Pre-Dental Preparation and Requirements

a student working with a young patient

Program Requirements 

The Pre-Dental Advantage Program is only available to students entering college for the first time. Prospective students apply using our undergraduate application and select the pre-dental major. 

To advance into the Pacific’s Doctor of Dental Surgery Program, admitted undergraduate pre-dental students must take courses in sequence at Pacific, maintain minimum GPAs and pass a formal interview for the Dugoni School of Dentistry (includes a writing sample).  

All applicants are encouraged, and admitted students are required, to carefully read and agree to the Technical Standards of the Dugoni School. It is also highly recommended that all applicants review the Dental Board of California license requirements. 

High School Preparation

Talk to dentists or shadow them at work to see if this profession is a good fit for you. The path toward a career in dentistry will require extensive dedication which you can deliver if you feel comfortable with your choice. 

College courses are best taken in college after the high school experience has been completed. High school students may be interested in anticipating some college education, however, in order to facilitate their adjustment to college or to save money by satisfying college course requirements. 

Advanced courses taken while in high school can sometimes interfere negatively with the college curriculum. The items below categorize courses by the type of interaction that they have with the curriculum of the Pre-Dental Advantage Program. 

  • Green light classes. AP, IB or college courses taken in high school (early college) may be used to satisfy requirements of the general education portion (except science) of the Pre-Dental Advantage Program, as long as they can be transferred as equivalent to courses at Pacific that satisfy such requirements. This equivalence can be verified at the ROAR webpage. Courses in chemistry and biology may be a good preparation for college when they do not articulate with a Pacific course or when they articulate with Pacific courses that have code numbers lower than BIOL 51 for biology (ex: BIOL 41) or lower than CHEM 25 for chemistry (ex: CHEM23).
  • Yellow light classes. AP, IB or early college classes are acceptable for physics courses that articulate with PHYS 23, 25, 53 or 55 but it is recommended that physics be taken instead at Pacific.
  • Red light classes. AP, IB or early college classes cannot be used to reduce the number of chemistry and biology courses taken while in the Pre-Dental Advantage Program. If you complete a core biology or chemistry course before enrolling at Pacific, you will be required to take a more advanced course in those subjects at Pacific. If you have already taken or want to take these courses, you should inform your undergraduate admission counselor at Pacific and request the transfer of your courses to Pacific. This is necessary to avoid conflicts that could interfere with your registration and financial help. While we appreciate your interest in pursuing college-level courses prior to coming to Pacific, we strongly recommend that you avoid the core science courses, unless you want to replace them with more advanced chemistry and biology courses at Pacific.
  • Notice that other DDS programs may require physics, math or psychology to be taken at a four-year college.
  • Students interested in the 2+3 option need to satisfy three GE categories (other than science) with courses from work completed before starting at Pacific (AP, IB or Early College courses).

Other Pathways to the DDS Program 

The Pre-Dental Advantage Program is only available to students entering college for the first time. Students transferring into Pacific, students in other majors who decide to pursue dentistry and freshman who are not admitted into the Pre-Dental Advantage Program can still prepare at Pacific and seek admission to the Dugoni School of Dentistry. Although this pathway does not include an interview guarantee, it allows students to take the same classes and participate in the same extracurricular activities as the students in the Pre-Dental Advantage Program. 

Application Requirements for Dugoni School of Dentistry 

To be guaranteed an interview at the Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry, students in the pre-dental programs must satisfy all program prerequisites and application requirements by September 1.
 
All required materials must be completed, submitted, and received by the September 1 deadline. This includes the ADEA AADSAS application, official DAT scores, required letters of evaluation, the application fee, and all other required application materials. Applications or required materials received after September 1 are considered late and do not qualify for a guaranteed interview.
 
To qualify for the guaranteed interview, students must:
 
  • Meet all course requirements for the pre-dental program and maintain the required grade point average:
    • 3+3 and 4+3 pathways: GPA of 3.05 or above
    • 2+3 pathway: GPA of 3.70 or above
  • Meet the applicable Dental Admission Test (DAT) requirement:
    • 3+3 and 4+3 pathways: Scores in all required DAT categories: 
      • Academic Average — 390 and above
      • Total Science — 400 and above
      • Biology — 390 and above
      • Gen Chem — 400 and above
      • O Chem — 400 and above
      • PAT — 390 and above
      • QR — 400 and above
      • RC — 360 and above. 
    • 2+3 pathway: Academic Average score of 510 and above
  • Submit a complete and competitive ADEA AADSAS application by September 1
  • Ensure that official DAT scores are received by September 1
  • Submit the $75 application fee by September 1
  • Ensure that at least three letters of evaluation are received by September 1, including:
    • Two letters from science faculty
    • One letter from a dentist
  • Complete at least 40 hours of dental shadowing
  • Successfully complete an interview at the School of Dentistry
 
Important: Meeting the academic criteria alone does not guarantee an interview. The entire application, including all required supporting materials, must be complete and received by September 1 to qualify for the guaranteed interview. Applicants who submit their application or any required materials after the deadline may still be considered for an interview, but are not guaranteed one.

Learn more about admission to the Dugoni School of Dentistry.