Bachelor Dental Hygiene Admissions
Application Process for Prospective Students
All students are required to attend information session prior to start taking prerequisite courses. Information sessions are offered throughout the year and all prospective students should attend at least once before start taking the prerequisite courses, once at least one year before applying to the program, then once within three month of the application deadline. Check out the next zoom information session offering from the link below.
When you are ready to start taking pre-requiste courses at West Los Angeles College, you can apply to become a student of West Los Angeles College.
Submit an online application to West Los Angeles College and Obtain Student I.D. #
If you are not a current WLAC student (i.e. you have not been enrolled in classes within the past two semesters), you must submit an online application to West Los Angeles College. Visit www.wlac.edu and click Apply in the upper right-hand corner. If you are not active students, make sure to apply for the current semester. Once logged into your CCCApply account, submit a new application to WLAC.
International students must also submit an I-20 application along with supporting documentation to West. For more information, visit International website or call (310) 287-7283.
Complete Prerequisites Courses
Meet with a counselor at West Los Angeles College to review the prerequisite course requirements, course equivalency and set a student educational plan is highly recommended. Review the West Los Angeles College Bachelor's of Science in Dental Hygiene List of Equivalent Courses, this document contains the approved equivalent list of classes that are accepted at the West Los Angeles Community College, Dental Hygiene Bachelor's program. If the institution you attended is not listed, please make an appointment with a WLAC counselor to obtain the WLAC Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene Prerequisite Course Substitution Request Form.
Completion of general education courses for transfer certification (CSU or IGETC) is required to enter the Bachelor's Degree Program. Meet your college counselor for certification requirements.
Complete all the prerequisite courses before applying. More than one in-progress course at the time of application will reduce the chance of acceptance.
- ANATOMY 001 - Introduction to Human Anatomy w/Lab (4-5 units)
- PHYSIOLOGY 001 - Introduction to Human Physiology w/Lab (4-5 units)
- CHEM 051 OR 060 OR 101 - Fundamentals of Chemistry w/Lab (4-5 units)
- CHEM 066 OR 221- Biochemistry w/Lab (4-5 units)
- MICRO 020 - General Microbiology w/Lab (4-5 units)
- COMM 101 - Public Speaking (3 units) - NOT interpersonal communication
- PSY 001 - General Psychology (3 units)
- SOC 001 - Introduction to Sociology (3 units)
- ANTHRO 102 - Cultural Anthropology (3 units)
- ENGLISH 103 - Critical Thinking (3 units)
- MATH 227 0R 227-S - Statistics (4 units)
All science prerequisite courses must include a wet lab component, whether offered in person or online with a take-home lab kit or hybrid. The waiver of the wet laboratory is allowed during the Pandemic (Spring 2020 till Spring 2022). All applicants must submit proof of wet lab experiences at the time of application submission. The evidence of the wet lab includes the course syllabus and the letter from the course professor.
WLAC Dental Hygiene Application Form:
Application for Spring 2025 will be ready by May 27th. Application deadline will be August 2nd.
Students planning to apply may view the required documents that will necessary during the application process: Application Forms
Send your Transcripts to TWO recipients at West LA College
- Send official transcripts from all the colleges and universities outside the LACCD system to the West Los Angeles College Admission Office. The official transcripts will be used by the counseling office for course equivalency and evaluation of CSU/IGETC transfer certificate. Instruction of how to submit the transcripts from other colleges and universities can be located at the Admission and Record Grade Transcript page.
- Send official transcripts from all the colleges and universities outside the LACCD system and unofficial transcript from LACCD only to dental hygiene application committee's email address (@email) at the time of application submission for the dental hygiene program. The transcripts sent to the admission office is not accessible by the dental hygiene application review committee. All official transcripts must be received before the application deadline.
Student Selection and Notification
Students are selected from a large number of qualified applicants based on the selection criteria listed below. These criteria have been approved by the West Los Angeles College Academic Senate and are consistent with State regulations:
- A minimum of 60 units of degree applicable lower division coursework
- An overall minimum 2.5 GPA for all courses taken
- An overall minimum 3.0 GPA in science prerequisite courses within 7 years
- Completion of all pre-requisite coursework
- Completion of the CSU/IGETC transfer certification
- Interview of a Registered Dental Hygienist
Additional Considerations are given to applicants who demonstrate the following:
- Previous dental fieldwork experience verified by the employer.
- Dental Assistant Licenses or Certifications
- Ultrasonic Scaling Certification
- Pit and Fissure Sealant Certification
- Coronal Polishing
- DBC approved 8-hour Infection Control Certification
- DBC approved Radiographic Safety Certification
- Registered Dental Assistant License
- WLAC is offering continuing education courses that are open to prospective dental hygiene applicants: https://www.wlac.edu/academics/pathways/hs/continung-ed
- Completion of Non-Credit Courses toward Pre-Dental Career Preparation Certificate: Voc Ed 400 - Intro to Medical Terminology and Voc Ed 403 - Law and Ethics in Health Professions
- Applicants with Special Circumstances (military veteran, first-generation college student, foster youth, EOP&S, CALWORKS) are highly encouraged to apply.
All applications are carefully reviewed and ranked based on academic records and dental experience by allocating points to each required application criterion using a rubric.
The top-ranked students will be invited to the first part of the in-person dental hygiene program orientation and required to enroll in Orientation to Dental Hygiene (Voc Ed 407) - Part I.
Invitation letters to the Voc Ed 407 program orientation will be sent out 60 to 90 days after the application deadline.
Program entrance requirements, In-class writing assessments, dexterity assessments, and homework assignments will be provided during Voc Ed 407 course and successful course completion are required for the entrance of the program.
The final acceptance letters will be sent out to the thirty-five students within 30 days after the completion of the Voc Ed 407 Part I course.
The accepted student is required to request a background criminal record screening and attendance of Voc Ed 407 Part II during intersession. Information for the required materials to start the dental hygiene program is provided. Payment for the first-semester student kit is due during the Voc Ed 407 Part II before starting the semester.
A physical examination, verification of immunity, vision test, and drug test must be completed prior to the start of the program. Student health services can provide most of these tests at reduced student rates.
Information Session Attendance
Application Instructions are given during monthly information sessions. Attendance of a virtual program information session is required for all applicants.
Please check the schedule for the next:
Health Science Division Dental Clinic
Office Hours and Location
9:00AM - 4:30PM
MSB building First Floor