Home > For Prospective Students > DDS Program > Admissions FAQ
Applications are available through the
AADSAS website after May 15th of each year. November 1st is the deadline
for applications being submitted to AADSAS for VCU. However, prospective
candidates are greatly encouraged to apply early, as the admissions process is
very time intensive. AADSAS processing takes 4-8 weeks after your application,
transcripts and payment is received.
Yes. No data from the 2008 application is carried over to the 2009 application.
The answer is “no”; however, all courses must be completed prior to
entering dental school. Most applicants will begin the application process
after they have completed their third year of college; therefore, the first
semester grades of senior year will not be available for the initial
application. Once the fall semester of senior year has been completed,
applicants should immediately forward updated transcripts to the school.
The school will request spring semester final grades if the applicant is
admitted.
You can view the status of your application by logging into your
AADSAS application and selecting “STATUS” on the toolbar. This will tell you if
your application is complete or identify any missing information necessary
to complete your application. You may call Customer Service at 800-353-2237
or send email inquiries to csraadsas@adea.org.
Note: You will need your AADSAS ID Number and name in all correspondence.
This form is only sent to candidates who are invited to interview at the
dental school.
For the past few years, there have been between 2300 and 2600 applications
per year.
The maximum class size is 100 students, with the ratio of residents to
non-residents varying each year. However, on an average year, there are
approximately 55 Virginia residents and 45 non-residents.
An overall GPA of 3.58 and a science GPA of 3.54 has been fairly
consistent for the past few years.
Over the past several years, DAT scores have been increasing. The academic
average of incoming VCU students is 19, the perceptual ability average is
19 and the total science average is 19.
Yes. The belief that a candidate can not apply to AADSAS prior to taking
the DAT is a common misconception. We encourage those people who haven't taken
the DAT or those that will retake the DAT apply early so that the application
can be processed and sent to us. We thus become aware of the candidate's
applying to our school and will wait until the candidate takes the DAT and we
are informed of his or her scores. We allow a testing center copy of the DAT
scores to be faxed to our office. Our fax number is (804) 828-5288.
Most students in a traditional four-year curriculum take the test in the
spring of the year preceding their anticipated date of entry into dental
school. Many students decide to take the test soon after completing the
Biology and Chemistry courses that appear on the DAT. This can occur as
early as the end of their sophomore year of college but more commonly at
the end of their junior year.
A sample test is included in the DAT registration booklet. This booklet
is available from the
American Dental Association website. Preparatory books are available at
most University bookstores or can be ordered by them. Private preparatory
testing services such as the Kaplan Test Prep Course are available as well.
Recent regulations changes from the ADA which administers the DAT has
limited the number of exams to three (3) total. It is recommended that DAT
not be more than three (3) years old.
The answer is "yes" to both questions; Canadian students are encouraged
to apply.
VCU requires a minimum of three (3) letters of recommendation, at least two
of these letters must be from science professors and the third must come from
a dental practitioner who knows the candidates professional abilities through
direct observation through shadowing or volunteer work. AADSAS accepts and
processes a maximum of four individual letters of evaluation or one Pre-dental
Committee Report/Letter, plus the option of one additional letter of evaluation.
AADSAS has created this option for applicants whose Pre-dental Committee Report
does not include a letter that may be required by a particular dental school,
e.g., from a practicing dentist. A Pre-dental Committee Report /Letter is often
written by a pre-dental advisor. It can include the advisor’s own letter plus
individual letters/comments written by faculty members, dentists and others who
have personal knowledge of the applicant’s abilities and interests. VCU accepts
additional letters of recommendation from science faculty or people who know the
candidate well and can give a testimonial of the applicant's abilities. VCU has
no upper limit is imposed on to the number of recommendations; however, the
number should not be excessive. Letters from politicians or other people who
do not know the candidate personally are discouraged. If an
evaluation/recommendation form is needed, we recommend using the
VCU School of Dentistry form,
though the use of this form is optional.
If the course has a teaching assistant or laboratory instructor who has
taught the candidate and has knowledge of the candidate’s abilities in the
course, then a letter from that person will be satisfactory.
From the pool of applicants, competitive candidates are selected by
invitation only to interview. An interview is mandatory for acceptance;
however, an interview does not guarantee that a candidate will be offered
a seat in the class.
The VCU School of Dentistry interview process begins late September and
runs through the following February. There is a break for the Holidays from
the second week of December until the first week in January. Interviews
occur Monday and Tuesday and begin at 7:30 AM promptly each morning.
Each candidate will receive two (2) individual one-on-one interviews.
Each interview lasts approximately 30 minutes. The set of interviews is
followed by a presentation by our Financial Aid Coordinator. Another senior
dental student is assigned to the group interviewing for that day and
takes the candidates to lunch and a tour of the campus and dental school.
If time is available, the candidates will spend time observing a senior
dental student administering care to a patient in the Dental Clinic. The
interview process usually concludes before 3:00 PM each day.
No. The candidate may be accompanied to the School of Dentistry but
their visitor will not be able to participate in ANY of the days
activities.
Since a dental school is a professional environment, candidates should
dress accordingly. Men should wear suits or sport coats with ties and
women should wear suits or dresses. Attire such as blue jeans, miniskirts,
shorts or Bermudas, flip-flops, and tennis shoes are not recommended.
The D.5 program was initiated about 17 years ago for students who had
made an application to dental school, but were not successful in gaining
admission. Some of these applicants showed great potential towards being
a dentist. However, certain factors, such as lower GPA, weaker DAT scores,
many years without taking college courses, and other factors, negated them
from being a viable candidate. This program was created to have these
applicants take certain selected science courses with the freshman dental
class. The purpose was to have them prove their ability to succeed in
professional school courses. Four science courses, Mammalian Physiology,
Evidence-Based Dentistry, Microscopic Anatomy and Infection and Immunology
were selected. The strict requirement for success is a mandatory minimum
of "B" in each course. If this is achieved, then the prospective student
would have a greater potential of being accepted into the following year's
freshman class and they would also be exempt from these four courses.
However, if a grade of lower than “B” was achieved in any of these courses,
then they would not be considered for entrance into the new freshman class.
The students selected for the D.5 program usually have strong science
backgrounds, excellent interpersonal skills, and dental experiences.
Note 1: All acceptance offers from the VCU School of Dentistry are
forwarded by the Assistant Dean for Admissions on official VCU letterhead.
Note 2: The Dean of Admissions and the Admissions Committee select a very
limited number of D.5 candidates from the pool of interviewed applicants.