What are the steps to applying to dental school and all the fees associated with them?

[hmart4383]

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I am a second year biomedical student with hopes of getting into dental school in the future. I have already done some research as to what I should have on my resume to be a strong applicant ex (good DAT, shadowing hours, clinical hours, volunteer work, strong extracurricular, possible research work). But the info on actually applying is not as clear. Originally I thought it was just pay for your DAT scores to be sent to schools then pay the individual school application but I just found out that you also have to pay an for something called the ADEA AADSAS. Is there any other fees that im missing in the application process? And what should I expect to pay on average if I were to apply to say 5 schools?

 

[flosslikeaboss1]

ADEA AADSAS is where you actually fill out and submit your applications to dental schools. Though AADSAS, your first school costs approximately $251 and $108 for every other school respectively. Each school also has a supplemental fee that you much pay ranging from $50-$100. The DAT costs about $475 to take (schools you select will receive your scores). If you have already taken the DAT, you much pay for each school you wish to send scores too (I think thats about $36 per school). It is definitely a large financial commitment and on average will probably cost you $1500+ for 5 schools including DAT.

 

[TeethAreKewl]

I am a second year biomedical student with hopes of getting into dental school in the future. I have already done some research as to what I should have on my resume to be a strong applicant ex (good DAT, shadowing hours, clinical hours, volunteer work, strong extracurricular, possible research work). But the info on actually applying is not as clear. Originally I thought it was just pay for your DAT scores to be sent to schools then pay the individual school application but I just found out that you also have to pay an for something called the ADEA AADSAS. Is there any other fees that im missing in the application process? And what should I expect to pay on average if I were to apply to say 5 schools?

The ADEA AADSAS is the actual dental school application for all schools other than Texas school, which uses their own portal. Read this application guide for more details: https://www.adea.org/uploadedFiles/...AL2019ADEAAADSASInstructionsDEPRevised3-3.pdf


In terms of fees - the above lays it out pretty broadly.

 

[artist2022]

@TeethAreKewl linked the instructions which are great, but you also want to look at the tabs on the left side of this ADEA page, for more information, such as supplemental apps/fees.

Read this guide: Steve's ultimate dental school application guide

as well as my updates to that guide with the new system: artist2022's guide

 

[rectangle]

If you are in Texas, you'll use TMDSAS and it is substantially cheaper for the 3 (soon to be 4) TX schools 🙂

 

[AppalachianDentalBoy]

1. Pay for DAT, about $470
2. Buy DAT materials, about $200-700
3. AADSAS $110/ school + 250 fee
4. Secondaries about 50-100 per school
Optional 5. TMDSAS $200 for three schools no secondary fees.

 

[taurusdentist]

There is also something called the ADEA Explorer (it's online) and it's totally optional and costs $25, but it has stats and all the information you could need on every dental school. I used it to narrow my list down and totally recommend it despite it not being free! There's also a few schools (I know Indiana and Utah for sure) that require you to take the CASPer test as part of your application, and I believe its $20 for the online test and then $10 for each school you need to send it to!