Pre-Dentistry (DDS, DMD)


Pre-dental students have great opportunities at Beloit! Dentistry degrees open doors to serve as a critical part of a patient’s care team around oral health and cosmetic dentistry.

To practice as a dentist, a DDS (Doctor of Dental Surgery) or a DMD (Doctor of Dental Medicine) is required. Both of these graduate degrees are earned after completion of a bachelor’s degree. Both DDS and DMD programs have similar admissions requirements, and most importantly, both will qualify you for a career in dentistry! In addition to general practice dentistry, there are 10 specialties within dentistry that you may wish to pursue.

You can find more information about a career in dentistry, dental school, and how to prepare at ADEA.org.  A great place to start is their Why Be a Dentist? page.

Program Admission Prerequisites

In addition to selecting a major and completing your bachelor’s degree at Beloit College, students interested in continuing on to DDS or DMD training need:

  • Two introductory Biology courses with lab: Human Biology (BIOL 110), Zoology (BIOL111), Botany (BIOL 121), or Topics in Introductory Biology (BIOL172) and Microbiology (BIOL 208)
  • Four courses with lab in Chemistry: Introductory Chemistry (CHEM 117), Environmental, Analytical and Geochemistry (CHEM 220), and Organic Chemistry I and II (CHEM 230 and 235)
  • One semester of Biochemistry (CHEM 260 or CHEM 300)
  • General Physics I and II (PHYS 101 and 102)
  • 2 semesters of English with intensive writing
  • Dental Admission Test (DAT) score, administered by the American Dental Association (ADA)

Additionally, many programs recommend:

  • One or two semesters of Inorganic Chemistry (with lab): CHEM 150 & 250.
  • Four advanced Biology courses: Cell Biology (BIOL 237), Anatomy (BIOL 256), Human Physiology (BIOL 257) and Genetics and Evolution (BIOL 289)

Some programs may require:

  • A math or statistics course: (ex. MATH 110: Calculus or BIOL 247 Biometrics)
  • Introduction to Psychology (PSYC 100)
  • Principles of Economics (ECON 199)

Additional Requirements

Individual schools may have specific requirements. Check the website of schools that you are particularly interested in applying to.

More Information

Recent Beloit College graduates have gone on to dental school at Marquette University, Creighton University (Nebraska), and the University of Michigan.

This site uses cookies to improve your experience. Read our Web Privacy Policy for more information.

Got it! ×