Apply to the Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene program
The Indiana University School of Dentistry offers a Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene (B.S.D.H.) degree program with two tracks: health care administration, and public health dental hygiene. You must complete between 30 hours of prerequisite coursework at IUPUI or another college or university before you can be admitted to the B.S.D.H. program—there is no direct admission for high school students.
If you complete your prerequisite coursework at another college or university, you must be admitted to IUPUI before you can apply to the B.S.D.H. program.
Contact the Division of Dental Hygiene
1121 W. Michigan Street, Rm 318 Indianapolis, IN 46202
Phone: 317-274-7801
Fax: 317-274-1363
Email:dnthyg@iu.edu
Admission requirements
To be eligible to apply to the B.S.D.H. program, you must:
Have a cumulative college GPA of at least 2.7 (on a 4.0 scale).
Complete all prerequisite coursework by the end of the spring semester of the year in which you wish to enter the program. You must complete your prerequisite coursework at IUPUI or another college or university— there is no direct admission to the B.S.D.H. program for high school students.
Earn a grade of C or higher in all prerequisite courses. All courses must have letter grades; no pass/fail courses are accepted.
Have a GPA of at least 3.0 in these prerequisite courses: chemistry of life, human anatomy, human physiology, and microbiology with immunology. All required science courses must have been completed within the past five years.
Complete a minimum of eight hours of observation of licensed dental hygienists in two different private practice settings.
Prerequisite coursework (30 credit hours)
BIOL-N 217 Human Physiology (5 credit hours)
BIOL-N 261 Human Anatomy (5 credit hours)
CHEM-C 110 Chemistry of Life and CHEM-C 115 lab (5 credit hours)
COMM-R 110 Public Speaking (3 credit hours)
ENG-W 131 English: Writing and Rhetoric (3 credit hours)
MICR-J 210 Microbiology and Immunology (4 credit hours)
The Dental Hygiene Admissions Committee uses a holistic review process to select a diverse group of qualified applicants for admission to the D.H. program. The committee will consider your academic record, ATDH score, personal interview, and exposure to the field of dental hygiene, as well as your motivation, character, personality, and ethics.
Academics
When reviewing your academic record, the Dental Hygiene Admissions Committee will consider your cumulative GPA, your science prerequisite GPA, your prerequisite GPA, and whether you have satisfactorily completed all prerequisite coursework.
The School of Dentistry does not give preference to IU graduates.
Application process
Step 1: Apply to IUPUI (if applicable)
You must be admitted to IUPUI before you can apply to the B.S.D.H. program. If you are not a current IUPUI student, you will apply for admission to IUPUI through the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.
The deadline to apply for admission to IUPUI is May 1 each year.
You will apply to the B.S.D.H. program through Dental Hygiene Centralized Application Service (DHCAS), an online application service managed by the American Dental Education Association. Only DHCAS-verified applications that have all required application materials and are submitted by the deadline will be considered.
All application materials must be submitted via DHCAS. Do not send any application materials to the School of Dentistry.
The deadline to apply for admission to the B.S.D.H. program is February 1 each year.
Required application materials include:
You must request official transcripts from each college or university you have attended, including dual credit hours taken in high school. When you fill out the DHCAS application, you will receive instructions for submitting your transcripts.
In 500 words or fewer, explain why you chose to pursue a career in dental hygiene and how you have prepared for this career path. Describe any accomplishments you achieved and any obstacles or challenges you overcame that affected your preparation for the B.S.D.H. program.
When you fill out the DHCAS application, you will receive instructions for submitting your personal statement.
We recommend that you shadow 2 dental hygienists for 4 hours each, in dental offices to understand the day-to-day practice of dental hygiene. Documentation of dental hygiene shadowing consists of submitting the hours shadowed on dental office letterhead with the date and signature of the hygienist or dentist of the office.
When you fill out the DHCAS application, you will receive instructions for submitting documentation of your experiences.
Step 3: Admission Test for Dental Hygiene (ADTH) score
The ADTH is new for the 2021-2022 Admissions Cycle. It is:
A nationally administered standardized admission test for individuals applying to dental hygiene programs.
Administered to understand the skill levels of the dental hygiene applicants.
Used to assist with admissions decisions.
Targeted toward college ready high school graduates.
The ATDH assesses critical thinking, focusing on candidate skills in the following areas:
• Reading Comprehension • Language Usage • Quantitative Reasoning • Perceptual Ability (Same as DAT) • Biology • General Chemistry
All applicants must take the Admission Test for Dental Hygiene (ADTH). The School of Dentistry accepts your highest ADTH score, regardless of whether it is the most recent score. You must have taken the ADTH no more than three years prior to the date you submit your application.
Your score report will be sent directly from the ADA to IUSD. When you fill out the ADTH application, you will receive instructions on how to have the ADA send your score report.
The cost of the exam is $125. You can request a fee waiver from the ADA for 50% off the cost of the exam at www.ada.org/atdh.
The test is administered at Prometric Testing Locations throughout the United States. The test is administered between September 1 and October 31 each year.
Step 4: Personal Interview
All application materials must be submitted and verified by DHCAS before an interview can be scheduled. If you are selected for an interview, you will be notified by e-mail through DHCAS approximately two weeks prior to the interview date with the information necessary to join the interview. Interviews are conducted after spring break of the admission year.
Acceptance notification process
You will be notified by email at the end of May if you’re accepted into the program. An official acceptance letter will follow in the mail. You are required to respond to the email by the deadline given in it.
