How to Apply

Please complete and submit a CAAPID Application​.​

Re-applicants should use the same login information from previous CAAPID applications and should not create a brand new CAAPID application.​

Once you receive notification from the University of Colorado that your fee has been received, the University will email you detailed instructions on how to submit the following documents through the candidate portal. Please do not submit any documents outside of CAAPID until instructions are provided. Please be patient and wait to hear from the University as we need to manually check applications before we can allow access to the candidate portal. All documents must be uploaded to our candidate portal. Please be sure that these are submitted with the top facing up as any other direction will be rejected.

• Photo- Please include a 2x2 color photo. Please make sure that your file only contains a 2X2 image and is not scanned as a part of a large page as a small photo will be rejected. You should view the image once you have scanned it to see if the size is 2X2 prior to sending.​
  
  
• Resume- Include your name, email, telephone number and details on all dental, work, school and community leadership experiences. It is very important to list length of time and the amount of hours completed at each experience. Do not put a picture in your resume. Resumes should not be longer than 4 pages. Must be submitted as a PDF.
  
  
• BDS/DDS Dental Degree- Applicants are required to possess and submit a notarized copy of your BDS/DDS dental degree (you may also submit other dental degrees, but they must be submitted with the BDS/DDS degree together in one file) from the international institution(s) you attended. If the degree is in a language other than English, it must be accompanied by a notarized translation from an official translator. Thus, both the translation and the original degree must both be notarized. Provisional degrees are NOT accepted.**
  
  
• US/Canadian School Transcripts- If you have attended any school in the United States or Canada after completing your dental degree, you are required to send an official transcript from all institutions even if you did not complete a degree. Order the transcripts to yourself and upload it to the candidate portal. Please do not submit certificates of completion or ECEs.**
  
  
• CU Board of Regents Questionnaire- A signature from the applicant is required on this form attesting to any history of felony or misdemeanor convictions with explanations provided if needed.

**Originals of the above documents will be requested if you are invited for an interview.

Due to COVID-19, the University will be changing its letters of recommendation process. Candidates should expect an electronic form to be filled out by each recommender. Please click here for your recommender to complete the form. You can copy and paste the link if you prefer to send the link yourself. The recommender will need your CAAPID name and ID to complete the form.

Recommendation Requirements

• One (1) recommendation from the dental school where you obtained your Bachelor's degree. It does not need to come from the Dean.
  
  If a dental professional no longer works at the dental school you attended, we will still accept a recommendation from them as long as they provide an explanation about how they know you and from what school.
  
  
• Two (2) additional recommendations from school or other experiences

All recommendations must include the following items in order to be considered in your admission application. Please clearly communicate and discuss the below requirements with your recommender as recommendations that do not meet our requirements will need to be replaced:

• Original signature of the recommender - there will be a place for them to sign electronically.
  
  
• Date of signature
  
  
• Contact information of the recommender including physical address, email address, and phone number. (This should not be generic school contact information, it should be a direct link to your recommender.)

Letter of Recommendation Suggestions

• You must submit only three (3) recommendations.
  
  
• Recommendations that speak to your recent specific clinical skills, academic skills, and personal strengths are considered the most valuable.
  
  
• It is important for the admission committee to get a sense of all your dental experiences, both US and non-US, from your recommendations. Thus, recommendations from faculty, internship/preceptorship leaders, health profession employers, and observerships are suggested.
  
  
• The best recommendations are those that give an in-depth and specific description of the applicant's current or recent clinical dental skills and accomplishments, dental knowledge base, patient management skills, work ethic, personality, personal skills, character, and reliability.
  
  
• Recommendations that highlight different aspects of you and show you are well-rounded are also valued.
  
  
• Recommendations from organized bench prep groups are not considered particularly valuable.
  
  
• Recommendations should not be plagiarized. This means, recommendations should be original wording from recommenders and should not use templates, wording found on the internet, or words/phrases candidates provide. Plagiarized letters may cause your application to be denied. If you have questions about your letters in relation to this statement, please contact the ISP office.

Recommendation Waivers

• A waiver is required for each recommendation to confirm or deny if you viewed the recommendation. Waiving your right to view a recommendation allows your recommender to provide a candid evaluation of you. If you viewed the recommendation for any reason, you should NOT waive your right to the recommendation.
  
  
• The waivers (one per recommendation) will be submitted through the candidate portal, and the recommendation must be submitted through a designated link.

CAAPID Letters

The University of Colorado does not accept CAAPID letters. All letters of recommendation must be sent to the University via the link above with original signatures and other requirements listed above. You are allowed to send in a recommendation from the same recommender in CAAPID. If you viewed this recommendation and uploaded it yourself to CAAPID, you should NOT waive your right to see the recommendation in the candidate portal.

Please do not proceed to further steps until this step is complete and our office has asked you to proceed.

Once your application has been received, an email confirmation stating the status of your application will be sent. If your status changes, you will be notified via email.

The ISP Office will only accept the following updates after initial submission of supplemental documents. Those who have not received an interview decision can continue to submit the following until the deadline:

• Updated experience. Please do not send new resumes. Prior to the application deadline, you may update NEW experiences (do not submit experiences that already appear in your resume even if they have continued over a longer duration) in the candidate portal by clicking on the “Add Experience” button once you log in.
  
  
• Transcripts from education programs that are 6 months or longer
  
  
• New degrees received (this does not include certificates)
  
  
• Updated Official TOEFL Score (sent to code B451 with an email to sdmisp@ucdenver.edu stating that you have seen the update reflected in CAAPID)
  
  
• Recommendations (we will not accept more than 3 over the course of the cycle). You will need to submit new waivers in the portal for each of these letters.

Those who have received an interview decision of either Invited or Wait-listed can submit the following until a final admission decision has been made:

• Updated experience. Please do not send new resumes. Prior to the application deadline, you may update NEW experiences (do not submit experiences that already appear in your resume even if they have continued over a longer duration) in the candidate portal by clicking on the “Add Experience” button once you log in. After the deadline, we will only take letters of recommendation for experience updates. We will not review new letters from experiences that were 6 months or less.​
  
  
• Transcripts from education programs that are 6 months or longer
  
  
• New degrees received (this does not include certificates)
  
  
• Updated Official TOEFL Score (sent to code B451 with an email to sdmisp@ucdenver.edu stating that you have seen the update reflected in CAAPID)
  
  
• Recommendations (we will not accept more than 5 total over the course of the cycle). You will need to submit new waivers in the portal for each of these letters.

Those who have received an interview decision of Not Invited will not be able to submit updates.

Please note that admission is not on a rolling basis, therefore, applicants will receive their final notice of decision either after an application has been reviewed, after the application deadline, or after the interview process is complete. Admission decisions are based on the candidate’s overall fit for the ISP program at the University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine. This includes, but is not limited to communication with the program staff and faculty and admission committee, evaluation of the CAAPID and University of Colorado supplemental application/documents, an evaluative in-person interview, evaluation of a bench exam, application components from previous cycles, and submission of an ethically sound application. On occasion, the University might extend early admission offers to those who have been accepted elsewhere and/or when ideal candidates are identified. As stated above, interview invitations will be extended on a rolling basis, so it will be beneficial to finish your application as early as possible. Your application will be reviewed and placed in order of receipt once all steps in our process are complete. Please note that completing a CAAPID application does not place you in this order. You must receive an application complete email from our office in order to be placed in our review process.