What Factors are Considered in Dental School Admissions?

This is most definitely a question that has been in the mind of a pre-dental student at one point in time.
The following items are all factors that are considered when you submit your application through AADSAS, and things you should work on building and improving if possible:

1. GPA - Your Science GPA and Overall GPA are just two of many ways that AADSAS will calculate your GPA. Check out their page on GPA calculations HERE.
2. DAT Scores - A standardized criteria used to judge applicants to dental schools. Scoring well on this can validate a strong GPA or invalidate a weak GPA (to a certain extent). 
3. Extra Curricular Activities - Community Service, Clubs, Sports, Hobbies, Academic Awards, Research, etc. Activities that develop your manual dexterity and hand eye coordination are especially useful since dentistry requires this.
4. Shadowing - Try to shadow a general dentist and at least a couple specialists. You want to get your feet wet in the field that you will potentially be in for a large part of your life. It's also great seeing the variety of ways different dentists do to accomplish the
5. Letters of Recommendation - Serves as an objective portrayal of who you are. This year, AADSAS limits applicants to 4 individual letters of recommendation or 1 committee letter + 1 individual letter.
6. Personal Statement - Explain why want to be a dentist. 
7. The Interview - Your chance to show dental schools who you are and why you are interested in dentistry and their school.

Getting into dental school is a very competitive process. Make sure to maximize your chances by working on the aforementioned factors! It is never too early to begin preparing!

The Key Steps in the Dental Application Process

Below is a "Fill-in" chart you can use to help you stay organized during the whole dental application process.

Just right click the image, save the image, print it out.

This convenient table is an excerpt from Dr. Joseph Kim's "The Pre-Dental Guide". 


Dr. Kim has "consistently scored in the 99th percentile on all of his major high school and undergraduate standardized tests, including the DAT. He is a National Merit Finalist and Scholar.
He also helped prep students as an instructor for tests like the PSAT, SAT, ACT, and DAT, helping many students receive numerous academic awards for scholarship."
Also, because he was involved in working with dental school admissions, he understands the ins and outs of the whole process.


I found this book very useful as an early pre-dent. It offers some nice "tricks" to the DAT and has a lot of good information that you won't find anywhere else. It will save you valuable time.

I highly recommend this book especially for those of you who are new/not as familiar with the whole application process for dental school.

There are a few typos, and the book is a little outdated, but for $5-10 you can't go wrong! If you have a Kindle or an iPad, it is only $3.47!

ADEA Dental School Fair!

For those of you who have not gotten this email, the ADEA is hosting a free event on June 26th and 27th! See the below email for more info.

"Dear ADEA AADSAS Applicant,

As you continue the application process on ADEA AADSAS, consider registering for 
the 2012 ADEA Dental School Virtual Fair. This free event will be hosted online 
on June 26th and 27th and it's designed to give you direct access to dental 
school information and staff.

Learn more about the schools you are applying to, chat with admissions staff, 
and participate in presentations about "Tips to Applying through ADEA AADSAS" to 
"Career Options in Dentistry". This two day event features eight speakers, 32 
dental schools, and four dental education associations to provide you with the 
most accurate information to assist you with your application process.

Visit www.GoDental.org for more information and to register for the event. If 
you have questions, please email adea_dep@adea.org.

Thank you,

ADEA AADSAS Staff"