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.

We don’t require a specific number of hours, but we do expect competitive applicants to have some in-person shadowing experience with a general dentist.

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 Admission Scholarships are offered to select students. Decisions are made by the Admissions Committee and scholarship 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.