University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine: Average DAT, GPA, and How to Get In

Numbers below come from the school's own published materials as of July 2026 (each is linked to its source). Admissions stats shift every cycle — treat these as a snapshot and confirm on the school's official admissions page before you apply.

University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine (UB) is a public DDS program in Buffalo, New York, part of the SUNY system. Most of the numbers on this page come from a single, easy-to-miss page: UB's official Admissions FAQ, which answers "what is your average DAT score" and "what GPA is competitive" directly in Q&A format — a separate admissions-requirements page only lists minimums, not averages.

Average DAT score at Buffalo

Per the school's official Admissions FAQ, "the academic average for fall 2026 incoming students was ~21.5. Incoming scores ranged from 18 to 28." That's the DAT Academic Average (AA), and the 18–28 range confirms it's reported on the old 1–30 DAT scale rather than the newer 200–600 scale. Importantly, UB frames this as the actual reported average for its incoming class, not a minimum — the school separately states a "preference" for an AA of 370+ on the new scale (or 17+ CDAT/old scale) for consideration, which sits below the ~21.5 the fall 2026 class actually averaged.

Average GPA at Buffalo

The same official Admissions FAQ page states that "fall 2025 incoming students had approximately 3.7 overall GPA and 3.6 science GPA." Worth flagging: this GPA figure is explicitly for the fall 2025 entering class, one cohort earlier than the fall 2026 class the DAT average above describes. UB's FAQ page doesn't give both stats for the same class year, so we're not presenting them as though they describe an identical cohort.

Class size

Per the Admissions FAQ, "each year, the incoming class of 95 typically represents students from more than 50 different colleges." A separate program-overview page cites roughly 425 students across the entire four-year DDS program, which is consistent with a class of about 95–106 students per year, per the school's published materials.

Application deadline

Per UB's official admissions requirements page, "the deadline to submit completed dental school applications for the current cycle is Dec. 1, 2026," through the ADEA AADSAS centralized application system, for fall 2027 entry. The admissions FAQ hub page states that application submission opens June 2, 2026.

Tuition at Buffalo

Per the school's estimated cost of attendance page for the 2026–2027 academic year, resident tuition runs $39,130 per year ($156,520 total across four years), while non-resident tuition runs $72,240 per year ($288,960 total). This figure applies uniformly across all four years (D1–D4) and is set annually by the SUNY Board of Trustees, so it can change from year to year — check the school's admissions page for the current cycle's number before budgeting around it.

Where a ~21.5 AA lands nationally

Buffalo's reported ~21.5 Academic Average for its fall 2026 class is on the old 1–30 DAT scale, which the ADA has since replaced with a 200–600 scale. To see where an old-scale score in that range falls nationally in percentile terms, or to convert it directly to the new scale, use our DAT score percentiles guide or our DAT score converter. Remember that ~21.5 is a reported average, not a cutoff — UB's own FAQ makes clear the school no longer enforces a minimum DAT score for consideration.

What else stands out about UB admissions

A few things in UB's own published FAQ are worth knowing before you apply. First, UB no longer sets a minimum DAT/CDAT score for consideration — "unlike in previous admission cycles, we no longer have a minimum DAT score requirement," per the FAQ — though the school still gives preference to AA scores of 370+ (new scale) or 17+ (CDAT/old scale). Second, interviews are conducted exclusively in person, with no virtual interview option, per the same FAQ, so budget for travel to Buffalo if you're invited. Third, UB emphasizes very early clinical exposure: first-year (D1) students begin seeing patients one afternoon per week, ramping up to near full-time patient care by D4, per the school's official "Our Program" page. Finally, the numbers make selectivity clear even without a published acceptance rate — the school receives over 2,700 applications per year but interviews only about 300 candidates, and roughly 30–35% of each incoming class comes from outside New York State, per the Admissions FAQ.