Description
UDM offers a special academic program which enables a very few (seven or eight annually) selected applicants to earn a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree in addition to the baccalaureate degree in six calendar years, rather than in the traditional eight years.
The selected students in the Six-Year BS/DDS Program spend the first two years at the McNichols Campus doing pre-dental studies in the College of Engineering and Science. The last four years are in the School of Dentistry.
In addition to the basic science courses required of all dental school applicants, Six-Year Program students must meet all of the requirements of the University Core Curriculum. This includes course work in speech, English, mathematics, computers, religious studies, philosophy, history and culture, ethics, and social responsibility.
Eligibility
Only high school graduates of the months immediately preceding the beginning of undergraduate study at the University of Detroit Mercy are eligible for consideration as a Program participant. Transfer students or students who have already begun course work at UDM are ineligible.
Once admitted, a Program participant must be enrolled as a full-time student in each regular semester, including course work at the University during the summer between the first and second academic years. All necessary undergraduate course work must be completed at the McNichols campus within the two calendar years immediately prior to the beginning of the formal dental school phase of the Program.
Students successfully completing all requirements of the Program will be granted the Bachelor of Science degree and the Doctor of Dental Surgery degree at the end of the sixth year.
Requirements for Program Acceptance Consideration
Admissions Requirements
The Selection Committee will begin to consider for Program acceptance only an applicant who has met all of the following basic criteria:
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Has been accepted for admission as a freshman student at the University of Detroit Mercy.
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Has submitted to the Admissions Office, following acceptance as a freshman student, a 350-400 word personal essay explaining why he or she feels qualified to participate in this particular program.
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Is ranked with the top 25% of their high school senior class at the time of their application for acceptance into the Program.
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Has achieved a high school ACT composite score of 26, or a combined SAT score of 1170.
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Has earned for the first six semesters of high school a Grade Point Average of 3.3 overall on a 4.0 point scale, and the same for the combined mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology courses.
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Has requested that the high school office send to the Program Coordinator by February 1, an official transcript which includes all courses completed, including the first semester of the senior year.
Applicants remaining under consideration after the initial screening will also be requested to come to campus during early February for a visit and for interviews with the Selection Committee members.
Once accepted, an applicant will be eligible for transfer to the Dental School phase of study following the successful completion of all aspects of the initial two years of the Program. This will include completion of all required courses, the maintaining of the 3.3 minimum GPA for overall as well as for science and mathematics combined, and the attainment of adequately high enough scores on the Dental Admission Test, the national standardized examination required of all applicants for admission to professional schools of dentistry.
The seven or eight applicants accepted annually will be informed in early March. By no means does it follow from this that the other applicants are not qualified to begin and hopefully be successful in completing prerequisite course work as they seek entry into the School of Dentistry following the traditional four years of pre-dental studies. The annual acceptance rate of UDM undergraduate pre-dental students into various schools of dentistry continues to be significantly above the national average.
Application Procedures
The deadline for the University's receipt of applications for the Six-Year Program is December 20 of the applicant's senior year of high school. All who are interested in being considered for admission into the Six-Year Program should specifically and clearly indicate this at the time they submit their applications for admission as entering freshmen into the University's College of Engineering and Science. Applications for the Program are to be sent to the office of Undergraduate Admissions at the McNichols campus, not to the Program Coordinator nor to the School of Dentistry.
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