Any college student or graduate can apply for admission to the four-year doctor of dental surgery program. A student should be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident of the U.S.  Priority is given to Missouri residents. The School also has contractual or other agreements with the states of Kansas, Arkansas, New Mexico and Hawaii to consider qualified residents for acceptance from those states. Preferred consideration will be given to applicants who are residents and high school graduates of the states listed.  Applications from other states are welcome and are considered on an individual basis for highly qualified candidates.

Candidates may be considered for acceptance after successful completion of a minimum of 90 hours of college credit. After completion of a minimum of 120 hours of college credit, the accepted applicant will be eligible to enroll in the School of Dentistry. All candidates for this program are encouraged to complete a baccalaureate degree before entry. In fact, college degree-holders with a broad educational background are the preference of the Dental Student Admission Committee.

Admission is on a selective basis and requires more than meeting course or college-hour requirements. Factors considered in the selection process are the candidates' academic credentials, including Dental Admission Test (DAT) scores, letters of evaluation, personal interview, evidence of the subjective criteria identified in a later section, and all other information submitted by the candidates. Approximately 109 candidates are admitted to the D.D.S. program annually.

Those who want to apply for admission must apply online through the AADSAS Application Service administered by the American Dental Education Association at http://www.adea.org/. Candidates must submit applications no later than Oct. 1 of the year prior to desired enrollment. Sept. 1 is the UMKC preference deadline date for UMKC to receive application materials. Be aware that approximately 4-8 weeks are required by AADSAS to process applications and deliver them to the dental school.

Counseling by the School of Dentistry's admissions staff is available to those interested in applying for admission. It is advisable to seek this counseling early in the undergraduate program.