To meet the legal requirements of state licensing boards and to gain the necessary background for the study of dentistry, the following minimum educational requirements for admission to the School of Dentistry must be fulfilled:
- Graduation from an accredited four-year high school.
- College credits covering a minimum of two years of study in an accredited college of arts and sciences. While a minimum of 64 semester hours (96 quarter hours) from an accredited liberal arts college is required, most accepted candidates will have completed 120 semester hours (180 quarter hours). The minimum of 64 semester (96 quarter hours) must be obtained exclusive of credit in military science, physical education, and nonacademic courses. The 64 semester hours must include the following specific subjects and credit:
Course List Code Title Credits Biology 6 Chemistry, inorganic 8 Chemistry, organic 6 English 6 Physics 6
The hours listed are suggested as most nearly conforming to a year’s work in most colleges. The governing principle shall be that the credit presented in each subject shall represent a full academic year’s course in an accredited college of arts and sciences.
The required hours and subjects must be completed by the end of the spring term preceding the fall in which the applicant wishes to enter the School of Dentistry. Advanced Placement (AP) credit will not be accepted as a replacement for any semester hour requirements in biology, inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, English and physics.
The following electives are suggested for the remainder of the required sixty-four semester hours: Modern languages, mathematics, history, social science, philosophy, speech, economics, comparative anatomy, psychology and computer utilization. The majority of applicants enrolling in the School of Dentistry have completed a Bachelor’s degree program.
Dental Admission Test
All applicants are required to take the Dental Admission Test (DAT) prepared and administered by the Council on Dental Education of the American Dental Association in cooperation with the American Dental Education Association. Applicants to Creighton University School of Dentistry should arrange to take the test preferably by September of their last pre-dental year. The Dental Admission Test is a computerized examination taken by appointment at Prometric Candidate Contact Centers which are located throughout the United States. An information booklet and test application form are available from the Dental Admissions Office, Creighton University.
Recommendations
Each applicant must have three recommendation letters, two by instructors in science and one by an instructor in a non-science department, testifying to character and apparent fitness for the profession of dentistry. If an applicant’s college has a recommending committee, its recommendation is preferred to the three individual recommendations.
Physical Fitness
Before matriculation, accepted applicants are required to submit to the Student Health Service a Confidential Health Record.
Technical Standards
Accepted applicants to Creighton University School of Dentistry must be able to demonstrate the ability to perform the skills and abilities specified in the School's technical standards with or without reasonable accommodation consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Applicants must be able to perform the physical and intellectual functions, and possess the communication skills necessary to the performance of dentistry.
Candidates for the D.D.S. degree will be assessed on a regular basis according to the academic standards and the technical standards of the School of Dentistry on their abilities to meet the requirements of the curriculum.
Selection
Selection of all students is based upon both objective and subjective evaluation. Objective criteria include GPA, DAT scores, and science grades are given primary consideration. Other factors that will be considered will include, but not limited to:
- evidence of predisposition to provide dental health care in underserved areas;
- evidence of participation in worthwhile community activities;
- recommendation from teachers, known alumni, and other members of the profession;
- quality of pre-professional educational program;
- residence in states having educational compact agreements with the School; and
- evidence of good moral character, motivation, and emotional and intellectual maturity; and
- any other personal background information the applicant chooses to submit to assist the admissions committee in giving each application holistic consideration. Such personal background factors might include, but are not limited to:
- attributes one believes will enhance the campus community
- public service
- overcoming hardships or economic or educational disadvantages
- first generation college student
- having lived in a foreign country or spoken a language other than English at home or language fluency.
This list is not exhaustive and none of these factors will be considered in isolation. Furthermore, no factor will result in the admission of an academically unqualified applicant.
Applicant Response To Acceptance
An enrollment reservation deposit is required of an accepted applicant to reserve a place in the class to which admission has been offered. The total deposit is $800. It is payable as follows:
- An initial (first) deposit of $500 made within the following period of time after the date of the letter of initial conditional acceptance:
- Preferred time: 15 days.
- Maximum time: 30 days for applicants accepted in December; 30 days for applicants accepted in January; 15 days for applicants accepted February 1 and thereafter.
- A final (second) deposit of $300 made within 15 days of the date of the letter from the Chairman of the Admissions Committee or the Director of Admissions granting the student final acceptance for admission.
The deposits are credited to the first semester’s tuition. If the accepted student fails to register, or withdraws from the School after registering, the first and second deposits are forfeited to the University.
Background Investigation and Drug Screening
To assure the safety and well-being of patients, students, faculty, and staff in the clinical and academic environments and to attest to clinical agencies the students' eligibility to participate in clinical activities, incoming students will be required to complete background investigations and drug screening analyses. Background checks will be conducted on accepted applicants prior to enrollment. Drug screenings will be conducted during the first academic quarter of the first year of dental school.
State Compacts
Creighton University has dental education compacts with the states of New Mexico, North Dakota, Wyoming and Idaho. If accepted into their state's program, residents from these states receive partial tuition remission. Application procedures for applicants from these states are the same as for all other applicants.
Accepted residents of New Mexico, North Dakota, and Wyoming receive all their dental education at Creighton. Residents of Idaho may have the option of taking their first year at Idaho State University in Pocatello under the Idaho Dental Education Program (IDEP). The remaining three years are spent at Creighton. Additional information is available from the program directors in each state.
Confirmation deposits made to Creighton by IDEP (Idaho) students are applied to the first year’s tuition at Idaho State University.
The first-year program at Idaho is equivalent to that at Creighton. Course outlines, objectives, laboratory projects, texts and teaching aids are nearly identical.
The contract for the dental educational compacts between Creighton University and Idaho State University was signed in March 1982 with the first class entering August 1982.