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Academic AdvisingPre-DentistryPre-Health & Law Home | Pre-Health Sciences & Pre-Law Programs | Choosing a Major | Applying to a Professional Program Post-Baccalaureate Health Sciences Certificate Program | Learning Communities | Cosby High School Collaboration | Announcements/Events | Staff
Program InformationLeaders in dental education encourage students planning to enter this profession to obtain a broad background in the liberal arts, with a study of not only sciences, but the humanities and social sciences as well. The prospective student should check with the intended school of dentistry for specific requirements.
Biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry, mathematics, physics and English are generally required for admission to the VCU School of Dentistry. Other courses, such as those in the behavioral sciences and courses involving psychomotor skills, are strongly recommended.
Programs of StudyAdmission to and completion of a pre-dental program offered by the College of Humanities and Sciences does not constitute admission to the VCU School of Dentistry. The student must apply separately to the dental school of his or her choice at the appropriate time.
A student entering the university with an interest in preparing for dental school should declare an academic major while also indicating a pre-dental advising track. The classification pre-dental exists to identify the student's career interests, but the student does not earn a pre-dental degree.
A student who is "undeclared" about an academic major initially, but who has indicated a pre-dental advising track, will clarify his or her academic interests through regular conversations with his or her advisors. The student will declare a major in one of the degree programs offered within the university. At the same time, the student will complete the necessary pre-requisites for application for admission to the dental school of his or her choice.
Pre-dental students are encouraged to major in fields of greatest interest to them. Students need not major in a science area. In fact, many non-science majors achieve high acceptance rates into dental schools.
Advising InformationDENS 101 Introduction to Dentistry Collecting letters of evaluation
Admissions requirements Getting accepted to dental school requires completing a bachelor's degree in any field, plus the necessary science pre-requisites.
Prerequisite course work The prerequisites for dental school should be completed before or at the time the DAT is taken. Typically, pre-requisites are complete and the DAT is taken at the conclusion of the spring semester that takes place 15 months before a student plans to enter dental school.
Specific VCU required and recommended prerequisites
Prerequisites for dental school: It is strongly recommended that students complete all requirements for a bachelor’s degree in addition to the required prerequisites before entering dental school. Biology Inorganic Chemistry Physics English Mathematics It should be noted that some dental schools require additional prerequisite course work. The best reference for specific requirements for different dental schools is the must current edition of The
Elective courses Most dental schools prefer candidates with broad educational backgrounds. In addition to a strong science background, professional school requires a solid foundation in basic verbal and quantitative skills.
Parts of the DAT focus on writing skills and reading comprehension of nonscientific material. It also is advisable for students with a concentration in pre-dentistry to have more than the minimum number of science courses required for admission. Science majors will automatically meet this recommendation. They should choose electives from within the liberal arts. Non-science majors should select from upper-level science courses, such as genetics, anatomy, physiology, etc.
DENS 101 Introduction to Dentistry Each spring the VCU School of Dentistry offers a one-credit course, DENS 101 Introduction to Dentistry. The course introduces undergraduates to the field of dentistry and helps them gain practical exposure to the field while pursuing pre-requisite course work. It is recommended that pre-dental students take this course in their freshman year or the spring semester directly after transfer into VCU.
Dental Assisting Course The Office of Pre-Health Sciences Advising, in collaboration with the VCU School of Dentistry, is pleased to present a dental assisting class. The class instructs pre-dental and pre-dental hygiene students on the skills and processes necessary to become certified dental assistants. It’s offered in the fall semester only at the VCU School of Dentistry. Students should check the pre-dental list serve in the spring semester for more specific details about the class.
Standardized tests (DAT) The American Dental Association administers the required standardized test, the Dental School Admissions Test, or DAT. The ADA will electronically transmit DAT scores to all the dental schools that a student designates to receive them.
The DAT is composed of four separate examinations, which include: 1) survey of the natural sciences (biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry), 2) perceptual ability, 3) reading comprehension and 4) quantitative reasoning.
Students take the DAT at a testing center on a date that they coordinate with the Dental Admissions testing program. If you are not prepared for the test in the spring, wait until August, and study hard over the summer. Take the test by Labor Day at the latest. If taking it for the first time in August or September, it will be difficult to register for another administration of the test and have those scores communicated to the dental schools in a timely fashion. There is a 90-day wait before a student may register for the DAT a second time. However, students may (and should) still apply to AADSAS in June even if they are not taking the DAT at a later time. Registration for the DAT is available online.
You must request that the scores report be sent to the individual schools to which you are applying by contacting the Department of Testing Services in the American Dental Association. Score reporting requests can be made online.
Application information The American Dental Education Association helps students manage the application process to dental school. They offer a centralized application service, AADSAS, that allows students to electronically file one application for all the dental schools to which a student makes application. AADSAS collects students’ transcripts and letters of recommendation and will forward all information regarding academic history, personal statements and activities to all the dental schools designated by the student.
Applicants may be required to submit supplemental information to each dental school to which they apply. Check the AADSAS application instruction booklet, available online to determine which materials are required and how best to send them. Do not send these materials directly into AADSAS.
Transcripts can be sent to AADSAS directly from the VCU Office of Records and Registration. Students should have additional copies of their transcripts sent directly to them. Request transcripts from all U.S., U.S. Territorial or Canadian postsecondary institutions attended, even if transfer work appears on the VCU transcript. If enrolled in school during the summer or fall semester while or after you apply, send updated transcripts to all schools considering your application immediately following the semester. Do not send additional transcripts to AADSAS after initial application. Send these directly to the schools to which you have applied.Make sure you include the AADSAS transcript matching form when you make a request to have a transcript sent.
Fill out the Academic Record section of the application, following all instructions exactly. All courses must be marked Biology (B), Chemistry (C), Physics (P) or other categories. The AADSAS application instruction booklet gives you designations for all categories of courses. Your GPA will be calculated by AADSAS, and will be broken down into science (BCP) and cumulative GPA.
Collecting letters of evaluation The Office of Pre-Health Sciences Advising will collect letters of evaluation only for those who are participating in the pre-health advisory committee process. AADSAS will collect letters of evaluation for students who do not participate in the pre-health advisory committee process and send them in to the dental schools to which students apply. Individual evaluators and the Office of Pre-Health Advising upload letters of evaluation into the AADAS system upon the student's request.
Pre-Health Advisory Committee The Office of Pre-Health Sciences Advising offers the service of a committee evaluation. The pre-health advisory committee is a long-standing tradition at VCU. The committee consists of 16 faculty members from the College of Humanities and Sciences, Schools of Education, Allied Health, Engineering, and Division of Student Affairs. Interviews are only available during the first two weeks in May. Application for an interview must be made by mid-April to receive an interview.
The pre-health advisory committee will provide supportive letters of evaluation for those VCU students who present strong credentials to the committee. If students meet the requirements listed below, they are given the opportunity to interview before a two-person faculty committee. The two-person committee will write a letter evaluating the student’s credentials for dental school and will present that letter to the entire 16-person committee for approval. Upon approval of the committee letter, the committee letter along with the student’s individual letters of evaluation are transmitted to all the dental schools to which a student applies.
Members of the committee interview students in the latter part of the spring semester before they apply to dental school. The committee writes a letter evaluating the applicant’s academic performance, health care/dental experience, extracurricular activities and personality characteristics. The committee evaluation will be summarized by one of the following statements: that the individual is highly recommended, recommended with confidence, recommended, recommended with reservations or not recommended to dental school. If the student selects the service of the pre-health advisory committee, the right of access to the committee evaluation must be waived. This waiver of access is included in the student’s evaluation file and is sent to dental schools, along with a cover letter and all the individual evaluations that a student solicits.
Participating in the committee process is optional but strongly recommended.
Students planning to participate in the pre-health advisory committee should complete all of the following activities:
If students participate in the committee process, they are required to keep their individual letters of evaluation on file with the Office of Pre-Health Sciences Advising. Students participating in the committee process should submit their paperwork to participate in the committee and set up a letter of evaluation file by the stated deadline. Students who are not participating in the committee process should have their individual letters of evaluation sent directly into AADSAS.
The pre-health advisory committee only evaluates applicants at the end of the spring semester before application to dental school is made.
Students who do not participate in the committee process will not have this opportunity at any time during the summer or fall semesters preceding entry to dental school.
Pre-Health Advisory Committee members are as follows:
Pre-dental listerve The pre-dental listserve is owned and maintained by the director of pre-health sciences advising. The purpose of the list is to publicize all activities that are relevant to the academic advising and application processes to dental school. All students who have VCU e-mail addresses and have declared pre-dental concentrations are automatically added to the list each spring semester. From this site, subscribers who are not automatically added can visit the archive list of VCU list-serves, scroll down to PRE-DENTAL and self subscribe. It is very important that students applying to dental school in a spring semester view the list archives if they are new subscribers.
The Dental Club @ VCU The Dental Club @ VCU is a student-run organization that assists students in the dental school application process by exposing them to the dental profession, as well as sponsoring events and programs to help students in the application process. Events include presentations from deans of admission and trips to dental schools to tour facilities and meet with faculty and students. Visit the club’s Web site to find out how to get involved.
Helpful Web sites for Pre-dentistry National organizations
Testing and preparation services Personal statements and interviewing
Applications online Post-baccalaureate pre-medical programs Other
Financial aid information for pre-health students
Pre-Clinical Laboratory Sciences Pre-Clinical Radiation Sciences Pre-Dentistry Pre-Paramedic and Emergency Medical Services Administration
Pre-Health & Law Home | Pre-Health Sciences & Pre-Law Programs | Choosing a Major | Applying to a Professional Program Post-Baccalaureate Health Sciences Certificate Program | Learning Communities | Cosby High School Collaboration | Announcements/Events | Staff |
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Virginia Commonwealth University | University College Hibbs Hall | 900 Park Avenue | P.O. Box 842507 | Richmond, Virginia 23284-9079 Phone: (804) 827-UNIV (8648) | Email: ucollege@vcu.edu Last Revised: 22.01.2008
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