Applying to Dental School
Tufts has a small but active group of predental students. Most of these students get involved with our Predent Society and some apply as sophomores through the Early Assurance Program to our own Tufts University School of Dental Medicine.
This is your official place to get accurate information, advice and support in preparing the strongest dental application possible: start planning.
The regular application process for dental school begins in a given spring for matriculation into dental school about 18 months later the following September. The central application for applying to dental school is ADEA AADSAS® (ADEA Associated American Dental Education Schools Application Service) . The application typically opens in early May and can be submitted starting late May or early June for that application cycle. Applicants select the dental schools to which they want it sent. The AADSAS website has lots of helpful information including, among other things, additional materials required by an individual school, the prerequisites for each school, etc. All students seeking admission to Tufts dental school, including those admitted through the EAP, must complete and submit an AADSAS.
Applicants should research participating dental schools through the 2019-20 ADEA Official Guide to Dental Schools or by subscribing to the ADEA Dental School Explorer, an online resource with information about 76 dental schools in the US and Canada.
The two other components of the application process are the DAT and the letters of recommendation. The DAT tests your knowledge of biology, chemistry and organic chemistry, includes both reading and quantitative sections, and also includes a unique section on Perceptual Ability. It is administered very frequently throughout the year and you can see your results immediately. Most applicants take their DATs in spring or early summer prior to submitting their AADSAS.
Most dental schools appreciate receiving a composite committee letter of recommendation from an applicant’s home institution. Tufts students and alums are encouraged to register with the HPRC (Health Professions Recommendation Committee) and go through our process in support of your candidacy. The deadline to register is April 1 of each cycle, and applicants should plan on registering in March. Students in the EAP are also strongly encouraged to go through the committee process.
All dental schools will invite for interview those applicants in whom they are interested. Interviews typically begin in September and go through the winter. Decisions are sent out beginning December 1.