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University of Pikeville Tanner College 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 of Pikeville Tanner College of Dental Medicine (TCDM) is a private DMD program in Pikeville, Kentucky. It's also one of the newest dental schools in the country: it received CODA initial accreditation in September 2025, per the school's own accreditation page, and welcomed its very first class on June 1, 2026. That timeline matters for this page — it's the reason most of the "usual" admissions stats below read as not published rather than as a number.
Pikeville dental school stats at a glance
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Avg DAT | Not published — TCDM is test-optional |
| Avg GPA | Not published |
| Class size | Not published as an official recurring stat |
| Deadline | Not published |
| Tuition | Not published |
None of TCDM's official pages — its program overview, program-requirements page, or prospective-students page — list an average DAT, average GPA, application deadline, or tuition figure. With only one entering class ever enrolled, there simply isn't a published cycle of data yet. Check the school's admissions page for the current cycle before you build your application timeline around any number.
Why Pikeville doesn't publish an average DAT
This isn't just a data gap — it's a policy. Per the school's own program-requirements page, "Completion of the DAT is not a requirement for admission" at TCDM. That makes it a test-optional dental program, one of a small handful nationally, and it means an "average DAT" statistic may never exist for this school the way it does for the vast majority of DMD/DDS programs that require the exam and report a class average every cycle.
That doesn't make the DAT irrelevant to your Pikeville application, though, if you take it anyway or you're also applying to schools that do require it. If you want to know where a given score actually falls nationally, our DAT score percentiles guide walks through the ADA's official percentile tables on the current 200-600 scale, and our DAT score converter will translate any old-scale or new-scale score so you can compare it against the published averages at every other school on your list.
GPA, class size, deadline, and tuition
TCDM has not published an average GPA, and we could not find a stated minimum GPA cutoff on its official pages either. The same goes for a fixed application deadline and a published tuition figure — none appear on the program overview, requirements page, or prospective-students page as of this writing.
Class size isn't formally published as a recurring admissions statistic either, though local news coverage of the program's June 1, 2026 welcome event reported an inaugural class of 54 students, per news-expressky.com's coverage — that's the launch-event headcount for TCDM's first-ever cohort, not an official, recurring "class size" figure the school itself publishes, so we're not treating it as equivalent to the kind of audited class-profile number other schools report.
An accelerated 3-year DMD curriculum
One structural fact worth knowing if you're comparing programs: TCDM runs on an accelerated three-calendar-year DMD curriculum rather than the usual four academic years. Per Dean Jill Keaton, quoted in that same local news coverage, TCDM is "the fourth dental school nationally approved for a three-year curriculum model" — students are in session through summers but keep standard holidays and breaks, while logging clinical hours comparable to or exceeding many four-year programs. That compresses the timeline to a DMD, which is worth weighing against the lack of published DAT/GPA benchmarks when you're deciding where this program fits on your list.
Their average is the bar. Beat it.
Pikeville doesn't set a DAT bar to clear because it's test-optional — but almost every other dental school on a typical application list does, and most applicants apply broadly. Consistent full-length practice is what keeps every one of those other options within reach, not just this one.
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Admissions requirements: shadowing and community service
Per the school's program-requirements page, applicants must complete at least 200 hours of community service (within 5 years of applying) and at least 30 hours of shadowing with a minimum of two dentists. Shadowing is specifically recommended in general and specialty practices, and especially at Federally Qualified Health Centers, Rural Health Clinics, or Mission/Faith-Based Clinics — a direct reflection of the program's rural-Appalachia mission focus. If you're building an application for TCDM, these hour requirements are concrete and published, even where the score-based stats aren't.
FAQ: Pikeville dental school admissions
What DAT score do you need for Pikeville?
University of Pikeville's Tanner College of Dental Medicine (TCDM) does not require the DAT at all — per the school's program-requirements page, "Completion of the DAT is not a requirement for admission." Because of that, TCDM has never published an average DAT for an entering class, and a traditional average-DAT statistic may never exist for this program the way it does at DAT-requiring schools.
What GPA do you need for Pikeville dental school?
TCDM has not published an average GPA for an entering class on any of its official pages. The program is brand new — it welcomed its first-ever class in June 2026 — so no cycle's GPA average exists yet to publish. Check the school's admissions page for the current cycle's stated requirements.
How hard is it to get into Pikeville?
There is no published acceptance rate for TCDM, and with only one entering class so far there is no multi-year track record to measure against. What the school does publish: applicants need at least 200 hours of community service within 5 years of applying and at least 30 hours of shadowing under a minimum of two dentists, with shadowing encouraged at Federally Qualified Health Centers, Rural Health Clinics, or faith-based clinics, reflecting the program's rural-Appalachia mission.
When is the Pikeville dental school application deadline?
We could not find a fixed application deadline published on TCDM's official pages. Check the school's admissions page for the current cycle's deadline before you plan your application timeline.
No published bar here. Still worth clearing your own.
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