Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine prerequisites

2 semesters · 8 credits · lab

Two semesters with lab. As universal for dental school as it is for medical.

2 semesters · 8 credits · lab

Two semesters with lab. The DAT's general chemistry section assumes the full sequence.

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.

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.

6 credits · lab

Most dental schools ask for 2 semesters · 8 credits · lab.

Six semester or nine quarter hours, not the baseline's eight. Worth knowing how the table is written: biology, general chemistry and organic chemistry each read "(with labs)" and the physics row reads simply "Physics", but the page nowhere says the physics laboratory is waived, so this line keeps it. Ask admissions before planning to skip it.

2 semesters · 6 credits

"For the English requirement, 6 semester hours are accepted or the completion of a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Science degree." A completed bachelor's degree satisfies the line on its own.

1 semester · 3 credits

SIU prints a second table headed "We strongly suggest selecting several additional higher-level courses", one semester each: Anatomy, Physiology, Microbiology, Cell and Molecular Biology, Histology, Immunology, Genetics, and Neural Science or Neural Physiology. None is required, but "preference will be given to applicants demonstrating exemplary academic performance in additional higher-level science courses while taking full academic loads."

3 credits

Named by a minority of schools and useful preparation for the first year regardless.

3 credits

Required at a meaningful minority and recommended widely; a strong pick for the spare science slot.

100+ hours

Most dental schools ask for 100+ hours and list it as required.

"SIU School of Dental Medicine does not require extracurricular activities and dental shadowing experience but highly recommends these experiences." No hours figure is published. The page names "Observing a General Dentist" and "Observing a Dental Specialist" as the examples, and warns that "Applicants that are shadowing or observing will complete this without compensation or volunteer hours", and that the school "is unable to provide dental volunteer/shadowing opportunities."

100+ hours

Few schools publish a number; committees still read for a service habit held over time.

1 letter

"If the applicant's undergraduate institution has a pre-health profession committee, a letter or letter packet by committee members can be submitted in place of the three required letters of recommendation. This packet or letter will be submitted to AADSAS as one individual letter." It replaces all three, the two science letters included.

2 letters

Two, as in the baseline, but SIU is unusually specific about who counts: "Letters must be from science professors who have taught and graded the applicant at the university level. Science letters should include the course name, number and professors signature." A research supervisor who never graded you does not qualify. Three letters in total, uploaded to AADSAS by the evaluators.

No dentist letter is required here. The third letter is a "ONE Letter of Choice, One letter by an evaluator of the applicant's choice. This evaluator could be another professor, a mentor or dentist." A dentist is one option among several, not the ask.