,080
kind of come in with this different perspective and really help develop our application as

494
00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:16,200
a whole.

495
00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:20,680
And I think that's something that really spoke to a lot of dental schools, specifically NYU,

496
00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:22,320
when they decided to accept this.

497
00:30:22,320 --> 00:30:27,040
Like you said, like, you know, everything, all these things come at you really fast.

498
00:30:27,040 --> 00:30:28,560
Like you got to get your letters out.

499
00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:29,680
You got to ask for your letters.

500
00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:33,080
You got to do your personal statement, you know, find time for your D&T.

501
00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:37,360
So, you know, if you're in the position to understand that you need to do that, you want

502
00:30:37,360 --> 00:30:38,960
to go dentistry early, that's great.

503
00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:43,240
But you know, I guess to the people that, I guess, decide like end of junior year or

504
00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:48,440
junior year or senior year, I guess I would say like, don't panic because there's, there's,

505
00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:52,800
you have, you have as much time as you want, right, because you talked about the gap years.

506
00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:53,800
So for sure.

507
00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:58,360
And I would also say like for letters or recommendations, just to make it easier on yourself, really

508
00:30:58,360 --> 00:31:01,080
go hard on those like science classes so that you can TA for them.

509
00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:04,160
Because if you can become like a TA for certain classes, like I've been able to do like an

510
00:31:04,160 --> 00:31:05,680
Orbo TA or Go2TA.

511
00:31:05,680 --> 00:31:08,920
So, you know, when you're able to TA for a class, you ever like, you can build like

512
00:31:08,920 --> 00:31:13,360
hardcore rapport with your professors and that's just going to make your letters or recommendations

513
00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:15,240
so much easier to get, right?

514
00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:17,960
And even with your dentist, like, you know, if you start shadowing and assisting early

515
00:31:17,960 --> 00:31:20,840
on, then you were building their relationship with them from the beginning.

516
00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:22,640
So then you can just slowly ask them for a letter of recommendation.

517
00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:26,160
They're like, thank God you asked me, like, I'd be offended if you did ask me, right?

518
00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:28,520
So that's like the best part of it.

519
00:31:28,520 --> 00:31:31,920
And so you guys mentioned that and why you kind of saw that in you guys, like you guys

520
00:31:31,920 --> 00:31:35,440
are really, I guess, true on your, on your application.

521
00:31:35,440 --> 00:31:39,720
So when you're applying to schools, how did you consider which ones to apply to?

522
00:31:39,720 --> 00:31:43,400
It was just kind of like a dart on a dart board or you just kind of did some research and

523
00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:47,800
kind of figured out the best fit for you guys.

524
00:31:47,800 --> 00:31:54,440
I think what our approach was really, you know, stick around, you know, not too far

525
00:31:54,440 --> 00:32:03,440
from home, but we applied to as far as the West Coast, maybe out in Utah, honestly, but

526
00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:05,440
you know, just safe schools in the end.

527
00:32:05,440 --> 00:32:11,960
But you know, I think for, for me as, as an applicant, I really, I applied to, I think

528
00:32:11,960 --> 00:32:19,160
10 or so dental schools more or less were on the East Coast for the most part.

529
00:32:19,160 --> 00:32:25,320
And I think just having a good understanding of what, you know, what the dental school is,

530
00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:29,960
what they're about and what you want as a dental student from, you know, from the school.

531
00:32:29,960 --> 00:32:35,600
Because at the end of the day, you're paying a lot of money to get an education in dentistry.

532
00:32:35,600 --> 00:32:40,560
You know, as, as good or bad as that may seem, you know, you've got to make the most of it

533
00:32:40,560 --> 00:32:47,040
at the end and finding that school that fits you, you know, the community there, not only

534
00:32:47,040 --> 00:32:49,320
within the dental school but outside.

535
00:32:49,320 --> 00:32:52,960
What's the dental school, you know, look outside, is it safe?

536
00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:56,320
Is you know, is the environment okay?

537
00:32:56,320 --> 00:33:02,480
And also within the dental school, how are the professors, what's the, you know, teacher

538
00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:04,560
to student ratio?

539
00:33:04,560 --> 00:33:09,280
Do you want that close knit body or do you like a bigger school?

540
00:33:09,280 --> 00:33:14,360
And that really depends on, I guess, where you come from, from undergrad.

541
00:33:14,360 --> 00:33:17,280
Did you go to a big school like David and I did?

542
00:33:17,280 --> 00:33:23,840
You know, Rutgers, the biggest class, you know, all the general, you know, general sciences,

543
00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:29,800
you know, hundreds and hundreds of students in that class.

544
00:33:29,800 --> 00:33:32,000
And I think that's something we were okay with.

545
00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:38,440
And that's why in the end, I think NYU was a good fit because we like that large body.

546
00:33:38,440 --> 00:33:43,920
And now we have over, you know, I'd say 300 colleagues that, you know, we can share the

547
00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:48,200
experience with granted that, you know, we're separated in A and B sections so we don't

548
00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:49,560
know everyone.

549
00:33:49,560 --> 00:33:54,880
But you know, the whole thing is David and I wanted to, you know, meet new people from

550
00:33:54,880 --> 00:33:58,480
different, you know, backgrounds from different places.

551
00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:03,040
And I think NYU in the end brought us that the diversity is there.

552
00:34:03,040 --> 00:34:09,120
And you know, all these students have so many experiences, and that's what kind of, you

553
00:34:09,120 --> 00:34:11,920
know, stuck with us in the end.

554
00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:13,480
And you know, the professors are great.

555
00:34:13,480 --> 00:34:16,760
So you definitely have that experience.

556
00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:20,880
And it's in the end, it's really what you make out of your experience in dental school.

557
00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:24,480
You know, it could be the largest school, but you can make it the smallest based on your

558
00:34:24,480 --> 00:34:26,840
experiences within the program.

559
00:34:26,840 --> 00:34:29,280
And I think David will mention the same thing.

560
00:34:29,280 --> 00:34:31,440
Yeah, for sure.

561
00:34:31,440 --> 00:34:37,280
So I guess for me, I was kind of put into a weird limbo type of state when I was applying

562
00:34:37,280 --> 00:34:41,200
to schools just because, you know, I took my DAT in August on the same cycle that I was

563
00:34:41,200 --> 00:34:42,200
applying to.

564
00:34:42,200 --> 00:34:44,960
Didn't really get the grade that I want.

565
00:34:44,960 --> 00:34:50,520
And you know, once I saw I got that 15 reading comprehension that really just completely took

566
00:34:50,520 --> 00:34:53,480
a hit to my confidence after that.

567
00:34:53,480 --> 00:34:59,080
After speaking with a lot of other friends, you know, who were already in dental school

568
00:34:59,080 --> 00:35:04,360
like some D1s, D2s, things like that, they actually, you know, encouraged me not to apply

569
00:35:04,360 --> 00:35:09,200
this cycle and take that year off and we'll take another year off and apply the following

570
00:35:09,200 --> 00:35:10,320
cycle.

571
00:35:10,320 --> 00:35:17,360
And so I remember vividly we had a trip to Lake George right after my DAT, like literally

572
00:35:17,360 --> 00:35:22,360
right after my DAT, I drove off to Lake George a really long sad drive.

573
00:35:22,360 --> 00:35:23,360
And I was just in my thoughts.

574
00:35:23,360 --> 00:35:24,960
I was speaking with my brother.

575
00:35:24,960 --> 00:35:27,080
I was speaking with, you know, my friends.

576
00:35:27,080 --> 00:35:30,800
And everybody was encouraging me against it except Mark.

577
00:35:30,800 --> 00:35:34,480
Mark really was like, listen, like they, like, you know, you have an awesome application,

578
00:35:34,480 --> 00:35:37,960
you know, albeit, you know, you had that 15 reading comp, everything else looks good.

579
00:35:37,960 --> 00:35:40,400
You can go for it and just try it out.

580
00:35:40,400 --> 00:35:45,600
And I'm really grateful that, you know, Mark gave me that advice because it really kind

581
00:35:45,600 --> 00:35:49,360
of gave me that little push of confidence that I was looking for at the time.

582
00:35:49,360 --> 00:35:53,160
And I decided to only apply to the five schools.

583
00:35:53,160 --> 00:35:56,160
It's the five programs.

584
00:35:56,160 --> 00:36:01,320
And these programs were programs that I thought I could see myself at, also in the East Coast,

585
00:36:01,320 --> 00:36:02,320
somewhat close to home.

586
00:36:02,320 --> 00:36:05,840
But at the same time, someone, you know, some programs that really do look at your application

587
00:36:05,840 --> 00:36:07,640
from holistic point of view.

588
00:36:07,640 --> 00:36:11,760
So I decided to apply to five schools that same year.

589
00:36:11,760 --> 00:36:15,640
And you know, I'm really, really happy that I did because, you know, here we are now.

590
00:36:15,640 --> 00:36:19,960
And you know, had I listened to, you know, my other colleagues, my other peers, you know,

591
00:36:19,960 --> 00:36:21,160
I'm really grateful for them too.

592
00:36:21,160 --> 00:36:24,360
Don't hate to them at all.

593
00:36:24,360 --> 00:36:29,080
You know, I wouldn't be in this position alongside Mark and NYU together right now.

594
00:36:29,080 --> 00:36:34,040
And so I'm really, really happy that I end up going with that.

595
00:36:34,040 --> 00:36:35,560
And so are you guys, are you guys twins?

596
00:36:35,560 --> 00:36:39,160
You guys are brothers, like, what do you think?

597
00:36:39,160 --> 00:36:41,160
We're not twins yet.

598
00:36:41,160 --> 00:36:44,160
We're the popular opinion.

599
00:36:44,160 --> 00:36:46,560
Yeah, we're a year apart.

600
00:36:46,560 --> 00:36:50,240
But everyone decides to think that we're twins just because we're in the, you know, been

601
00:36:50,240 --> 00:36:56,080
doing life together for, for so long, side by side, we're really lucky to have one another.

602
00:36:56,080 --> 00:36:58,760
But you know, at this point, we might as well.

603
00:36:58,760 --> 00:36:59,760
Right.

604
00:36:59,760 --> 00:37:04,480
I feel like we just got to start marketing ourselves as twins now work.

605
00:37:04,480 --> 00:37:08,800
It's actually really funny, Siraj, because every single year, literally without a beat,

606
00:37:08,800 --> 00:37:13,560
yeah, every year on Mark's birthday, I always have people wishing me a happy birthday as

607
00:37:13,560 --> 00:37:14,560
well.

608
00:37:14,560 --> 00:37:16,520
And some of it is a joke.

609
00:37:16,520 --> 00:37:22,440
Other people are like, they actually beat it, and so it is really, really funny.

610
00:37:22,440 --> 00:37:23,840
But it was actually funny.

611
00:37:23,840 --> 00:37:25,960
What's it called this past year on your birthday mark?

612
00:37:25,960 --> 00:37:29,640
I posted something on Instagram, just kind of shouting you out wishing you happy birthday.

613
00:37:29,640 --> 00:37:32,720
Well, I think it was actually on my birthday.

614
00:37:32,720 --> 00:37:33,720
It was my birthday.

615
00:37:33,720 --> 00:37:36,080
Somebody, one of our cousins, wished me a happy birthday.

616
00:37:36,080 --> 00:37:40,440
And I reposted on my story and one of our classmates was like, oh, wait, why does she

617
00:37:40,440 --> 00:37:42,320
only wish you a happy birthday and not Mark?

618
00:37:42,320 --> 00:37:44,680
I was like, no.

619
00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:50,200
So it's really funny how to this day, a lot of people think that we are twins, but it's

620
00:37:50,200 --> 00:37:51,200
awesome.

621
00:37:51,200 --> 00:37:54,960
I think it really is a testament to how close we are and how close we hope to become as future

622
00:37:54,960 --> 00:38:00,160
dentists and just kind of continue to nurture that relationship.

623
00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:04,040
And for everyone that doesn't know, we'll obviously tell our audience, but you guys

624
00:38:04,040 --> 00:38:08,400
have an Instagram page called The Tooth Brothers, which is pretty unique.

625
00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:10,280
When I came to the plan, I was like, I got to talk to these guys.

626
00:38:10,280 --> 00:38:11,560
These guys look like you're doing.

627
00:38:11,560 --> 00:38:13,400
They look cool.

628
00:38:13,400 --> 00:38:18,360
So when you guys went to your interviews, did you, did you guys talk about how you guys

629
00:38:18,360 --> 00:38:19,360
are brothers?

630
00:38:19,360 --> 00:38:22,040
You guys are playing the same cycle and that my brother is like, Lily, probably the next

631
00:38:22,040 --> 00:38:24,040
room over me.

632
00:38:24,040 --> 00:38:25,040
Yeah.

633
00:38:25,040 --> 00:38:27,040
So I'm gonna go ahead.

634
00:38:27,040 --> 00:38:28,040
David, go ahead.

635
00:38:28,040 --> 00:38:29,520
I think you have the better story.

636
00:38:29,520 --> 00:38:30,520
Yeah.

637
00:38:30,520 --> 00:38:31,520
It's kind of funny.

638
00:38:31,520 --> 00:38:37,480
So Mark was interviewed, I believe it was beginning, was it end of January or beginning

639
00:38:37,480 --> 00:38:38,480
of February?

640
00:38:38,480 --> 00:38:41,120
I think the beginning of February.

641
00:38:41,120 --> 00:38:42,120
Beginning of February.

642
00:38:42,120 --> 00:38:46,800
I interviewed that Friday and I literally got an interview invite the day before your

643
00:38:46,800 --> 00:38:47,880
interview.

644
00:38:47,880 --> 00:38:51,240
And I remember I was like, all right, I'm just thinking the next day and happens to be that

645
00:38:51,240 --> 00:38:52,600
following Monday.

646
00:38:52,600 --> 00:38:57,840
So they got a nice dose of Mark that Friday and then they got another dose of another

647
00:38:57,840 --> 00:38:59,920
brother that following Monday.

648
00:38:59,920 --> 00:39:04,920
And so at least for me, when I went into my interview, I already knew that Mark interviewed,

649
00:39:04,920 --> 00:39:06,800
they already got a chance to meet him.

650
00:39:06,800 --> 00:39:09,000
And I was like, you know what, I got to like throw it in somehow.

651
00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:12,080
I got to throw it in somehow that, you know, my brother also.

652
00:39:12,080 --> 00:39:16,040
Also apply that he actually just interviewed literally two days ago.

653
00:39:16,040 --> 00:39:17,040
And that's what I did.

654
00:39:17,040 --> 00:39:21,400
So the way NYU has its interviews, you walk into a room and the first interview, it's

655
00:39:21,400 --> 00:39:22,400
two interviews.

656
00:39:22,400 --> 00:39:25,360
The first interview was by, you know, by faculty member.

657
00:39:25,360 --> 00:39:28,200
So for me, I believe it was an oral surgeon that interviewed me.

658
00:39:28,200 --> 00:39:32,040
And then the second interview is someone on admissions committee who really just kind

659
00:39:32,040 --> 00:39:35,760
of wants to get to know you a little bit better and also just see if you're comfortable, you

660
00:39:35,760 --> 00:39:40,160
know, moving to the city and going to score a city and being at NYU and kind of just getting

661
00:39:40,160 --> 00:39:41,840
your headspace on that.

662
00:39:41,840 --> 00:39:45,960
And so for me, my first interview, I actually walked out of that interview saying there's

663
00:39:45,960 --> 00:39:47,960
no chance I'm getting into NYU.

664
00:39:47,960 --> 00:39:52,080
There's no shot because everyone before that was like, yeah, man, you know, it's really

665
00:39:52,080 --> 00:39:53,080
conversational.

666
00:39:53,080 --> 00:39:54,080
Like you're going to be completely fine.

667
00:39:54,080 --> 00:39:55,640
It's all good.

668
00:39:55,640 --> 00:40:02,920
And I'm the type of guy that like I vibe off of other people's energy.

669
00:40:02,920 --> 00:40:05,240
You know, all of the energy that they give me is what I give.

670
00:40:05,240 --> 00:40:09,320
And so right out the jump, like this, you know, my interviewer just like question, answer,

671
00:40:09,320 --> 00:40:10,480
question, answer, question.

672
00:40:10,480 --> 00:40:11,480
And I hate that.

673
00:40:11,480 --> 00:40:14,800
I'm a really great conversationalist, but when you're just throwing questions and I'm

674
00:40:14,800 --> 00:40:17,120
expected to answer it, I just start sweating.

675
00:40:17,120 --> 00:40:20,640
I start like, you know, tapping my foot nervously.

676
00:40:20,640 --> 00:40:22,160
I walked out of the interview.

677
00:40:22,160 --> 00:40:23,360
Like there's no way I'm getting in.

678
00:40:23,360 --> 00:40:24,600
There's no way.

679
00:40:24,600 --> 00:40:27,400
And then that second interview with the admissions committee was much, much better.

680
00:40:27,400 --> 00:40:29,840
It was much, you know, a lot more chill.

681
00:40:29,840 --> 00:40:34,240
And that's where I mentioned that, you know, my brother Mark Obive, he actually interviewed,

682
00:40:34,240 --> 00:40:36,200
you know, this has Friday.

683
00:40:36,200 --> 00:40:40,000
And you know, I remember the interviewer going, oh, it'd be so nice to have you guys both

684
00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:42,600
here and I'm like, yeah, where is that acceptance?

685
00:40:42,600 --> 00:40:45,720
I was like, please.

686
00:40:45,720 --> 00:40:48,440
So, so now it's a really funny moment.

687
00:40:48,440 --> 00:40:51,360
But, but yeah, I think they really liked the fact that, you know, Mark and I were, were

688
00:40:51,360 --> 00:40:52,920
committed to it together.

689
00:40:52,920 --> 00:40:57,400
And I think it really showed, we were able to showcase our love and passion, not only

690
00:40:57,400 --> 00:41:01,440
for dentistry, but also for NYU, you know, to the, to the committee.

691
00:41:01,440 --> 00:41:03,080
And they really loved them.

692
00:41:03,080 --> 00:41:04,080
They, it really spoke to them.

693
00:41:04,080 --> 00:41:09,680
And it led to us getting acceptance literally back to back, you know, a month later.

694
00:41:09,680 --> 00:41:10,680
For sure.

695
00:41:10,680 --> 00:41:11,680
Yeah.

696
00:41:11,680 --> 00:41:16,840
It's insane how that whole interview process worked out where it was within a week, you

697
00:41:16,840 --> 00:41:20,640
know, we, we got that, you know, interview invite.

698
00:41:20,640 --> 00:41:27,440
But yeah, I mean, both my interviews were, I think, general dentists and they were both

699
00:41:27,440 --> 00:41:30,480
chill, both good dialogue.

700
00:41:30,480 --> 00:41:32,840
First one, you know, I really had a great conversation.

701
00:41:32,840 --> 00:41:36,280
I really bonded with her and just had a great conversation.

702
00:41:36,280 --> 00:41:42,480
They're just getting to know her and likewise she was getting to know me as an applicant.

703
00:41:42,480 --> 00:41:48,120
And yeah, we, I left out that, you know, I left that room just smiling just because

704
00:41:48,120 --> 00:41:52,640
I knew, you know, you know, we had that connection and was able to run with it.

705
00:41:52,640 --> 00:41:53,640
Yeah.

706
00:41:53,640 --> 00:42:01,560
Just, you know, wherever you can, you know, just try to, try to be yourself and, you know,

707
00:42:01,560 --> 00:42:07,080
don't sweat it as much, you know, because everything in the end will work out the way

708
00:42:07,080 --> 00:42:08,080
it's supposed to.

709
00:42:08,080 --> 00:42:14,880
You know, I worked, I actually went into the interview with a flat tire, believe it or

710
00:42:14,880 --> 00:42:15,880
not.

711
00:42:15,880 --> 00:42:21,800
So I, I didn't, I didn't make it, you know, on time more or less, but I was able to joke

712
00:42:21,800 --> 00:42:27,840
around with, with everyone there and they understood, you know, life happens and was

713
00:42:27,840 --> 00:42:30,680
able to make the most of it.

714
00:42:30,680 --> 00:42:35,320
But yeah, interesting experience, but nonetheless, glad everything worked out for David and

715
00:42:35,320 --> 00:42:40,680
I within a month or so, you know, it was great.

716
00:42:40,680 --> 00:42:41,680
Yeah.

717
00:42:41,680 --> 00:42:45,680
I mean, so what kind of, what kind of questions did they end up asking you guys?

718
00:42:45,680 --> 00:42:47,240
Like, what kind of conversations did you guys have?

719
00:42:47,240 --> 00:42:50,560
Did you guys have conversations, you know, based on your personal statement or was it

720
00:42:50,560 --> 00:42:55,680
kind of just like on who you are or what they're doing, interest, stuff like that?

721
00:42:55,680 --> 00:43:01,040
So pretty much, yeah, based on more or less you as a person and then what your experiences

722
00:43:01,040 --> 00:43:02,040
were like.

723
00:43:02,040 --> 00:43:08,040
So I spoke a lot about, you know, the research that I did in my masters, just because it

724
00:43:08,040 --> 00:43:15,280
was dental related and we were both able to kind of connect over that and just experiences,

725
00:43:15,280 --> 00:43:17,360
you know, shadowing.

726
00:43:17,360 --> 00:43:22,840
A lot of it was just very general basic questions and it was just them wanting to get to know

727
00:43:22,840 --> 00:43:25,080
you a little more.

728
00:43:25,080 --> 00:43:28,840
And it's pretty much up to you where you take that conversation.

729
00:43:28,840 --> 00:43:32,560
So it could be, you know, a short interview and just as great or it could be a pretty

730
00:43:32,560 --> 00:43:37,400
long interview and, you know, you feel good about the connection that you've established

731
00:43:37,400 --> 00:43:38,760
with the interviewer.

732
00:43:38,760 --> 00:43:43,040
And in the end, for me, I like to, you know, have a good conversation just to get to know

733
00:43:43,040 --> 00:43:44,920
the person better.

734
00:43:44,920 --> 00:43:49,160
And that's what I ended up doing, you know, we had, you know, 10, 15 minute conversation

735
00:43:49,160 --> 00:43:55,720
on just, you know, me as an applicant and she actually graduated from NYU as well.

736
00:43:55,720 --> 00:43:57,000
So that was kind of interesting.

737
00:43:57,000 --> 00:44:01,120
So I got to ask her a couple of questions about her experience in dental school here

738
00:44:01,120 --> 00:44:02,600
at NYU.

739
00:44:02,600 --> 00:44:07,000
But yeah, it was, it was pretty, pretty simple and nothing to sweat.

740
00:44:07,000 --> 00:44:08,960
Nothing to sweat.

741
00:44:08,960 --> 00:44:15,480
So contrary to Mark, I sweated a lot on my interview.

742
00:44:15,480 --> 00:44:19,680
So I wish I had the same experience with Mark, but, but I didn't unfortunately, which is

743
00:44:19,680 --> 00:44:24,360
fine, you know, it's great, you know, if anything, I don't look at these moments of kind of like

744
00:44:24,360 --> 00:44:29,240
hardship or, or these obstacles that are thrown at me as, you know, as such, I look at them

745
00:44:29,240 --> 00:44:33,120
as opportunity to learn and to grow and really just develop, you know, continue developing

746
00:44:33,120 --> 00:44:34,920
myself as a person.

747
00:44:34,920 --> 00:44:39,320
So that my interview experience was kind of like I mentioned earlier, was a lot more

748
00:44:39,320 --> 00:44:44,400
straightforward in the sense of question and answer, right out the, you know, throughout

749
00:44:44,400 --> 00:44:46,360
the entire process.

750
00:44:46,360 --> 00:44:50,800
Some of the questions that I was asked was, you know, why dentistry, why NYU?

751
00:44:50,800 --> 00:44:54,960
So those typical questions that, you know, you're, you're expecting from an interview.

752
00:44:54,960 --> 00:44:59,280
And then my interview, my interviewer got into a little bit more of the specifics about me

753
00:44:59,280 --> 00:45:01,160
and my application.

754
00:45:01,160 --> 00:45:05,440
And she asked, you know, she addressed my 15 reading comprehension.

755
00:45:05,440 --> 00:45:10,080
So really like my best advice a lot of, you know, applicants, if they're really worried

756
00:45:10,080 --> 00:45:16,240
about their interview, just have, you know, a good plan laid out as to how you're going

757
00:45:16,240 --> 00:45:21,240
to approach, you know, those negatives or downfalls in your application.

758
00:45:21,240 --> 00:45:22,240
At the end of the day, they're not really negatives.

759
00:45:22,240 --> 00:45:25,200
You know, they shouldn't really be looked at as negatives because listen, you're in

760
00:45:25,200 --> 00:45:28,560
an interview, you've got interview, they already like what they see on paper.

761
00:45:28,560 --> 00:45:33,640
Just explain yourself and be honest with them and just show that you're capable of growing

762
00:45:33,640 --> 00:45:36,600
and improving yourself.

763
00:45:36,600 --> 00:45:42,000
So I had to address that and then I was also asked a ethical dilemma question.

764
00:45:42,000 --> 00:45:45,520
So you know, she pretty much asked me, you know, what's the ethical dilemma that you

765
00:45:45,520 --> 00:45:50,200
were involved in and how did you go about approaching it?

766
00:45:50,200 --> 00:45:53,960
And I know a lot of people like to kind of, you know, joke about, joke around with that

767
00:45:53,960 --> 00:45:58,200
question and just use this, you know, classic, oh, like, you know, I saw somebody cheating

768
00:45:58,200 --> 00:46:01,280
and this and that, like that's really, really normal.

769
00:46:01,280 --> 00:46:07,240
But I'd encourage people to kind of think a little bit outside the box and don't feel

770
00:46:07,240 --> 00:46:10,800
the need that you need to answer the question like immediately.

771
00:46:10,800 --> 00:46:13,920
Take time to think because if anything, it shows an interviewer that you really care

772
00:46:13,920 --> 00:46:18,120
about this question and you care about the interview as a whole.

773
00:46:18,120 --> 00:46:25,720
And so it just really kind of shows them that you are an individual that listens but is

774
00:46:25,720 --> 00:46:30,600
also able to develop your thoughts and then after that, you know, be able to share them.

775
00:46:30,600 --> 00:46:37,400
So I think, you know, if you do poorly on a DAT section, you might not have as much

776
00:46:37,400 --> 00:46:40,600
clinical experience as they would like, I don't know.

777
00:46:40,600 --> 00:46:44,840
You know, them giving you an opportunity to talk about it, I feel like that's a leg up,

778
00:46:44,840 --> 00:46:45,840
right?

779
00:46:45,840 --> 00:46:50,040
Because you don't want, I feel like you'd almost want it to be addressed like the application

780
00:46:50,040 --> 00:46:53,520
right so you can, you have a chance to defend yourself in a situation right.

781
00:46:53,520 --> 00:46:55,320
So I think it's the eloquent in the room.

782
00:46:55,320 --> 00:46:59,240
Yeah, they're not trying to like get you, they're just trying to understand, you know,

783
00:46:59,240 --> 00:47:03,800
because I don't know if on the application, you can't really explain why you maybe got

784
00:47:03,800 --> 00:47:05,000
a low score or something, right?

785
00:47:05,000 --> 00:47:09,280
So no, I really think that being able to do it face to face might be a lot better.

786
00:47:09,280 --> 00:47:13,200
So did you guys have any interviews anywhere else or did you guys face any other questions

787
00:47:13,200 --> 00:47:18,080
that you kind of were like, dang, that's a tough one?

788
00:47:18,080 --> 00:47:26,080
So yeah, I had an interview out in Utah actually of all places, out in Roseman College or Roseman

789
00:47:26,080 --> 00:47:27,580
University.

790
00:47:27,580 --> 00:47:32,160
So they're a newer dental school out in Utah.

791
00:47:32,160 --> 00:47:41,680
And it was a pretty much full day thing where they had presentations set for us in the morning

792
00:47:41,680 --> 00:47:48,720
and then in the afternoon, pretty much we had a break, eat and then it was interview time.

793
00:47:48,720 --> 00:47:55,780
So we had one interview and there was one faculty member with two students in the same

794
00:47:55,780 --> 00:48:04,360
room as you and there were six other applicants pretty much interviewed at the same time,

795
00:48:04,360 --> 00:48:06,800
you know, at each session.

796
00:48:06,800 --> 00:48:11,960
And that interview was a little bit more nerve wracking in a sense because you had three

797
00:48:11,960 --> 00:48:18,320
people in the room asking you, you know, questions and trying to get to know you a little better.

798
00:48:18,320 --> 00:48:24,480
But you know, again, just be yourself, you know, be honest with what you have on the

799
00:48:24,480 --> 00:48:30,840
application because in the end, you know, everything you have on the application is

800
00:48:30,840 --> 00:48:31,840
what they know about you.

801
00:48:31,840 --> 00:48:36,560
They just want to know, you know, they want to know it from your perspective and they

802
00:48:36,560 --> 00:48:39,120
want to hear your story.

803
00:48:39,120 --> 00:48:45,120
And I think, you know, once you do that, once they see through, you know, the words on paper,

804
00:48:45,120 --> 00:48:50,520
they're capable of connecting with you on another level where you want, you know, where

805
00:48:50,520 --> 00:48:52,080
you want them to be.

806
00:48:52,080 --> 00:48:56,960
You want them to be in a place where they're comfortable with you that way they see you

807
00:48:56,960 --> 00:49:00,920
in their dental school because you're pitching yourself at the end of the day.

808
00:49:00,920 --> 00:49:06,960
This is a business interview, you know, as much as they're pitching, you know, us, you

809
00:49:06,960 --> 00:49:11,880
know, their dental school, we're pitching, you know, ourselves to them.

810
00:49:11,880 --> 00:49:13,200
And that's what it should be.

811
00:49:13,200 --> 00:49:19,800
But aside from the pitch, you know, it should be more personable and it should be relatable.

812
00:49:19,800 --> 00:49:23,680
You know, we're all humans, we all make mistakes and that's maybe something that you want to

813
00:49:23,680 --> 00:49:29,440
highlight, you know, something in your experience where, you know, you made a mistake or, you

814
00:49:29,440 --> 00:49:32,960
know, you did something and you overcame it.

815
00:49:32,960 --> 00:49:35,120
That's at the end, you know, what they want to hear.

816
00:49:35,120 --> 00:49:40,760
They want to hear that you have grit, that you have perseverance and you're able to get

817
00:49:40,760 --> 00:49:43,880
through our challenges because that's what dental school is.

818
00:49:43,880 --> 00:49:48,840
It's a four year challenge each year with its own challenges.

819
00:49:48,840 --> 00:49:49,840
But yeah.

820
00:49:49,840 --> 00:49:50,840
Right, right.

821
00:49:50,840 --> 00:49:57,080
And yeah, kind of like what Mark was mentioning, like the challenges really shouldn't be setting

822
00:49:57,080 --> 00:49:58,080
you back.

823
00:49:58,080 --> 00:50:00,880
It's what really makes you unique, what makes you you.

824
00:50:00,880 --> 00:50:07,080
And at the end of the day, if you're able to overcome a little, really the smallest

825
00:50:07,080 --> 00:50:11,440
of challenges, it really goes away and it shows them that you are capable of really

826
00:50:11,440 --> 00:50:13,440
overcoming anything.

827
00:50:13,440 --> 00:50:17,480
So for myself, I also had the opportunity to interview with Toro.

828
00:50:17,480 --> 00:50:19,640
They were my first interview.

829
00:50:19,640 --> 00:50:25,640
So I got the invite in October and I interviewed with them in January.

830
00:50:25,640 --> 00:50:28,040
So by then they, you know, it was already after decision day.

831
00:50:28,040 --> 00:50:32,520
A lot of people already accepted their offers.

832
00:50:32,520 --> 00:50:36,320
So it was a little bit nerve-wracking, but my Toro interview, I actually loved.

833
00:50:36,320 --> 00:50:38,680
You know, it was a really great experience.

834
00:50:38,680 --> 00:50:42,560
They also kind of made it into this whole, you know, day where you got a chance to tour

835
00:50:42,560 --> 00:50:47,320
the school, you speak to some students, you know, ate some food, which is great.

836
00:50:47,320 --> 00:50:51,720
Because what also just in general, the interviewer was really, really nice.

837
00:50:51,720 --> 00:50:53,760
He was really personable.

838
00:50:53,760 --> 00:50:56,760
And that interview, that entire interview was just a conversation.

839
00:50:56,760 --> 00:51:00,120
You know, I think we started off with my experience being in a fraternity.

840
00:51:00,120 --> 00:51:01,720
I think he said, oh, like you're in a fraternity.

841
00:51:01,720 --> 00:51:04,720
Like that's actually really impressive, the fact that you were able to manage, you know,

842
00:51:04,720 --> 00:51:07,600
your social life alongside your academics.

843
00:51:07,600 --> 00:51:11,520
And he, you know, he started talking about his side was also in a fraternity, was actually

844
00:51:11,520 --> 00:51:12,720
the same fraternity as I was.

845
00:51:12,720 --> 00:51:15,560
So kind of like, you know, you were able to relate to it a lot of times.

846
00:51:15,560 --> 00:51:17,800
Yeah, so it was awesome.

847
00:51:17,800 --> 00:51:19,880
And yeah, it was just a really, really nice conversation.

848
00:51:19,880 --> 00:51:24,520
And I actually, you know, walked out of the interview saying, okay, I can see myself going

849
00:51:24,520 --> 00:51:25,520
here.

850
00:51:25,520 --> 00:51:27,760
You know, at first I was like, I was really gung-ho about NYU.

851
00:51:27,760 --> 00:51:28,760
I loved NYU.

852
00:51:28,760 --> 00:51:30,240
I knew I wanted to be there.

853
00:51:30,240 --> 00:51:33,520
But after my experience with Toro, it really kind of opened my eyes that, okay, maybe there

854
00:51:33,520 --> 00:51:35,920
is another school that could potentially be for me.

855
00:51:35,920 --> 00:51:39,920
I ended up getting a deferred acceptance from Toro.

856
00:51:39,920 --> 00:51:43,760
So that's why I decided to go with NYU at the end of the day, just because, you know,

857
00:51:43,760 --> 00:51:47,520
they just give me an acceptance into their incoming class.

858
00:51:47,520 --> 00:51:49,480
But at the end of the day, I'm really, really happy with my decision.

859
00:51:49,480 --> 00:51:51,240
And yeah, never looked back since.

860
00:51:51,240 --> 00:51:58,720
Is a deferred exception just basically like a semester later that you would join it?

861
00:51:58,720 --> 00:51:59,960
So no, not necessarily.

862
00:51:59,960 --> 00:52:04,520
Pretty much what that meant was they wanted me, and I guess it has to do with the fact

863
00:52:04,520 --> 00:52:09,200
that I got the 15 in really comprehension, you know, twice at that point.

864
00:52:09,200 --> 00:52:13,320
What they wanted me to do with that deferred acceptance was I would have to take a couple

865
00:52:13,320 --> 00:52:18,680
extra more science classes at the University of Maine, I think they wanted me to go to,

866
00:52:18,680 --> 00:52:19,680
which was really, really specific.

867
00:52:19,680 --> 00:52:24,120
If I think it was online at that point too, so whatever.

868
00:52:24,120 --> 00:52:27,520
And then they wanted me to retake my DAT again.

869
00:52:27,520 --> 00:52:31,520
I just kind of developed my application, but it pretty much meant that like, hey, you have

870
00:52:31,520 --> 00:52:33,920
a spot, you have a seat in our next class.

871
00:52:33,920 --> 00:52:37,120
So instead of being in the class of 2024 like I am now, I would have been in their class

872
00:52:37,120 --> 00:52:42,360
of 2025, which, you know, obviously is, you know, a great fallback.

873
00:52:42,360 --> 00:52:47,080
But my goal, my mindset, like now that I knew I had these interviews behind me, they know

874
00:52:47,080 --> 00:52:48,080
who I am as a person.

875
00:52:48,080 --> 00:52:51,160
I knew that I wanted to get into school that cycle.

876
00:52:51,160 --> 00:52:52,160
And I was committed to that.

877
00:52:52,160 --> 00:52:53,720
I stayed, I shooted that.

878
00:52:53,720 --> 00:52:59,120
And I, you know, made sure that that was going to happen.

879
00:52:59,120 --> 00:53:01,720
You know, that fallback was not an option.

880
00:53:01,720 --> 00:53:03,280
And you know, thankfully it worked out.

881
00:53:03,280 --> 00:53:05,280
Yeah, that's great to hear.

882
00:53:05,280 --> 00:53:08,440
So once you guys got these interviews out the way, what was the next step?

883
00:53:08,440 --> 00:53:14,000
Like, did you guys go to orientation for NYU the next fall or yeah, so what was kind of

884
00:53:14,000 --> 00:53:17,560
the process after you got done with interviews?

885
00:53:17,560 --> 00:53:22,000
So once I, you know, I finished interviews, I think the next step was just sending out

886
00:53:22,000 --> 00:53:27,640
thank you emails to, you know, the people I met, the interviewers specifically, just

887
00:53:27,640 --> 00:53:34,120
to kind of give them a feel for how I felt about the program and just thanking them for

888
00:53:34,120 --> 00:53:35,120
their time.

889
00:53:35,120 --> 00:53:39,920
And then the next day, you know, they went about, you know, you know, booking their whole

890
00:53:39,920 --> 00:53:42,600
day just for interviews.

891
00:53:42,600 --> 00:53:45,240
And I think admissions offices love to see that.

892
00:53:45,240 --> 00:53:50,880
I think they leave that in your, you know, application folder or whatever it is.

893
00:53:50,880 --> 00:53:54,880
And just showing them some gratitude at the end of the day and, you know, saying, you

894
00:53:54,880 --> 00:53:57,920
know, you know, I really like the school or whatever it is.

895
00:53:57,920 --> 00:54:00,480
And you know, I really want to go here or whatever it may be.

896
00:54:00,480 --> 00:54:05,240
I think a lot of schools want to see that you're committed to the school.

897
00:54:05,240 --> 00:54:09,520
And I think they base off their decision, their, you know, your acceptance at the end

898
00:54:09,520 --> 00:54:14,440
of the day based on that, you know, if you're committed to the school, they know that, you

899
00:54:14,440 --> 00:54:17,120
know, there's a good chance of you going there.

900
00:54:17,120 --> 00:54:21,240
And you're not going to be, you know, sticking around for other interviews and, you know,

901
00:54:21,240 --> 00:54:24,320
waiting for other decisions from other schools.

902
00:54:24,320 --> 00:54:32,640
And I think for a lot of schools, you know, as big as NYU, I think they like to see that.

903
00:54:32,640 --> 00:54:39,880
And aside from the thank you emails, I think the next step was really just, you know, just

904
00:54:39,880 --> 00:54:40,880
waiting it out.

905
00:54:40,880 --> 00:54:45,680
And then, you know, for me, it was finishing off my masters.

906
00:54:45,680 --> 00:54:52,240
And yeah, I think, you know, just it's a waiting game at the end, you know, you did so much,

907
00:54:52,240 --> 00:54:54,760
you prepared so, so much.

908
00:54:54,760 --> 00:54:58,960
And I think you just got to hope for the best.

909
00:54:58,960 --> 00:55:04,880
And, you know, sometimes you have to send many emails other than the thank yous and

910
00:55:04,880 --> 00:55:12,800
just give them a taste of how you feel about the program and your, you know, commitment

911
00:55:12,800 --> 00:55:14,880
to the school pretty much.

912
00:55:14,880 --> 00:55:22,040
Siraj was a question after you get the acceptance or yes, I mean, like after you got interviewed

913
00:55:22,040 --> 00:55:24,400
and stuff, like what was the next steps after that?

914
00:55:24,400 --> 00:55:25,920
So, oh, there, right, right.

915
00:55:25,920 --> 00:55:26,920
Yeah, so exactly.

916
00:55:26,920 --> 00:55:28,920
Mark kind of hit the nail on that one.

917
00:55:28,920 --> 00:55:31,240
Really just sending out those thank you emails is super, super important.

918
00:55:31,240 --> 00:55:36,760
I know NYU, they sent us an email after the interview that has the contact information

919
00:55:36,760 --> 00:55:40,680
of those that we, of the people that we spoke with, which is really, really helpful in terms

920
00:55:40,680 --> 00:55:44,680
of, you know, following up with that.

921
00:55:44,680 --> 00:55:45,840
So that was really important.

922
00:55:45,840 --> 00:55:49,800
And I had the idea at the end of the day, and especially, like, you know, I know this

923
00:55:49,800 --> 00:55:54,760
speaks, this whole super NYU specifically, they really want to see that you're committed

924
00:55:54,760 --> 00:55:55,760
to them.

925
00:55:55,760 --> 00:55:59,960
You know, they want to see that, like, listen, should I get the acceptance on 100% without

926
00:55:59,960 --> 00:56:01,640
it, that we're going to be going to your school?

927
00:56:01,640 --> 00:56:03,160
Because at the end of the day, they don't want to waste their time.

928
00:56:03,160 --> 00:56:04,160
They're also really busy.

929
00:56:04,160 --> 00:56:09,120
They're, you know, splitting through thousands of applications, and they're not going to

930
00:56:09,120 --> 00:56:13,120
give the acceptance to somebody who, you know, is like very laissez-faire in their approach

931
00:56:13,120 --> 00:56:17,760
to the interview and in their application thereafter.

932
00:56:17,760 --> 00:56:21,760
And they really, they'd rather give, you know, the acceptance to somebody who, say, for example,

933
00:56:21,760 --> 00:56:26,120
has a 15 in the reading comprehension section, and is committed to NYU versus somebody who

934
00:56:26,120 --> 00:56:29,600
has a 24 in the reading comprehension section and isn't committed.

935
00:56:29,600 --> 00:56:31,480
You know, they'd much rather look into that.

936
00:56:31,480 --> 00:56:40,200
So right after the interview, I would highly, highly recommend, you know, students to continue

937
00:56:40,200 --> 00:56:44,160
to follow up with them every couple of weeks, give them a phone call, you know, send them,

938
00:56:44,160 --> 00:56:48,200
send out an email, update them with what's going on since you last interviewed, since

939
00:56:48,200 --> 00:56:49,880
you last spoke with them.

940
00:56:49,880 --> 00:56:53,320
What are you doing to prepare yourself for dental school or prepare yourself for their

941
00:56:53,320 --> 00:56:55,080
program specifically?

942
00:56:55,080 --> 00:56:58,160
Maybe continue the conversation with, you know, the interviewers that you spoke about.

943
00:56:58,160 --> 00:57:01,400
Like, say, for example, you spoke about research with one of the interviewers, continue that

944
00:57:01,400 --> 00:57:04,400
conversation, you know, see what it is that they're doing at the school.

945
00:57:04,400 --> 00:57:05,920
So really just show interest.

946
00:57:05,920 --> 00:57:09,840
And I think that's really why at the end of the day, I was able to get that acceptance,

947
00:57:09,840 --> 00:57:17,600
even though I had that big blunder of my application, they really saw that I was committed to them.

948
00:57:17,600 --> 00:57:22,320
And I think the day that I got it, my acceptance, I actually got a phone call from the director

949
00:57:22,320 --> 00:57:27,560
of admissions, Dr. Nahia, and she was like, listen, like, you know, we really like what

950
00:57:27,560 --> 00:57:28,680
we see.

951
00:57:28,680 --> 00:57:31,000
We just want to know, are you good to come to NYU?

952
00:57:31,000 --> 00:57:32,480
Are you committed to us?

953
00:57:32,480 --> 00:57:36,200
And I said, listen, I'm committed, send out that acceptance letter, I'll send out the

954
00:57:36,200 --> 00:57:38,480
$5,000 deposit that next day.

955
00:57:38,480 --> 00:57:39,480
I got it.

956
00:57:39,480 --> 00:57:41,320
You got my heart, you got my soul.

957
00:57:41,320 --> 00:57:43,280
I'm all about NYU.

958
00:57:43,280 --> 00:57:45,920
But on my purple sweater after that, good to go.

959
00:57:45,920 --> 00:57:49,040
So that's really what they want to see.

960
00:57:49,040 --> 00:57:50,040
That's really what they want to see.

961
00:57:50,040 --> 00:57:52,520
And I'm sure that speaks true to a lot of other schools as well.

962
00:57:52,520 --> 00:57:54,080
They just want to know that you're committed.

963
00:57:54,080 --> 00:57:59,200
So sending out those follow-up emails is really, really important.

964
00:57:59,200 --> 00:58:04,400
I think at the end of the day, it's kind of like, you got to think about how the schools,

965
00:58:04,400 --> 00:58:07,160
they want to accept people that are actually going to come to the school right.

966
00:58:07,160 --> 00:58:11,080
If you accept somebody who has maybe 10 other acceptance, this is a very low chance they

967
00:58:11,080 --> 00:58:12,080
come to your school.

968
00:58:12,080 --> 00:58:15,280
They explicitly said that that's a school they want to go to.

969
00:58:15,280 --> 00:58:19,920
So I guess advice is to tell your students who finish an interview process, just keep

970
00:58:19,920 --> 00:58:25,080
on reaching out to them and kind of make yourself known to them, I guess.

971
00:58:25,080 --> 00:58:28,520
Because the more that they remember your name, the more that you'll have better chance of

972
00:58:28,520 --> 00:58:29,520
getting.

973
00:58:29,520 --> 00:58:32,720
So that's the name of the game.

974
00:58:32,720 --> 00:58:36,040
So what were your expectations going into your Dean one year at NYU?

975
00:58:36,040 --> 00:58:43,400
And kind of how did you, were those expectations met and what was your experience like?

976
00:58:43,400 --> 00:58:47,120
I think Dean one was a crazy adjustment.

977
00:58:47,120 --> 00:58:52,080
I think it was not what I expected in terms of just the rigors of the curriculum.

978
00:58:52,080 --> 00:58:58,520
It was a lot more than honestly the master's program that I went to over at Rutgers.

979
00:58:58,520 --> 00:59:03,080
There's I think 20 plus credits that you're taking that first semester.

980
00:59:03,080 --> 00:59:06,560
And they really, I mean, this was also during COVID.

981
00:59:06,560 --> 00:59:09,080
So everything was more or less online.

982
00:59:09,080 --> 00:59:14,960
So what he did in terms of curriculum, they pushed all their didactic work, all the courses

983
00:59:14,960 --> 00:59:18,160
into the first and second years.

984
00:59:18,160 --> 00:59:23,280
That way we have more time in clinic when it comes to T3D4.

985
00:59:23,280 --> 00:59:29,600
You know, and I think, you know, I mean, this past semester, I think we took maybe over

986
00:59:29,600 --> 00:59:35,040
25, 30 credits just of hard didactic courses.

987
00:59:35,040 --> 00:59:38,400
So they really stuff it in, you know, the first couple of years.

988
00:59:38,400 --> 00:59:45,600
And I think later half of T3D4, you're more or less smooth sailing.

989
00:59:45,600 --> 00:59:51,760
You know, it's a crazy adjustment, but you have to, you know, time manage your, you know,

990
00:59:51,760 --> 00:59:57,840
your time and, you know, your schedule because you're, you know, between rotating and studying

991
00:59:57,840 --> 01:00:04,400
for classes, going to lectures or whatever, you know, it's a huge adjustment.

992
01:00:04,400 --> 01:00:06,440
And maybe you're not used to it.

993
01:00:06,440 --> 01:00:11,280
Maybe you're coming in from a gap here or whatever it may be.

994
01:00:11,280 --> 01:00:21,080
And you know, I think looking back at it now, you know, the spring semester of D1, excuse

995
01:00:21,080 --> 01:00:27,800
me, I think you're able to, you're able to look back and just make those kind of, you

996
01:00:27,800 --> 01:00:32,440
know, adjustments in terms of time management and see what works, see what doesn't in terms

997
01:00:32,440 --> 01:00:33,440
of studying.

998
01:00:33,440 --> 01:00:39,480
So I think, I think you're, you know, able to move on and just continue grinding out

999
01:00:39,480 --> 01:00:44,400
all those hours of, you know, didactics for sure.

1000
01:00:44,400 --> 01:00:45,400
Yeah.

1001
01:00:45,400 --> 01:00:52,360
So for, I think it was the week that we got accepted, Mark, that COVID really hit the

1002
01:00:52,360 --> 01:00:54,880
fan when that's when the shutdown happened.

1003
01:00:54,880 --> 01:01:00,600
So I think it was, it came as a surprise to us and also the school as well, because they

1004
01:01:00,600 --> 01:01:01,960
had no idea how to approach it.

1005
01:01:01,960 --> 01:01:03,560
Obviously, everything was completely new.

1006
01:01:03,560 --> 01:01:08,240
There really was no former policy or guidance, you know, in place.

1007
01:01:08,240 --> 01:01:14,160
So our orientation was a lot different from the past years in that it was completely online.

1008
01:01:14,160 --> 01:01:19,440
So it was two days of, you know, full day Zoom lectures and calls and stuff like that.

1009
01:01:19,440 --> 01:01:24,680
So it definitely was a completely different experience than what we expected going into

1010
01:01:24,680 --> 01:01:26,720
it.

1011
01:01:26,720 --> 01:01:28,960
But I think, you know, again, it's fine.

1012
01:01:28,960 --> 01:01:32,040
You know, it happens, you know, this type of stuff you can't prepare for and you just

1013
01:01:32,040 --> 01:01:37,560
kind of have to approach it, you know, with a small interface and, you know, in terms

1014
01:01:37,560 --> 01:01:40,480
of the experience that we got our first year, it really wasn't the best.

1015
01:01:40,480 --> 01:01:42,760
I'll be honest with you.

1016
01:01:42,760 --> 01:01:45,760
We were mainly online, as Mark said, I think in the fall.

1017
01:01:45,760 --> 01:01:46,760
So we start in the summer.

1018
01:01:46,760 --> 01:01:53,040
We started like, I think, July, beginning of July with our classes or with our didactics.

1019
01:01:53,040 --> 01:01:56,880
So typically we would already be in the lab, we would already get our hands dirty.

1020
01:01:56,880 --> 01:02:00,160
We would already start playing around with the drill and wax ups, things like that.

1021
01:02:00,160 --> 01:02:02,240
But that didn't start for us until the fall.

1022
01:02:02,240 --> 01:02:08,320
And even then, I believe under normal circumstances, D1s at NYU would have on average anywhere

1023
01:02:08,320 --> 01:02:13,880
from like six to nine hours every single week of being in school, you know, working with

1024
01:02:13,880 --> 01:02:14,880
their hands.

1025
01:02:14,880 --> 01:02:16,520
But for us, we only had three hours a week.

1026
01:02:16,520 --> 01:02:21,240
We were only coming in once a week, you know, I believe from like six to nine.

1027
01:02:21,240 --> 01:02:25,840
And that's really where we were able to kind of get our practice in.

1028
01:02:25,840 --> 01:02:31,400
And it did kind of hurt us, I feel like, in terms of our experience and also just being

1029
01:02:31,400 --> 01:02:34,960
able to be getting stuff over, we're comfortable working with our hands.

1030
01:02:34,960 --> 01:02:38,200
But that adjustment is really, really quick.

1031
01:02:38,200 --> 01:02:41,480
You know, at the end of the day, like by the time we were in D2, we were already in the

1032
01:02:41,480 --> 01:02:46,120
lab a couple, you know, a lot more, and we're able to play around with the drill a lot more.

1033
01:02:46,120 --> 01:02:49,360
And by the time now that we're in D3, we're actually in the clinic, we're actually working

1034
01:02:49,360 --> 01:02:54,360
on real patients, at least for me personally, I feel very comfortable working, you know,

1035
01:02:54,360 --> 01:02:56,080
with the drill, working with the handpiece.

1036
01:02:56,080 --> 01:03:00,880
I just do a lot of the procedures that we learned about, you know, our first two years.

1037
01:03:00,880 --> 01:03:02,680
So the beginning was kind of a little bit rough.

1038
01:03:02,680 --> 01:03:05,640
I'll be honest, because on top of that, you're also learning how to manage your time best

1039
01:03:05,640 --> 01:03:07,280
with studying and stuff like that.

1040
01:03:07,280 --> 01:03:13,200
So the courses that they throw at you the first year are very, very heavy science-based.

1041
01:03:13,200 --> 01:03:18,240
And it's kind of like a repeat of all of undergrad just happened into one semester.

1042
01:03:18,240 --> 01:03:23,600
So it could be a little bit challenging, but I think, again, you just have to be able to

1043
01:03:23,600 --> 01:03:29,360
adjust yourself, adjust your schedule, and understand that there's going to be situations

1044
01:03:29,360 --> 01:03:32,760
that are thrown at you in life that you're not going to be prepared for, but it really

1045
01:03:32,760 --> 01:03:36,880
is your reaction and your response to them that really shows who you are as a person

1046
01:03:36,880 --> 01:03:40,840
and the type of person that you'll become as a dentist and a future practitioner.

1047
01:03:40,840 --> 01:03:44,400
So that they really feel like it helped develop us as people.

1048
01:03:44,400 --> 01:03:47,360
And honestly, I'm really grateful for the opportunity and really grateful for that experience.

1049
01:03:47,360 --> 01:03:53,920
Yeah, I mean, that's a major setback to get accepted and then just COVID just hit everything

1050
01:03:53,920 --> 01:03:54,920
since the wall.

1051
01:03:54,920 --> 01:03:56,800
And now you just lapse your muscle face.

1052
01:03:56,800 --> 01:03:57,800
Now you're just at home.

1053
01:03:57,800 --> 01:03:59,400
Just like, what are you supposed to do as an adult student?

1054
01:03:59,400 --> 01:04:00,920
But I guess you're making the best out of it.

1055
01:04:00,920 --> 01:04:04,200
And so did you guys get any more clinical stuff?

1056
01:04:04,200 --> 01:04:06,400
You said D2 to D3 or maybe?

1057
01:04:06,400 --> 01:04:07,400
Right?

1058
01:04:07,400 --> 01:04:08,400
Yeah.

1059
01:04:08,400 --> 01:04:09,800
So you worked on patients already.

1060
01:04:09,800 --> 01:04:17,000
So how was that first experience like going from a dummy to maybe an actual person?

1061
01:04:17,000 --> 01:04:21,720
I think it really hits you when a patient calls you doctor.

1062
01:04:21,720 --> 01:04:26,920
I think it's like, wow, you're in all these courses and now people are starting to call

1063
01:04:26,920 --> 01:04:28,040
you doctor.

1064
01:04:28,040 --> 01:04:30,120
And I'm like, no, no, no, I'm not a doctor yet.

1065
01:04:30,120 --> 01:04:32,880
I'm still a student dentist.

1066
01:04:32,880 --> 01:04:37,440
But it's an amazing feeling where someone can trust you from the get go without even

1067
01:04:37,440 --> 01:04:39,320
knowing you.

1068
01:04:39,320 --> 01:04:46,400
People just see that you're here to provide the help that they're there for.

1069
01:04:46,400 --> 01:04:57,080
And all those hours of just studying and preparing for this moment, it's a blessing.

1070
01:04:57,080 --> 01:05:05,800
But I think having the experiences in clinic really prepare you and especially in pre-clinic

1071
01:05:05,800 --> 01:05:11,480
where pretty much you're playing around with that drill, you're getting your hand motions

1072
01:05:11,480 --> 01:05:13,760
right.

1073
01:05:13,760 --> 01:05:19,240
And you see that and it really translates into the clinic where you're working on the

1074
01:05:19,240 --> 01:05:22,000
patient population.

1075
01:05:22,000 --> 01:05:28,400
And the first experience that I had was I fixed a class four.

1076
01:05:28,400 --> 01:05:34,360
It was a porcelain veneer and I had faculty come over and they really loved what I had

1077
01:05:34,360 --> 01:05:35,440
done.

1078
01:05:35,440 --> 01:05:42,800
And those little small moments are what push you to be your best and continue pushing for

1079
01:05:42,800 --> 01:05:45,480
better.

1080
01:05:45,480 --> 01:05:54,520
And it really just helped me brighten my perspective on what that dentistry is because it's really

1081
01:05:54,520 --> 01:06:01,840
all experiences that you have and that you're culminating over the years.

1082
01:06:01,840 --> 01:06:07,760
It's at these moments where you're able to continue to push forward and push for the

1083
01:06:07,760 --> 01:06:13,160
best because there are no limits in any industry for the best.

1084
01:06:13,160 --> 01:06:19,520
And in dentistry, that's just another case where you get to see that.

1085
01:06:19,520 --> 01:06:26,080
And I think just continuing to push yourself, continuing to learn from the faculty on the

1086
01:06:26,080 --> 01:06:36,120
clinic floor and working side by side with them just to provide that excellent patient

1087
01:06:36,120 --> 01:06:37,960
doctor experience for sure.

1088
01:06:37,960 --> 01:06:38,960
All right.

1089
01:06:38,960 --> 01:06:39,960
Yeah.

1090
01:06:39,960 --> 01:06:42,920
So the transition could definitely be a lot.

1091
01:06:42,920 --> 01:06:46,480
Working with mannequins, working with dummies, you're kind of a little bit careless or you

1092
01:06:46,480 --> 01:06:49,200
really don't care as much.

1093
01:06:49,200 --> 01:06:57,360
So going into clinic, I think it was really, really interesting because now, like Mark said,

1094
01:06:57,360 --> 01:06:58,720
this is a real person.

1095
01:06:58,720 --> 01:07:03,280
This is a live person who's entrusting you with their dental care and their oral health.

1096
01:07:03,280 --> 01:07:06,120
And so it really kind of just puts into perspective.

1097
01:07:06,120 --> 01:07:09,880
And my first experience, it definitely is a little bit nerve wracking, the hands shaking

1098
01:07:09,880 --> 01:07:14,520
a little bit, the sweat is dripping down your face.

1099
01:07:14,520 --> 01:07:18,920
But at the end of the day, you really become a lot more confident and knowing that these

1100
01:07:18,920 --> 01:07:23,720
last two years, you've learned everything that got you to this point and you just got

1101
01:07:23,720 --> 01:07:26,640
to trust and believe in yourself.

1102
01:07:26,640 --> 01:07:30,720
And a lot of times, you have your faculty there by your side, helping you out, walking

1103
01:07:30,720 --> 01:07:31,720
you through.

1104
01:07:31,720 --> 01:07:34,800
And people like they're there for you, they make themselves available to you.

1105
01:07:34,800 --> 01:07:38,840
So I think it makes it a lot easier knowing that you have a support system.

1106
01:07:38,840 --> 01:07:43,880
And NYU has a really unique thing that they do in that they pair up a D4 and D3 student.

1107
01:07:43,880 --> 01:07:47,240
So in the beginning, you're kind of like the assistant as a D3.

1108
01:07:47,240 --> 01:07:53,000
And as time goes on, they entrust you with more procedures and with more patient care.

1109
01:07:53,000 --> 01:07:55,720
And so that's kind of where we're at right now, where we've already been doing a lot

1110
01:07:55,720 --> 01:07:59,160
of restorations, we've been doing a lot of cleanings, a lot of scaling and replanings,

1111
01:07:59,160 --> 01:08:03,240
pretty much like feed cleanings, a lot of like composite work.

1112
01:08:03,240 --> 01:08:08,840
So it all prepares us into this next semester that we're going into now, where now we're

1113
01:08:08,840 --> 01:08:13,060
going to be able to be exposed to literally any procedure.

1114
01:08:13,060 --> 01:08:17,160
So I really think even though it is a little bit nerve wracking going into it, it really

1115
01:08:17,160 --> 01:08:20,140
does prepare you and you'll be, you'll be good.

1116
01:08:20,140 --> 01:08:24,480
And I think a really important difference that I noted too, was that the teeth that

1117
01:08:24,480 --> 01:08:28,960
we're working on in pre-clinic, the plastic teeth are much more difficult to work on than

1118
01:08:28,960 --> 01:08:30,440
real teeth.

1119
01:08:30,440 --> 01:08:35,720
So I think that was really, really nice knowing that the drill is a lot more, you know, cuts

1120
01:08:35,720 --> 01:08:41,600
a lot more smoothly in real-build teeth and the teeth aren't as tight as it is in the

1121
01:08:41,600 --> 01:08:42,680
mannequin.

1122
01:08:42,680 --> 01:08:46,680
So just believe in your ability, believe in everything that you've learned these last

1123
01:08:46,680 --> 01:08:49,080
two years and everything will work.

1124
01:08:49,080 --> 01:08:50,080
Yeah.

1125
01:08:50,080 --> 01:08:54,720
I mean, I also want to ask like, M.W. is a reputation of being a really large school, right?

1126
01:08:54,720 --> 01:08:57,440
Like, you said 300 people in your class?

1127
01:08:57,440 --> 01:08:58,440
About?

1128
01:08:58,440 --> 01:08:59,440
Yeah.

1129
01:08:59,440 --> 01:09:00,440
Yeah.

1130
01:09:00,440 --> 01:09:04,200
So I mean, like, does that, do you find as a hindrance or does that kind of actually

1131
01:09:04,200 --> 01:09:09,800
increase collaboration amongst you guys and kind of, you know, made you guys a big family?

1132
01:09:09,800 --> 01:09:10,800
Yeah.

1133
01:09:10,800 --> 01:09:15,120
I think you're going to find having friends in a big, you know, school environment is

1134
01:09:15,120 --> 01:09:19,960
really important because, you know, without them, you know, you're not going to really,

1135
01:09:19,960 --> 01:09:24,600
you're not going to have the experience, the whole comprehensive experience, which is dental

1136
01:09:24,600 --> 01:09:26,080
school, you know?

1137
01:09:26,080 --> 01:09:32,160
I think those people are meant to, you know, help you, you know, and further you in, you

1138
01:09:32,160 --> 01:09:35,080
know, just graduating at the end of the day.

1139
01:09:35,080 --> 01:09:41,120
And I think looking back at it, looking at it right now, you know, having friends really

1140
01:09:41,120 --> 01:09:45,280
helps you through the lows and the highs.

1141
01:09:45,280 --> 01:09:49,920
And you definitely need that support system while you're in dental school because they're

1142
01:09:49,920 --> 01:09:51,600
going to be the ones cheering you on.

1143
01:09:51,600 --> 01:09:56,280
They're going to be the ones, you know, talking, you know, with you about, you know, that bad

1144
01:09:56,280 --> 01:10:00,040
grade or, you know, that retake that you had to do.

1145
01:10:00,040 --> 01:10:05,240
So, you know, having a good support system in dental school is really important.

1146
01:10:05,240 --> 01:10:10,840
And you know, David and I are glad to have that, you know, in NYU, you know, you're

1147
01:10:10,840 --> 01:10:14,520
able to find so many personalities and make friends with literally anyone.

1148
01:10:14,520 --> 01:10:17,520
It's just up to you at the end of the day.

1149
01:10:17,520 --> 01:10:23,200
Yeah, that's kind of the special part about going into a profession that we're in, you

1150
01:10:23,200 --> 01:10:28,040
know, dentistry kind of requires the individual to be very social and very personable.

1151
01:10:28,040 --> 01:10:32,920
And so you take, you know, 300 plus of these personalities and these types of characters

1152
01:10:32,920 --> 01:10:34,840
and put them all under one roof.

1153
01:10:34,840 --> 01:10:38,360
And it's honestly makes for a really, really nice big family.

1154
01:10:38,360 --> 01:10:42,640
I know a lot of people, they get intimidated knowing that there's such a big class and

1155
01:10:42,640 --> 01:10:48,840
there's not as great of a faculty student, you know, dynamic, but NYU really makes it

1156
01:10:48,840 --> 01:10:53,560
work in the sense that there's a lot of TAs that they have, there's a lot of faculty that,

1157
01:10:53,560 --> 01:10:55,960
you know, they call upon.

1158
01:10:55,960 --> 01:11:00,800
So I never personally really felt that and kind of as we mentioned earlier, it really

1159
01:11:00,800 --> 01:11:01,800
is what you make of it.

1160
01:11:01,800 --> 01:11:06,360
You know, you could be as in the faculty space as you like, or you could be as quiet as you

1161
01:11:06,360 --> 01:11:07,360
like.

1162
01:11:07,360 --> 01:11:11,280
So if you're really looking for that, that more one-on-one interaction, it's there for

1163
01:11:11,280 --> 01:11:12,280
you.

1164
01:11:12,280 --> 01:11:14,800
And so I personally love it.

1165
01:11:14,800 --> 01:11:17,560
I love being able to meet so many different people.

1166
01:11:17,560 --> 01:11:20,920
I love getting to hear other people's stories and, you know, their backgrounds, where they

1167
01:11:20,920 --> 01:11:23,120
came from, what they want to do.

1168
01:11:23,120 --> 01:11:27,960
And it also helps, you know, Mark and I kind of determine how we want to be as dentists

1169
01:11:27,960 --> 01:11:33,520
in the future because there's so many incredible people at NYU and so many incredible classmates

1170
01:11:33,520 --> 01:11:35,520
that we're able to relate to.

1171
01:11:35,520 --> 01:11:38,760
And at the end of the day, we're just kind of their balancing ideas all of one another.

1172
01:11:38,760 --> 01:11:43,320
And also just really grateful for, you know, the close friends that we've developed in

1173
01:11:43,320 --> 01:11:48,560
dental school, you know, and really grateful that NYU really brought us all together.

1174
01:11:48,560 --> 01:11:49,560
That's kind of reassuring, right?

1175
01:11:49,560 --> 01:11:54,120
Because I didn't really think about having, you know, I feel like, because Stony Brook

1176
01:11:54,120 --> 01:11:56,600
has like, I think it's like 40 students in their class.

1177
01:11:56,600 --> 01:11:58,120
This is very small, right?

1178
01:11:58,120 --> 01:11:59,120
Very, very small.

1179
01:11:59,120 --> 01:12:00,120
And that's how like my college is too.

1180
01:12:00,120 --> 01:12:07,000
So, you know, maybe me going to NYU or something like that, a larger class has actually initiated

1181
01:12:07,000 --> 01:12:10,360
more collaboration, you might even learn more just because you have more people to talk

1182
01:12:10,360 --> 01:12:13,280
to and more experiences to draw upon, I guess.

1183
01:12:13,280 --> 01:12:15,880
That's kind of how I guess you approach that.

1184
01:12:15,880 --> 01:12:18,640
So, you know, finishing off here, what are you guys' goals for the future?

1185
01:12:18,640 --> 01:12:23,520
Like, where do you guys see yourself in maybe two or three years specializing maybe?

1186
01:12:23,520 --> 01:12:29,120
Yeah, what are your thoughts on that?

1187
01:12:29,120 --> 01:12:34,040
I think, you know, being in dental school for close to three years already, I think it gives

1188
01:12:34,040 --> 01:12:37,240
you a good perspective on what you want to do.

1189
01:12:37,240 --> 01:12:42,240
You know, the first two years are meant for rotating and even now we're still rotating

1190
01:12:42,240 --> 01:12:46,600
between various specialty clinics.

1191
01:12:46,600 --> 01:12:50,600
And I think just thinking about it, I think, you know, once we graduate, we're definitely

1192
01:12:50,600 --> 01:12:56,680
going to do the GPR, which isn't a requirement in most states, but I think it is a requirement

1193
01:12:56,680 --> 01:13:01,080
in New York and Delaware states.

1194
01:13:01,080 --> 01:13:06,120
But it's all about the experience at the end of the day.

1195
01:13:06,120 --> 01:13:10,320
Rotating in a hospital is going to give you certain experiences that you won't have in

1196
01:13:10,320 --> 01:13:12,440
general clinic.

1197
01:13:12,440 --> 01:13:24,120
And making the most of it in those experiences, I think, really gives you a well-rounded experience

1198
01:13:24,120 --> 01:13:25,960
within dentistry as a whole.

1199
01:13:25,960 --> 01:13:33,200
But I think looking forward, I think I'm just more interested in aesthetic side of dentistry

1200
01:13:33,200 --> 01:13:38,400
just because there's a lot of, you know, there's symmetry and, you know, the way the smile

1201
01:13:38,400 --> 01:13:45,280
looks from the outside, you're able to compare and just, you know, be an artist at the end

1202
01:13:45,280 --> 01:13:46,280
of the day.

1203
01:13:46,280 --> 01:13:48,720
You're a dental architect.

1204
01:13:48,720 --> 01:13:53,320
And you know, from the gums all the way to the teeth, you know, and that's what really

1205
01:13:53,320 --> 01:13:54,320
gets me going.

1206
01:13:54,320 --> 01:13:58,200
So it's really interesting when I look at dentistry.

1207
01:13:58,200 --> 01:14:05,560
Yeah, so a lot of people, I guess, when they find out that we're both going to dentistry,

1208
01:14:05,560 --> 01:14:09,480
they, you know, right away assume that, you know, maybe one of them is going to be a dental

1209
01:14:09,480 --> 01:14:12,720
dentist and the other one's going to go into specialty just kind of like brought in their

1210
01:14:12,720 --> 01:14:14,720
horizons in a way.

1211
01:14:14,720 --> 01:14:18,440
But I think kind of how Mark mentioned these past three years, we've kind of got to rotate

1212
01:14:18,440 --> 01:14:20,120
through different specialty clinics.

1213
01:14:20,120 --> 01:14:24,680
We've got to experience what it is like to be this specific specialty or this specific

1214
01:14:24,680 --> 01:14:26,080
dentist.

1215
01:14:26,080 --> 01:14:29,000
And I think we both kind of fell in love with the general side of dentistry and the fact

1216
01:14:29,000 --> 01:14:35,160
that we're able to do so many different procedures and we're pretty much are able to kind of

1217
01:14:35,160 --> 01:14:40,120
help direct and individual or oral health from a general standpoint.

1218
01:14:40,120 --> 01:14:46,600
And so a lot of times with specialists, they're more so focused on their specific specialty.

1219
01:14:46,600 --> 01:14:50,560
So periodontists are only looking at your gums and dough, they're only looking at your

1220
01:14:50,560 --> 01:14:54,680
root canals and your and your pulp.

1221
01:14:54,680 --> 01:14:58,880
So for us, we both really like having that general overview.

1222
01:14:58,880 --> 01:15:03,400
And kind of how Mark was talking about aesthetics, aesthetics is really, really unique in the

1223
01:15:03,400 --> 01:15:08,320
sense that you're really able to have such a huge impact on a person's life.

1224
01:15:08,320 --> 01:15:12,080
You're able to increase their confidence level, you're able to make them smile again, you're

1225
01:15:12,080 --> 01:15:15,680
able to make them shave that mustache off, you know, just because they were using that

1226
01:15:15,680 --> 01:15:17,440
to hide their smile.

1227
01:15:17,440 --> 01:15:23,000
So seeing that impact and seeing that reaction from people, it's really, really inspiring

1228
01:15:23,000 --> 01:15:29,280
and it really kind of helps push you forward and kind of reach for more and do better.

1229
01:15:29,280 --> 01:15:33,160
It's really kind of honing in on your craft and kind of how Mark was mentioning, we're

1230
01:15:33,160 --> 01:15:37,440
an artist, you know, we're really our artists and that's really what dentistry encapsulates.

1231
01:15:37,440 --> 01:15:41,320
It really is, you know, your practitioner, your businessman, your artist, your architect,

1232
01:15:41,320 --> 01:15:44,240
your engineer, you're all these different professions combined.

1233
01:15:44,240 --> 01:15:51,480
So one nice little package that is dentistry and being able to have that impact on a person's

1234
01:15:51,480 --> 01:15:56,200
life is just super, super gratifying and something that I'm grateful for and I'm starting to

1235
01:15:56,200 --> 01:16:02,320
see while I'm working with my patients in the clinic and hopefully to many more to come.

1236
01:16:02,320 --> 01:16:03,320
That's awesome.

1237
01:16:03,320 --> 01:16:04,320
It's kind of like your full circle moment for you guys.

1238
01:16:04,320 --> 01:16:06,520
I mean, I'm sure you guys are going to do great things in the future.

1239
01:16:06,520 --> 01:16:08,040
I have no doubt about it.

1240
01:16:08,040 --> 01:16:09,040
Thank you.

1241
01:16:09,040 --> 01:16:10,040
Oh, it's great.

1242
01:16:10,040 --> 01:16:11,040
Thank you.

1243
01:16:11,040 --> 01:16:14,360
So, one more question, how'd you guys start up your social media presence?

1244
01:16:14,360 --> 01:16:17,840
I feel like I want to ask you, like, what inspired you guys to start up Toothbrows and

1245
01:16:17,840 --> 01:16:20,760
what kind of, is it just like you guys want to help other people or is it just kind of

1246
01:16:20,760 --> 01:16:23,800
like you guys want to document your story?

1247
01:16:23,800 --> 01:16:26,400
I think more or less it's a bit of both.

1248
01:16:26,400 --> 01:16:31,720
You know, we wanted to be there for, you know, pre-dental students the way, you know, other

1249
01:16:31,720 --> 01:16:34,200
dental students have been there for us.

1250
01:16:34,200 --> 01:16:41,240
I think our page serves as motivation for pre-dental students and dental students alike.

1251
01:16:41,240 --> 01:16:48,440
It's meant to foster, you know, a sense of collaboration and just be there for one another.

1252
01:16:48,440 --> 01:16:54,520
I think what's really nice about dentistry is we really have a large community within,

1253
01:16:54,520 --> 01:16:57,640
you know, the states and also abroad.

1254
01:16:57,640 --> 01:17:02,680
Everyone is so friendly to kind of share their experiences and, you know, the knowledge

1255
01:17:02,680 --> 01:17:08,080
that they have and I think that's what we're meant to do.

1256
01:17:08,080 --> 01:17:15,080
You know, we're meant to foster that sense of community and that sense of knowledge,

1257
01:17:15,080 --> 01:17:21,760
you know, across wherever, you know, you may be in, you know, your dentistry life, I guess,

1258
01:17:21,760 --> 01:17:26,480
whether it be in pre-dental or dental or already, you know, dentist.

1259
01:17:26,480 --> 01:17:32,360
And that's something that we wanted to do as well as just document where we are in

1260
01:17:32,360 --> 01:17:37,920
our evolution of, you know, becoming dentists because, you know, we've worked so hard to

1261
01:17:37,920 --> 01:17:39,680
get to this point.

1262
01:17:39,680 --> 01:17:45,000
A lot of hours have been put, you know, from us and, you know, also our parents are, you

1263
01:17:45,000 --> 01:17:47,080
know, to thank.

1264
01:17:47,080 --> 01:17:54,720
But we just want to share what we know and also, you know, kind of intake, you know,

1265
01:17:54,720 --> 01:17:58,160
from other dental accounts because they're just as important.

1266
01:17:58,160 --> 01:18:04,120
They share just as much information as we do because everyone has their own experiences

1267
01:18:04,120 --> 01:18:08,720
to share and everyone is unique in their own way.

1268
01:18:08,720 --> 01:18:14,320
So that's, I think, what we're meant here, you know, just to kind of give and take more

1269
01:18:14,320 --> 01:18:15,320
or less.

1270
01:18:15,320 --> 01:18:16,320
Right, right.

1271
01:18:16,320 --> 01:18:24,480
So tooth bros is honestly something that kind of has evolved into what it is today in the

1272
01:18:24,480 --> 01:18:30,280
sense of we started off really with the intention of just documenting our journey and sharing

1273
01:18:30,280 --> 01:18:33,040
our story as brothers and dentistry.

1274
01:18:33,040 --> 01:18:37,160
And now it's kind of evolved into this nice, close to the community.

1275
01:18:37,160 --> 01:18:41,680
And, you know, we get a lot of messages from a lot of our followers a lot of times that

1276
01:18:41,680 --> 01:18:45,520
really, you know, shared their appreciation for, you know, the content that we're putting

1277
01:18:45,520 --> 01:18:46,600
out.

1278
01:18:46,600 --> 01:18:51,320
And that really kind of pushes us to keep on doing and being better, you know, as all

1279
01:18:51,320 --> 01:18:54,760
the people that, you know, are following along on the ride.

1280
01:18:54,760 --> 01:19:06,400
And as much as it is, you know, for us, Mark and I are the type of people where we're super,

1281
01:19:06,400 --> 01:19:10,320
super grateful for where we are today and the position that we are today.

1282
01:19:10,320 --> 01:19:14,800
And we just want to be able to give back and to, you know, have that ability through social

1283
01:19:14,800 --> 01:19:16,600
media through Instagram.

1284
01:19:16,600 --> 01:19:17,800
It's really, really unique.

1285
01:19:17,800 --> 01:19:22,520
And at the end of the day, like as Mark was mentioning, we've had a lot of great people

1286
01:19:22,520 --> 01:19:26,560
that kind of guided us, held our hand throughout the process.

1287
01:19:26,560 --> 01:19:29,680
And we want to be that source of inspiration for others as well.

1288
01:19:29,680 --> 01:19:32,800
And a lot of times, I don't know if, you know, you could relate to this mark, I think you

1289
01:19:32,800 --> 01:19:33,800
can.

1290
01:19:33,800 --> 01:19:38,880
But for me, you know, going into dentistry, a lot of times I didn't know if I was good

1291
01:19:38,880 --> 01:19:39,880
enough.

1292
01:19:39,880 --> 01:19:44,360
I didn't know if I had what it takes to become a dentist or to get through dental school and

1293
01:19:44,360 --> 01:19:48,320
to get through all these, you know, the rigorous of the curriculum, like it's really, really

1294
01:19:48,320 --> 01:19:49,320
challenging.

1295
01:19:49,320 --> 01:19:53,200
And a lot of times I was doubting myself, you know, every time I got that bad grade

1296
01:19:53,200 --> 01:19:57,360
or that bad result or, you know, something didn't work out the way that I wanted it to,

1297
01:19:57,360 --> 01:20:00,840
I would always find myself questioning, you know, my abilities.

1298
01:20:00,840 --> 01:20:04,000
And so I feel like a lot of people are in a similar boat.

1299
01:20:04,000 --> 01:20:07,960
And just to be able to share my story and Mark's story as well, it kind of combined

1300
01:20:07,960 --> 01:20:10,760
it into one package that is tooth bros.

1301
01:20:10,760 --> 01:20:15,240
I think it really is inspiring to a lot of people and if we're able to just impact even

1302
01:20:15,240 --> 01:20:18,400
just one person, you know, that means the world to us.

1303
01:20:18,400 --> 01:20:22,960
And you know, hopefully we'll be able to have that impact on a much larger scale in the future.

1304
01:20:22,960 --> 01:20:25,400
I love that positive energy behind it.

1305
01:20:25,400 --> 01:20:29,720
I mean, honestly, like when I looked at your guys' page, I was like, these guys are not

1306
01:20:29,720 --> 01:20:33,280
doing it for like the image or anything, they're doing it because they actually, they definitely

1307
01:20:33,280 --> 01:20:36,160
have a story behind them and they just want to share it and help other people, right?

1308
01:20:36,160 --> 01:20:39,880
So that's kind of why I want you guys to have, why I want to have you guys on.

1309
01:20:39,880 --> 01:20:44,080
I think that's, I can't wait to share the story to our platform and beyond.

1310
01:20:44,080 --> 01:20:47,520
So that's going to conclude our, this episode of Dose of the Podcast.

1311
01:20:47,520 --> 01:20:50,280
Thank you Mark and David for joining me and showing your experiences.

1312
01:20:50,280 --> 01:20:52,720
Your insight was definitely valuable and I hope that'll be the same for our pre-down

1313
01:20:52,720 --> 01:20:53,720
listeners.

1314
01:20:53,720 --> 01:20:56,320
Everyone, please feel free to reach out at Mark and David at their socials if you have

1315
01:20:56,320 --> 01:20:57,320
any further questions.

1316
01:20:57,320 --> 01:21:00,120
Lastly, I think everyone for listening, if you enjoyed today's episode, please be sure

1317
01:21:00,120 --> 01:21:01,520
to follow us on Instagram and Spotify.

1318
01:21:01,520 --> 01:21:24,280
We'll see you next time for another Dose of the Knowledge.