Admissions committees review credentials such as academic qualifications, the results from the Dental Admissions Test (DAT), grade point average (GPA), letters of recommendation, personal interviews and dental office shadowing experiences. Admission requirements can vary from school to school. Most dental schools require personal interviews with candidates to assess qualities such as desire to help people, self-confidence, ability to meet challenges, ability to get along with people and capacity to work independently. The personal interview also provides an opportunity to ask about the school. Apply for admission at least a year in advance of the planned enrollment date. Most dental schools participate in the Associated American Dental Schools Application Service (AADSAS). For a fee, students can subscribe to this service and complete a single application to apply to multiple dental schools.
Are you ready to apply to the Ostrow School of Dentistry’s Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) program? Applicants must meet the following criteria to be considered for admission: All preparatory coursework must have been taken from an accredited college or university in the United States or Canada. No specific undergraduate major is required. Accelerated programs in the sciences are generally not transferable. Contact the Office of Admissions for information about transferable courses and course equivalences. A minimum of 60 semester units must be completed or in progress at the time of application. Prerequisite coursework must be completed before an applicant begins the DDS program. Coursework from a junior or community college is acceptable. However, preference is given to applicants who have taken prerequisites at a four-year college or university. We strongly recommended that students take upper-division science courses (such as biochemistry, anatomy, histology, physiology) in addition to the required prerequisites. Required prerequisites: General biology and lab (1 year‡) General physics and lab (1 year) Inorganic/general chemistry and lab (1 year) Organic chemistry and lab (1 year) English composition (1 year**) Philosophy, history or fine arts (1 year**) ‡One year is equal to two semesters or three quarters. All basic pre-dental required classes, with the exception of the philosophy, history, or fine arts requirement, must be sequential and represent a terminal course, such as 101a and 101b, or, on a quarter system, 101a, 101b, 101c. **This requirement is waived if the applicant has received a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university. Two letters of recommendation are required from lecture-based science professors in biology, chemistry, or physics. We highly recommend that one of the letters be from a DDS. Letters from research or lab-based professors will not meet the requirement; the letters must be written based on your performance in the lecture component of class. A committee letter may be substituted if your undergraduate institution offers this service.