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Health Professions > Dental School Preparation

Planning Your Pre-Dental Curriculum

There are approximately 56 dental schools in the United States, and students typically apply to about eight schools. It is important that students plan their coursework to satisfy prerequisites for many dental schools. Fortunately, this is not difficult to do. The plan below identifies the science coursework that will satisfy the requirements for application to nearly all 56 U.S. dental schools.

It is a serious mistake for a student to look at the prerequisite coursework for any one dental school and develop their academic plan based upon that one school.

Please note that most dental schools do not accept AP credit in place of required prerequisite coursework.

College coursework required by most dental schools

(One year = three quarters = two semesters)

1 year general chemistry with lab
CHEM 110, 111
 
1 year organic chemistry with lab
CHEM 220, 221
 
1 year introductory biology with lab
BIOL 120
 
1 year general physics with lab
PHYS 120, 121 
 
1 year English (composition and literature)
             FIYS, ENG 203-230, 250-251, 253
 
College Major
 
Dental schools do not select or give preference to any particular majors; therefore, you do not have to major in a science area. You should be thinking of alternate future careers in the event you are not accepted to dental school. Your alternatives and your academic success should be factors in your choice of major. Although most dental schools don't "require" a bachelor's degree, we don't recommend that you apply to Dental School without a baccalaureate degree completed by the time you enter dental school.

GPA

At some dental schools, the average undergraduate GPA of the students admitted is about 3.20. Overall, however, college grades are an important predictor of dental school performance and are scrutinized for consistently high performance; that is, a strong GPA with very few withdrawals, incompletes, repeated courses, or non-graded options. (In general, pass/fail should be used sparingly.)

Applying to dental school

Application to dental school begins the summer of the year before the year of entry. For example, you would apply in summer of 2005 to enter dental school in autumn of 2006. Most dental schools belong to the American Association of Dental Schools Application Service (AADSAS); students apply to these schools through AADSAS. AADSAS forms are available in late May; you can download the form from the website or apply online.

Dental Admission Test (DAT)

The DAT is offered only by computer at Prometric Testing Centers. The test is usually taken by October of the senior year. The test covers four areas: survey of natural sciences (biology, general chemistry, and organic chemistry), reading comprehension, quantitative ability, and perceptual ability. In the future there may be a section on the DAT to assess critical thinking skills.

Letters of recommendation

Most admission committees require academic and character recommendations.  It is a good idea to have at least two letters from science faculty and one letter from non-science faculty. You will normally gather letters of recommendation during your junior year in order to meet application deadlines early in your senior year.

Experience

Experience in a dental setting, such as a dentist's office or clinic, is an admission factor.  It is assumed that a qualified applicant will have a clear understanding of the profession, a demonstrated interest in the field, and knowledge of what dentistry is about. You should be prepared to answer such questions as, "Why do you want to be a dentist?"

Personal characteristics

In addition to motivation, your maturity, poise, humanitarianism, and verbal communication skills are examined by admissions committees. Dental schools are looking for superior personal attributes in such areas as integrity, responsibility, leadership, purpose, initiative, curiosity, common sense, cross-cultural competency, perseverance, breadth of interests, and communication skills.

Diversity

Diversity and cross-cultural competency are paramount issues in health care, and cannot be emphasized enough to future dental students. Dental schools are seeking people who will be able to work succcessfully with diverse populations of patients. The health care needs of many segments of our population cannot be met without dentists who are able to understand, respect, and affirm all their patients, and who are able to work across all cultures. Students should expect to be asked about their ability to work successfully with diverse populations during the application and interview process.

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