You do not need to have all of your prerequisites completed before applying. If admitted, you must have completed all of your prerequisites before matriculating.

We do accept online courses. In-person labs are strongly recommended.

There is no expiration date for prerequisites.

Yes.

If your undergraduate institution accepted the credit and it is on your transcript, then yes. 

See how your classes would transfer to the University of Iowa using Transferology. 

No, a bachelor's degree is not required. You may apply to Iowa's DDS Program as long as the prerequisites have been taken and you will have the minimum 90 credits before you start dental school. However, having a degree will give an applicant a competitive edge and is recommended.

Community college courses can be used to meet prerequisite course requirements and minimum hour admission requirements.

• Applicants must complete a minimum of 90 credit hours of study at an accredited college or university prior to enrollment in the DDS program.
  • Most applicants complete a bachelor's degree.
• Applicants who have 60 credit hours from community college(s) must complete any additional course work at a four-year accredited college or university.

No. There is no required undergraduate major area of study for admittance. Visit our entering class profile to view the undergraduate majors of the entering class of dental students. 

If you attended a foreign school or earned your degree outside of the United States, you are required to submit your foreign coursework to a US-based evaluation service for a course-by-course US equivalency report. This report should then be sent directly to ADEA AADSAS from the evaluation service.

Do not send foreign transcripts to ADEA AADSAS, including those printed in English or translated into English; they will be discarded.

ADEA AADSAS only accepts electronic foreign evaluations from World Education Services (WES), Inc. or Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc.

Neither an anatomy class nor a physiology class is required, but many of our current students have found them helpful.

A minimum 2.65 total GPA and 2.65 science GPA, as calculated by ADEA AADSAS, is required for admission consideration.

Please see our entering class profile for the average Total GPA and average Science GPA. We utilize a holistic review of applicants and will evaluate more than just your scores. 

Refer to the ADEA AADSAS Applicant Help Center to see how ADEA AADSAS will calculate your GPA. 

All applicants must complete the prerequisite courses at an accredited college or university with a grade of "C" or higher no later than June 30 of the intended entering year.

Grades of "C-" or lower and courses taken pass/fail or credit/no credit will not be considered as meeting the prerequisite requirement.

Starting March 1, 2025, the American Dental Association (ADA) implemented a new scoring system for the Dental Admission Test (DAT). At that time, the 2-digit score reporting scale (1 to 30) was replaced by a 3-digit reporting scale (200 to 600). Visit the ADA website for details regarding scoring and reporting.

No, unofficial scores are no longer available at the testing site as of March 1, 2025. For score reporting timelines, visit the ADA website.

Yes. 2-digit and 3-digit scores will both be valid scores.

A concordance table is available to help candidates, admissions officers, and pre-health advisors compare scores. This table provides a rough sense of the general correspondence between 2-digit and 3-digit scores, and is available on the DAT website at ADA.org/DATConcordanceTable. 

Dental schools will use 3-digit scores to compare candidate performance (i.e., 3-digit scores as directly calculated using the new scoring approach, or 3-digit scores as determined through use of the concordance table conversion). This concordance table is available on the DAT website at ADA.org/ConcordanceTable. 

Only DAT scores from tests taken in 2023, 2024, 2025 will be considered for Fall 2026 admission.

The minimum score requirement for consideration is 350 Academic Average (AA) on the most recent test date.

We utilize a holistic review of applicants and will evaluate more than just your scores. 

The Canadian DAT is acceptable for Canadian applicants.

A minimum of three (3) individual letters or one (1) committee letter are required. 

Letters do not need to be written by specific professors or professionals. 

Letters must be submitted via ADEA AADSAS application by the evaluators.

Please let your recommenders know we would like the letters 1) on official letterhead, 2) dated, and 3) signed.

Review the detailed instructions on requesting letters of evaluation from Interfolio on the ADEA AADSAS Applicant Help Center website.

No, the supplemental questions for our program are included on the AADSAS application.

As you progress through the Iowa College of Dentistry application process, you'll receive important notifications and critical alerts via the ADEA AADSAS application dashboard. To help you keep track of your application and all materials, click Check Status at the top of the ADEA AADSAS application dashboard.

Applicants are responsible for monitoring these notifications and following up on any required actions. 

All updates are required to be submitted to ADEA AASAS. After you submit, you can make limited changes to your application and materials. Review the changes allowed for coursework, transcripts, and other sections on the ADEA AADSAS Applicant Help Center website. 

Do not email updates to the Dental Student Admissions Office.

We do not accept letters of continued interest submitted via email or mail. We only accept materials submitted via the ADEA AADSAS application. 

Refer to the regulations and administrative guidelines governing the classification of residents and nonresidents for admission and tuition purposes published on the University of Iowa Office of the Registrar website.

• Applications for Resident Classification for Tuition and Fee Purposes. 
• If you have questions:
  • Email: registrar-residency@uiowa.edu
  • Phone: 319-335-0223.

No. If you already have a dental degree from another country, you may be eligible for Iowa's Advanced Standing Program. 

If you have questions, please contact Kelly Smith via email kelly-smith@uiowa.edu or phone 319-353-4485.

We do not accept transfer students due to the Iowa College of Dentistry's education model.

We advise that you contact your local dentist and other area dentists to find out if they have shadowing opportunities.

The University of Iowa has a Pre-Dental Club and we cover this material. You can also check to see if your institution has a similar program. 

Research experience is not a requirement.

Our admissions committee looks for candidates who not only display academic success, but who also display a level of personal growth by engaging in a variety of experiences. 

Experiences could include (but are not limited to) academic enrichment, dental experience, employment, extracurricular activities, research, leadership, and volunteer/community enrichment.

Report your experiences (dental-related or otherwise) and qualifications on your ADEA AADSAS application.