dental · Nashville, Tennessee · private
Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry prerequisites
What Meharry asks for in the 2026-27 cycle, as read from the school's own admissions page. 2 lines differ from the standard dental school set, marked below.
Coursework
- Biology with labrequired
2 semesters · 8 credits · lab
Two semesters with lab. As universal for dental school as it is for medical.
- General chemistry with labrequired
2 semesters · 8 credits · lab
Meharry words this as "Inorganic Chemistry with Quantitative Analysis with Laboratory", 8 semester hours. The standard two semester general chemistry sequence is what most colleges list under that name, but if your college separates quantitative analysis out, check that your transcript shows it.
- Organic chemistry with labrequired
2 semesters · 8 credits · lab
Two semesters with lab at most schools. A small number accept one semester plus biochemistry; confirm on the school's page before planning around it.
- Biochemistryrequired
1 semester · 3 credits
Roughly half of schools require a semester and the share grows every cycle. The DAT does not test it, but first-year dental biochemistry assumes you have seen it.
- Physics with labrequired
2 semesters · 8 credits · lab
Two semesters, algebra-based accepted essentially everywhere. A handful of schools want only one semester; the two-semester plan covers them all.
- English or writing-intensiverequired
2 semesters · 6 credits
Two semesters of English or writing-intensive coursework at most schools that name it.
- College mathematicsrequiredextra here
1 semester · 3 credits
"Calculus or Statistics", 3 semester hours or 5 quarter hours. Either course answers the line on its own, so this is one math requirement and not two.
- Anatomy and physiologyrecommended
3 credits
Named in the same strongly recommended line as microbiology and histology/cell biology. Meharry writes it as "Anatomy/Physiology" and publishes no credit hour figure for it.
- Microbiologyrecommended
3 credits
"Additional courses strongly recommended: Anatomy/Physiology, Microbiology, and Histology/Cell Biology." Strongly recommended, not required, and named ahead of the second tier of "Genetics, Molecular Biology, and Pharmacology."
Experience hours
- Dentist shadowingrequired
100+ hours
Shadowing dentists. Schools that publish a number most often say 100 hours, and admissions committees read breadth across general and specialty practice. Hours shadowing physicians do not answer this; log dental chairside time here. Across the 77 school overlays, 36 require shadowing, 22 recommend it and 19 publish nothing; the numbers those schools name range from 30 hours to 100, so this baseline figure is a planning floor rather than a common standard.
- Non-clinical volunteeringrecommended
100+ hours
Few schools publish a number; committees still read for a service habit held over time.
Letters
- Committee letterrecommended
1 letter
Accepted nearly everywhere in place of individual faculty letters where your college offers one.
- Science faculty letterrequired
2 letters
Two science professors, or a committee letter where your school offers one.
- Dentist letternot required here
Meharry names no dentist letter. It asks for three letters, either an institutional letter from a Health Professions Advisor or Advisory Committee or "a minimum of three (3) individual letters, including two from science professors." The third individual letter is left open, so a dentist you shadowed is a good use of it, but this school does not require one.
Also on the school’s page
Meharry publishes a table in semester hours: 8 of general biology or zoology with lab, 8 of inorganic chemistry with quantitative analysis with lab, 8 of organic chemistry with lab, 8 of general physics with lab, 6 of English composition, 3 of biochemistry, and 3 of calculus or statistics. Every one of them needs "an average of 'C' or better". Applicants must have "successfully completed at least 90 semester hours/140 quarter hours" and a bachelor's degree is "highly recommended" rather than required. Letters come from the application process page: "Three (3) letters of recommendation are due directly to AADSAS by December 13th," satisfied either by an institutional letter from a Health Professions Advisor or Advisory Committee or by "a minimum of three (3) individual letters, including two from science professors." Note the two dates the school publishes: letters are due December 13 while "The application deadline is December 15 of the year prior to matriculation," so plan to the earlier one. "Every applicant must take the Dental Admission Test (DAT)"; neither page read here publishes a minimum DAT score or GPA, and neither names a shadowing hour figure, so the baseline expectation for chairside time stands. A supplemental fee of $65 and an uploaded photo are required with the supplemental application. Second source read: https://meharry.edu/academics/schools/school-of-dentistry/admissions/application-process/
School
mmc.eduCheck your transcript against this list
Cyclios keeps this list beside your coursework and tells you what Meharry still needs from you.
See it for dental school