Pre-Dental

Minimal requirements for admission to most schools of dentistry are similar and normally include completion of specified courses in English, biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics; completion of a baccalaureate degree; and scores from the nationally administered Dental Admission Test (DAT). The predental course curriculum lists minimal requirements for admission to the School of Dentistry at the University of Mississippi and most other dental schools. Predental students do not receive a degree in “pre-dentistry.” Rather, as they follow a predental curriculum, they work toward completing a baccalaureate degree in the major field of their choice. Students usually take the DAT the spring of the junior year and apply to dental school the summer before their senior year or early fall of their senior year.

Exceptional students with as few as 90 semester hours of credit, who otherwise meet admissions criteria, occassionally may be admitted to dental school; however, strong preference is given to students who will have completed all requirements for the baccalaureate degree before entering dental school.