Admissions Requirements
Application Process
Application Deadline
Technical Standards for Admissions
Interview/Selection Process
Reapplication Process
Matriculation Process
Deferred Admission
Transfer Admission




Admissions
The Midwestern University College of Dental Medicine considers for admission those students who possess the academic, professional, and personal qualities necessary to become exemplary dental professionals. To select these students, the College uses a rolling admissions process within a competitive admissions framework.

Competitive Admissions
Within the competitive admissions framework, the College uses multiple criteria to select the most qualified, diverse group of candidates from an applicant pool that greatly exceeds the number of seats available. Applicants are evaluated on academic coursework, performance on the Dental Aptitude Test (DAT), their application (AADSAS) essay, letters of evaluation, and interviews. Demonstrated community service through volunteerism or service-oriented employment is preferred.

Rolling Admissions
Midwestern University College of Dental Medicine uses a rolling admissions process. Applications are reviewed and decisions to interview individual candidates are made at regular intervals during the admissions cycle. Interviews are conducted and the selection process of each candidate for College admission is made until the class is filled. Applicants are notified of their selection status as soon as possible after their interview date, but not prior to December 1 of the year preceding matriculation which is the earliest date the US and Canadian dental schools have agreed to extend offers for a position in the class.

Admission Requirements
To be competitive, an applicant should have earned a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university and must possess both a science and a total GPA over 2.50 (although 3.20 will be generally competitively necessary) on a 4.00 scale. A minimum science and overall GPA of 2.50 on a 4.00 scale is required to receive a supplemental application.

Prerequisiste Courses:

With lab required	Semester Hours	Quarter Hours
Biology with lab	8	12
General Chemistry with lab	8	12
Organic Chemistry with lab	4	6
Anatomy with lab	4	6
Microbiology with lab	4	6
Other Courses
Physics	8	12
Physiology	4	6
Biochemistry	3	4.5
English Composition/Technical Writing	6	9

No grade lower than C will be accepted for any prerequisite course. (A grade of C- will not be accepted.)

1. Complete above prerequisite courses;
2. Submit competitive scores on the Dental Aptitude Test (DAT). Scores in the area of 18 or higher will be expected for the Academic Average, Reading Comprehension and Perceptual Ability sections. The DAT test must have been taken no more than 3 years prior to application;
   Note: The College of Dental Medicine does not accept the Canadian DAT test scores in lieu of the United States DAT test scores.
3. Submit three letters of recommendation. One must be from either a pre-dental advisory committee or a science professor; the others preferentially should be from either someone with a DO/MD, DDS/DMD degree and/or someone who can testify to the integrity and ethical standards of the applicant. Letters written by immediate family members will not be accepted. All letters of evaluation must be submitted directly from the evaluators. The Office of Admissions will not accept letters submitted by students;
4. Demonstrate a sincere understanding of, and interest in, the humanitarian ethos of health care and particularly dental medicine;
5. Reflect a people/service orientation through community service or extracurricular activities;
6. Reflect proper motivation for, and commitment to, health care as demonstrated by previous salaried work, volunteer work, or other life experience;
7. Possess the oral and written communication skills necessary to interact with patients and colleagues;
8. Agree to abide by Midwestern University Drug-Free Workplace and Substance Abuse Policy;
9. Applicants will be subject to a criminal background check. In most cases, a misdemeanor conviction will not affect admission; a felony conviction could affect admission, as could failure to disclose a misdemeanor or felony;
10. Applicants must sign a statement that they meet the technical standards upon their acceptance. Candidates who may not meet the technical standards are encouraged to contact the Director of Admissions to discuss and identify what accommodations, if any, the College would need to make such that the candidate might be able to meet the standards.

Application Deadline
The official Associated American Dental Schools Application Service (AADSAS) application deadline is January 1st; however, to be competitive within the rolling admissions process, prospective students should submit their AADSAS applications as early as possible after June 1 of the year prior to desired matriculation. Even though the AADSAS deadline is January 1 of the matriculation year, typically 75 percent of all admissions offers will be made by the end of December of the year prior to matriculation. The Midwestern University College of Dental Medicine completion deadline (meaning all necessary parts of the application including DAT test scores and MWU CDM supplemental application form are received by the Office of Admissions prior to this date) is March 1 of the expected matriculation year.

Application Process
To initiate the application process, prospective students must apply directly to AADSAS at 1400 K Street NW, Suite 100, Washington, DC 20005; Phone: 202-289-7201; Fax: 202-289-7204; www.adea.org. Students may apply online: http://aadsas.adea.org/aadsas2008/application.html. Students who have taken coursework and/or earned a degree from a foreign institution must also submit to AADSAS an evaluation of their transcripts from an approved service. Students may access an AADSAS application in mid-May of the academic year preceding the year in which they plan to matriculate.

After receiving an applicant’s processed information from AADSAS, the Office of Admissions creates the applicant’s file. Concurrently, the office sends a supplemental application to applicants meeting the minimum science and total GPA requirement of 2.50 on a 4.00 scale. The applicant must complete and return the supplemental application as soon as possible; additionally, he/she must request three letters of evaluation. All letters of evaluation must be submitted by the evaluators directly to AADSAS or to MWU—the Office of Admissions will not accept evaluations submitted by students.

Please Note: Status of the application can be tracked on the MWU web site. Instructions for accessing accounts are available from the Office of Admissions. Please send notification of any changes in your mailing address and e-mail address. All requests for withdrawing an application must be done in writing; contact the Office of Admissions via e-mail at admissaz@midwestern.edu.

Technical Standards for Dental School Admission
A candidate must have abilities and skills in five areas: I) observation; II) communication; III) motor; IV) conceptual, integrative, and quantitative; and V) behavioral and social. Technological compensation can be made for some limitation in certain of these areas, but a candidate should be able to perform in a reasonably independent manner.

I. Observation: The candidate must be able to accurately make observations at a distance and close at hand. Observation necessitates the functional use of the sense of vision and somatic sensation and is enhanced by the functional use of all of the other senses.

II. Communication: The candidate must be able to communicate effectively, efficiently and sensitively in both oral and written form and be able to perceive nonverbal communication.

III. Motor: The candidate must be able to coordinate both gross and fine muscular movements, maintain equilibrium and have functional use of the senses of touch and vision. The candidate must possess sufficient postural control, neuromuscular control and eye-to-hand coordination to perform profession-specific skills and tasks.

IV. Conceptual, Integrative and Quantitative Abilities: The candidate must be able to problem solve, measure, calculate, reason, analyze, record and synthesize large amounts of information in a timely manner. The candidate must be able to comprehend three-dimensional relationships and understand spatial relationships.

V. Behavioral and Social Attributes: The candidate must possess the emotional health required for full utilization of his/her intellectual abilities, the exercise of good judgment and the consistent, prompt completion of all responsibilities and the development of mature, sensitive and effective relationships. The candidate must be able to tolerate physically, mentally and emotionally taxing workloads and to function effectively under stress. The candidate must be able to adapt to changing environments, to display flexibility, and to learn to function in the face of uncertainties. Compassion, integrity, concern for others, effective interpersonal skills, willingness and ability to function as an effective team player, interest and motivation to learn, are all personal qualities required during the educational process.

Candidates for admission who are invited for an on-campus interview are required to acknowledge that they understand the technical standards. Candidates must certify that they meet the technical standards upon their acceptance. Candidates who may not meet the technical standards are encouraged to contact the Director of Admissions to discuss and identify what accommodations, if any, the College would need to make in order that the candidate might be able to meet the standards.

Interview/Selection Process
To be considered for an interview, applicants must meet the admissions requirements listed previously. They must also submit all of the materials necessary to complete their file, e.g., an AADSAS application, a supplemental MWU application, DAT scores, and three letters of evaluation from a premedical advisory committee or a faculty member and a dentist/physician and someone who knows the applicant very well.

After the Office of Admissions receives these materials, the applicant’s file is reviewed to determine if the applicant merits an interview, based on established criteria of the admissions committee. The Chairman of the Admissions Committee, with the approval of the dean, may also place a large number of students on an interview “wait list” pending possible interview openings toward the end of the interview cycle.

If an applicant accepts an interview, he/she joins several other interviewees in meeting with members of a two or three-person interview panel—a panel selected from a volunteer group of basic scientists, administrators, and dental clinicians. Team members question each applicant about his/her academic, personal, and health care preparedness for dental school, rating the applicants on a standardized evaluation form relative to each of these variables. At the conclusion of the interviews, the team members forward their evaluation for each applicant to the Admissions Committee. The Committee may recommend to accept, to deny, or to place the applicant on either the hold or alternate list. This recommendation is then forwarded to the Dean for final approval. The Dean—via the Office of Admissions—notifies the student of his/her status as soon as possible after the interview, but not before December 1 of the year preceding matriculation, which is the date that all dental schools hold to as the first notification date.

The interview process typically begins in the summer prior to matriculation and ends in April/May of the matriculation year.

Reapplication Process
After receiving either a denial or end-of-cycle letter, an applicant may reapply for the next enrollment cycle. Before reapplying, however, the applicant should seek the advice of an admissions counselor.

To initiate the reapplication process, the applicant must submit an application to AADSAS. The application is then processed in the same manner as any other.

Matriculation Process
To initiate the matriculation process, newly-accepted students must return both their signed matriculation agreement and their initial deposit by the date designated in their matriculation agreement. To conclude the matriculation process, a student must do the following:

1. Submit deposit monies and administrative fees by the dates designated in his/her matriculation agreement—the entire amount is applied toward the student’s first quarter tuition;
2. Submit official transcript(s) from all colleges attended post high school by the date designated in the matriculation agreement. (Note: The information provided on the student’s AADSAS application is verified against the information provided on the student’s transcript(s). If the course and degree information on the application cannot be verified, the student’s offer of admission may be revoked);
3. Submit a completed medical file as instructed in the packet sent by the Office of Student Services;
4. Submit proof of medical insurance coverage; the student may select either a plan offered by Midwestern University College of Dental Medicine or an approved outside carrier;
5. Non-U.S. citizens/non-permanent residents must provide documentation verifying that sufficient funds have been deposited in a U.S. bank to cover all expenses while attending Midwestern University College of Dental Medicine;
6. Submit additional documents as required by the Office of Admissions;
7. Sign an authorization form allowing for criminal background check;
8. Sign the Drug-Free Workplace policy;
9. Complete a physical exam and submit form; and,
10. Sign the Credit Policy Statement.