dental · Yakima, Washington · private
Pacific Northwest University School of Dental Medicine prerequisites
What PNWU asks for in the 2026-27 cycle, as read from the school's own admissions page. 11 lines differ from the standard dental school set, marked below.
Coursework
- Biology with labrequireddiffers
6 credits
Most dental schools ask for 2 semesters · 8 credits · lab.
"General Biology or Zoology", 6 semester hours or 9 quarter hours. Zoology is explicitly accepted in place of general biology. No lab: "All prerequisite courses must be lecture-based; laboratory courses do not fulfill this requirement."
- General chemistry with labrequireddiffers
6 credits
Most dental schools ask for 2 semesters · 8 credits · lab.
Six semester hours or 9 quarter hours, lecture-based, with no separate laboratory counting toward the requirement.
- Organic chemistry with labrequireddiffers
6 credits
Most dental schools ask for 2 semesters · 8 credits · lab.
Six semester hours or 9 quarter hours, lecture-based, no laboratory counted.
- 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
3 credits
Most dental schools ask for 2 semesters · 8 credits · lab.
Only 3 semester hours of general physics, a single course rather than the baseline's two-semester sequence, and no laboratory. One of the lightest physics requirements in US dental admissions.
- English or writing-intensiverequireddiffers
1 semester · 3 credits
Most dental schools ask for 2 semesters · 6 credits.
Three semester hours, half the baseline's two semesters.
- Anatomy and physiologyrequireddiffers
6 credits
Most dental schools ask for 3 credits and list it as recommended.
Required and doubled here where the baseline only recommends 3 hours: "Human Anatomy and Physiology (combined or two separate courses)", 6 semester hours or 9 quarter hours. A combined A&P sequence or separate anatomy and physiology courses both answer it.
- Microbiologyrequireddiffers
3 credits
Most dental schools ask for 3 credits and list it as recommended.
Required rather than recommended: general microbiology, 3 semester hours, lecture-based.
- Social sciences and humanitiesrequiredextra here
1 semester · 3 credits
A social or behavioral science course, 3 semester hours, is a named prerequisite here where the dental baseline carries no such line. The mapping table accepts a range of psychology and social science courses.
Experience hours
- Dentist shadowingrequireddiffers
50+ hours
Most dental schools ask for 100+ hours.
"At least 50 hours" of shadowing in dental medicine, half the baseline figure, and virtual shadowing does not count. The requirement is waived outright for applicants with 1,000 or more hours of work as a dental assistant or dental hygienist.
- Non-clinical volunteeringrequireddiffers
50+ hours
Most dental schools ask for 100+ hours and list it as recommended.
Required, not merely recommended: "At least 50 hours within the last 3 years" of volunteer or community service. The recency window is the part to plan around, since service done early in college does not count.
Letters
- Committee letterrecommended
1 letter
Accepted nearly everywhere in place of individual faculty letters where your college offers one.
- Science faculty letterrequireddiffers
1 letter
Most dental schools ask for 2 letters.
One science letter, not the baseline's two: "Three letters of recommendation are required: One from a science instructor who has evaluated your work, an optional letter from a person of your choosing, and a final letter from a dentist." The instructor must have evaluated your work, so a professor whose lecture you merely attended does not qualify.
- Dentist letterrequired
1 letter
"a final letter from a dentist." Genuinely required here, one of three named letters, which makes the 50 shadowing hours the practical route to a writer.
Also on the school’s page
PNWU is a new dental school and it is enrolling: the School of Dental Medicine received initial accreditation from the Commission on Dental Accreditation in August 2024, final accreditation comes during the fourth year of the inaugural class before it graduates, and the school is currently accepting applications through ADEA AADSAS, which opens in May each year. Its requirements depart from the dental norm more than almost any school on this list. First, "Dental Admissions Test (DAT) is not required." Second, the prerequisite list is nine named courses in semester hours: General Chemistry 6, Organic Chemistry 6, General Biology or Zoology 6, Human Anatomy and Physiology 6 (combined or two separate courses), and 3 each of General Biochemistry, General Microbiology, General Physics, English, and a Social/Behavioral Science course. Third, "All prerequisite courses must be lecture-based; laboratory courses do not fulfill this requirement"; the school's prerequisite mapping table still lists accepted courses that carry a lab, so read the rule as a standalone lab course not counting toward the hours rather than lab-bearing lecture courses being rejected. Timing is tighter than most: "Prerequisite courses must be completed within seven (7) years of matriculation" and no later than the spring quarter or semester of the matriculation year. The academic floors are a 2.85 minimum cumulative GPA and a 3.0 minimum prerequisite GPA. The application window runs mid-May through the third Friday in October. Cross-checked against the school's dental FAQ, which agrees on the DAT, the GPA floors and the prerequisite deadline. Sources: the admission requirements page and https://www.pnwu.edu/academics/school-of-dental-medicine/how-to-apply/admission-prerequisite-mapping/ for the credit-hour table.
School
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