Students must have earned at least 90 semester credits from an accredited university in the United States. It is not an absolute requirement that students must have completed a bachelor's degree before beginning their dental school career, but only a small percentage of truly outstanding students are admitted without having first completed their undergraduate education. Grades earned in undergraduate classes are an important consideration in the admissions process. Although the required minimum grade point average is only a 2.8 (on a 4.0 scale), successful applicants have an average GPA of about 3.6. There is no required or suggested undergraduate major for applicants. However, students must have completed one year of English, one semester of physics, two semesters of biology, and four semesters of chemistry (including general, inorganic, organic, and biochemistry).
All applicants are required to take the Dental Application Test (DAT). The DAT must be taken within two-and-a-half years of applying, and students can take the test a maximum of three times if they wish to improve their score. The computerized test is offered at locations throughout the United States, including nine testing sites in the state of Georgia, and takes about five hours to complete. The DAT tests students' abilities in four areas-quantitative (mathematical) reasoning, reading comprehension, perceptual ability, and science knowledge. The Dental School at the MCG does not have a minimum required score for the DAT, but it recommends a student retake the exam if he scores lower than 16 (out of 30) on any portion.
Applicants who were born outside of the United States and whose first language is not English are also required to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The TOEFL tests students' skills in reading, writing, speaking, and comprehending academic English and takes approximately four hours. Like the DAT, the TOEFL is a computerized exam available at test centers worldwide, including 12 sites in Georgia (Reference 4). Applicants who need to take the TOEFL will want to register for the test as soon as possible, as test dates often fill up very quickly and they will want to allow plenty of time for their score report to be sent to MCG before the application deadline. In order to be admitted to the dental school, students must have a minimum score of at 100, with a score of at least 26 on the speaking portion of the test (Reference 1).
Each applicant must submit three letters of recommendation. One must come from a faculty member at the student's current college and another must come from a dentist. The third letter can come from a person of the student's choice, such as another dentist, professor, academic adviser or someone else who knows the student well. Following an initial reading of the applications, the admissions committee will select a certain number of applicants for an interview. Students who are invited to interview will come to the MCG campus in Augusta to meet one-on-one with two dental faculty members and discuss their academic background, personal goals and interest in the field of dentistry.