University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Adams 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.

The UNC Adams School of Dentistry is a public DDS program in Chapel Hill, NC. Here's exactly what UNC has told applicants about its own program, straight from the school's pages, with nothing rounded or guessed — and where the school doesn't spell something out, we say so plainly instead of filling in the gap.

UNC dental school stats at a glance

UNC's average DAT score

Per UNC Adams School of Dentistry's official DDS Admissions page, "the average GPA and DAT of the most recently admitted class were a 3.72 and 460 (Academic Average)." That 460 is on the current 200-600 DAT scale, reported as Academic Average. The page doesn't tie that figure to a specific entering-class year — it only says "most recently admitted class" — so treat 460 as a snapshot as viewed in July 2026 rather than a fixed historical data point.

The same admissions page states UNC uses holistic review with no hard GPA or DAT cutoffs, but does publish a preferred (not required) benchmark of a 420 DAT Academic Average — well below the school's actual admitted-class average of 460.

To see where 460 AA lands nationally, our DAT score percentiles guide walks through the ADA's official percentile tables on the new 200-600 scale, and our DAT score converter will translate any score — old scale or new — so you can line up your own practice numbers against what UNC has published.

UNC's average GPA

The same sentence on UNC's admissions page puts the average overall GPA of the most recently admitted class at 3.72. The school does not publish a separate average science GPA on this page. It does state a preferred (not required) minimum overall GPA of 3.2, again well below the actual admitted-class average.

Class size and admissions approach

UNC's own admissions page does not currently publish an exact class-size figure. The most specific number we could find is from an official UNC News (uncnews.unc.edu) article on a $27.68M gift to the School of Dentistry, which states the school "now averages 82 students in each class," with in-state students making up about 75% of DDS students. That article is from 2019, so treat 82 as directionally correct but potentially dated rather than a current-cycle figure.

Application deadline

Per UNC's official DDS Admissions page, the application deadline is October 1, 2026 for the 2026-2027 ADEA AADSAS cycle. The same page notes that AADSAS opens May 12, 2026, with submissions beginning June 2, 2026.

Tuition

Per the school's official "Estimated Expenses" PDF from the Office of Admissions & Student Life, residents should expect tuition of about $35,609/year, with non-residents at about $62,124/year. Four-year total estimated expenses (tuition, fees, insurance, and living costs, broken out by DDS1-DDS4) come to roughly $215,805 for residents and $370,861 for non-residents. The PDF's file path contains what looks like a 2021 date fragment, so we can't be fully certain it reflects current pricing — a separate studentaid.unc.edu page listed a standalone 2026-2027 academic-year tuition figure of $37,822, which is in the same ballpark as this PDF's resident line but not identical. Confirm exact figures with UNC's cashier's office or studentaid.unc.edu before budgeting.

What makes UNC's DDS admissions process distinct

A few details worth knowing beyond the raw numbers, all per the school's own admissions page. UNC's DDS prerequisites require one course specifically in human anatomy and physiology, including lab — a distinct required course that not every dental school lists separately. The school plans to conduct in-person interviews for the 2026-2027 admissions cycle. UNC also offers an Advanced Standing Program for Internationally Trained Dentists (ASPID), a pathway into the DDS program for dentists trained outside the U.S.