UofT Dental School Requirements

The UofT Dentistry program is one of ten dental programs in Canada and is considered the second-best dental school in Canada.

In 2022, the UofT dental school acceptance rate was 14%. Of the 675 undergraduate students that applied, only 96 were admitted into the program. The UofT dental school requirements and admission statistics are categorized here in the priority of what an applicant must submit to be considered:

Academic

  1. Pre-requisite courses
  2. Minimum number of years of undergraduate study required
  3. GPA

Non-Academic 

  1. Dentistry Admission Test (DAT)
  2. CASPer Test
  3. Personal Statement/ Essays
  4. Interview

UofT Dental School Requirements: Prerequisite Courses

All students applying to UofT Dentistry must have completed at least 3 years of undergraduate study. They must include the following courses: 

Prerequisite CourseRequiredLab RequiredCredits Required
Life Sciences *X2 full or 4 half courses 
General BiochemistryX1 full or 2 half courses
PhysiologyX1 full or 2 half courses
Humanities or Social SciencesX1 full or 2 half courses
* “Life Science” as defined by UofT Dentistry is a biology-based course such as anatomy, biochemistry, biology, botany, genetics, immunology, microbiology, molecular genetics/biology, neuroscience, nutritional sciences, pharmacology, toxicology, physiology, zoology; Chemistry and Physics are not considered Life Sciences because they are not biology-based

University of Toronto Dentistry Requirements: GPA Calculation and Requirements

Minimum GPA to ApplyAverage GPA of accepted applicantsLowest GPA Admitted
3.03.943.85

When calculating your GPA the worst academic year will be dropped from the calculation of an applicant’s cumulative grade point average provided that (a) the applicant has completed four or more years of university education by May 31st of the proposed year of entry, and (b) the year with the lowest grades is not the most recent year of study. 

Courses taken in the academic year, during the application process, will not be included in the calculation of the applicant’s cumulative GPA.

You are allowed up to 1 full-course equivalent which can be a credit without a grade; eg. “Pass” credit.

All university courses taken are used in the calculation of the admission GPA, except for what is stated above.

UofT Dentistry Requirements: Dental Aptitude Test (DAT) and CASPer 

DAT and CASPer Overview:

CASPer RequiredDAT RequiredU.S. DAT AcceptedDAT Scores Considered
Highest in past 24 months

DAT Admission Score Statistics:

Mean Academic Average ScoreMinimum Academic Average Score Given AdmissionMean Perceptual Ability TestMinimum Perceptual Ability Score Given Admission
22.018.021.016.0

CASPer Test: The Canadian Professional Health Sciences test (CSP-10201) must be taken between August – November in the year of application submission. Although UofT has not publically stated this, based on the stats of previous applicants, it is believed that the CASPer is used as a cutoff where applicants in the lower quartiles get screened out.

Dental Aptitude Test: The DAT must be taken within 24 months of the application deadline of Nov.1. Your Survey of Natural Sciences (SNS), Perceptual Ability Test (PAT), and Reading Comprehension Test (RCT) will be used by the admission team. If an applicant has completed the DAT more than once in the 24-month window your highest overall score will be used when calculations are made. The Manual Dexterity (MDT) section of the DAT is no longer required by this university.

Students looking to test their knowledge in preparation for the DAT can click on this link to access our free practice tests for both the Canadian DAT and American DAT. For those looking for DAT prep courses, we recommend those offered by the Princeton Review. They are a reputable long-standing company that offers a variety of different course options to meet individual needs.

Autobiographical Sketch and Personal Statements:

UofT Dental school applicants are required to complete an autobiographical sketch and personal statement. It includes two sections:

  1. Max. 2 pages on why you are pursuing a career in dentistry
  2. Max. 1 page on your greatest accomplishment and the reasons you chose it

University of Toronto Dental School Interview:

MandatoryBy InvitationNumber of Applicants InvitedEntering Class Size
18096

Shortlisted candidates will be required to partake in a traditional interview with the UofT admissions team. The interview process for the UofT Dental School is as follows:

  1. Two faculty members will conduct a 30-minute interview. 
  2. The Faculty Registrar will outline the admission decision process.
  3. Current dental students will do a 30-minute tour of the dental school.
  4. Question and Answer session with senior dental students and the Dean.

Those looking for practice can check our posts on both MMI Practice Questions and Standard Interview Practice Questions here.

UofT Dentistry Offers of Admission Decision:

University of Toronto’s offers for admission for dental school will be based upon a mix of academic achievement, DAT scores, CASPer test scores, essays and results of the interview process. 

UofT does not disclose the information about how each of the admission requirements are combined in the decision making process.

The Admission Committee does take all of the above-mentioned requirements into consideration when making their final decision.

Requirements for other Dental Schools in Canada:

If you would like an in-depth analysis of the dental school requirements for other dental schools in Canada click on the links below:

We also have a comprehensive comparison of all 10 dental school requirements in Canada.

This Post Has 47 Comments

  1. Gigi

    Can students put one “PASS” notation in one of the course requirements ( i.e one half-year course of philosophy, for humanites)?

    1. Master Student

      Yes, you are allowed up to 1 full-course equivalent which can be a credit without a grade. If your official transcript says that you passed the course it will count! Best of luck

  2. Fate

    Is kin a suitable degree considering the physical movements that might affect the hands tangibility?

    1. Master Student

      Hi Fate! If you are asking if a kin degree is suitable as an undergrad degree before applying for dental school we cannot say with certainty if it is or isn’t. This is because this is largely dependent on the courses offered in the degree. Your university will outline all the courses and electives available for your degree. If these courses meet the requirements of the UofT dental school then this will work! As long as you meet the courses in the above list it will not matter what degree you get.

  3. June

    Hi,

    If I audit a course as a course overload, does that count towards the credit without grade?

    Thanks for all this information! 🙂

    1. Master Student

      No this does not count since auditing a course does not give you a credit. It is as if you never took the course.

  4. JP

    How essential is having done research from an applicant’s competitive standpoint in being accepted to UofT. I have a considerable amount of shadowing and EC’s participation, however no research experience. Will this be debilitating with respect to the application process and for the potential chance of receiving an offer of admission?

    1. Master Student

      Hi JP! We cannot answer this definitely as we do not personally oversee the application process. That being said there have been many students who have gotten into dental school without research experience. There is no clear-cut list of extracurricular activities or lack of extracurricular activities that will assure/debilitate your entry into the school. Reviewers will take a holistic view of all applicants that meet the minimum criteria for application.

  5. Lilly

    I wann know more on dentistry requirements and tuition fees

      1. keeran

        Hi! I noticed you have the “Minimum Academic Average Score Given Admission” and “Minimum PAT Score Given Admission”. Do you mind sharing where this information is from as I couldnt it on the Uoft site

        1. Master Student

          Hi Keeran. Information like this is not published by individual universities but can usually be found in documents published by the American Dental Education Association.

  6. sumaya

    if I drop a course will it negatively reflect on my applications for all dental Schools? if not all which ones?

  7. fairy

    Is there a requirement that applicants carry a full course load? Can someone take 4 courses one semester and 5 courses the next semester without being looked down on by dental schools?

  8. Tooth Fairy

    Hi,

    Can you provide a link to where it says you are allowed up to 1 full-course equivalent which can be a credit without a grade? I am thinking of converting one of my grades last term to a credit but I couldn’t find this information on their website.

    Thanks!

    1. Master Student

      Thanks for your question! The information regarding pass/fail courses was provided to the MasterStudent team via email correspondence with the UofT admissions team during the 2020 application cycle. Although we are confident that this will continue to be the case for upcoming cycles, we recommend emailing admissions@dentistry.utoronto.ca if you want to confirm that this is still the case! All the best.

      1. j

        can it be one of the prerequisite courses that i am taking? like i need 1.0 biochem courses and have already completed 0.5, can i take the other 0.5 and make it a discovery credit?

  9. Mary

    Hi, I completed first year at a university and I got passing grades which is obviously not good. After I transferred to another university but due to my circumstances they put me as first year in my new university and I had to start all over + repeat the courses I took at my old university. If I pursue dentistry in the future does my old school count or no? (it says on my transcript that I am a transfer student but I started all over)

    1. Master Student

      Hi Mary. The University of Toronto dental school requires an official transcript from all universities attended and the grades from each one. As far as we are aware, both your universities will count towards your application.

  10. Mary

    Hi, If I failed a course during the 3 years that are counted for and I retook the course and did good on it (my GPA is good as per the requirements). Does this have an impact on me being able to go to dentistry?

  11. Kev

    Hi, I am interested in the dental school at U of T. But I heard that it is super complicated to bump up the GPA that the dental school asked for throughout the period of undergraduate schooling at U of T. Is that true and how to reach a high GPA at U of T? Thanks

  12. Luna

    Hi! If I took one full year course called “Anatomy and Physiology for Human Health”, could that course count as either a physiology or life science course?

  13. Azin

    Does UofT DDS program require full course load for the three years of university education that they want?
    Also, do they calculate GPA from 5 courses per semester or 30 credits per year?

  14. Isaac

    Hi, what does a full year course mean? Does that mean 1 full semester or something more?
    Thanks!
    Isaac

    1. Master Student

      A full year course is a 2 semesters long

  15. urja

    Can a 3 yrs advance diploma be considered as undergraduate course or one should again take a undergraduate course even after having 3yrs advance diploma completed ?

  16. lilian

    in your opinion how does transferring universities looked upon in admission of dental schools in Canada?

    1. Master Student

      Most likely it won’t matter. In the eyes of Canadian Professional Schools, all Universities are essentially treated equally in terms of courses and programs. And there are many reasons why someone may want to transfer that are completely unrelated to their academic abilities.

  17. mey

    Does the 1 full-course equivalent P/F rule apply to only allowing 1.0 P/F per year? Or is it 1.0 P/F for the entirety of your university career?

  18. Lindsay

    Hi, I’m from a school in the United States. Do you know how the GPA conversion works? Also, is the 3.94 average admitted GPA after being converted by the OMSAS grading scale? Thanks

    1. Master Student

      Hi Lindsay! 3.94 is the GPA admitted average taken from all courses, with exceptions for 4th-year students as described above. OMSAS is for Ontario Medical Schools and is not applicable in this case.

  19. sasha

    Hi, do you know if you need to have completed the science prereqs during ur undergrad degree? or can you graduate and finish the courses after and then apply?

    1. Nina

      Hi,

      I’m not someone who’s necessarily credible to answer this question but based on my research and previous understanding, I’m decently confident that as long as you fulfill the prerequisite requirements before applying, you should be fine. In other words, no, it doesn’t matter if you complete the courses during your undergrad or after you graduate. Hope this might help.

      Regards,
      Nina

    2. Sam

      Hello Sasha,
      As long as you complete the requisites before May of the year you’re applying you will be good to go!

  20. Blair

    “You are allowed up to 1 full-course equivalent which can be a credit without a grade; eg. “Pass” credit.” Does this mean I can attribute 1-full course to just a “pass” and not have it be reduced to the grade I received? Like if I do poorly in one of my classes, I can label it as just a “pass”?

  21. Kane

    Hi, so if you were going into dentistry, as an undergraduate student, what major would you have to sign up for at UofT and what course?

    1. Master Student

      Hi Kane! It doesn’t matter which major you are in! All that matters is that you take the courses listed in the requirements section at the top of this blog post!

  22. Anne

    Hi. I’m grade 12 and I got in into Uoft and Dal. I want to go to UofT Dental School after undergrad. I heard that getting high gpa in Uoft is really challenging. Should I just go to Dal?

    1. Master Student

      GPA is king. Go wherever you think you can get the highest GPA

  23. Cynthia

    Do I need to send my elementary school report cards to uoft dentistry program? Yes or no?

  24. Yushin

    Are reference letters required?

    1. Master Student

      No, reference letters are not required.

  25. Sophia

    I have a 3.99 gpa but I’m struggling a lot with my PAT. do you think my gpa will compensate for a low PAT?

    1. Master Student

      Depends on how low your PAT is but certainly!

  26. Glenn

    Hi , what is the requirement score in grade 12 to be eligible for dentistry and how many years Undergrade to be eligible for dentistry , does good score in grade 12 matter as credit?

    1. Master Student

      Grade 12 will not count. You need a minimum of 3 years undergrad to get into uoft

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