dental · Chapel Hill, North Carolina · public
UNC Adams School of Dentistry prerequisites
What UNC Adams asks for in the 2026-27 cycle, as read from the school's own admissions page. 5 lines differ from the standard dental school set, marked below.
Coursework
- Biology with labrequired
2 semesters · 8 credits · lab
UNC's biology bucket is 8 semester hours of general biology and anatomy and physiology together, with lab. A&P counts toward it here rather than sitting beside it.
- 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
6 credits
Most dental schools ask for 2 semesters · 8 credits · lab.
Six semester hours and, unusually, no laboratory required.
- 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
6 credits
Most dental schools ask for 2 semesters · 8 credits · lab.
Six semester hours, no laboratory required.
- English or writing-intensiverequired
2 semesters · 6 credits
Two semesters of English or writing-intensive coursework at most schools that name it.
- Anatomy and physiologyrecommended
3 credits
Named by a minority of schools and useful preparation for the first year regardless.
- Microbiologyrecommended
3 credits
Required at a meaningful minority and recommended widely; a strong pick for the spare science slot.
Experience hours
- Dentist shadowingrecommendeddiffers
100+ hours
Most dental schools ask for 100+ hours and list it as required.
"We do not have any set number of shadowing hours for our applicants," though the school encourages a broad, well-rounded understanding of what it means to be a general dentist. The required dental practitioner letter is hard to earn without chairside time.
- 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 letterrequireddiffers
1 letter
Most dental schools ask for 2 letters.
One science professor, alongside the major professor and the dental practitioner. Three letters required, four maximum, through ADEA AADSAS.
- Faculty letter (any discipline)requiredextra here
1 letter
"One letter should be from a science professor, one from a professor within the applicant's major and one from a dental practitioner." The professor in your major is this line; any discipline answers it.
- Dentist letterrequired
1 letter
"One from a dental practitioner."
Also on the school’s page
UNC publishes a clean prerequisite table in semester hours: 8 of biology including anatomy and physiology, 8 of general chemistry, both with lab; 6 of organic chemistry, 3 of biochemistry, 6 of physics, 6 of English, none of which require the laboratory. Every prerequisite needs at least a C, must be finished by mid-July of the entering year, and online or community college credit is capped at 64 hours with all laboratory coursework in person. On scores, no strict minimum exists but the school states a preferred overall GPA of at least 3.2 and a preferred DAT Academic Average of 420 on the current 200 to 600 scale; the most recent admitted class averaged 3.72 and 460. Letters run through ADEA AADSAS, three required and four maximum.
School
dentistry.unc.eduCheck your transcript against this list
Cyclios keeps this list beside your coursework and tells you what UNC Adams still needs from you.
See it for dental school