Dental Assisting Admissions

1. Prospective students must have a high school diploma, its equivalent, or a post-secondary degree to be eligible for the program.
    
2. Prospective students may need to complete basic skills and/or pre-college English and math prior to being eligible for the program prerequisites. Proficiency may be demonstrated through placement testing or by receiving a placement test waiver based on previous college credits in English and math. Contact Enrollment Services at (360) 596-5241 for instructions on taking the Computerized Placement Test (CPT) or to request a test waiver.
    
3. The following program prerequisites must be successfully completed with a grade of “C” or better in order to be eligible for admission to the program:
   1. MATH 101 Technical Mathematics I (or math from the General Education AAS requirements)
   2. ENGL& 101 English Composition I (or ENGL& 102 Composition II)
   3. MED 103 Medical Terminology I
       
4. The following program requirements must be successfully completed with a grade of “C” or better in order to be eligible for an AAS in Dental Assisting.  It is recommended but not required that these requirements be completed prior to starting the core program.
    
5. Five credits of additional communication from the General Education AAS requirements.
    
6. Five credits from the Human Relations General Education AAS requirements.
    
7. Diversity requirements.
    
8. Prospective students must attend the invitation-only Dental Assisting Orientation held during the spring quarter. Additional information about the orientation will be provided to selected applicants after the application cycle closes and after all applications have been reviewed.
    
9. Courses coded DENT must be taken in succession. All DENT courses must be completed with a "C" or better to continue in and complete the program.

Program Advising: It is recommended that students eligible for college-level English and math schedule an appointment with a dental program faculty advisor. It is recommended that students still needing to complete pre-college English or math schedule an appointment with an Ed Planner. 

Apply for admission to the Dental Assisting Program. Completed applications received by April 28th will be given priority consideration for admission. There is a required, non-refundable $25.00 application fee due at the time of application.

Incomplete or late applications: Incomplete applications with prerequisites or high school diplomas scheduled to be completed after the application closing date will be considered on a case-by-case basis once the prerequisites are successfully completed and/or high school diploma is received and if space is available in the program. Transcripts must be received by the date indicated within the application for the specified application year. Unofficial transcripts may be used for incomplete or late applications with the understanding that the official transcript will be received no later than the end of the first week in August.

Application ranking: Applicants will be ranked according to the number of required general education courses successfully completed with a grade of “C” or better and/or enrolled in. In the event of a tie, priority will be given based upon the date of application.

Transfer of credit: Have any previous college credits evaluated for transfer of credit into the Dental Assisting Program. Submit official copies of previous college transcripts and an Application for Transfer of Credit form.  An official transcript is one sent directly between schools or submitted by the student in a sealed envelope.  Student (unofficial) copies of transcripts may be used for advising.

Readmissions: Readmissions of students is governed by policies in the Dental Assisting Policy and Procedural Manual, available from program faculty.

Health & Safety: Prior to the beginning of fall quarter (the second quarter in the program), students registered in the Dental Assisting Program are required to have current and valid healthcare provider basic life support (BLS) certification (a BLS course is offered to students during the first fall quarter), to have started the Hepatitis B vaccination series, and to receive a recent Tuberculosis (TB) skin test (within 60 days prior to the start of fall quarter).  Documentation for each of these requirements must be presented by the first day of class in fall quarter.