Can Noncognitive Components of Admissions Data Predict Dental Student Performance and Postdoctoral Program Placement?

The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to evaluate whether the noncognitive factors of the dental student application, including undergraduate major and interview score, predicted success in the predoctoral program and placement in postdoctoral programs. The study population consisted of 169 students in the Harvard School of Dental Medicine DMD graduating Classes of 2012 through 2016. Noncognitive factors in the dental application, including letters of recommendation, extracurricular activities, undergraduate major, and dental school admission interview performance, were collected for the study population.

The Dental School Interview As a Predictor of Dental Students' OSCE Performance.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of the dental school admissions interview score as a noncognitive indicator of performance in predoctoral dental education, with specific attention to whether a correlation existed between the admissions interview scores and performance on the objective structured clinical examination (OSCE). The study population consisted of all 175 students in the Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM) DMD Classes of 2012 through 2016. Data on students' gender and age on entering dental school were self-reported using their applications for admission to the HSDM DMD program.