Wy'east Dentistry

Coming 2025

Eligibility & Admissions Criteria

In addition to meeting general eligibility requirements, Wy’east Dentistry scholars will be expected to meet the admissions criteria for OHSU School of Dentistry. *

Scroll to see Wy’east Dentistry Eligibility Requirements and specific Admissions Criteria.

* Please note due to OHSU policy, all Wy’east scholars must submit proof of COVID-19 vaccination as part of the immunization requirements. If you have questions about this policy, please email wyeastdentistry@ohsu.edu.

Eligibility

Wy’east Dentistry is intended for individuals who were not accepted to dental school or who do not possess a qualifying DAT score for dental school.

To be eligible for the Wy’east Dentistry Pathway, the following criteria apply:

Be a citizen or descendant of a federally recognized American Indian/Alaska Native Tribe (see FAQs page for further details)
Degree Requirement: Although OHSU does not require a baccalaureate (B.A./B.S.) degree for admission, it is highly recommended that you plan to complete a bachelor's degree prior to matriculation.
Grade Point Average (GPA): It is recommended that you have a minimum of 3.0 in both your cumulative overall GPA and required science/BCP (Biology, Chemistry and Physics) GPA.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to:

Have previously applied to dental school, and/or
Have previously taken the DAT

Required Prerequisite Courses

All courses must be completed for a grade of C or higher.

General Biology w/labs[1]
Three quarters or two semesters
General Chemistry w/labs[1]
Three quarters or two semesters
Organic Chemistry w/labs[1]
Two quarters or two semesters
Physics w/labs[1]
Three quarters or two semesters
Biochemistry w/labs[2]
One quarter or one semester
English Composition[3]
Three quarters or two semesters
Math/Statistics[4]
One quarter or one semester

Pre-dental Education: A minimum of three years (90 semester or 135 quarter credit hours) completed at the time of application from a regionally accredited college or university in the United States or Canada is suggested. Full time enrollment is recommended with an emphasis in the basic sciences.

Foreign course work: Foreign course work will not be accepted.

Pass/No Pass: Admissions requirements taken for P/NP credit will not fulfill our requirements. Please note: the only exception to this policy applies to students attending a very limited number of schools that solely offer P/NP grades for lab courses. If you are given the option to take a lab course P/NP or for a grade, you must take it for a grade.

Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate: While actual coursework is preferred, applicants may use AP or IB credit toward the fulfillment of prerequisite course requirements. AP and IB courses may be accepted only if AP/IB credit is assigned to a specific course. That course must also fulfill our prerequisite requirement and must appear on an official transcript. AP and IB credit assigned to a general subject area will not fulfill this requirement. No other document, such as a transfer credit report, an unofficial transcript or a letter from an academic advisor, will fulfill this requirement.

[1] Courses must be completed as part of a sequence (for example 201/202/203 or 201a/201b/201c)
[2] Biochemistry lab is highly recommended, but not required
[3] One year or the minimum number of credit hours required to meet your institution’s bachelor’s degree requirement.
[4] Met with courses that satisfy your institution’s B.S./B.A. degree requirement.

Application Process

The Wy’east Dentistry primary application and secondary application are completed online, and your transcripts, recommendation letters, and documentation of tribal affiliation should be scanned and emailed as electronic attachments to wyeastdentistry@ohsu.edu.

A complete application consists of five components:

Primary application. All applicants complete and submit an online primary application.
Secondary application. Applicant’s primary application submissions will be reviewed by OHSU School of Dentistry. If it appears that you meet their admissions requirements, they will invite you to complete a secondary application.
Unofficial Transcripts. Unofficial transcripts from all accredited undergraduate and graduate-level programs must be submitted.
Documentation of affiliation with a federally recognized Tribe. Forms of acceptable documentation:

A copy of your tribal membership card or identification card, OR
A letter from your tribal government attesting to your citizenship or descendancy

Letters of recommendation. A minimum of three letters of recommendation are required, one from a dentist (DMD or DDS) and two from life science faculty. You may submit up to four letters of recommendation. Please ask your recommenders to email your letters directly to wyeastdentistry@ohsu.edu with your name in the subject line of the email.
Unofficial copy of most recent DAT score report.

Additional Requirements:

Submit a formal AADSAS application to the OHSU School of Dentistry.

Submit a secondary application to OHSU School of Dentistry.
Successfully pass a 10-panel drug screening and federal background check.

Please note that while you are a Wy’east Dentistry scholar, you may still apply to the other schools during the general cycle. Being a Wy’east Dentistry scholar does not limit you from applying to other dental schools-you may still apply to other schools during the general cycle.