Admissions Requirements

DDS/DMD or equivalent from your home country. Provisional certificate is not accepted.

National Dental Board Examination (NDBE) Part I scores— an official NBDE Part I passing score is required for all applicants. Although NBDE Part II is not required, a passing score may enhance an applicant’s credentials.

Applicants must submit NBDE scores by the June 1, 2019 deadline.

Official TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) scores — An official TOEFL score is required for all applicants (including native English speakers) who have received their dental degree from a non U.S. dental school. Native English speakers may substitute the DAT Reading Comprehension score in lieu of the TOEFL exam:

• Official scores must be submitted electronically through CAAPID
• Although there is no minimum TOEFL score, serious consideration will be given to applicants with Internet-based test (iBT) scores of 90 and above. The average iBT TOEFL score for the class entering January 2019 was 100.
• TOEFL scores from 2016 and earlier will not be considered.
• For information and registration materials, visit TOEFLPenn Dental Medicine’s TOEFL Institution Code is 2944 and the Department Code is 38 or 00 or “undergraduate.”

Clinical Experience – An important factor in the selection process for participants in the Program for Advanced Standing Students is the applicant’s demonstrated ability to work and communicate effectively with patients in the clinical setting. Therefore, important consideration will be given to applicants with clinical experience both outside the U.S. and in the U.S./Canada:

• Outside U.S. Clinical Experience – strongly preferred one-year or more of full time experience as a practicing, licensed dentist.
• U.S./Canada Clinical Experience – strongly preferred one year or equivalent of full time clinical experience, such as shadowing (paid or unpaid) dental practices, working as dental assistant, and/or dental hygienist.

Penn Dental Medicine PASS Program Supplemental Application. The application for the 2019-20 cycle is now available and deadline is June 1, 2019. It is strongly recommended that you save a copy of your completed supplemental application for your records. All application materials and documents become the property of Penn Dental Medicine and will not be returned to the applicant.

Application Fee-The $75 non-refundable application fee should be submitted directly to the Penn Dental Medicine Office of Student Admissions. Electronic payment is available by completing the Payment Form. No application fee waivers are available. It is recommended that the application fee and the supplemental application are submitted at the same time well in advance of the application deadline.

• Note: Due to the high volume of applications (nearly 900 for the 2018-2019 application cycle), it is recommended that complete applications be submitted well in advance of the deadline date.
• For the 2018-19 application cycle 75% of all applications were submitted to CAAPID by May 1, 2019.
• Late or incomplete applications will not be considered. The Admissions Office cannot be held liable for any delays caused by the U.S. Postal Service or other mail delivery systems. All application materials and documents become the property of Penn Dental Medicine and will not be returned to the applicant.

Penn Dental Medicine participates in the American Dental Education Association’s (ADEA) Centralized Application for Advanced Placement for International Dentists (CAAPID). The CAAPID Application must be completed via the ADEA web site, ADEA Centralized Application for Advanced Placement for International Dentists (CAAPID).For more information or questions regarding this application, email: caapidinfo@caapid.org or phone: 617-612-2235, Monday — Friday from 9 a.m. — 5 p.m.

The CAAPID application must be submitted to the centralized application service by June 1, 2019. Applications received after the deadline by the centralized application service will not be processed. The following documents must be submitted along with the CAAPID application to the application service:

• Official copy of a Course-By-Course Evaluation conducted by ECE (Educational Credential Creditors). The Course-By-Course evaluation report provides the U.S. equivalence of each educational credential plus a list of courses taken and their U.S. and grade equivalents. It also identifies upper level courses and grade point averages. For more information, visit ece.org.
• Three letters of evaluation— One letter must come from the dean or director of the applicant’s dental school on letterhead stationery with signature. One letter must come from a faculty member of the same institution on letterhead stationery with signature. One letter must come from a faculty member, dental professional, or a work supervisor on letterhead stationery with signature. Additional letters of evaluation from supervisors of work performed in the U.S. are highly encouraged.

Applicants will be notified one time via email once his/her application has been received by Penn Dental Medicine and if any application documents are missing. This process may take up to two weeks once the CAAPID application has been received. There will be no subsequent notification of missing documents. All applicants will be notified via email once his/her application is complete. It is the applicant’s responsibility to apprise the Admissions Office of changes to contact information in order to assure accurate notification of status changes.

Penn Dental Medicine seeks applicants with exceptional educational and clinical backgrounds who have completed their dental degree in a non-U.S. dental school. Penn Dental Medicine looks for dental professionals who will advance oral health care and gives preference to those who also demonstrate a commitment to excellence and leadership through extracurricular activities, community service, research, academic preparation, clinical experience, and/or self-experience in their home country and/or in the United States. Work experience (paid or unpaid) in dental or health related dental field as well as advanced education in a related field in the United States is an important consideration for an interview.

• GPA – Careful consideration will be given to those with a minimum grade point average of 3.0. The average GPA for the PASS class entering in 2019 was 3.5.
• Applicants who have passed NBDE Part I. Although NBDE Part II is not required, a passing score may enhance an applicant’s credentials.
• Although there is no minimum TOEFL score, serious consideration will be given to applicants with Internet-based test (iBT) scores of 90 and above. The average iBT TOEFL score for the class entering January 2019 was 100.
• Applicants with strong academic credentials and a demonstrated commitment to the profession will be considered for a personal interview.

Highly competitive candidates will be notified via email to interview at Penn Dental Medicine. While an interview does not guarantee acceptance, applicants with strong credentials are required to appear for personal interviews (approximately 70 candidates are invited to interview). PASS interviews are conducted on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The interview day starts at 8:30 a.m. and consists of an overview of the PASS program and financial aid, writing sample exercise, lunch discussion and tour of the dental school with current PASS students. There is no bench exam. There is ample time for the candidate to tour the Penn campus. Those who are not granted an interview will be notified via U.S. Postal Service.

An important factor in the selection process for participants in the Program for Advanced Standing Students is the applicant’s demonstrated ability to communicate effectively with patients in the clinical setting and to learn successfully within the academic environment. Successful candidates will demonstrate both strong written and verbal skills during the interview process. The writing sample topic will be distributed the day of the interview.

Final decisions for acceptance are based upon review of the application, results from the personal interview, and submission of a writing sample. Final acceptance will be determined by the members of the Admissions Committee. Admissions decisions will begin on rolling basis until the class is full. A class size of approximately 25-35 is anticipated for the class entering January 2020. Upon acceptance notification, applicants must submit a $1,500 non-refundable deposit within several weeks of the date of acceptance. A second non-refundable deposit in the amount of $2,500 is due September 15. Both deposits will be applied toward tuition. Applicants accepted after September are obligated to pay both deposits totaling $4,000 within 10 days of acceptance.

All reapplicants must submit a CAAPID application, Penn Dental PASS Supplemental Application with essay responses and application fee. Documents from a prior application (NDBE Part I scores, ECE Course by Course Evaluations, TOEFL scores, and letters of evaluation) can be carried forward if they are available from our record archives. Please note that TOEFL scores from 2016 and earlier will not be considered.