Dental Schools: MMI vs Traditional Interviews (2026)

A consolidated database of dental school interview formats by school — MMI, traditional, panel, Kira and hybrid — with school-by-school tables for 2026-27.

The only consolidated database of dental school interview formats by school — MMI, traditional, panel, Kira, and hybrid. Updated for 2026–2027. return ( The most searched dental school interview question after "what will they ask me?" is "what format will it be in?" And for good reason — a traditional one-on-one faculty conversation and an MMI with eight timed stations require completely different preparation strategies. Preparing for the wrong format is not just wasted time; it actively produces the wrong habits. The problem is that this information doesn't exist anywhere in consolidated form. SDN threads from 2015 and 2018 have partial data, most of it now stale. Individual school websites describe their formats inconsistently — some with detail, most with vague language like "interviews are conducted by the admissions committee." And formats change: schools that used traditional interviews in 2021 may have added Kira in 2024 or MMI

components in 2025. This guide is the consolidated reference. Every major dental school's interview format in one place, organized by format type, with school-specific detail where it matters most. Important Caveat. Formats can and do change between cycles. Always confirm the current format directly with each school when you receive your interview invitation, and cross-reference with the most recent SDN applicant reports for that cycle. Use this guide as your starting point and orientation — not as the final word. Practice Every Interview Format with AI. DentPrep simulates traditional 1:1, MMI timed stations, and Kira async — matched to your specific school.. Start Practicing Free →. The Five Interview Formats in US Dental School Admissions Before the school-by-school breakdown, a clear definition of each format — because schools use these terms inconsistently, and "we conduct individual interviews" can mean very different things.

Traditional One-on-One (1:1 Faculty Interview) One applicant, one interviewer, one conversation — typically 25–45 minutes. The most common format in US dental school admissions. May be open file (interviewer has read your application) or closed file (interviewer knows only your name). Open file: The interviewer has your personal statement, activities list, DAT scores, and GPA. They will probe specific things you wrote. You must know your application as well as they do. Closed file: The interviewer has no application context. You control the narrative entirely — but must introduce your strongest material without prompting. What it evaluates: Communication, professional motivation, ethical values, program fit, personal character — across a single extended conversation. Panel Interview Multiple interviewers (typically 2–4) evaluate one applicant simultaneously. May be structured (each panel member asks their assigned questions in sequence)

or unstructured (panel members ask freely). Includes a mix of faculty, admissions staff, and sometimes current students. What it evaluates: Similar dimensions to traditional 1:1, but the multi-evaluator dynamic rewards composure when facing multiple observers and the ability to direct answers to the full panel rather than only the person who asked. MMI (Multiple Mini Interview) Multiple short, independent stations (typically 6–12) where applicants rotate through different rooms. Each station presents a distinct scenario — ethical dilemma, role-play, policy question, personal reflection, collaborative task. Each station is evaluated independently by a different evaluator. What it evaluates: Ethical reasoning, communication skills, adaptability, composure under time pressure, consistency of professional character across multiple independent evaluators. Kira Talent Asynchronous Video Interview An online, recorded video interview where

applicants respond to prompts within time limits — no live interviewer. Used as a pre-screening step before in-person evaluation, or as one component of a multi-stage process. What it evaluates: English communication proficiency in unscripted conditions, answer structure under time pressure, professional presentation on camera. Hybrid / Multi-Component Evaluation Day A structured day that combines multiple evaluation formats — faculty interview + bench test, Kira + in-person interview, MMI stations + panel component, written assessment + PBL group + interview. More common at CAAPID advanced standing programs than domestic DDS programs, but present at both. Format by School: Domestic DDS Programs Schools Using MMI or MMI-Style Evaluation School. Format. Details. University of Washington. MMI (in-person). In-person MMI in recent cycles; two-day event with a Saturday MMI circuit. → See MMI list. University of Michigan. MMI. Multiple timed

stations; faculty evaluators; one of the most established dental MMI programs in the US. → Full guide. USC (Herman Ostrow). MMI + PBL. MMI stations plus a problem-based-learning group exercise. University of Minnesota. MMI (behavioral). Behavioral-scenario MMI stations. A.T. Still University – Arizona (ASDOH). Hybrid incl. MMI. Panel + manual-dexterity + group exercise + 3 MMI stations with standardized patients. University of Maryland / Roseman / Western. Mixed / verify. MMI-style reports vary by cycle — confirm directly with each school. Stony Brook / UNLV. Leans traditional. Recent reports describe traditional one-on-one interviews (plus a writing or skills component). Schools Using Traditional One-on-One Interviews School. Format. Open/Closed File. Notes. Harvard SDM. Two-round (virtual + in-person). Open file. Two separate one-on-one interviews; supplemental questionnaire. PBL-specific questions.. Penn Dental Medicine. Two 1:1

interviews. Open file + Closed file. One faculty interview, one closed-file interview, plus director meeting.. UCSF School of Dentistry. Two interviews. Closed file. Student interview; writing sample.. UCLA School of Dentistry. Two 1:1 faculty interviews. Open file. Window in dental admissions (July); behavioral focus.. Columbia University. 1:1 faculty. Open file. Rolling; highly conversational. Kira async first.. NYU College of Dentistry. 1:1 (Candidate Day). Open file. In-person Candidate Day follows for finalists.. University of Southern California. 1:1. Open file. Large cohort; rolling admissions.. Tufts University SDM. 1:1. Open file. Collaborative culture; strong research focus.. Boston University. 1:1. Open file. Strong community health emphasis.. Case Western Reserve. 1:1 / panel. Varies. May include admissions committee member.. Ohio State. 1:1. Open file. Research-intensive program.. University of Illinois Chicago. 1:1. Open

file. Large public program; health equity emphasis.. Marquette University. 1:1. Open file. Catholic mission; patient service emphasis.. Creighton University. 1:1. Open file. Values-based mission; Jesuit context.. University of the Pacific (Dugoni). 1:1. Open file. Sacramento campuses; PBL curriculum.. Loma Linda University. 1:1. Open file. Faith-based; lifestyle expectations.. University of Florida. 1:1. Open file. Large public program; strong research.. University of North Carolina. 1:1. Open file. Strong community health mission.. Virginia Commonwealth University. 1:1. Open file. Strong clinical training emphasis.. University of Alabama Birmingham. 1:1. Open file. Regional public program.. University of Tennessee. 1:1. Open file. Southern regional program.. University of Louisville. 1:1. Open file. Strong clinical and research program.. Indiana University. 1:1. Open file. Large Midwest program.. University of Iowa. 1:1. Open file.

Strong research; Iowa City campus.. University of Minnesota. 1:1 + MMI. Open file. May include MMI-style stations; verify current cycle.. University of Nebraska. 1:1. Open file. Regional public program.. University of Missouri-Kansas City. 1:1. Open file. 6-year program option; unique structure.. University of Oklahoma. 1:1. Open file. Regional public program.. University of Texas Houston. 1:1. Open file. Large public program.. University of Texas San Antonio. 1:1. Open file. Strong research and clinical training.. Texas A&M. 1:1. Open file. Growing program; Dallas and Fort Worth campuses.. University of Washington. 1:1. Open file. Northwest regional; strong research.. Oregon Health & Science University. 1:1. Open file. Strong community health.. Schools Using Panel Interviews School. Format. Notes. Rutgers School of Dental Medicine. Panel or 1:1. In-person; Newark campus; health equity focus.. Howard University. Panel. HBCU; Washington

DC; mission-driven admissions.. Meharry Medical College. Panel. HBCU; Nashville; community health.. Nova Southeastern University. Panel / 1:1. Florida; large program.. University of Detroit Mercy. Panel. Catholic mission; Detroit community focus.. Schools Using Kira Talent or Async Video Components These schools use Kira Talent as either a mandatory pre-screening step (every applicant completes it) or as a step in a multi-stage evaluation process for selected applicants. School. Kira Use. Stage. NYU College of Dentistry. Required for all applicants. Stage 1 of 2; Candidate Day follows for finalists.. Columbia University CDM. Required for designated applicants. After paper review; precedes admission consideration.. Note: Kira use is significantly more prevalent in CAAPID advanced standing programs than domestic DDS programs. See the CAAPID section below. Schools Using Hybrid / Multi-Component Evaluation Days School. Components. Notes.

University of Michigan. MMI + additional components. Multiple stations; full evaluation day.. University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Interview + skills assessment. In-person interview plus clinical skills component.. Format by School: CAAPID Advanced Standing Programs CAAPID programs have the most varied and complex interview formats in all of dental school admissions. Several programs combine multiple evaluation methods into full-day or multi-day assessments. Program. Format. Kira. Bench Test. Special Components. NYU. Kira async → In-person Candidate Day. ✓ All applicants. No. Campus tour, student meeting. BU Goldman (DIS). Zoom 1:1, open file. No. No. Conversational, rolling. Tufts DIS. Async Kira → Live Kira → In-person. ✓ Two stages. No. Only program with live Kira stage. Columbia CDM. Kira async (designated applicants). ✓ Selected. No. Kira as primary screen. Penn PASS. Virtual or in-person 1:1. No. No. —. UCSF IDP. In-person

(August/September). No. ✓ (US citizens/PR only). Most selective; ~2.3% acceptance. UCLA IDP. Skills eval Day 1; Interview Day 2. No. ✓. CASPer required; written assessment + PBL + MMI + bench. USC ASPID. Full evaluation day. No. ✓. Four-component day. UMN PASS. Kira async → In-person + bench. ✓ Stage 1. ✓. Earliest Kira invites (April). Temple Kornberg. Faculty interview → bench + OSCE + CASPer. No. ✓. Only program with OSCE component. Rutgers IED. In-person, conversational. No. No. Explicitly promotes no bench test. CU Anschutz. In-person + bench. No. ✓. Bench date known in advance (June 2026). UNC ASPID. In-person + bench. No. ✓. $300 bench test fee. Loma Linda. Admissions test → interview. No. ✓. Bench test determines interview invitation. UMKC. Multi-day: lectures + practice + calibration. No. ✓. $2,500 bench test fee. Howard. Summer clinical calibration. No. ✓ (post-acceptance). Bench after interview determines final admission.

Indiana IU. Interview → Kira → bench. ✓. ✓. Separate stages. UNLV. In-person + bench. No. ✓. —. Pitt. Virtual + bench. No. ✓. —. Buffalo. Bench first → interview follows. No. ✓. Bench precedes interview invitation. → Full CAAPID programs comparison guide Know Your Format — Now Practice It. DentPrep's AI coach simulates every format in this guide — traditional 1:1, MMI timed stations, and Kira async — matched to your specific school.. Start Practicing Free →. How Format Affects What You Should Prepare Knowing your format changes your preparation priorities. Here's the practical implication for each: If Your School Uses Traditional 1:1 Priority 1 — Know your application cold. Most domestic 1:1 interviews are open file. Your interviewer has read your personal statement and activities list. Probe the threads of your own narrative before they do. Priority 2 — Depth over breadth. A 40-minute conversation allows follow-up questions, tangents,

and genuine exchange. Prepare fewer answers more deeply rather than many answers shallowly. Priority 3 — "Why this school" with genuine specificity. Open-file interviewers have seen hundreds of applications. The applicant who references a faculty member's research, a specific curriculum feature, or a recent school initiative stands out from the one who says "great reputation and excellent clinical training." → Full 30-day prep plan If Your School Uses MMI Priority 1 — Practice reasoning out loud, not answers to specific questions. MMI stations will not match what you've prepared. Applicants who've trained their reasoning process outperform those who've rehearsed specific content. Priority 2 — Reset between stations. Carrying emotional residue from a bad station into the next one is the most common performance-damaging pattern. Develop a physical reset ritual in practice. Priority 3 — Structure is everything under time pressure. Position

→ Reasoning → Counterargument → Conclusion. In 8 minutes, this structure must be automatic. → Full dental school MMI prep guide If Your School Uses Kira Talent Priority 1 — Technical calibration before you open the link. Camera at eye level, light source in front, clean background, quality audio. Record yourself and watch it critically before your actual assessment. Priority 2 — Use the preparation window deliberately. 30–90 seconds of silence before recording begins. Don't spend it rereading the prompt — use it to identify your opening sentence, your one concrete example, and your closing connection. Priority 3 — School-specific "why this program" answer complete before you open any Kira link. This prompt appears at virtually every Kira assessment and is the easiest to prepare for and the most visible when it isn't. → Full Kira Talent prep guide If Your School Uses a Panel Priority 1 — Address the full panel, not just the questioner.

When one panel member asks a question, begin your answer directed to them, then expand eye contact across the full panel as you develop it. Priority 2 — Composure with multiple observers. The panel format creates more observation pressure than 1:1. Practice with multiple people present so the sensation of being evaluated by several people simultaneously isn't novel on interview day. Priority 3 — Include quieter panel members. Note which panel member responds most actively to you. In unstructured panels, naturally engaging one member more than others can create missed connection with evaluators who may be harder to read. Consciously include the quieter panel members. If Your School Uses a Hybrid / Multi-Component Day Priority 1 — Manage your energy across the full day. A bench test before an interview, or a panel after a PBL group exercise, requires pacing. You cannot give maximum effort to every component simultaneously — prioritize the

components with the most evaluation weight. Priority 2 — Treat each component as independent. Poor performance on the bench test should not carry into the interview room. Faculty evaluating the interview component are not the same people who watched the bench test. Priority 3 — Know which component is the primary gate. At USC, the four-component ASPID evaluation day has a specific weight structure. At Temple, the faculty interview comes first and sets the context for everything after. Understanding the sequence and relative weight helps you allocate your preparation and energy correctly. How to Confirm Your School's Current Format Step 1: Check the school's admissions page directly. Look specifically for "interview" or "selection process" sections. Some programs describe their format in detail; others are vague. Step 2: Contact the admissions office. A single direct question — "Can you confirm the interview format for this cycle?" —

gets a definitive answer that no guide can provide. Do this after you receive your invitation, not before. Step 3: Check current-cycle SDN threads. Search "[School name] interview 2026" or "[School name] Class of 2029 thread" on the Student Doctor Network. Applicants who interviewed in August or September of the current cycle often post format details within days of their interview. Step 4: Check DentPrep's school-specific guides. For every school with a dedicated guide on DentPrep, the format is confirmed and detailed — including open vs. closed file, number of interviews, interview day structure, and what current SDN applicants report. Format Changes to Watch in 2026–2027 Several trends are reshaping dental school interview formats and are likely to continue: Kira adoption is increasing. Programs that conducted all screening through paper review are adding Kira as an intermediate step. If a program didn't use Kira in 2024, it doesn't

guarantee they won't use it in 2026. Confirm format when your invitation arrives. Post-pandemic virtual interviews are increasingly permanent. Several schools that shifted to virtual formats in 2020–2021 have maintained virtual components permanently — often the first round, with in-person reserved for final-round candidates. Harvard's three-round process, which may include virtual rounds before the on-campus interview, reflects this shift. MMI adoption is growing at newer programs. Schools that opened in the past decade are more likely to have adopted MMI from the start than established programs that built infrastructure around traditional formats. If you're interviewing at a program opened after 2010, verify format carefully. Hybrid days are becoming more common for CAAPID. The combination of clinical skills evaluation (bench test) with academic interview is now the norm rather than the exception across CAAPID advanced standing

programs. Pure interview-only CAAPID programs are increasingly rare. Quick Reference: Format by Category US Dental Schools Confirmed Using MMI Michigan, Maryland, Stony Brook, Roseman, Midwestern (AZ/IL), ATSU, UNLV (with skills component) US Dental Schools Using Traditional 1:1 (Open File) Harvard, Penn, UCSF, UCLA, Columbia, USC, Tufts, Boston University, Ohio State, UIC, UNC, UF, VCU, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, UT Houston, UT San Antonio, Texas A&M, UW, OHSU, Pacific (Dugoni), Loma Linda US Dental Schools Using Panel Interviews Rutgers, Howard, Meharry, Nova Southeastern, University of Detroit Mercy US Dental Schools Using Kira Talent (Domestic DDS) NYU, Columbia (selected applicants) CAAPID Programs Using Kira NYU, Columbia, Tufts (two Kira stages), UMN, Indiana CAAPID Programs With Bench Test UMN, Temple, USC, CU Anschutz, UCLA, UCSF, UNC, Loma Linda, UMKC, Howard, Indiana, UNLV, Pitt, Buffalo CAAPID Programs

Without Bench Test BU Goldman, Rutgers, Tufts, Columbia, Penn PASS, NYU What to Do Next. Once you know your format, preparation can begin in earnest. DentPrep's AI interview coach simulates every format in this guide — traditional 1:1, MMI timed stations, and Kira async — matched to the specific school on your list. Start with the format you're most concerned about. ); }; export default DentalSchoolInterviewFormats; Which dental schools use MMI? Confirmed US dental programs using a genuine MMI include the University of Washington, University of Michigan, USC (Herman Ostrow), the University of Minnesota, and A.T. Still University's Arizona program (ASDOH). A few others — ATSU–Missouri, University of Maryland, Roseman, and Western University — use MMI-style or hybrid components but should be verified directly, as reports are mixed. Note that Midwestern (both campuses) and Detroit Mercy are commonly assumed to use MMI but actually use

traditional interviews. Formats change by cycle — always confirm with the school directly. Do most dental schools use open-file or closed-file interviews? Open-file is the majority format at US dental schools — most programs have your application materials available to the interviewer before your conversation. Closed-file interviews are less common but present at some schools including UCSF. When confirming your format, ask specifically about file access. How do I know what interview format a dental school uses? Check the school's admissions page directly, contact the admissions office after receiving your invitation, and check current-cycle SDN applicant reports. Formats change — data from two or three cycles ago may be outdated. DentPrep's school-specific guides provide confirmed format detail for all schools covered on the site. What is the difference between a Kira assessment and a traditional interview? A Kira assessment is an

asynchronous video interview — you record responses to prompts with no live interviewer. It functions as a pre-screening step before in-person evaluation. A traditional interview is a live conversation with a faculty member. They require different preparation: Kira rewards tight on-camera structure; traditional interviews reward genuine conversational depth and rapport. Do dental school interview formats affect admission chances? The format determines how you're evaluated, not whether you're qualified. An MMI school evaluates eight dimensions of professional readiness independently. A traditional school evaluates them holistically over a single extended conversation. Neither is categorically more difficult — but they reward different competencies and require different preparation. How much notice do dental schools give about the interview format? Most schools describe their format in the interview invitation email or in supporting

materials sent with the invitation. If the format isn't specified, contact the admissions office directly — knowing whether to prepare for MMI, traditional, panel, or Kira before starting your preparation is worth the 2-minute email.