Touro Dental School Interview: 30-Minute Open-File Guide

You apply to TCDM through ADEA AADSAS. The application opens June 1 and closes February 1 in the year before entry.

Once your AADSAS application is verified, TCDM emails every applicant instructions to pay a $100 processing fee so your file can move to the next step. While the TCDM Catalog notes that the DAT must be taken prior to the supplemental application deadline of January 31 of the application year, TCDM's admissions steps only describe submitting your verified AADSAS application and the $100 processing fee.

The admissions department contacts select qualified applicants by email to invite them to an in-person or virtual interview. TCDM explicitly states on its admissions page that you should not contact the school about your application status.

TCDM uses rolling admissions and follows ADEA traffic rules. Expect your decision about 6 to 8 weeks after your interview date, and no earlier than December 15 of the academic year before enrollment.

• June 1: ADEA AADSAS application opens.
• After AADSAS verification: TCDM emails instructions for the $100 processing fee.
• September through March: TCDM conducts in-person and virtual interviews.
• December 15: Earliest date admissions offers go out under ADEA traffic rules (about 6 to 8 weeks post-interview).
• January 31: Deadline to have taken the DAT (between January 2024 and January 31, 2027).
• February 1: ADEA AADSAS primary application deadline.

TCDM states that each applicant receives an individual, flexible holistic review where admission criteria are not weighted. Because your interviewer has your file open, they are not spending 30 minutes quizzing you on your transcript. They are scoring non-cognitive domains and personal readiness that grades cannot show.

On its DDS Admissions page and in the TCDM Catalog, TCDM lists the exact traits and domains the interview is built to evaluate. If you are preparing stories from your dental shadowing, work, or volunteering, map them directly to these two lists. For more general practice prompts across these areas, see our guide to dental school interview questions.

• Non-cognitive domains: empathy, critical thinking, moral reasoning and ethical grounding, open-mindedness, ability to collaborate, and interpersonal skills.
• Direct evaluation criteria: communication skills, flexibility, leadership, team experience, intellectual ability, learning skills and motivation, and preparation for dentistry.
• Broader personal characteristics sought by the committee: altruism, compassion, honesty, integrity, and a commitment to care for people who are disadvantaged and underserved.
• Technical and behavioral standards: the ability to endure physically taxing workloads, function effectively under stress, adapt to changing environments, manage apprehensive patients tactfully, and accept criticism by modifying your behavior.

TCDM's application volume has grown sharply over the last four cycles. For the Class of 2030, the school received 4,360 applications, up from 2,644 for the Class of 2027.

By our calculation from TCDM's Class Stats table, 18.7% of Class of 2030 applicants were invited to interview (816 of 4,360), and 26.2% of interviewed applicants enrolled in the class (214 of 816). Because dental schools make more offers than the 214 seats to fill the class, your actual chance of an acceptance offer once you sit for the interview is higher than 26.2%. If you are still building your school list, see our guide on how many dental schools you should apply to.

Notice the Total DAT line for the Class of 2030: TCDM reports 440 on the new three-digit ADA reporting scale, whereas the Classes of 2027 through 2029 averaged 21.0 on the older two-digit scale. If you took the DAT more than once, TCDM evaluates your most recent score.

Touro College of Dental Medicine class statistics (Classes of 2027 to 2030)

Every TCDM student spends the first and second years taking pre-clinical courses on the New York campus at 19 Skyline Drive in Hawthorne/Valhalla, NY. On the school-specific section of your ADEA AADSAS application, you must choose where you want to complete your third and fourth clinical years: the Valhalla, NY campus clinic, the Albuquerque, NM campus clinic, or no preference.

Because your interviewer has your AADSAS file in front of them, they can see which option you checked. Be ready to explain your choice clearly.

If you selected Albuquerque, NM (or no preference), know why TCDM built that campus. Opened in 2025 on the campus of Touro's Lovelace Biomedical Research Laboratories, the Albuquerque facility is the first dental school facility in New Mexico. The TCDM Catalog points out that New Mexico has only 48.4 dentists per 100,000 people, one of the lowest dentist-to-population ratios in the country, with severe shortages in rural communities. TCDM created the cohort so students would train in Albuquerque for years 3 and 4 and be encouraged to practice in the state afterward.

If you selected Valhalla, NY, your clinical years take place in the 132-chair clinic facility at 19 Skyline Drive (divided into eight clinical practice units, plus separate pediatric and oral and maxillofacial surgery clinics). Third-year students also rotate through the Westchester Institute for Human Development (WIHD) dental clinic to care for patients with special needs.

As a private institution, TCDM has no in-state residency preference, while encouraging Albuquerque cohort students to practice in New Mexico after graduation. Contrast that with our Texas A&M dental interview guide. Across its four-year combined statistics, TCDM reports 21+ states represented, 203+ colleges represented, a class split of 51% male and 49% female, and an average age of 26.

TCDM's mission statement is "to graduate outstanding dental professionals who will utilize a complex knowledge base and sophisticated perceptual skills to deliver excellent health care service with integrity, compassion, and empathy." Its goals are organized around four areas: Education/Teaching, Patient Care, Research, and Community Service.

Rather than repeating those words back to your interviewer, connect your own background to specific parts of how TCDM trains dentists:

• New York Medical College (NYMC) integration: TCDM is located on the NYMC campus, and its basic science curriculum was developed in conjunction with NYMC's allopathic School of Medicine. In the second-year Inter-Professional Ethics course (BMGN 691), second-year dental students and first-year medical students meet in small groups to work through three interprofessional ethics cases together.
• Care for patients with disabilities: TCDM offers oral healthcare to individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD), is building TouroCAREs (the Center for Access, Respect and Empathy), and requires a third-year clinical rotation (CLPN 764A,B) at the Westchester Institute for Human Development dental clinic.
• Digital dentistry and complex care: The teaching practice and Complex Care Clinic use 3D imaging, Cone-Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT), guided implant surgery, and endodontic microscopy.
• 40-hour community service requirement: Every DDS student must complete 40 hours of community service before graduating (with no more than 10 hours from dental-related activities), approved through the Office of Student Affairs and paired with a one-page reflection.
• Jewish heritage and service to all: Touro University is an independent institution under Jewish auspices, rooted in Hillel's dictum in Ethics of the Fathers and committed to serving both the Jewish and general communities, especially people who have been historically underserved.

Thirty minutes goes fast once introductions and your questions at the end are factored in. Use this five-step plan to get ready:

• Audit your AADSAS file from top to bottom. Your interviewer can read your personal statement, experiences, and academic history before or during the session. Be ready to expand on any dental shadowing or volunteering entry with a concrete patient or team moment you did not have room to write in AADSAS.
• Address any academic dips without making excuses. TCDM evaluates undergraduate science courses based on increasing academic performance over time and uses your most recent DAT score. If you had a rough semester or retook the DAT, state what happened in two sentences and point to how you changed your study habits afterward.
• Match one real story to each TCDM evaluation criterion. Write down a short outline for flexibility, team experience, leadership, moral reasoning, and caring for underserved patients.
• Prepare your clinical campus answer. Whether you marked Valhalla, Albuquerque, or no preference on AADSAS, have a clear, honest two-sentence explanation ready.
• Run a timed 30-minute mock session. Practice answering 6 to 8 open-file questions back to back with a partner or an AI interviewer, leaving the final 3 to 4 minutes for two thoughtful questions for your interviewer. Start your free week.

If you are double-checking your file before interview day or before applying, here are TCDM's published requirements and first-year costs from the Admission Requirements page and the TCDM Catalog. For how these compare across US programs, see our guide to dental school requirements.

• Minimum GPA: 2.7 science GPA and 2.7 overall GPA on a 4.0 scale to be eligible for consideration.
• Bachelor's degree and online coursework rule: A bachelor's degree from an accredited US or Canadian college or university is required before matriculation. TCDM does not accept online prerequisites or online degrees.
• DAT window: Must be taken between January 2024 and January 31, 2027 (prior to the January 31 deadline and within three years prior to entry). If taken multiple times, the most recent score is used.
• Prerequisite courses: General Biology (2 semesters with labs), General Chemistry (2 semesters with labs), Organic Chemistry (1 semester with lab), Biochemistry (1 semester, with or without lab), Physics (2 semesters with labs), and English (2 semesters, or completion of your undergraduate institution's graduation requirement). TCDM reserves the right to waive any of these requirements for an individual applicant.
• Letters of evaluation: One Pre-Dental Committee letter OR three undergraduate faculty letters. Two must be from science faculty who taught you or supervised independent research for credit, and math does not count as science. The third can be from a non-science course or dental office/clinic volunteering, and one letter must be from your major. Applicants completing a graduate degree must also provide a graduate committee or individual graduate letter. Letters from employers or volunteer clinical/community service are highly recommended.
• Prior dental school matriculation: Anyone who previously matriculated at any dental school and withdrew or was dismissed for any reason is ineligible to apply.
• International students: Welcome to apply if they hold a bachelor's degree and completed prerequisites at an accredited US or Canadian institution. Non-US citizens without permanent residency by July 1 of the entry year must deposit four years of tuition and fees (or two years with a creditworthy US co-signer, per the DDS Admissions page) into an escrow account before matriculation.
• First-year tuition and cost of attendance (DDS Class of 2029, 2025-2026 Catalog): $88,900 tuition ($17,780 summer, $35,560 fall, $35,560 spring), $109,525 subtotal with mandatory fees (including a $14,180 administrative fee, $4,160 materials fee, $1,220 technology fee, $900 meal plan fee, and $165 campus fee), and $154,949 total estimated cost of attendance including living expenses and health insurance.

What format is the Touro College of Dental Medicine interview?

TCDM interviews are 30 minutes long, conducted one-on-one in an open-file holistic format, and held either in person or virtually. Your interviewer has access to your application file prior to or during the session and assigns a final ranking with supporting comments.

When does Touro dental school interview and send acceptances?

Interviews run from September through March. Admissions decisions are made on a rolling basis and sent about 6 to 8 weeks after your interview date, starting no earlier than December 15 under ADEA traffic rules.

Is there a Touro dental supplemental application or fee?

After you submit a verified ADEA AADSAS application (due February 1), TCDM sends an email with instructions to pay a $100 processing fee to move your application forward. You also select your preferred clinical campus (Valhalla, NY, Albuquerque, NM, or no preference) in the school-specific section of AADSAS.

How do the New York and New Mexico campuses work at TCDM?

All DDS students complete their 1st and 2nd pre-clinical years at the Valhalla/Hawthorne, NY campus. Students accepted into the Albuquerque, NM cohort move to Albuquerque for their 3rd and 4th clinical years, while the New York cohort remains in Valhalla.

What GPA and DAT score do you need for Touro College of Dental Medicine?

To be eligible for consideration, you need a minimum 2.7 science GPA and 2.7 overall GPA, and TCDM does not accept online prerequisites or degrees. For the entering Class of 2030, the average overall GPA was 3.58, the average science GPA was 3.47, and the average Total DAT was 440 (with a 21.0 DAT average for the Classes of 2027 through 2029).

Sources, checked November 3, 2026:

• Touro College of Dental Medicine: DDS Program Admissions
• Touro College of Dental Medicine: Admission Requirements
• Touro College of Dental Medicine: Technical Standards for Admission
• Touro College of Dental Medicine: Catalog (PDF)

Confetto isn't affiliated with Touro University. Everything here about the school comes from its public pages, checked in November 2026.

Formats and dates can change between cycles, so go by your invitation email.