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The School of Dentistry is finalizing its Doctor of Dental Surgery Class of 2028 as a result of the dedication and hard work by the staff, faculty and dental students who helped organize, review and interview this year’s applicants.

A committee of faculty members makes up the school’s Admission Review Panel (ARP) Committee. This year, these members reviewed 1,131 applications in order to select the most qualified candidates for interviews. 

Following the selection, , director of admissions, along with her team members Jennifer Sandlin, senior program coordinator; DJ Smith, academic program coordinator and Tina Morales, senior administrative assistant, coordinated the 318 interviews! The interview volunteers, including 66 DS3 and DS4 students and 34 faculty members, dedicated their time over the course of 18 weeks to interview each of the selected candidates and identify the applicants that best fit the school's criteria to fill the DDS freshman class.

The annual Admissions Appreciation Dinner was held at the Greehey Children’s Cancer Institute on Feb. 6. The dinner was held to show appreciation and to thank the volunteers for their time and effort. The volunteers’ participation is crucial both in representing the school to help potential students understand ‘who’ we are and also to get to know each interviewee individually. 

During the appreciation dinner, Dr. Lemke commented, “The students and faculty who volunteer to interview applicants are heroes to me! They are the ones who truly know the traits that are important to identify in a prospective student, because they are living them out daily here at the School of Dentistry… the future of our profession is thanks in part to them.”

While all volunteers did their fair share of interviewing, there were a few who received special recognition and gifts at the dinner for going above and beyond. 

The top student volunteers, each conducting 10 interviews, were DS4 Dylan Emerson and DS3s Dara Alvand and Eric Leal. The top faculty volunteers were Jon Dossett, DMD, with 34 interviews, and Kelli Creel, DDS, with 33 interviews.

The School of Dentistry and Dr. Lemke thank all of the faculty, staff and students who invest their time and energy in the future of both the school and the dental profession by being part of the admissions process.