Purpose
The Pre-Dentistry program provides guidance on courses, experiential activities, and competencies for students that are preparing to be competitive applicants to Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) or Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) after completing their Bachelor's degree at James Madison University. The Pre-Dentistry program is a minor that students complete as part of their baccalaureate degree.
Choosing a Major
Pre-dental students typically obtain a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) or Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree while completing the requirements for admission to dental school. Dental schools do not require or prefer a particular undergraduate major, but rather welcome students whose intellectual curiosity leads them to a wide variety of disciplines. Dental schools recognize the importance of a strong foundation in the natural sciences - biology, chemistry, physics - as well as behavioral sciences and statistics. Thus, applicants must complete course requirements and demonstrate proficiency in the sciences as evidenced by the science GPA, overall GPA, and scores on the DAT.
Declaration and Progression Standards
As a Pre-Dentistry student, you will be subect to performance reviews twice a year once you have completed 13 or more credit hours in biology, chemistry, physics, and/or math (BCPM) courses at James Madison University. You must achieve and maintain a BCPM G.P.A. of ≥ 2.90 to retain the Pre-Dentistry declaration. Since dental schools consider all course attempts during the admissions process, the G.P.A. calculations for the Pre-Dentistry Program will include all course attempts. If your academic performance standards fall below a 2.90 BCPM G.P.A., you are at very high risk of not being admitted to dental school. Therefore, if you are unable to maintain a BCPM G.P.A. of 2.90 or above, then your Pre-Dentistry Program will be administratively dropped.
Pre-Dentistry Coursework
Pre-Professional Health Advising has developed requirements for the Pre-Dentistry Program based on the the pre-requisite courses of 16 dental schools in the District of Columbia and 10 states (CT, GA, MA, MD, NC, NY, OH, PA, SC, and VA). Review of pre-requisite coursework is completed annually. Students are encouraged to research individual dental schools' list of pre-requisites to assure completion of all pre-requisite coursework. Because these courses are pre-requisites to dental programs, dental school admissions committees will use your academic success in these courses as a metric of your ability to achieve success in dental school.
If you have credit for any of the following courses by earning Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), Cambridge International Exam (CIE), community college credit, or departmental test credit, please read the Non-JMU Coursework for Pre-Requisite Coursework.
To review required coursework for the Pre-Dentistry minor, follow this link to the JMU Undergraduate Catalog.