The University of Alabama at Birmingham Dentistry program is one of 66 dental programs in the United States of America. The UAB dental school requirements are categorized here in the priority of what an applicant must submit to be considered:
Academic
- Pre-requisite courses
- Minimum number of years of undergraduate study required
- GPA
Non-Academic
- Dentistry Admission Test (DAT)
- Dental Shadowing
- Letter of References
- Interview
UAB Dental School Requirements: Prerequisite Courses
All students applying to UAB Dentistry must have completed at least a minimum of 3 academic years of undergraduate study (90 semester hours or 120 quarter hours). They must include the following courses:
| Prerequisite Course | Required | Lab Required | Credits (Semester/Quarter) |
| Biology | ✓ | X | 12/8 |
| General Chemistry | ✓ | ✓ | 8/12 |
| Organic Chemistry | ✓ | ✓ | 8/12 |
| Physics | ✓ | ✓ | 8/12 |
| Mathematics | ✓ | X | 6/9 |
| Non-Science Courses | ✓ | X | 30/45 |
UAB Dentistry Requirements: GPA Calculation and Requirements
| Minimum GPA to Apply | Average GPA of accepted applicants | Lowest GPA Admitted |
| N/A | 3.78 | 3.37 |
The UAB will honour online courses and pass/fail courses due to the COVID-19 changes in instruction and grading.
All university courses taken are used in the calculation of the admission GPA.
As long as Advance Placement (AP) credits are on your university transcript they can be counted towards prerequisites.
UAB Dentistry Requirements: Dental Aptitude Test (DAT) and Shadowing
DAT and Shadowing Overview:
100 Hours of Dental Shadowing are recommended, there are no requirements for shadowing hours. Excessive numbers of shadowing hours do not make an applicant competitive. Shadowing/volunteer hours will be looked at on a case-by-case basis and will focus on consistency of experience rather than accumulation of hours.
Community service experiences are also expected, along with a letter of recommendation from a community service provider.
DAT Admission Score Statistics:
| Mean Academic Average Score | Minimum AA Score Given Admission | Mean Perceptual Ability Test | Minimum PAT Score Given Admission | Mean Total Science | Minimum Total Science Score Given Admission |
| 21.6 | 19.0 | 20.3 | 18.0 | 21.1 | 18.0 |
Dental Aptitude Test: The DAT must be taken within 3 years of the application deadline. All sections including the Survey of Natural Sciences (SNS), Perceptual Ability Test (PAT), Reading Comprehension Test (RCT), and Quantitative Reasoning (QR) will be used by the admission team. If an applicant has completed the DAT more than once in the 3-year window the overall average score will be used when calculations are made.
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.
Letter of References
UAB Dental school requires a letter of reference from a Pre-Health Committee or Advisor. They also indicate that one reference letter from a dentist that you have shadowed is preferred, although not mandatory.
For applicants who do not have a system for getting references from an Advisor or for a student who has been out of school for a time, the UAB will accept a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 3 letters from their instructors.
University of Alabama at Birmingham Dental School Interview:
| Mandatory | By Invitation | Number of Applicants Invited | Entering Class Size |
| ✓ | ✓ | N/A | 84 |
Shortlisted candidates will be required to partake in an interview with the UAB admissions team. The interview process for the UAB Dental School is unknown.
UAB Dentistry Offers of Admission Decision:
The University of Alabama at Birmingham’s offers for admission for dental school will be based upon a mix of academic achievement, DAT scores, shadowing hours, reference letters, and results of the interview process.
UAB does not disclose information about how each of the admission requirements is 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 America:
If you would like an in-depth analysis of the dental school requirements for other dental schools in the United States of America click on this link.