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UTHealth Houston 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.

UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry is a public DDS program located inside the Texas Medical Center in Houston, which the school describes as the world's largest medical complex. It's a state school that leans heavily toward Texas residents, and it publishes a straightforward class-profile page with the numbers below — we're just pulling them out and sourcing every one, with nothing rounded or estimated.

UTHealth Houston dental school stats at a glance

StatValue
Avg DAT23 (old 1-30 scale), DDS Class of 2028; no AA/PAT/TS subscore specified — per the school's published class profile
Avg GPA3.88 overall (3.83 average science/BCPM GPA), DDS Class of 2028 — per the school's published class profile
Class size106 incoming students (70 female, 36 male; 101 of 106 Texas residents), DDS Class of 2028 — per the school's published class profile
DeadlineTMDSAS opens May 1, closes October 1 (mandatory for Texas residents; out-of-state may use AADSAS, no AADSAS deadline published) — per the school's admissions catalog
Tuition~$36,662/yr resident · ~$57,804/yr non-resident (2024-2025 schedule) — per the school's tuition schedule

UTHealth Houston's average DAT score

Per the school's published class profile, the DDS Class of 2028 (the cohort that entered in fall 2024) had an "Average DAT Score: 23." That page reports a single combined number with no AA, PAT, or Total Science subscore broken out separately — UTHealth Houston simply hasn't published that level of detail. That 23 sits on the old 1-30 DAT scale, since the exam didn't move to its new 200-600 scale until March 2025, after this class's application cycle had already closed. As of this writing, the school hasn't published an updated average on the new scale for a more recent entering class; check the school's admissions page for the current cycle's figures.

To see what a 23 on the old scale actually means in percentile terms, our DAT score percentiles guide walks through the ADA's official concordance and percentile tables, and our DAT score converter lets you convert that old-scale number to the new 200-600 scale (or convert your own practice scores) so you can compare directly against UTHealth Houston's published figure.

UTHealth Houston's average GPA

The same class-profile page lists "Average GPA: 3.88" for the DDS Class of 2028, and separately reports an average BCPM (science) GPA of 3.83 for that same cohort. No minimum GPA cutoff is stated on that page — these are the class's actual averages, not a published threshold to clear.

Class size and residency

UTHealth Houston enrolled 106 incoming students for the DDS Class of 2028: 70 female and 36 male, with 101 of the 106 being Texas residents. The same page notes the class was drawn from 1,694 total applicants after 266 interviews were conducted, and that Texas residents are strongly preferred for admission — per the school's own catalog, TMDSAS (not AADSAS) is the required application service for Texas residents, while out-of-state applicants may alternatively apply through AADSAS.

Their average is the bar. Beat it.

UTHealth Houston's own class profile puts its Class of 2028 average DAT at 23 on the old scale — 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

UTHealth Houston is a Texas public dental school, so its official catalog page states that applications run through TMDSAS, which "opens May 1 and closes October 1" of the year preceding enrollment. TMDSAS is mandatory for Texas residents. The catalog notes that out-of-state applicants may alternatively apply through AADSAS, but no separate AADSAS deadline date is published on that page for this program — if you're applying from outside Texas, confirm the current AADSAS timeline on the school's admissions page directly.

Tuition

Per the official UTHealth Houston Bursar's Office tuition schedule for the School of Dentistry DDS program (2024-2025 academic year), tuition runs approximately $36,662 per year for Texas residents and approximately $57,804 per year for non-residents. The same source notes additional annual fees ranging roughly $14,600 to $22,000 depending on year (D1 through D4).

What makes UTHealth Houston's admissions and program distinct

A few details worth knowing beyond the raw numbers. Prerequisite coursework here has some specific requirements: per the school's catalog, 3 semester hours of Biochemistry are required separately from the general Biology requirement, plus 3 hours of Statistics and 6 hours of English, all with a minimum grade of C (pass/fail grades don't count). On the program side, per the dental school's own page, the DDS program includes a Clinical Simulation and Learning Center where students practice on virtual patients with lifelike cases, digital records, diagnostic images, and 3D models before treating real patients, and the school offers a dual DDS/MPH degree pathway for students who want to combine dentistry with public health.

FAQ: UTHealth Houston dental school admissions

What DAT score do you need for UTHealth Houston?

UTHealth Houston's own class-profile page reports an "Average DAT Score: 23" for the DDS Class of 2028 (the cohort that entered in 2024), with no AA, PAT, or Total Science subscore broken out separately. That 23 is on the old 1-30 DAT scale, since it predates the exam's March 2025 move to the new 200-600 scale. The school has not published a figure on the new scale for a more recent class as of this writing.

What GPA do you need for UTHealth Houston dental school?

The same class-profile page lists an "Average GPA: 3.88" for the DDS Class of 2028, along with an average science (BCPM) GPA of 3.83 for that same cohort. No separate minimum GPA threshold is published on that page; these are class averages, not stated cutoffs.

How hard is it to get into UTHealth Houston dental school?

UTHealth Houston doesn't publish an acceptance rate, but its class-profile page does give the raw numbers behind one recent cycle: 1,694 total applicants, 266 interviews conducted, and 106 incoming students for the DDS Class of 2028, 101 of whom were Texas residents. That works out to well under 100 non-resident seats out of 106 total, which signals a strong preference for Texas residents applying through TMDSAS.

When is the UTHealth Houston dental school application deadline?

UTHealth Houston is a Texas public dental school, so Texas residents must apply through TMDSAS (Texas Medical & Dental Schools Application Service), which the school's catalog page states opens May 1 and closes October 1 of the year before enrollment. The catalog notes out-of-state applicants may apply through AADSAS instead, but does not publish a separate AADSAS deadline date for this program.

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