PRE-DENTAL ADVISEMENT
Minimum course work required for entrance into most dental schools:
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English 101 – Comp I: Exposition
English 102 – Comp II: Analys & Arg
Physics 151 and 151L - General Physics and lab
Physics 152 and 152L - General Physics and lab
Biology 201 and 201L – Cell Biology with Lab
Biology 202 and 202L – Genetics with Lab
Biology 237 and 227L – Human Anatomy & Physiology with Lab
Biology 238 and 228L – Human Anatomy & Physiology II with Lab
Chemistry 121 – General Chemistry
Chemistry 121L - General Chemistry Lab
or Chemistry 131L - Principles of Chemistry (honors)
Chemistry 122 – General Chemistry
Chemistry 122L - General Chemistry Lab
or Chemistry 132L - Principles of Chemistry (honors)
Chemistry 301 and 303L - Organic Chemistry with Lab
Chemistry 302 and 304L - Organic Chemistry with Lab
Biochemistry 423 – Introductory Biochemistry
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In Addition to completion of core requirements
Recommended courses
Dental schools recommend courses in the following areas: microbiology, histology, psychology, embryology, business,
speech communication, nutrition and sculpting.
Majors/Degrees
A student may major in any area, although some schools recommend a Bachelor of Science degree. Most dental schools,
with the exception of Baylor College of Dentistry, UCLA School of Dentistry and USC School of Dentistry, do not require a
completed degree. These schools rarely waive this requirement. Some dental programs will admit students with fewer
than ninety hours if your GPA and DAT scores are above the national averages. Students are advised to acquire a copy of
the catalog from the dental school of their choice and refer to specific requirements for that school. Most programs advise
completing ninety credit hours before matriculating to dental school.
Application Material Required
Most schools require an AADSAS application (applications are available on-line at http://www.adea.org/AADSAS/, a copy
of your transcripts, a minimum of 3 letters of evaluation, Dental School Admission Test Scores (DAT) and an application
fee. The application material may be collected in a professional folder at Career Planning and Placement and should be
started in the sophomore or beginning of junior year.
GPA and DAT Scores
The approximate undergraduate GPA of students admitted to dental schools is 3.40. The lowest scores on the DAT
considered to be competitive by most dental schools are 17 academic average, 17 perceptual ability test and 17 total
science.
Personal Qualities
Dental schools expect applicants to be motivated, mature, have integrity, social awareness and ability to communicate
and interact with others. Dental schools also stress good health, excellent eyesight, good manners, a pleasing personality,
clean personal habits, manual dexterity, and genuine concern for others. Most schools interview all candidates; some
programs interview all students who request an interview.
The following is a list of dental schools that are included under the Western Interstate Commission for Higher
Education (WICHE) contracts program:
Creighton University
School of Dentistry
Omaha, NE 68178
http://cudental.creighton.edu
University of Missouri-Kansas City
School of Dentistry
Kansas City, MO 64108
www.umkc.edu/dentistry
The following schools offer student exchange through the WICHE program:
Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health
A. T. Still University
Mesa, AZ 85206
www.asdoh.atsu.edu/index
Loma Linda University
School of Dentistry
Loma Linda, CA 92350
www.llu.edu.llu/dentistry
University of California, Los Angeles
School of Dentistry
Los Angeles, CA 90024
www.dent.ucla.edu
University of California, San Francisco
School of Dentistry
San Francisco, CA 94115
http://dentistry.ucsf.edu
University of Southern California
School of Dentistry
Los Angeles, CA 90089
www.usc.edu/hsc/dental
University of Colorado
School of Dentistry
Denver, CO 80262
www.uchsc.edu.sod
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
School of Dental Medicine
Las Vegas, NV 89106
http://dentalschool.unlv.edu
Oregon Health Sciences University
School of Dentistry
Portland, OR 97201
www.ohsu.edu/sod
University of the Pacific
School of Dentistry
San Francisco, CA 94115
www.dental.uop.edu
University of Washington
School of Dentistry
Seattle, WA 98195
www.dental.washington.edu
Students interested in the WICHE program or any other loan repayment programs should contact the NM Pre-Dental
Academic Advisor. Applications and certification for WICHE must be completed by October 15th, of the year preceding
admission.
Students interested in joining the UNM Pre-Dental Society should contact: nmpredentalsociety@yahoo.com or log
onto http://hsc.unm.edu/som/predental
The UNM Pre-Dental Office is located on main campus in the Student Union Building, Student Quad (lower level).
Rev. 7/18/06