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Pacific Northwest University School of Dental Medicine: GPA, Class Profile, 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). PNWU SDM is a brand-new program with only one entering class on record, so figures may shift meaningfully as more cohorts matriculate — treat these as a snapshot and confirm on the school's official admissions page before you apply.
PNWU School of Dental Medicine is a private DMD program in Yakima, Washington, run by Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences. It's genuinely new: the school received only "initial accreditation" from CODA in August 2024 and matriculated its very first DMD cohort in 2025. That means there's no multi-year track record to point to yet — but here's exactly what PNWU has told applicants about itself, straight from pnwu.edu, with nothing rounded or guessed.
PNWU dental school stats at a glance
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Avg DAT | Not applicable — PNWU SDM does not require the DAT for admission, per the school's admission-requirements page |
| Avg GPA | 3.4 average cumulative GPA for the first entering DMD cohort (2025); minimums of 2.85 overall/science and 3.0 for prerequisites also apply — per the school's Fast Facts page |
| Class size | 36 matriculants — PNWU SDM's first-ever DMD cohort (2025) — per the school's Fast Facts page |
| Deadline | Mid-May through the third Friday in October, via ADEA AADSAS — per the school's admission-requirements page |
| Tuition | Not published on the school's public cost pages as a clear per-year figure — check PNWU's admissions page for current tuition documents |
PNWU's average DAT score
There isn't one to report, and that's not a gap in our research — it's how the school actually works. Per PNWU's admission-requirements and dental FAQ pages, PNWU School of Dental Medicine does not require the DAT for admission. If you happen to submit a DAT score through AADSAS anyway, it's simply visible to the admissions committee, not weighed against a published minimum or average. So if you're deciding whether to even take the DAT before applying to PNWU specifically, know that it won't move the needle at this school the way it would elsewhere.
That said, most applicants are applying broadly across multiple dental schools, and the vast majority of those programs do require the DAT and do publish an average. If you want to see where a given DAT score falls nationally, our DAT score percentiles guide walks through the ADA's official percentile tables, and our DAT score converter converts between the old 1–30 scale and the new 200–600 scale so you can compare your practice scores against schools that do have a bar to clear.
PNWU's average GPA
Per PNWU's Fast Facts page, the school's first entering DMD cohort (2025) had an average cumulative GPA of 3.4. That page doesn't break out a separate average science GPA. Worth flagging: this 3.4 figure is an average for students who actually matriculated, and it's a different number from the minimums PNWU publishes separately on its admission-requirements page — 2.85 overall GPA, 2.85 science GPA, and 3.0 for prerequisite coursework. Don't confuse the two: 2.85/3.0 is the floor to even be considered; 3.4 is where the first real class actually landed.
Class size and class profile
PNWU doesn't publish an applicant count or acceptance rate, so there's no percentage we can cite here — check the school's admissions page for anything current on that front. What PNWU's Fast Facts page does report, in detail, is a class profile of its inaugural 2025 cohort: 36 students, average age 29, 63.9% female, 75% from the Northwest region, and 41.7% from medically underserved areas. It's a small, geographically-rooted first class, consistent with a school built to serve the Pacific Northwest specifically.
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Application deadline and how PNWU reviews applicants
Per PNWU's official admission-requirements page, applications go through ADEA AADSAS from mid-May through the third Friday in October; the exact calendar date shifts slightly by cycle, so confirm it directly on the school's page before you submit. Per the school's dental FAQ page, the process may also include an online Kira Talent video-response assessment — which carries its own $40 fee paid directly to Kira — in addition to standard on-campus interviews. PNWU also offers accelerated 3-year admission pathways with select Pacific Northwest partner colleges, though pathway students still have to meet the full admissions requirements and interview like everyone else, per the same FAQ page.
Tuition
PNWU's public cost-and-resources pages we could access didn't disclose a clear, complete per-year tuition dollar figure — one visible on-page number was an estimated ~$10,000/year in fees only, not tuition itself, and the actual tuition figures appear to live inside downloadable budget PDFs rather than the page text. Rather than guess, we're reporting this as not published in a form we could verify — check PNWU's admissions page for the current tuition and cost-of-attendance documents before you budget.
What makes PNWU's DMD program distinct
A few things worth knowing beyond the raw numbers, all per PNWU's own pages: this is a genuinely new program, having received only "initial accreditation" from CODA in August 2024, with full accreditation determined during the first class's 4th year. There's no track record beyond a single matriculated cohort yet. On the admissions side, PNWU stands out for not requiring the DAT at all, for using a Kira Talent video-response component alongside interviews, and for offering accelerated 3-year pathways with select regional partner colleges for students who still clear the full bar.
FAQ: PNWU dental school admissions
What DAT score do you need for PNWU dental school?
None. Per PNWU's own admission-requirements and dental FAQ pages, the DAT is not a requirement for admission to PNWU School of Dental Medicine. If you submit a DAT score through AADSAS anyway, the admissions committee can see it, but there is no minimum score and no published average DAT figure to report.
What GPA do you need for PNWU dental school?
PNWU publishes both a minimum and an average. The admission-requirements page lists minimums of 2.85 overall and in science coursework, and 3.0 in prerequisite coursework. Separately, PNWU's Fast Facts page reports an average cumulative GPA of 3.4 for its first entering DMD cohort (2025) — note that's an average for actual matriculants, not the minimum bar, and the school does not publish a separate average science GPA.
How hard is it to get into PNWU dental school?
PNWU does not publish an acceptance rate or applicant-pool numbers, so there's no percentage to cite here — check the school's admissions page for the current cycle. What we do know from PNWU's Fast Facts page is that the first DMD cohort (2025) enrolled 36 students with an average age of 29, was 63.9% female, drew 75% of students from the Northwest region, and included 41.7% from medically underserved areas.
When is the PNWU dental school application deadline?
Per PNWU's admission-requirements page, applications are accepted through ADEA AADSAS from mid-May through the third Friday in October. The exact calendar date for that October deadline shifts slightly each cycle, so confirm the current year's date on PNWU's admissions page before you submit.
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