Eligibility

• To be eligible for consideration, all individuals must:
  • Have dentistry as their career choice
  • Be a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident (preference will be given to residents of the State of Texas)
  • Have completed 60 semester hours of college by the end of the Spring Semester, 2018
  • Have completed 8 hours of general chemistry, 8 hours of biology, and 8 hours of organic chemistry by the end of the Spring Semester, 2018
  • Provide all transcripts from colleges/universities attended
  • Have a grade point average of 2.75 or higher
  • Submit an online application, including a one-page essay stating how SPEP Collegiate II will benefit the applicant’s pursuit of dentistry as a career
  • Submit one letter of recommendation from the applicant’s Pre- Health Advisor (or Advisory Committee) or two letters of recommendation from science professors from courses taken
  • Complete a phone interview with Program staff
  • Sign a contract, agreeing to participate in all required Program activities
  • Have first and second injections of the Hepatitis B vaccination seriescompleted and current T.B. skin test before attending the Program
  • Be a member of a dentally-underserved population and/or be from a *disadvantaged background.  Demonstrate a strong potential of working with underserved populations or in communities with limited access to dental health care.
  • An academically disadvantaged individual is one who comes from an environment that has inhibited the individual from obtaining the knowledge, skill and ability to enroll in and graduate from a health professions school. For the purpose of this program, an applicant is considered academically disadvantaged if he or she is or will be a first generation college graduate to earn a baccalaureate degree in his or her family. An applicant is also considered academically disadvantaged if he or she meets at least 4 of the following criteria:
  • English is not the applicant’s primary language
  • Overcame or is experiencing extreme hardship
  • From a single parent family
  • Non-traditional student (including older age)
  • Significant employment while attending school
  • Attended a low-performing high school
  • Resident of a financially poor school district
  • Resident of  a county designated as underserved by health professionals
  • Resident of a lowest 10% per capita income county
  • Other disadvantaged factor(s) identified by the applicant
• * An economically disadvantaged individual is one who comes from a family with an annual income below a level based on low-income thresholds according to family size, published by the U.S. Census Bureau in the Federal Register, and adjusted annually for changes in the Consumer Price Index.
  Note: The pre-dental programs offered via Bridge to Dentistry will not accept auditors. Applicants who do not satisfy eligibility requirements, or cannot commit to the program in its entirety, will not be considered.