At a glance: requirements & format
Sourced from UIC College of Dentistry's own DMD-AS program, admissions and FAQ pages, its DMDAS Application Checklist, and the ADEA CAAPID program listing for this program. Confirm anything decision-critical with the College of Dentistry Office of Admissions before you spend money.
- Doctor of Dental Medicine (D.M.D.), CODA-accredited advanced standing pathway — awarded as the DMD-AS degree
- 28 months, full time, beginning each January; part-time study is not offered
- Up to 52 students per cycle (ADEA CAAPID estimate for the DMD-AS cohort)
- March 5, 2026, through ADEA CAAPID and the UIC online supplemental application
- June 15, 2026 — the same deadline for the CAAPID application and the UIC online application
- Rolling admissions: UIC begins reviewing files in mid-March, with preference given to earlier applications
- By invitation only, April through August; typically two one-on-one conversations of about 35 minutes each, most often closed file
- Virtual interviews, with an optional in-person visit and tour of the College of Dentistry for candidates who have already interviewed
- None — UIC states it does not require a bench test, and the ADAT is not required either
- Required. Minimum total 80 with sub-scores of Listening 17, Writing 21, Reading 19 and Speaking 20 (new scale: 4.5 total; Listening 4, Writing 4.5, Reading 4, Speaking 4.5). ETS institution code 1851; scores sent electronically by ETS only; TOEFL Best Score not accepted; must be no more than two years old at application with no exceptions; last entering class average was 101
- You must have passed NBDE Parts I and II or the INBDE at the time of application — UIC accepts both. Report scores to ADEA CAAPID; invited candidates must also request that the ADA send an official score report to the UIC COD Office of Admissions
- Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE) course-by-course evaluation only — UIC does not accept a WES evaluation
- Three, submitted through ADEA CAAPID only; preferably one from a U.S. dental practitioner. Letters must be on letterhead with the recommender's title and signature, and UIC will not accept extra letters by email or through the UIC application
- Required. Apply through applygrad.uic.edu and select the 2026-2027 cycle, General Application, Doctorate level, then DMD Advanced Standing. A CAAPID application alone is not accepted
- Non-refundable $150 UIC supplemental application fee, credit card only; plus a separate non-refundable $100 UIC International Credential Evaluation Fee for applicants with post-secondary coursework taken outside the United States
- Interviews are held April through August and invitations are extended by faculty; the Office of Admissions notifies every applicant of a final decision no later than November
- January 1, 2027 for the January 2027 entering class (ADEA CAAPID listing)
- UIC College of Dentistry Office of Admissions — codadmissions@uic.edu. Have your CAAPID ID# and UIN ready; the office asks you to read the admissions site and FAQ first, and no direct admissions phone line is published for the DMD-AS program
Requirements change — verify before you spend money
The supplemental fee, TOEFL scoring rules, the document-upload window and the interview schedule are set for each cycle, and UIC has moved deadlines and formats before. Before you pay the $150 UIC supplemental fee or book a TOEFL retake, email codadmissions@uic.edu and ask for the current requirements in writing — include your CAAPID ID# and UIN, which the Office of Admissions requests when you contact it.
How the UIC advanced standing interview actually works
UIC runs a rolling-review, conversation-only process. With no bench test and no ADAT, nothing reaches the committee except your written file and your voice. Review opens in mid-March — before the June 15 deadline — and interviews for the strongest early files run April through August. Because most interviews are closed file, the order is fixed: build the file, earn the invitation, then carry the conversation.
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Stage 1: A complete file, scored on a rolling clock from mid-March
The cycle opens on March 5, 2026 and closes on June 15, 2026, and UIC requires two applications: the ADEA CAAPID application and the university's own online supplemental application. Neither substitutes for the other, and a CAAPID file alone is not read. Both are due on the same date. The supplemental route matters more than applicants expect — you must select the 2026-2027 cycle, General Application, Doctorate level, and then DMD Advanced Standing from the intended-program drop-down; a professional program application is the wrong form.
What happens next is why the file is stage one. UIC starts reviewing applications in mid-March, before the deadline, and runs rolling admissions with preference given to earlier applications. A February-quality file submitted in March is read in March; the same file submitted on June 14 is read after a queue has already formed. You also need buffer for the machine: documents can only be uploaded after you submit, uploading opens one business day later, and the office may take up to 10 business days to mark your file complete.
Missing documents after June 15 are allowed — but only if you applied by June 15
UIC permits supplemental document uploads after the deadline for applicants who submitted by June 15, so a slow transcript does not kill your cycle. Two things do: missing the June 15 submission date itself, and emailing or mailing documents — the Office of Admissions will not accept them. Everything is uploaded electronically and everything is non-refundable, including the $150 supplemental fee.
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Stage 2: The invitation — April to August, with no bench test to fall back on
Only candidates the college deems highly qualified are invited to interview. Invitations are issued by faculty and the Office of Admissions states they should not be requested by the applicant, so there is no follow-up email that accelerates your file. The interview window runs April through August, and the interviews are held virtually, with an optional in-person visit and tour of the College for candidates who have already interviewed. Because the file is reviewed and invitations go out on a rolling basis, your invitation date is a rough signal of where you sat in the queue — not of your chances.
Here is the mechanic that shapes every other preparation decision: UIC lists no bench test and requires no ADAT. That removes the one instrument that lets a candidate recover from a thin academic record with hand skills. Clinical readiness has to be visible in your ECE course-by-course evaluation, your dental school performance, your National Board pass, and how fluently you talk about patients and cases in the interview. Nothing else is scored.
Do not spend the cycle preparing a typodont
Advanced standing applicants often assume a bench exam closes every process. UIC's own FAQ answers the question directly: the College of Dentistry does not require a bench test. Redirect that time into a TOEFL that clears the sub-score floors on the first attempt, a National Board pass recorded with CAAPID, and structured spoken answers — those are the levers this program actually pulls.
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Stage 3: Interview day — two one-on-one conversations, about 35 minutes each, mostly closed file
Expect the interview itself to be conversational rather than adversarial. Candidates typically complete two separate interviews of roughly 35 minutes, almost always one interviewer to one candidate, with a small number of candidates reporting a group setting in some cycles — confirm the arrangement when your invitation arrives. The conversations lean closed file: many interviewers deliberately do not have your application in front of them, and some open with a version of "I know nothing about you — tell me about yourself." A minority of candidates describe open-file conversations instead, so know your own file well enough that either version works. Interviewers have also asked candidates to read a passage aloud from a dental textbook and then explain it, which tests comprehension and plain-language communication at once.
Why the closed-file default changes your preparation: with no document on the table, every claim you want the committee to hold has to be said out loud, in order, in the first two minutes. And because the two conversations are usually with different faculty, consistency is being tested as much as content — the same training path, the same reason for the United States, the same story about why dentistry, told twice without contradiction.
Build a blind-interview introduction, then rehearse the read-aloud
Write a 90-second introduction that assumes the interviewer has read nothing: training, practice experience, the decision to seek US licensure, and why the UIC DMD-AS specifically. Then practise reading a clinical paragraph aloud and translating it into plain language in under a minute — a documented part of this exercise, and one candidates rarely rehearse.
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Stage 4: After the interview — the tour, the updates, and a decision by November
Once you have interviewed, UIC offers the option to visit the College in person for a tour, which is worth taking if you can travel: it is the only chance to see the clinical facilities and to be remembered as a person rather than a screen name. The admissions clock then keeps running to a published endpoint — the Office of Admissions notifies every applicant of a final admissions decision no later than November for the January 2027 entering class. Supporting material can still move: UIC allows TOEFL score updates after the deadline, provided ETS sends the new score directly to the university under institution code 1851 and you also update your CAAPID application.
Plan for the waitlist instead of treating it as bad news. This is a 52-seat cohort that starts in January, and admitted candidates decline offers into the autumn as other programs land, so waitlist movement is a normal part of the mechanism rather than an exception. The practical consequence is that your visa, funding and housing planning should be ready to execute on short notice for a January 1, 2027 start, not left until an offer is in hand.
Update the two systems, not one
A TOEFL retake only counts if both records move: ETS sends the score to UIC under code 1851, and you also update the score inside your CAAPID application. A new score sitting in only one system reads as an incomplete requirement, and TOEFL scores can take up to 20 business days to post.
What UIC's admissions committee is really evaluating
UIC publishes requirements rather than a ranked rubric, so read these six criteria as the things its two-application, no-bench-test process is built to measure — each one maps to a stage above or to a policy the college states in writing.
Whether your file was early
Rolling admissions with preference for earlier applications means submission timing is itself a criterion. Review starts in mid-March, before the June 15 deadline, so an early complete file is read against a shorter queue and sets the interview date you get.
Test scores as hard gates
A National Board pass is required at the time of application, and the TOEFL iBT sub-score floors are absolute — no Best Score, no scores older than two years, no exceptions. An outstanding test requirement does not lower your ranking; it removes your file from consideration.
Clinical readiness without a bench day
With no bench test and no ADAT, the committee judges hands-on readiness from your ECE course-by-course evaluation, your dental school record and how concretely you discuss patients. Vague answers about clinical experience leave the criterion unscored.
Closed-file communication
Most interviewers arrive without your file, so the ability to state who you are, what you have done and why UIC in structured spoken English is a scored skill, not a formality. Preparation for a blind conversation is the single highest-yield work you can do.
Fit with a 52-seat, team-based cohort
The DMD-AS curriculum is built on Team-Based Learning and Community-Based Learning, and the cohort runs up to 52 students. Questions about collaboration, diversity and how you handle a class you cannot master are testing whether you will function in that structure.
Eligibility to study in the United States
UIC accepts candidates holding a valid U.S. visa status that permits study — not a tourist visa — and does not require citizenship or a green card. Getting this wrong at the application stage wastes the fee, so verify your status before you submit.
UIC dental advanced standing interview questions (with coaching notes)
These are the prompts this program's interview is built around, grouped by the four things the process measures. The motivators and background prompts below are the ones that recur most in accounts of UIC interviews; the fourth group mirrors the closed-file, tell-me-about-yourself-with-no-file-in-hand shape of the actual conversation. Say every answer aloud — reading it is not the skill being tested.
Motivational & background
6 questionsTell me about yourself.
How to answer
Assume the interviewer has nothing in front of them: 90 seconds covering where you trained, what you have practised since, why you are seeking US licensure and why the UIC DMD-AS. The trap is a chronological CV recital — lead with the decision, not your graduation year.
Why UIC?
How to answer
Name structural facts: the 28-month January-start DMD-AS pathway, the Team-Based Learning curriculum with Applied Oral and Behavioral Sciences, Community-Based Learning, a cohort of up to 52, and Chicago's patient base. The sinking answer is any version of 'Chicago is a great city'.
Why dentistry?
How to answer
Connect a specific clinical moment to a durable motivation — a patient outcome you produced, a problem in your home country's system you want to work on. Weak answers describe prestige or income stability; strong answers describe what you want to do with a licence.
What do you know about our curriculum or program?
How to answer
Speak to the real DMD-AS design: 28 months, starting in January, case-based Team-Based Learning, courses in Applied Oral and Behavioral Sciences and Oral-Systemic Issues, and community-based clinical exposure. Naming one course and saying why it fits your goal beats listing everything.
What is one thing that is not on your application that you would like the admissions committee to know?
How to answer
Use it to add a dimension your file cannot show — a leadership role, a hardship you worked through, a patient population you served. The trap is repeating a GPA or a title that is already in the file; add information, do not restate it.
How has your work experience, rather than your academic experience, prepared you for dental school and a career in dentistry?
How to answer
Pick one non-academic role and extract two transferable behaviours: working under volume, handling an angry customer or patient, training a junior colleague. Then tie each to a dental-school reality such as clinic throughput or teamwork in a 52-person cohort.
Behavioral
4 questionsWalk me through your research, volunteer or leadership experience.
How to answer
Choose one story per area instead of a list, and give each a structure: situation, what you specifically did, measurable outcome. Interviewers are testing ownership — 'we did' answers without a defined personal contribution read as padding.
Give me two strengths and one weakness.
How to answer
Bind each strength to evidence from the last three years, and make the weakness real but fixable — a skill you are actively building, such as delegating or public speaking, with the corrective step named. Disguised strengths and 'I'm a perfectionist' are the two answers that end the exchange early.
What will you do in dental school if you cannot handle a certain class?
How to answer
Describe the support structure you would actually use: faculty office hours, TBL team peers, tutoring, and asking early rather than after a failing exam. The trap is answering with pride — 'I'll just work harder alone' tells the committee you will not use the help they fund.
Describe your experience with diversity, and do you see yourself fitting in here?
How to answer
Give one concrete setting where you worked or studied across difference, what you learned operationally, and how that maps to a cohort of up to 52 students from many countries. The trap is abstract support for diversity with no example behind it.
Ethical & scenario
4 questionsIf you saw a fellow student cheating in class, what would you do?
How to answer
Work the sequence out loud: address it directly with the student first where safe, then use the institution's process — course director or academic integrity office — rather than handling it privately forever. The trap is either a flat refusal to act or vigilante escalation with no institutional channel named.
Tell me about a time your morals or ethics were challenged.
How to answer
Use a real, contained situation from your clinical or work life, state the competing pressures plainly, and name the principle you chose and the cost you accepted. Avoid a synthetic dilemma you have never faced; interviewers probe the details of whatever story you offer.
What would you do if the person cheating were your best friend?
How to answer
The follow-up exists to test whether your principle changes with the relationship. Say that loyalty does not change the standard, describe how you would tell the friend first and give them the chance to self-correct, then state the point at which you escalate anyway.
If you never got into a dental school, what would you do?
How to answer
Show a real plan B that keeps you in health care and explains what you would rebuild in your application for the next cycle. Delegitimising the question or saying 'I would just reapply' with no diagnosis of your own weakness reads as low self-awareness.
Closed-file one-on-one prompts
4 questionsI know nothing about you — introduce yourself to me.
How to answer
The signature closed-file opener. Deliver a rehearsed 90-second arc: home country and dental education, clinical scope you have practised, the decision to pursue US licensure, and why UIC's DMD-AS. Rehearse it to 90 seconds exactly — running long in the first two minutes costs you the rest of the interview.
Read this passage aloud, then explain it to me in your own words.
How to answer
Expect a passage from a clinical dental text. Read at a measured pace, then translate it into plain language a patient could understand in two or three sentences. Candidates fail by paraphrasing the textbook back verbatim instead of demonstrating that they understood it.
What defines you?
How to answer
Choose one value and prove it with a specific event, not adjectives. 'Resilience' means nothing; a described setback and the concrete decision you made inside it means everything. Keep it under 60 seconds so it can be probed.
What do you read, and how do you keep learning outside dentistry?
How to answer
This is a fluency and curiosity check thrown in as small talk. Name an actual book or journal, say what you took from it, and connect it to how you will keep up with evidence throughout a Team-Based Learning curriculum. A vague answer here undercuts otherwise strong replies.
Want feedback on your answers — not just the questions?
Practice these questions freeYour UIC advanced standing preparation timeline
Work backwards from the June 15, 2026 deadline and the January 1, 2027 start. Two things wreck this cycle: treating June 15 as the target instead of the ceiling, and discovering in July that a TOEFL sub-score, an ECE report or a National Board record was never linked to your file.
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March — before the March 5, 2026 application opening
- Confirm your TOEFL iBT is valid within two years of your UIC application date — there is no exception to that rule, so a stale score means booking a retake now
- Book a TOEFL retake if any sub-score sits below the floor: Listening 17, Writing 21, Reading 19, Speaking 20
- Start the ECE course-by-course evaluation — UIC does not accept WES, so an existing WES report is unusable
- Log in to your ADA record and confirm NBDE Parts I and II or INBDE pass status, then request score reporting to ADEA CAAPID
- Ask three recommenders, one preferably a U.S. dental practitioner, and brief them on the letterhead, title and signature requirements
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March 5 to May 31 — the rolling-review window
- Submit the ADEA CAAPID application with the ECE evaluation, National Board report and all three letters attached
- Build your UIC online supplemental application through applygrad.uic.edu: 2026-2027 cycle, General Application, Doctorate level, DMD Advanced Standing
- Pay the non-refundable $150 supplemental application fee — credit card only
- Pay the separate non-refundable $100 International Credential Evaluation Fee once it appears on your application checklist
- Merge each transcript with its diploma into a single PDF and have non-English documents translated by an ATA member
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June 1 to June 15 — the deadline run
- Submit both applications by June 15 — CAAPID and the UIC application share the same deadline
- Verify ETS has sent your TOEFL score directly to UIC under institution code 1851, and allow up to 20 business days for it to post
- Screenshot every submission confirmation, including payment receipts, in one folder for later reference
- Do not email or mail anything to the admissions office — electronic upload only
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June 16 to early July — the document-upload window
- Log in to your UIC application one business day after submitting to open the document upload
- Upload the combined transcript and diploma PDF, the English translations, and the credentials for any U.S. degree you have earned
- Wait for the completeness email — document review can take up to 10 business days
- If a document is flagged missing, upload the replacement immediately rather than replying by email
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April to August — the interview window
- Book your interview slot the day the invitation arrives, and confirm whether you will sit one conversation or two
- Rehearse a 90-second blind introduction out loud on camera, then record it and watch it back for pace and filler words
- Prepare three clinical stories with situation, action and outcome, and two ethics scenarios with the escalation channel named
- Practise reading a dental textbook paragraph aloud and summarising it in plain language in under a minute
- Test your camera, microphone, lighting and internet connection in a quiet room before the day
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Interview day
- Have the official, unopened score report ready — the cycle checklist asks candidates selected for an interview to bring it
- Bring your CAAPID ID# and UIN in case the interviewer or coordinator references your record
- Prepare two questions about the Team-Based Learning curriculum, community-based clinical sites or licensure support
- Join five minutes early, with a neutral background and your introduction written on one card off-camera
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August to November — decision, waitlist and the January 1, 2027 start
- Send a short thank-you email to the admissions office referencing something specific from the conversation
- Take the optional in-person visit and tour of the College if your schedule allows
- If you have a new TOEFL score, have ETS send it to UIC under code 1851 and update CAAPID as well
- Prepare funding and FAFSA documentation — DMD-AS students may qualify for federal financial aid
- Keep housing, visa and relocation plans ready to execute on short notice; decisions go out no later than November and waitlist offers move quickly
UIC dental advanced standing interview — frequently asked questions
What is the UIC dental advanced standing interview format?
Invited candidates interview virtually between April and August, typically in two separate one-on-one conversations of roughly 35 minutes each. Most interviews are closed file, so the interviewer may not have read your application, and a minority of candidates report open-file conversations or a group setting. There is no bench test at any stage.
Does UIC require a bench test for advanced standing applicants?
No. The College of Dentistry states that it does not require a bench test, and it does not require the ADAT either. That means your ECE course-by-course evaluation, your dental school record, your National Board pass and your spoken performance in the interview carry the clinical-readiness judgement, so prepare conversation and test scores instead of a typodont.
Is the UIC DMD-AS interview virtual or in person?
The interview is conducted virtually, and UIC offers candidates who have already interviewed the opportunity to visit the College of Dentistry in person for a tour. Taking that tour is optional, but it is the only in-person contact in the process and a reasonable way to be remembered by the admissions team before the November decision date.
What TOEFL score does UIC require, and can it be waived?
You need a minimum iBT total of 80 with Listening 17, Writing 21, Reading 19 and Speaking 20; on the new scale that is 4.5 total with 4, 4.5, 4 and 4.5. Scores must be sent electronically by ETS to UIC under institution code 1851 and must be less than two years old at application, with no exceptions. The TOEFL Best Score is not accepted. It is waived only for applicants who earned a U.S. bachelor's, master's or doctorate degree, or whose coursework was completed in a country where English is the only official language.
Does UIC accept the INBDE or only NBDE Parts I and II?
UIC accepts both. You must have passed NBDE Parts I and II or the INBDE at the time of application, so a pending result does not qualify the file for review. Report your official scores to ADEA CAAPID, and if you are invited to interview, also request that the ADA send an official score report to the UIC COD Office of Admissions.
How many letters of recommendation does UIC require?
Three, and preferably one should come from a U.S. dental practitioner. UIC does not require a letter from your dental school dean. Letters must be submitted through ADEA CAAPID only, on letterhead with the recommender's title and signature, and the college will not accept additional letters by email or through the UIC online application.
Which credential evaluation service does UIC accept?
Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE) only, and a course-by-course evaluation at that. UIC does not accept a World Education Services (WES) evaluation for the CAAPID application, so an existing WES report has to be replaced. A separate non-refundable $100 UIC International Credential Evaluation Fee applies to applicants with post-secondary coursework taken outside the United States.
How large is the UIC DMD-AS class, and how competitive is it?
The ADEA CAAPID listing estimates a cohort of up to 52 students, and the program uses rolling admissions with preference given to earlier applications. Because the college must be selective and admits only candidates it deems highly qualified, applying in March rather than mid-June measurably improves where your file sits in the review queue.
What are the UIC DMD-AS application deadline and start date?
The cycle opens March 5, 2026 and closes June 15, 2026, and both the ADEA CAAPID application and the UIC online supplemental application share that deadline. Supplemental documents may be uploaded after June 15 if you submitted the applications on time. The program starts January 1, 2027 and runs 28 months of full-time study.
When do UIC advanced standing finalists hear back?
Review begins in mid-March, interviews run April through August, and invitations are extended by faculty rather than requested by applicants. The Office of Admissions notifies every applicant of a final decision no later than November. Because admitted candidates decline offers into the autumn, waitlist movement continues after the initial decisions, so keep relocation plans flexible.
Practice the UIC interview out loud
Reading about a closed-file interview is not the same skill as surviving one. Our AI interview practice puts a timed, no-nonsense interviewer in front of you and scores your structure, pace and spoken English instantly, so you can run the reps before the conversation that decides your cycle.
Interviewing anywhere else this cycle? Our MMI preparation guide covers the multiple-mini-interview format, and the AI interview practice tool lets you rehearse any program's questions with instant feedback. If you are still building your school list, our dental school interview guides break down each program's format and requirements.