Home > For Prospective Students > Dental Hygiene Program > Admission Requirements
For information regarding prerequisite courses at VCU, click here.
Two years of liberal arts study with a minimum of 60 semester hours of
transferable quality academic course credits are required. Click on a course subject for a brief description of the types of courses required for this program.
If your college or university is not on the Course equivalencies list, the generic list of courses below will be helpful to you when choosing prerequisites and
electives. If the courses you have taken or plan to take match closely with the brief descriptions provided, they will most likely transfer, as long as they are from
an accredited institution.
The remainder of the 60 required credits can be chosen from any of the following
areas of study: Science, Math, Computer usage, First Aid and CPR, and Humanities.
Science electives are strongly recommended.
The Course Equivalencies section of the VCU Transfer Guide now includes other universities and colleges in addition to the Virginia Community College and
Richard Bland. In order to find the prerequisite courses for Dental Hygiene on this list, you will need to know what courses are offered in the Pre-Dental
Hygiene Program at VCU. For a list of those courses click here. Use this
list to compare courses on the Course equivalencies list and you should have no problem choosing the right courses for this program.
Click on the Course Equivalencies link in the red box to the left of the VCU Transfer Guide page. Choose your school from the drop box, then choose the subject area, then click the "Search" box.
Using the list of VCU Pre-Dental Hygiene courses, find the courses in the left column that are directly equivalent to those. These are the courses you will need to take at your school.
When choosing elective courses, make sure any courses you have taken or you are considering taking, are on the Course equivalencies list. These elective courses do not have to be equivalent to anything specific at VCU, but they MUST be on the list and may simply be indicated as "elective" in the right column. If you have taken or are considering taking, a course that is not on the Course equivalencies list, it WILL NOT transfer to VCU.
NOTE: NAS 161 and 162 are NO LONGER listed in the VCU Transfer Guide, therefore WILL NOT transfer to VCU.
If you do not see your school on the Transfer Guide Course Equivalencies list, please use the generic list above; each course is a link that will provide you with a brief description of the type of courses we are looking for.
GPA
A minimum GPA of 2.5 based on a four-point scale in the cumulative courses and a minimum GPA of 2.7 in the math/science and designated prerequisite courses.
English Proficiency
To successfully complete the dental hygiene curriculum, students are required to communicate clearly (in English) with faculty, students, staff and patients. To assure such competence, the Dental Hygiene Program requires any applicant whose native language is not English, and who has been educated primarily outside of the United States to submit official Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or International English Language Testing System (IELTS) scores. Applicants are required to submit an official score with the application. The test must have been taken within the last two years.
Applicants may be exempted from this requirement if they have successfully completed 60 or more transferable semester credits at a two- or four-year postsecondary institution in the United States, to include the full freshman English (non-ESL) requirement at that school with a grade of C or better.
The Dental Hygiene Program does not conditionally admit applicants who have not met the requirement for proof of English proficiency.
TOEFL
VCU’s Dental Hygiene Program minimum TOEFL score requirements is 550 (paper), 213 (computer) or 79-80 (internet-based). For more information about TOEFL testing, go to: www.ets.org
IELTS
VCU’s Dental Hygiene Program minimum IELTS score requirement is 6.0.
Deadline
Complete the application and submit the required transcripts, references, personal statement, and application on or before Feb. 15th. The complete application package must be received by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions in the MCV Campus (VMI Building, 1000 E. Marshall St., Room 322) on or before Feb. 15 (NOT postmarked Feb. 15). Transcripts must include final grades for the fall semester just prior to the application deadline.
Criminal Background Check
As an applicant to the Dental Hygiene Program at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry, all accepted candidates, prior to matriculation, will be required to submit to a criminal background check (CBC). A final decision about matriculation will be made after a review of the applicant's CBC.
Any application that does not meet the above stipulations will not be processed. As part of the selection process, a candidate may be asked to participate in a personal interview process.