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LSU Health New Orleans School of Dentistry: 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.
LSU Health New Orleans School of Dentistry (LSUSD) is the only public dental school in Louisiana, awarding the DDS degree. If you're building your school list, here's exactly what LSUSD has told applicants about its own admissions bar, straight from its official admissions page, with nothing rounded or guessed.
LSU dental school stats at a glance
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Avg DAT | 464 mean Academic Average (new 200-600 scale), 2026 entering class; mean Perceptual Ability of 455 for the same class — per the school's admissions page |
| Avg GPA | Not published as a class mean; competitive thresholds stated as "Above 3.6" overall GPA and "3.5 or higher" science GPA — per the school's admissions page |
| Class size | 75 students (60 seats reserved for Louisiana residents, up to 4 for Arkansas, up to 11 for other states) — per the school's admissions page |
| Deadline | AADSAS filing deadline: September 1; early application recommended — per the school's admissions page |
| Tuition | $35,141/yr (Louisiana resident) · $63,869/yr (non-resident), full-time DDS tuition + fees — per the school's tuition page |
LSU's average DAT score
Per the school's admissions page, "the mean academic average for the 2026 entering class was 464," reported on the new 200-600 DAT scale rather than the old 1-30 scale. The same page states "the average score on Perceptual Ability for the 2026 entering class was 455." LSUSD also spells out a target for applicants: "A target score would be an academic average of 440 with no single score lower than 410" — a competitive bar that sits well below the 464 mean its 2026 class actually landed at.
To see where a 464 AA (or a 440 AA target) falls in the national distribution, our DAT score percentiles guide breaks down the ADA's official percentile tables on the new 200-600 scale, and our DAT score converter lets you convert any old- or new-scale score to compare your practice results against LSU's published figures directly.
LSU's average GPA
LSUSD doesn't publish a single numeric class-average GPA. Instead, per the same admissions page, it states: "Generally a GPA of Above 3.6 is required for a competitive application" for overall GPA, and "In recent years a 3.5 or higher science GPA has been necessary for a competitive application" for science GPA. Those are competitive-application thresholds rather than a literal class mean, and no separate class year is attached to the GPA language — it sits on the same current page that cites the 2026-class DAT figures.
Class size and residency weighting
LSUSD's Admissions Committee selects 75 students for the first-year class. Per the school's admissions page, "60 slots in the class are reserved for residents of Louisiana, up to 4 for Arkansas residents, and up to 11 residents from other states." That makes LSU one of the more residency-restrictive state dental schools for out-of-state applicants — only up to 11 of 75 seats are open to residents of the other 48 states combined.
Their average is the bar. Beat it.
LSU's own admissions page puts its 2026 entering class mean at 464 Academic Average — walking into your application above that number, not at it, is the game. Consistent full-length practice under real timing is how you get there instead of guessing.
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Application deadline
Per LSUSD's admissions page, the AADSAS filing deadline is September 1. The page notes "early application is highly recommended," with interviews beginning around August 1 and a rolling admissions process — earliest acceptance notifications typically go out around the first Monday in December.
Tuition
Per LSU Health New Orleans' official tuition page, full-time DDS tuition and fees run $35,141 per year for Louisiana residents and $63,869 per year for non-residents — a $28,418 base tuition line plus fees for residents, with an additional $28,728 non-resident fee layered on for out-of-state students.
What makes LSUSD's admissions process distinct
A few details worth knowing beyond the raw numbers, per LSUSD's own admissions page: LSUSD is one of the few U.S. dental schools that still administers a chalk carving exercise as part of the interview — a timed 35-minute hand-skills test scored 0-10, where a 6 or above is "generally required to be competitive for admission." LSUSD also recommends applicants take comparative anatomy, histology, and cell and molecular biology "to enhance the competitiveness of an application," coursework recommendations less common at other dental schools.
FAQ: LSU dental school admissions
What DAT score do you need for LSU?
LSU Health New Orleans School of Dentistry's admissions page states the mean Academic Average for the 2026 entering class was 464 on the new 200-600 DAT scale, with a mean Perceptual Ability score of 455 for that same class. The page also says a target score would be an Academic Average of 440 with no single section score lower than 410, so 440+ AA with no section under 410 is the stated bar to be competitive, even though the actual 2026 class mean landed higher at 464.
What GPA do you need for LSU dental school?
LSU's admissions page doesn't publish a single class-average GPA number. Instead it states that generally an overall GPA above 3.6 is required for a competitive application, and that in recent years a science GPA of 3.5 or higher has been necessary to be competitive. Treat those as competitive thresholds rather than a literal class mean.
How hard is it to get into LSU dental school?
LSU's admissions page doesn't publish an acceptance rate, but it does show how residency-restrictive the 75-seat class is: 60 seats are reserved for Louisiana residents, up to 4 for Arkansas residents, and only up to 11 for residents of all other states combined. For out-of-state applicants without Louisiana or Arkansas residency, that leaves a small share of an already small class.
When is the LSU dental school application deadline?
Per LSU's admissions page, the AADSAS filing deadline is September 1, interviews begin around August 1, and the school runs a rolling admissions process with the earliest acceptance notifications going out around the first Monday in December. Early application is explicitly recommended on the same page.
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