Frequently Asked Questions

Yes! While the majority of our applicants and accepted students did major in a science, we have accepted applicants who majored in business, liberal arts, and even fine arts programs. For non-science majors, we strongly recommend that you take upper-level science courses in addition the pre-reqs or that you enroll in a pre-dental post-bac program before applying to our program.

Yes! But you might want to consider enrolling in a master’s program in the biomedical sciences to strengthen your qualifications as a first step. This is a good way to demonstrate that you are capable of succeeding in an intensive graduate program, and it also will give the Admissions Committee recent evidence of your academic skills and accomplishments they can use to assess your potential. Boston University Medical School Division of Graduate Medical Science offers an MS in Oral Health Sciences; learn more at bumc.bu.edu/gms/ohs.

We seat 115 students in the DMD entering class.

No, but you must complete all prerequisite courses and earn a bachelor’s degree before starting the DMD program. GSDM requires you to have successfully completed a set of science prerequisites.

Boston University is a private institution, so state of residence does not have a bearing on your eligibility.

Yes, all students who have earned bachelor’s degree at an accredited U.S. or Canadian college/university are eligible to enroll.

Yes, GSDM offers financial awards that are offered to select students. Decisions are made by the Admissions Committee and awards are communicated at the time of acceptance; there is no additional application necessary.

The BU Medical Campus Office of Housing Resources helps students find housing in the Boston area.

As the dental school is a working clinical facility, we are not able to give tours to prospective students. We do arrange “visit days” for selected applicants during the admissions cycle. There are also various tour and “day in the life” videos available on our YouTube channel.

Apply early! Applicants who submit and complete their applications in July and August have a greater chance for an interview invitation than later applicants.

No, we do not. All courses on your transcript must have a letter grade. If your only option for a particular course was a Pass/Fail grade, then you must provide documentation that this was the case.

We require all science courses and labs to be taken in person, but do accept online coursework for some non-science courses. However, we strongly encourage you to limit the amount of non-science coursework done online.

The admission committee here at GSDM does not have a specific number of hours required for dental shadowing. That being said, we do expect competitive applicants to have experience with a general dentist before applying to the DMD program. While it may be traditional shadowing, we will also accept paid word as well as volunteer work done in dental setting. Please note that we do not accept online or virtual experience, only in-person dental experience is accepted.

No we do not.  If you received AP credit for a pre-req course, you will need to make up the credit by taking a course in the same subject.

Applicants are encouraged to apply to the DMD Advanced Standing Program early as possible in the cycle. While all completed applications submitted by the October 31st deadline will be considered, we recommend that you apply as soon as you have completed your application. While an applicant can submit a CAAPID application prior to fulfilling a requirement such as the NBDE, TOEFL, or letters of evaluation, a file will not be considered until it is complete.

GSDM will start issuing Interview invitations in mid-summer, with interviews taking place between late summer until February. Please keep in mind the Admissions Committee may review applications multiple times.

Interviews begin in late June, and continue through January or February. Some interviews may take place outside of this period. Interviews are held via Zoom. Interviewees will have later opportunities to speak with current students, and staff from other offices as part of their interview experience.

As the dental school is a working clinical facility, we are not able to give tours to prospective students. Interviewing applicants will have the opportunity to visit the dental school during monthly Showcase days, held between September thru March. Individual in-person appointments and tours cannot be arranged.

If it is not possible to obtain a letter of evaluation from the dean of your dental school, you can substitute it with a recommendation from a faculty or a clinical supervisor. If faculty are not available, you can have dental practitioners who supervise you complete evaluations on your behalf.

Yes. The TOEFL iBT^® Home Edition is accepted. TOEFL Essentials^® is not accepted, nor is MyBest Score^® considered. All applicants are required to take the exam, regardless of U.S. citizenship or U.S. Permanent Resident status.

Your scores must be no older than two years from the day you submit your application.

No. One must have either passed the INBDE or Part 1 and 2 of the NBDE to fulfill the pre-requisite to apply to the DMD Advanced Standing Program.