dental · Glendale, Arizona · private
Midwestern University College of Dental Medicine-Arizona prerequisites
What Midwestern AZ asks for in the 2026-27 cycle, as read from the school's own admissions page. 7 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
Two semesters with lab. The DAT's general chemistry section assumes the full sequence.
- Organic chemistry with labrequireddiffers
1 semester · 4 credits · lab
Most dental schools ask for 2 semesters · 8 credits · lab.
"Organic Chemistry with lab: 4 Semester/6 Quarter hours." One semester with lab, half the two-semester sequence most dental schools ask for. Biochemistry is required separately here rather than as a substitute for the second organic semester.
- 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 labrequireddiffers
2 semesters · 8 credits
Most dental schools ask for 2 semesters · 8 credits · lab.
"Physics: 8 Semester/12 Quarter hours." The catalog table writes "with lab" after biology, general chemistry and organic chemistry but not after physics, so no laboratory is stated for the physics requirement.
- English or writing-intensiverequired
2 semesters · 6 credits
Two semesters of English or writing-intensive coursework at most schools that name it.
- Anatomy and physiologyrequireddiffers
6 credits
Most dental schools ask for 3 credits and list it as recommended.
Required, and listed as two separate courses rather than a sequence: "Anatomy: 3 Semester/4 Quarter hours" and "Physiology: 3 Semester/4 Quarter hours." No laboratory is stated for either.
- Microbiologyrequireddiffers
3 credits
Most dental schools ask for 3 credits and list it as recommended.
Required outright here, not merely recommended: "Microbiology: 3 Semester/4 Quarter hours." No laboratory is stated.
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
No hour figure is published. Among the admission requirements an applicant must "Reflect a service orientation through community service or extracurricular activities," and under competitive admissions, "Demonstrated community service through volunteerism or service-oriented employment is preferred."
Letters
- Committee letterrecommended
1 letter
Accepted as a direct substitute for the science professor letter, not for the packet as a whole: "One must be from either a predental advisory committee or a science professor."
- Science faculty letterrequireddiffers
1 letter
Most dental schools ask for 2 letters.
Only two letters are required in total, and just one of them is academic: "One must be from either a predental advisory committee or a science professor." One science letter, not the two the dental baseline assumes.
- Physician letterrecommendedextra here
1 letter
Unusually, a physician's letter can stand in for the dentist letter here. Of the two required letters, "The other preferentially should be from either someone with a D.O./M.D. or D.D.S./D.M.D. degree and/or someone who can testify to the integrity and ethical standards of the applicant."
- Dentist letterrecommendeddiffers
1 letter
Most dental schools ask for 1 letter and list it as required.
Preferred rather than required, and not the only writer who satisfies the second letter: "The other preferentially should be from either someone with a D.O./M.D. or D.D.S./D.M.D. degree and/or someone who can testify to the integrity and ethical standards of the applicant." A character reference who is not a clinician can answer it.
Also on the school’s page
Midwestern's 2026-2027 Glendale, Arizona campus catalog publishes the prerequisite table in semester and quarter hours: biology with lab 8, general chemistry with lab 8, organic chemistry with lab 4, physics 8, anatomy 3, microbiology 3, physiology 3, biochemistry 3, English composition or technical writing 6, with "Bachelors Degree Preferred." The academic bar is framed as competitiveness rather than a floor: "To be competitive, an applicant should have earned a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university and possess both a science (biology, chemistry, and physics) and total GPA of 3.00 or more on a 4.00 scale." On the DAT, "A total DAT score (summative scores of the Survey of Natural Sciences and Academic Average) should be 410 or above to be competitive," and "A score of 410 or higher will be expected for the Academic Average (410), Reading Comprehension (370), Perceptual Ability (410) and Survey of Natural Sciences (410) sections." These are on the 200 to 600 scale in use since March 2025. "The DAT test must have been taken no more than 3 years prior to the anticipated matriculation date," and "The Canadian DAT can be substituted for the U.S. DAT." Two letters are required, "Letters written by immediate family members will not be accepted," and every letter must come directly from the evaluator, never from the student. Deadlines: the official AADSAS deadline is January 1, but the school's own completion deadline, all parts including DAT scores, is March 1 of the matriculation year, and no decision is released before December 15. Admissions is rolling inside a competitive framework, so applying soon after June 1 matters more than the January date. The page states no shadowing hour figure, so the dental baseline stands there unmodified.
School
midwestern.eduCheck your transcript against this list
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