Pre-Dental Advising

DAT-Related Courses
Before you apply to dental school, you must complete coursework required for success on the DAT. The DAT is split between two main sections as described below:

Survey of Natural Sciences (100 items)
- Biology (40 items)
- General Chemistry (30 items)
- Organic Chemistry (30 items)

Perceptual Ability (90 items)
- 3D manipulation, angles, spatial relationships

Reading Comprehension (50 items)

Quantitative Reasoning (40 items)
- Algebra, Data Analysis, Interpretation, Probability, Statistics
- Applied Mathematics (word problems)

The following set of courses covers the content required for the MCAT. Linked lecture and lab courses are designated as lecture/lab:

Biology (2 courses with associated labs)
- BIOL 203/BIO 203L and,
- BIOL 204/BIOL 204L

Chemistry (4 courses with associated labs):
- CHEM 103/CHEM 103L and,
- CHEM 208/254
- CHEM 206/206L and,
- CHEM 209/253 or CHEM 207/CHEM 253

* Please note that these are the required courses for the DAT exam. While not directly required for the exam, courses in biochemistry, genetics, and physiology may help in DAT preparation.

Dental School Prerequisite Courses
Many dental schools have individual requirements for admission in addition to those courses covered on the DAT. Most dental schools require:

Two semesters of English:
- COLL 150 will usually count as 1 English course
- An additional English course in literature or composition

At least two semesters of Math:
- MATH 111, MATH 131, MATH 112, MATH 132 (calculus)
- MATH 106, PSYC 301, BIOL 327, or HHP 300 (statistics)

Two semesters of Physics:
- PHYS 101/PHYS 101L
- PHYS 102/PHYS 102L

In addition to these core courses, many dental schools may also require:
- Two semesters of Anatomy and Physiology
- Upper Level Biology/Chemistry
- Microbiology (with lab), genetics (with lab), biochemistry

* Note that many dental schools require a grade of at least a “C” in core courses. All core courses must be taken for a grade and not P/F.