Dental Schools Ranked by GPA

It is very important that you take your grade point average (GPA) seriously. Most schools have a cutoff of a 2.75 GPA. When applying to dental school there are a few things that you have to realize when calculating your GPA.

1. If you get a C- or lower in any required course you must retake it in order for it to go towards the prerequisite requirements. 

2. If you retake a class for a higher grade both scores will count on your GPA. For instance, if you received a D grade and retook the class for an A grade, both the D and the A will go towards your overall GPA. Many colleges will not calculate your low grade into your GPA which will make your GPA look higher than it really is. 

3. When submitting your application schools will look at your GPA with the plus and minus sign (ex: A-, B+, B-, etc...). They will also look at your GPA with out the plus and minus signs which means that if you have an A- it will round up to an A or if you have a B- minus it will round up to a B. 

4. Schools will not only look at your overall GPA but they look at your science GPA. The science GPA is calculated only using science and math courses. This allows for the schools to see overall how strong you are in your science courses. 

5. Remember your GPA is very important! Many will say "schools don't want students with 4.0 GPAs because that means they are bookworms". This is true to some extent. If all you have is an excellent GPA but no other qualifications then your application may not be very strong BUT if you have an excellent GPA and very good extracurricular activities then you will a quality applicant with a very good chance of getting into dental school. 

Many students ask the question "is my GPA good enough?". My question to them is "good enough for what?". If you have a 3.3 GPA and you want to know if it is "good enough" for Harvard then my answer would be "no". However, if you have a 3.3 GPA and you want to know if it is "good enough" to get into dental school then my answer is "yes". Is a 3.3 GPA ideal? No, of course the higher the GPA the better but not everyone getting into dental school has a 3.9 GPA. 

Remember that the average student that matriculates into dental school each year has a 3.5 GPA. Each school has a slightly different average GPA. In order to make this easy on everyone I have posted the average GPA for each dental school starting with the highest and ending with the lowest. This should help you see where you fit in statistically when it comes to GPA.

GPA is not the only thing you should consider when applying to schools. You will also want to find schools that fit within the range of your DAT scores (check out "Dental Schools Ranked by DAT"). In addition, consider other factors such as your volunteering experiences, shadow experience, individual wants, family needs, and PRICE!

Dental School Rankings (Overall GPA)

1. Nebraska  3.83
2. Harvard 3.81
3. Iowa  3.74
4. Colorado Denver 3.73
5. Mississippi  3.71
6. Alabama 3.7
7. Stony Brook  3.7
8. Detroit Mercy  3.68
9. Minnesota  3.67
10. Southern Illinois  3.66
11. Pennsylvania 3.66
12. Pittsburgh 3.66
13. Ohio State 3.65
14. San Antonio  3.65
15. Oklahoma  3.64
16. Nova 3.63
17. Missouri - Kansas City  3.63
18. UCLA 3.62
19. Connecticut 3.62
20. Louisiana State  3.62
21. Creighton 3.62
22. Buffalo  3.61
23. Oregon  3.61
24. Houston  3.61
25. Illinois at Chicago  3.6
26. Case 3.6
27. Marquette 3.6
28. South Carolina  3.59
29. Indiana  3.58
30. Louisville  3.57
31. Tennessee  3.57
32. Georgia 3.56
33. New Jersey  3.56 
34. Washington 3.56
35. West Virginia 3.56
36. Kentucky  3.54
37. Puerto Rico  3.53
38. Michigan  3.52
39. Chapel Hill  3.52
40. UCSF 3.51
41. Florida  3.5
42. Maryland  3.5
43. Columbia 3.5
44. Baylor  3.5
45. Virginia Commonwealth  3.5
46. UNLV 3.49
47. Midwestern  3.48
48. UoP 3.46
49. Temple  3.46
50. Tufts 3.45
51. New York  3.45
52. Loma Linda  3.43
53. Arizona  3.37
54. Western U. 3.33
55. Boston University 3.3
56. USC 3.25
57. Meharry 3.16
58. Howard 3.15  

Dental School Rankings (Science GPA)

1. Nebraska  3.77
2. Stony Brook  3.7
3. Colorado Denver 3.67
4. Iowa  3.67
5. Harvard 3.66
6. Mississippi  3.65
7. Detroit Mercy  3.63
8. Minnesota  3.63
9. Pennsylvania 3.62
10. Missouri - Kansas City  3.61
11. San Antonio  3.61
12. Alabama 3.6
13. Southern Illinois  3.6
14. UCLA 3.59
15. Nova 3.59
16. Pittsburgh 3.58
17. Oklahoma  3.57
18. Louisiana State  3.56
19. Oregon  3.55
20. Connecticut 3.54
21. Ohio State 3.54
22. Houston  3.54
23. Case 3.53
24. Georgia 3.52
25. Indiana  3.52
26. Florida  3.5
27. Illinois at Chicago  3.5
28. New Jersey  3.5
29. Columbia 3.5
30. South Carolina  3.5
31. Tennessee  3.5
32. Marquette 3.5
33. Chapel Hill  3.49
34. Creighton 3.48
35. UCSF 3.47
36. Washington 3.47
37. Kentucky  3.46
38. West Virginia 3.46
39. Virginia Commonwealth  3.44
40. Baylor 3.43
41. Louisville  3.42
42. Michigan  3.41
43. Puerto Rico  3.41
44. Maryland  3.4
45. New York  3.4
46. Midwestern  3.39
47. UoP 3.38
48. Tufts 3.37
49. Temple  3.37
50. Loma Linda  3.35
51. UNLV 3.34 
52. Boston University  3.3
53. Arizona  3.26
54. Western U. 3.25
55. Buffalo  3.22
56. USC 3.2
57. Howard 3.2
58. Meharry 3.02  

*NOTE: The statistics that have been listed were taken from the "2010 ADEA Official Guide to Dental Schools".