Admission
The Case Western Reserve University School of Dentistry is a participant in the American Association of Dental Schools Application Service. An application request card may be secured from either AADSAS, 1625 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Suite 101, Washington, D.C. 20036, or from the School of Dentistry. It is advantageous to initiate the application procedure as early as possible.
Application may be initiated as early as July of the year before intended registration. Applications may be forwarded before the completion of prerequisite course work and the Dental Admission Test. At the time the application is forwarded to AADSAS, the application fee (see financial information) and appropriate letters of recommendation should be forwarded to the School of Dentistry. The applicant should request the Council on Dental Education, American Dental Association, to forward a Dental Admissions Test transcript to the School of Dentistry. When the application is complete, it will be reviewed by the Admissions Committee. If additional material is required, it will be requested after review of the application. The committee reviews applications continuously throughout the year.
All applicants are required to take the Dental Admissions Test, which is conducted twice a year in April and October by the Council on Dental Education of the American Dental Association. The School of Dentistry recommends that the test be taken no later than April of the year before the expected date of application. The scoring of the Dental Admissions Test is on a range of 1 to 30, with the mean score being 15; each integer represents one half of one standard deviation.
All accepted applicants to the School of Dentistry are interviewed by the Admissions Committee before acceptance. Since it is physically impossible for the committee to interview every applicant, interviews are held only at the invitation of the committee.
Matriculation at the School of Dentistry requires a minimum of 60 semester hours or its equivalent of collegiate courses exclusive of physical education and military training. Most applicants have completed three or more years of work toward a bachelor's degree by the time they enter dental school.
Primary consideration is given to applicants with a superior grade point average in both overall course work and prerequisite predental courses. All applicants are expected to have demonstrated competence in the basic prerequisite courses. Students likely to be given first priority are those who have achieved superior grades in the basic sciences and who have taken an adequate sampling of courses in the social sciences and humanities to give them a broad background. Candidates with major areas of concentration in fields other than the basic sciences are given equal consideration with those who have majored in the basic sciences.
In order to permit maximum flexibility in the selection of candidates, the school has established a limited number of specific prerequisite courses. These include a minimum of 12 semester hours of chemistry, of which 6 semester hours should be in organic chemistry, 6 semester hours in biology, 6 semester hours in physics, and 6 semester hours in English. All prerequisite science courses must include laboratory instruction. These minimal requirements permit superior applicants to pursue a variety of subjects in their areas of academic interest. Students who have difficulty in the prerequisite science courses are encouraged to pursue additional work in the sciences.
Pre-dental electives suggested by the Admissions Committee include comparative anatomy, cell biology, genetics, biochemistry, microbiology, and physiology. These courses are helpful in providing a foundation for the basic science courses to be taken in dental school. However, advanced science courses should not be taken to the exclusion of courses in the humanities and social sciences, which are likely to enhance the applicant's social and verbal skills and facilitate effective dealings with patients.
Advanced science courses most commonly taken during the undergraduate years by CWRU dental students include anatomy, biochemistry, calculus, cell biology, genetics, microbiology, and physiology.
The applicant should arrange to have letters of recommendation sent to the Admissions Committee at the School of Dentistry at the time the completed application is forwarded to AADSAS. These should be from the Pre-Dental Advisory Committee at the applicant's college. If no Pre-Dental Advisory Committee exists, letters from two instructors in the basic sciences are acceptable. Additional letters may be requested by the Admissions Committee.
In accordance with the guidelines of the American Association of Dental Schools, applicants will not be advised of acceptance before December 1 of the year preceding their enrollment. Acceptances on or after that date are provisional and are contingent on the applicant's maintenance of an acceptable level of achievement throughout the remainder of the college program. Upon notification of acceptance, the applicant is required to make a deposit of $1,000, due 45 days from the date of acceptance. All deposits apply toward tuition and are non-refundable and non-transferable.
After March 1, the payment of the deposit is required no later than 15 days after notification of acceptance. By July 15, the balance of tuition for the first semester of the first year must be paid.
A student in good standing at another dental school or a graduate of a foreign dental school may be considered for advanced standing at this school. Acceptance is based on the review of credentials, personal interview, and testing where applicable. Transfers for students attending other dental schools can be arranged only if schedules and course content at the other school are similar to those of the Case Western Reserve University School of Dentistry.
The transferring student or foreign trained dentist must submit a written request to the Committee on Admissions of the School of Dentistry indicating a desire for transfer or be considered for advanced standing. Upon receipt, an application will be sent. In addition to the completed application form, the applicant must submit all undergraduate and dental school transcripts, Dental Aptitude Test scores, Dental National Board scores, a letter from the dean of the school of current attendance stating that the applicant is in good standing, or in the case of a foreign graduate, a letter from the dean of the school attended stating that the student was graduated and at what rank, and other information deemed appropriate by the Committee. The fee for application to advanced standing is $55 and must accompany the submitted application.
If the Committee decides that a transfer or advanced placement is feasible, the applicant may be required to pass an oral examination in the biological sciences and a laboratory, "bench test" examination in the clinical sciences. All travel and lodging costs are borne by the applicant. An additional fee of $150 is charged for those who are required to take a "bench test" and is due at the time of the test.
All graduate and residency programs are accredited by the Commission of Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association and are board-eligible programs for the respective specialty boards. The programs in endodontics, orthodontics, oral medicine and periodontics are master's degree programs with a certificate granted upon completion of the degree requirements. The residency program in advanced education in general dentistry is a certificate-only program. The residency program in pediatric dentistry is a certificate program with an option to pursue a master's degree. The residency program in oral surgery is a joint program with the School of Medicine leading to the M.D. degree and certificate in oral surgery. A certificate-only program in oral surgery may be available at the discretion of the department.
The School of Dentistry, in cooperation with other institutions, offers programs of study in advanced education in general dentistry, endodontics, oral medicine, pediatric dentistry, periodontics, orthodontics, and oral surgery. Entry requirements vary and are determined by the program directors and faculty of each program who select applicants for admission. Program length, stipends offered and program requirements vary by program. Those interested in obtaining program information are advised to contact the program director. Requests for application materials should be directed to the Office of Graduate Studies of the School of Dentistry.
Admission to full standing in a clinical graduate program requires that the applicant has earned a D.D.S. or equivalent degree, generally with at least a B average in course work and/or a rank in the upper third of his or her graduating class, at an institution of acceptable academic caliber. An applicant admitted to full standing may be required to remedy certain deficiencies in past training as part of the graduate study program, as prescribed by the department in which the student is enrolling.
Alternatively, the department may grant admission to provisional standing to an applicant who does not meet the requirements for full standing. A graduate student admitted to provisional standing is expected to meet requirements for academic performance set forth by the department and by the Office of Graduate Studies of the School of Dentistry. Upon completion of nine semester hours of course work, or at the end of two semesters of study, the student's record is reviewed. If the performance requirements set forth have been satisfied, the student is granted full standing; otherwise the student is separated from further graduate study in the department.
Applicants selected for residency programs in Advanced Education in General Dentistry, Oral Surgery or Pediatric Dentistry must be eligible for licensure or intern certificate issued by the State of Ohio, and must be a graduate of a dental school accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association. A second, university-based program in pediatric dentistry is available to graduates of foreign dental schools without regard to eligibility for Ohio licensure. Foreign applicants are accepted into the programs offered by the Departments of Endodontics, Orthodontics, and Periodontics.
See "Academic Policies" section of the General Bulletin.
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