The guidelines listed below are for students who hope to attend graduate school in dentistry. Admissions requirements are set by the professional school and may vary somewhat from one institution to another. Students are responsible for being aware of the requirements for the school(s) they hope to attend.

Dental schools in general typically require at least two years of chemistry, at least one year of biology and one year of physics. One year of college English is also usually required. The coursework needed should be scheduled to ensure that the student will have completed all the relevant material prior to taking the Dental Admission Test (DAT) at the end of the student's junior year. All courses required for admission to the professional school must have grades: No pass/no credit grades will be accepted.

The initial chemistry courses are CH 161 and 181 (General Chemistry I and II), which have a prerequisite of one year of high-school chemistry.

Most dental schools require a year of physics. At Whitworth, calculus is a prerequisite for physics and should be begun as soon as possible. Ideally, MA 171 (Calculus I) should be taken in the fall of the freshman year and MA 172 (Calculus II) in the spring of the freshman year.

The year of biology is met by the beginning biology sequence that involves taking BI 150 and 152 (both half-semester courses) fall semester, and BI 153 and 154 in the spring.

The recommended science and math coursework for the first two years is as follows:

Some schools have additional requirements. For example, the University of Washington also requires a course in biochemistry (CH 401), as well as Medical Microbiology (BI 203) or Advanced Microbiology (BI 347).

Conversation between the student and his/her pre-med advisor should begin as early as possible in the student's academic career.

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