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Admissions Information

GENERAL INFORMATION

Philosophy Of Admissions. Admission to all programs at the LSUHSC School of Dentistry (LSUSD) is competitive. The Admissions Committee is charged with the responsibility of reviewing the applicants and accepting those that possess the best credentials. The Committee attempts to select the best possible students based on the criteria set forth below while at the same time seeking a diverse student population. Applicants are selected on a "rolling" basis meaning that acceptances are made throughout the interview process. Generally two groups of eight candidates each are conducted before a committee meeting is held to act on their applications. The earliest date for notification of acceptance is December 1st. Committee meetings continue until the class is filled, generally in early April.

Class Size. The Admissions Committee selects up to 60 students from the applicant pool for the first year class

Residency. At the present time, 51 slots in the class are reserved for residents of Louisiana, 4 for Arkansas residents, and up to 5 residents from other states. For more details of the residence regulations, please click here. After reading the regulations, if you have questions about residency, they should be addressed to the Registrar of the LSU Health Sciences Center (504-568-4829).

ADMISSIONS REQUIREMENTS

Application materials. Application packets for admission may be obtained from the Office of Admissions after September 1st of the year prior to anticipated matriculation. Requests may be made in writing, by telephone, or by email. Contact information is listed below. The materials listed below must be received by the office of admissions by February 28th of the year of anticipated matriculation. Any application that is incomplete by that date will not be considered.

• Completed application. All sections of the application as supplied by the Office of Admissions must be completed by the applicant.
• Application fee. A non-refundable fee of $50.00 must accompany the application. The fee must be paid by check since our business office is unable to accept cash or credit cards.
• Passport-type photograph. A recent color or black-and-white photograph must accompany the application, affixed to the upper left hand corner.
• Official transcripts. Official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended by the applicant must be sent to the office of admissions. These materials should come directly from the registrar of the institution. Transcripts in sealed envelopes signed across the seal are also acceptable in special situations. Generally, hand-carried transcripts are unofficial and will not be accepted.
• Dental Admissions Test Scores. The applicant should arrange to take the DAT well in advance of the anticipated date of entering dental school. It is suggested that this exam be taken over a year prior to this date. Official test scores directly from the American Dental Association must be received by the February 28th deadline. Photocopies, faxes, etc. are not considered official scores and will not be considered.
• Recommendations. Each applicant is required to submit confidential recommendations from college professors who have instructed them in a science course. The applicant has a choice of two methods of supplying the recommendation:

  1. Have two college teachers who have taught you in a science course complete the recommendation form supplied by the Office of Admissions and mail it directly to our office. The teacher himself should mail the form since hand-carried forms delivered by the applicant by definition have lost confidentially.
  2. Have the Pre-professional Committee at the college you attend provide a composite recommendation. Most colleges have such committees and these types of recommendations are actually preferred by the Admissions Committee. You should contact the Pre-dental advisor at your school for information about how to utilize their committee.

Additional recommendations or recommendations from other sources are also welcome. Applicants should feel free to have additional teachers beyond the two (or committees) required attest to their abilities and characteristics. Non-teachers, such as dentists, co-workers, etc are also invited to have input into the admissions process. Generally these recommendations are best done in the form of a letter rather than a recommendation form due to the nature of the questions on the form. While we would prefer not to receive fifty letters, a reasonable number are welcome.

The Office of Admissions attempts to inform applicants of the status of their application. Upon receipt of the application, a letter is sent informing the applicants of its arrival with a checklist of items received and not received by the office. Each time an additional item is received, a postcard will be sent updating this information to the applicant. A postcard indicating "application complete" will be sent when that status is achieved. It is the applicant's responsibility to make sure that all items are received by the February 28th deadline in order to be considered for admission. An applicant will not be considered for an interview or admission until the application is complete. Applications that are not complete by February 28th will not be considered for admission.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Credit Hours. A minimum of 90 semester of academic coursework must be completed at a college or university accredited by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) prior to registration in dental school. Non-academic courses (i.e. bowling, dancing…) or courses for specialized fields of study (i.e. pharmacy, dental hygiene…) are not acceptable.

Degree. Possession of an academic degree is not a requirement per se for admission to LSUSD. The vast majority of students, however, do earn a degree prior to enrollment in dental school. The degree is evidence of a well-rounded education with a focus in a particular major and will greatly enhance the competitiveness of an application. All things being equal, experience has shown that degreed students are much more successful in dental school than non-degreed students.

Major. No particular major field of study in college is required for admission to dental school. A well-rounded educational background with courses in a variety of subjects is desired. Individuals have been accepted to dental school who majored in French, engineering, marketing, etc. Majoring in a science, however, will make an applicant more attractive to the Admissions Committee. The majority of successful applicants to LSUSD have degrees in biology, zoology, microbiology or chemistry.

Specific Required Courses. Prior to registration, a student must complete the following course (with laboratories where appropriate) requirements:

Most successful applicants have completed substantially more courses than the minimum suggested. The vast majority of applicants have degrees in one of the biologic sciences.

Recommended Courses. The following courses have been found to be very valuable for individuals entering dental school and should be taken if al all possible to enhance the competitiveness of an application:

Cell and molecular biology
Histology
Comparative anatomy
Biochemistry
Physiology
Embryology

ADMISSIONS CRITERIA

Three major areas are considered in the admissions process:

Academic ability. LSUSD considers dentistry to be a profession with a solid scientific basis. Students entering this educational program must possess a strong educational base and the ability to comprehend the basic sciences to build on this existing knowledge. The following information is helpful to the Admissions Committee in determining the intellectual ability of the applicants:

Overall GPA. This numeric factor is calculated on the basis of all academic
college work attempted. In other words, if a student makes an F in a course, which is subsequently retaken with a grade of B, both the F and B will be used in calculating the GPA. Generally a GPA of around 3.6 is required for a competitive application.

Science GPA. Many studies have shown that science GPA is one of the best indicators of academic success in dental school. This average is calculated from the grades achieved in biological sciences, chemistry, and physics courses. In recent years a 3.5 science GPA has been necessary for a competitive application.

DAT Scores. The Dental Admissions Test (DAT) is a standardized exam, which acts as the "great equalizer" from different colleges. All schools are the same academically. The DAT enables the Committee to compare our applicants to each other as well as to applicants nationally. The test contains sections on biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, reading comprehension, quantitative analysis, and perceptual ability. The scale for grading is 0-30 with a score of 15 generally representing the 50th percentile. Competitive scores usually must be 18 or above in all categories. The mean academic average for the 2003 entering class was 19.6.

Recommendations. Applicants are required to submit a minimum of two recommendations from science teachers who have instructed them in the classroom. A recommendation from a Pre-professional Committee may be submitted in lieu of individual recommendations. These written statements give the Committee insight into the applicant's characteristics both as a student and as a person.

Manual Dexterity. Possession of appropriate hand-eye coordination is considered essential to a successful application. This information is obtained from the following sources:

DAT. The Perceptual Ability section of the DAT is designed to measure an applicant's ability to appreciate sizes, shapes, angles, three-dimensions, mirror-images, etc. A score of at least 18 is generally required for an interview. The average score on Perceptual Ability for the 2003 entering class was 19.

Chalk Carving Exercise. LSUSD is one of the few schools still utilizing this test that was once part of the DAT. It is administered as part of the interview process and is a timed (35 minutes) exercise. Chalks are scored from 0-10 with a 7 or above generally required to be competitive for admission.

Recommendations. Since teachers know that manual dexterity is an important aspect of dental admissions, it is frequently mentioned in their letters.

Personal Attributes. Since dentistry is regarded as the "ultimate people profession," possession of the ability to communicate and to provide and obtain cooperation from other individuals. Ability to manage stress, possession of high ethical standards are also considered to be desirable qualities. These criteria are accessed by:

Personal Interview. Each applicant deemed by the Committee to be competitive academically is invited to the dental school for an extensive interview process Two interviews are conducted. One is a structured one-on-one session designed to identify personality traits thought desirable in a dentist. The other is a three-on-one unstructured interview.

Recommendations. The confidential recommendation forms are designed to evaluate these traits.

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