How to Apply

The following courses (semester hours or equivalent quarter hours) are required to apply to the School of Dental Medicine.

All coursework must be completed with a grade of C or better from an accredited U.S. college or university at the conclusion of the spring term of the year accepted. Grades of C- or lower and courses taken pass/fail or credit/no credit will not be accepted.

No more than 60 semester hours are allowed from a community/junior college.

Beginning in the 2023 summer term and moving forward, online course work is discouraged. If you need to complete an online course due to personal circumstance, please email [email protected] to seek approval.

High school advanced placement (AP) courses can be accepted for prerequisite coursework and will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Official documentation, such as your official transcript, will be required to include AP scores. 

If you are an international student, please contact the admissions office directly. 

Please note, we do not accept transfer students. Other dental school credits are not transferable into our DDS program. All DDS students must complete our entire curriculum. 

 

Academic Subject	Credit Requirement	Notes
General Biology or General Zoology with Lab	8 Semester Credits (2 of which need to be labs) OR 12 Quarter Credits (3 of which need to be labs)	Accepted General Biology classes include: Evolution, Animal Biology, Eukaryotic Biology, Cell Biology, Cellular Biology, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Ecology, Zoology. Human Anatomy, Genetics, Physiology and Pathophysiology will not fulfill this requirement.
General Chemistry with Lab	8 Semester Credits (2 of which need to be labs) OR 12 Quarter Credits (3 of which need to be labs)	Inorganic Chemistry also fulfills this requirement.
Organic Chemistry with Lab	8 Semester Credits (2 of which need to be labs) OR 12 Quarter Credits (3 of which need to be labs)
General Physics with Lab (Algebra or Calculus based)	8 Semester Credits (2 of which need to be labs) OR 12 Quarter Credits (3 of which need to be labs)
Microbiology (Lab not required)	3 Semester Credits OR 5 Quarter Credits	If you take this class at a college or university on the quarter system and the class is only 4 credits, please indicate so on your ADEA AADSAS Application. For questions, please email [email protected]
Biochemistry (Lab not required)	3 Semester Credits OR 5 Quarter Credits	If you take this class at a college or university on the quarter system and the class is only 4 credits, please indicate so on your ADEA AADSAS Application. For questions, please email [email protected]
English Composition	3 Semester Credits OR 5 Quarter Credits	A University-designated writing intensive course will fulfill this requirement. For questions, please email [email protected]
Upper Division Credits	30 Semester Credits OR Approx. 45 Quarter Credits	Upper-division courses are usually designated with a course number listed in the 300s-400s at schools on the semester system. Upper-division courses at schools on the quarter system are usually designated with a course number listed between 100-199 or higher.

For questions on whether or not a class at your college/university is designated as an upper-division course, please contact their Registrar’s Office.

The minimum requirement for admission is 90 semester hours (or approximately 135 quarter hours) of academic coursework. However, completing a bachelor's degree is strongly encouraged. Community college coursework is accepted, with 30 hours of upper-division courses being completed at a four-year college or university.

Suggested Electives: Courses to consider include anatomy, cell biology, histology, immunology, physiology, business management/finance, psychology and communications. Courses may be in a single area with a general background in many areas, or may group together several related areas in the sciences or humanities. 

• Pass/Fail grades will only be accepted if they were mandated by your university during the COVID-19 pandemic. Further documentation will be required. If students opted into a pass/fail grade during the COVID-19 pandemic, those grades will not satisfy our requirements.
• Online classes taken in light of the COVID-19 pandemic will be accepted. If you still have prerequisite classes to complete, it is encouraged that you take those classes in person.
• All science courses must have been taken within 10 years of the date of application.
• You can apply without having all of your academic course work completed. Any outstanding prerequisites at the time of application must be completed by the end of the spring term in the cycle in which you are applying.

• Completed AADSAS application - available online at American Dental Education Association (ADEA)
• ​Official transcripts from all colleges, universities and professional schools you attended
• ​Letters of recommendation:
  • Two letters from science instructors AND one letter from a non-science instructor, dentist you shadowed or employer, OR
  • Pre-Dental Committee letter (must include two science instructors)                                                  

Applicants are required to complete the Dental Admissions Test (DAT), which is administered by the American Dental Association (ADA). Official DAT scores must be sent to AADSAS (see instructions for sending DAT scores). 

While there is no minimum or cutoff, DAT scores close to the averages of the most recent entering class are considered competitive. See Class Profile for the most current scores.

The DAT should either be taken before application or in June/July of the application year. Scores must be received before the application deadline of October 15th. In order to meet this deadline, tests should not be taken after August 31st of the application year. 

Retake tests: If planning to retake the DAT during the application cycle, an applicant should report future test dates on the AADSAS application. 

Canadian DAT: Please note that the Canadian Dental Admissions Test (CDAT) is not accepted. The US DAT is required of all applicants. 

New DAT scoring will go into effect March 1, 2025. The current 2-digit score reporting scale (1 to 30) will be replaced by a 3-digit reporting scale (200 to 600). The University of Colorado will accept the current two digit scoring until February 2030. 

Applicants should demonstrate a confirmed interest in dentistry by participating in dental-related activities, including direct shadowing of a dentist in a patient-care setting. Shadowing hours should be reported directly on the AADSAS application. No further documentation is required.

50 hours of dental shadowing is required and must be completed at the time of application submission. Applicants without this minimum number of hours will not be reviewed or considered for interview.

Applicants should report any extracurricular activities in which they are involved, dental-related or otherwise, on the AADSAS application. Such activities could include (but are not limited to) academic enrichment programs, athletics, clubs and organizations, research, volunteering, and work experience.

For each extracurricular, applicants must provide the frequency and duration of the experience, a description of the key responsibilities, and the name and address of the organization or supervisor.

The CU Anschutz School of Dental Medicine requires a total of three letters of recommendation, although AADSAS allows up to four. Letters must be uploaded directly to the application by the evaluators. Letters sent directly to the Office of Admissions are no longer accepted. Of the four allotted AADSAS uploads, applicants must have:

• Two science letters* - Two letters must be written by science professors who have taught and graded the applicant at the university level. Letters should be from basic science instructors (biology, chemistry, physics, biochemistry, microbiology). Science letters should include the course name and number. *If you completed your undergraduate degree before June 2021, only one letter from a science faculty is required. 
  
• One letter of choice - One letter by an evaluator of the applicant’s choice is also required. This evaluator could be a dentist, another professor (science or non-science), an employer, a mentor, or another individual who can write in support of the applicant.

A fourth letter of recommendation will also be accepted but is not required. This optional fourth letter can be written by another evaluator of the applicant’s choice.

• Committee letter option: If the applicant’s undergraduate institution has a pre-health committee, a letter or letter packet composed by the committee members can be submitted in place of the above three letters. AADSAS also allows one individual letter to be uploaded in addition to the committee letter, which is accepted but not required.
  

Once the completed application has been reviewed by the Office of Admissions, the applicant may be invited to campus for a formal interview and tour of our school.

Applicants are required to pay a $150 supplemental application fee directly to the CU Anschutz School of Dental Medicine. This fee is separate from any payments made to AADSAS and can only be made online via credit or debit card. 

Checks, money orders, and payments over the phone are not accepted. This payment should be made either just before or at the time of application submission.

AADSAS Fee Assistance Program: The $150 nonrefundable application fee can be waived for applicants who qualify for the AADSAS Fee Assistance Program. Such applicants should forward their approval email from AADSAS to our office at [email protected].

All students must read and meet the Technical Standards necessary for Admission, Promotion and Graduation at the CU Anschutz School of Dental Medicine. After submitting your deposit, you will receive instructions via email on how to sign and return this document.