Dental Schools in Texas

Texas A&M College of Dentistry requires a minimum of ninety semester hours (or 134 quarter hours) from a regionally-accredited U.S. institution; however, most students complete a degree before beginning the program. All prerequisite courses must be completed at the undergraduate level. Graduate courses do not satisfy the 90-hour requirement or the required coursework. Foreign coursework will not count towards meeting any of the prerequisites, even if transfer credit has been given for them by a US or Canadian school.

The Admissions Committee encourages applicants to plan to complete most if not all science coursework in-person in a regular classroom setting. A grade of "C" or better is required for all required courses. Courses taken Pass/Fail or Credit/No Credit will not count towards meeting the requirement. Advanced placement credit is accepted only if the college/university granting the credit lists the specific course(s) and number of units granted per course on an official transcript. Lump sum credit is not accepted.

An applicant must include the required hours:

Six semester hours of English
Three semester hours of Statistics (from Math or Statistics Department)
Eight semester hours of General Chemistry
Eight semester hours of Organic Chemistry
Eight semester hours of Physics
Three semester hours of Biochemistry
Eighteen semester hours of Biology -- (minimum) 15 hours of lecture and 3 hours of formal laboratory. NOTE: The Biology hours must include the following courses designated for science majors. This designation refers to the course itself, not the applicant’s major. Courses designed for non-science majors or health-career majors (such as nursing, pharmacy, allied health sciences, etc.) will not satisfy the required coursework. All required courses must be applicable toward a traditional science degree.
Biology hours must include:
Anatomy with Lab - 4 semester hours
Physiology - 3 semester hours
Microbiology - 3 semester hours

*Note: The Anatomy and Physiology requirements can be satisfied by either individual courses or the combined A&P 1 and A&P 2 (with both labs) for science majors. Predental students who take the individual courses of Anatomy and Physiology (3000 level or higher) will be better prepared and therefore more competitive as an applicant; however, the approved, combined Anatomy & Physiology 1 & 2 courses will meet the requirement.

To help verify that you are taking approved science major's courses, please refer to the Texas Medical and Dental Schools Application Service (TMDSAS) website. They have a Prescribed Course Listing by University of approved courses https://www.tmdsas.com/course-listings/index.html.

Applicants may apply while completing their prerequisite courses. However, no prerequisite courses should be planned for Summer Session 2 of the year of entry, as this conflicts with the program start date.

Histology, Neuroscience, Cellular and Molecular Biology, Immunology and Biochemistry II are suggested to strengthen the student's science background.

Although we do not require a specific major, the majority of successful applicants have majored in the Biological or Biomedical Sciences. Taking more than the minimum number of biology courses and performing well in them will make the applicant better prepared and therefore, more successful in gaining admission.

Texas Residency Preference: Strong preference is given to legal residents of Texas. Under Texas law, no more than 10% of the entering dental class can be made up of non-Texas residents. Determining residency for the applicant pool is different than determining residency for tuition purposes.

Texas residency, for the purpose of admissions, is determined by TMDSAS.