Pre-Dental Course Requirements

Course Requirements Overview

This is a guide to common pre-dental course requirements.

Professional schools have a variety of prerequisites required for admission to their programs. On this page, we include information about timelines for pre-dental requirements and the options available.

Many programs prefer in person coursework, and some programs may not allow online coursework. See individual schools for policies.
Individual schools may require or recommend additional courses.
All Prerequisites must be completed with a letter grade of C or higher.
Schools vary on Credit-By-Exam (AP/IB/CLEP) policies and preferences for prerequisites. Please see "Can I Claim AP/IB Credit?"

School requirements can change. See individual school websites and admissions guides under “Research Dental Schools Before You Apply." We always recommend checking for any updates.

Recommended Pre-Dental Courses

Most Texas dental schools require:

Biology: Lecture – 12-15 hrs; Lab – 2-3 hrs
General Chemistry: Lecture – 6 hrs; Lab – 2 hrs
Organic Chemistry: Lecture – 6 hrs; Lab – 2 hrs
Biochemistry: Lecture – 3 hrs
Microbiology: Lecture - 3 hrs
General Physics: Lecture – 6 hrs; Lab – 2 hrs
Math: Statistics – 3 hrs
English: Rhetoric (Composition) and/or Literature – 6 hrs

(Dental School Prerequisite Course Timelines and a Pre-Dental Science Courses Flowchart are available at the bottom of this page.)

Humanities and Social Science Course Options:

Psychology and Sociology
Ethics
Analytical problem-solving and Critical thinking
Writing, Interpersonal communications, and Presentation skills
Small business management and Accounting
Mechanical drawing and studio art
Cultural studies
Spanish and other language studies relevant to your career goals

UT Austin Courses Typically Taken to Fulfill Requirements

In addition to the course lists below, see explanations of requirements on the TMDSAS (Texas Medical and Dental Schools Application Service) Undergraduate Course Requirements & look at the TMDSAS Approved Course List

Science Requirements

Subject	Lecture	Lab
Biology	BIO 311C + BIO 311D + BIO 325 OR [BIO 315H + BIO 325H] (honors) + BIO/INB/MBS Elective 3 hrs BIO 325 is not specifically required, but it is a UT Austin prerequisite for other required upper-division Biology courses, including Microbiology.	BIO 206L OR 2 hrs of upper-division BIO lab Must be formal lab course work. Research lab credit, such as INB/MBS 377, does not fulfill this requirement. *Note - BCH 369L (for Biochemistry majors) or BCH 219L (for Biochemistry majors) - contact your dental program(s) of choice to see if this lab will fulfill the 2hr BIO lab requirement.*
Microbiology	BIO / MBS 326R UT Austin prerequisite for this course: BIO 325 or BIO 325H AND CH 302 or CH 302H.	BIO 226L was previously listed as a required course. Currently, BIO/MBS 226L is NOT required for any Texas Dental School programs. Please make sure to check with any out of state programs you may be interested in for their required pre-requisite courses.
Anatomy (req. for Texas A&M Univ. School of Dentistry)	BIO / INB 446L
Physiology (req. for Texas A&M Univ. School of Dentistry)	BIO / INB 365S
General Chemistry	CH 301 + CH 302 OR CH 301H + CH 302H (honors) OR CH 301C + CH 302C (for Chemistry majors)	CH 204 OR CH 104M + CH 104N
Organic Chemistry	CH 320M + CH 320N OR CH 328M + CH 328N (for Chemistry majors)	CH 220C OR CH 128K + CH 128L (for Chemistry majors)
Biochemistry	BCH 369 OR BCH 339F (for Biochemistry majors)
Physics	UT Austin offers 4 accepted lecture/lab sequences. Dental schools have no preference. PHY 317K + PHY 317L OR PHY 302K + PHY 302L OR PHY 303K + PHY 303L (for Engineering majors) OR PHY 301 + PHY 316 (for some Science and Engineering majors)	Starting FALL 2021, PHY 105M/N will replace lab numbers PHY 102M/N, PHY 103M/N, and 117M/N. If PHY 317K + PHY 317L PHY 105M + PHY 105N OR PHY 117M + PHY 117N If PHY 302K + PHY 302L PHY 105M + PHY 105N OR PHY 102M + PHY 102N If PHY 303K + PHY 303L PHY 105M + PHY 105N OR PHY 103M + PHY 103N (for Engineering majors) If PHY 301 + PHY 316 PHY 101L + 116L (for some Science and Engineering majors)

Non-Science Courses

Subject	Course	Information
Statistics	Statistics usually fulfills math requirement at Texas schools. See TMDSAS acceptable statistics courses
Rhetoric (Composition)	RHE 306 RHE 309K Any Writing Flag course in RHE Dept.	Choose 1 courses from rhetoric (composition).
Literature	E 316L E 316M E 316N E 316P Any Literature course in English Dept.	Choose 1 courses from the literature. Remedial, developmental, and "English As a Second Language" courses are not accepted.

Subject

Course

Information

Statistics

Statistics usually fulfills math requirement at Texas schools.

See TMDSAS acceptable statistics courses

Rhetoric (Composition)

RHE 306
RHE 309K
Any Writing Flag course in RHE Dept.

Choose 1 courses from rhetoric (composition).

Literature

E 316L
E 316M
E 316N
E 316P
Any Literature course in English Dept.

Choose 1 courses from the literature.

Remedial, developmental, and "English As a Second Language" courses are not accepted.

Dental Schools Prerequisite Course Timelines

Completing the pre-dental courses and extra-curricular activities generally requires six semesters or longer, regardless of the student’s age or year in college. Your personal timeline may differ from these samples. Work with your academic advisor to incorporate these courses into your degree plan.

Important Note: Timelines do not include all course options and details. To be sure that you are fulfilling all requirements, see individual school websites and Research Dental Schools Before You Apply.

Additional Course Information

Currently a UT student and thinking of taking courses away from UT? (This may not be applicable if you are not yet enrolled at UT.)
Are Extension Courses Okay for Dental Pre-Reqs?
Other courses of interest to health professions students