Dear University of Otago,

I would like clarification on the interview selection process for the Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) in both the Health Science First Year (HSFY) General Category and the Graduate General Category.

1) What is the selection criteria for the BDS interviews and how is the scoring made? (i.e. what sections are involved and how are they scored? e.g. a score out of 10 for each motivation question)

2) For each of the selection criteria, how much are they weighted in the overall interview? (e.g. motivation 50%, decision making 25%, etc)

3) What is the threshold score for successful interview applicants and how does this work (e.g. are there individual threshold scores for each section or is this marked overall)? Does this differ between the HSFY and graduate category?

4) Are offers given preferentially to those with higher interview scores in each category? And how does this weighting work with GPA?

5) If an applicant were to do incredibly well in one section but score very poorly in another, are they still eligible to pass the selection interview process if their overall score was high enough?

6) Is the University able to release threshold scores to individuals if they request for it? And subsequently, are appeals possible if individuals believe they were unfairly marked?

Yours faithfully,
Jane