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Australian Dental school comparison

La Trobe Dental vs UWA Dental

La Trobe Dental and UWA Dental are both Australian dental schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. La Trobe Dental is in Victoria while UWA Dental is in Western Australia. State of origin matters here: several schools rank local applicants ahead of interstate ones.

La Trobe Dental uses no national admission test; UWA Dental uses GAMSAT. That mismatch means either preparing two assessments or choosing the school whose test suits you. They also recruit at different stages: La Trobe Dental runs school-leaver (undergraduate) entry, UWA Dental runs graduate entry.

The interview formats diverge — Interview vs MMI — and the prep approaches for the two are fundamentally different.

Side-by-side comparison

La Trobe Dental

Bendigo

Quick comparison

Location
Bendigo, Australia
Entry pathway
Undergraduate
Admission tests
None
GAMSAT
-
UCAT-ANZ
-
ATAR
ATAR range 99.00-99.85 at Bendigo (selection rank floor with adjustments, to highest ATAR offered excluding adjustments). Confirmed via La Trobe FAQ + OzTREKK + MedView.
Interview format
Academic results only (no MMI / no formal interview)
Post-interview chance
N/A — academic results only.
Decision date
November

UWA Dental

Crawley

Quick comparison

Location
Crawley, Australia
Entry pathway
Graduate
Admission tests
GAMSAT
GAMSAT
Graduate DMD: minimum 55 overall with no section score below 50. International applicants may instead submit the US Medical College Admission Test (500 overall, no section below 124) or the US Dental Admission Test. Final ranking is GAMSAT 20% + GPA 30% + interview 50% — the interview carries half the decision, not the 50:50 GAMSAT/GPA split previously recorded here. 2022 commencement median GAMSAT 68 — the only publicly disclosed cohort-level success figure for UWA DMD.
UCAT-ANZ
-
ATAR
-
Interview format
Multi-Mini Interview (~8 stations)
Post-interview chance
~33% interview-to-offer.
Decision date
December-January
Compare different schools

La Trobe Dental vs UWA Dental - in detail

Admission tests compared

GAMSAT cut-offs. La Trobe Dental — not used or not published. UWA Dental — Graduate DMD: minimum 55 overall with no section score below 50. International applicants may instead submit the US Medical College Admission Test (500 overall, no section below 124) or the US Dental…

Timing shapes the choice as much as the score. GAMSAT is graduate-only and sits in March and September; UCAT-ANZ is mostly undergraduate and sits in July. A few schools run their own selection model with no national test at all.

ATAR and academic profile

La Trobe Dental requires Year 12 ATAR typically 99.00-99.85 (selection rank with adjustments). English (study score 25) or EAL (30) prerequisite. No UCAT required for Year 12 entry; required only for non-Year-12 applicants. NO GAMSAT. International intake ~25 places. Next available intake 2027.

UWA Dental requires Bachelor degree with selection GPA 5.5/7.0 minimum; GAMSAT 55 overall with no section below 50 (international applicants may substitute an equivalent overseas admission test); MMI of 8 stations for domestic applicants, or a two-interviewer panel of about 50 minutes for international applicants; rural and Aboriginal Health pathways available.

ATAR. La Trobe Dental — ATAR range 99.00-99.85 at Bendigo (selection rank floor with adjustments, to highest ATAR offered excluding adjustments). Confirmed via La Trobe FAQ + OzTREKK + MedView. UWA Dental — no published cut-off.

Graduate-entry GPA. La Trobe Dental — not applicable or not published. UWA Dental — Graduate DMD: minimum 5.5 unweighted (UWA-equivalent). 2022 commencement median GPA 6.80.

Read every ATAR figure as a selection rank, not a raw score. Educational access bonuses, rural-origin uplift and Indigenous pathways all adjust it, so the published number is rarely the one that decides your application.

Interview formats

La Trobe Dental uses Interview (Academic results only (no MMI / no formal interview)); UWA Dental uses MMI (Multi-Mini Interview (~8 stations)). These two formats reward different skills — Interview emphasises academic reasoning and thinking aloud through unfamiliar problems, while MMI rewards breadth and quick recovery.

If your strengths lie in conversational depth, either may suit you more. If you prefer discrete capsule answers under time pressure, UWA Dental is the better fit.

Interview windows: La Trobe Dental interviews in No formal interview; UWA Dental in October-November.

Curriculum and teaching style

Both schools deliver a Integrated-style curriculum, so day-to-day study habits will feel similar across years 1-3.

Specifics: 5-year undergraduate Bachelor of Dental Science (Honours). Bendigo is the sole campus for the degree. Annual indicative international tuition (2026) A 4-year graduate Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD). Year 1 foundations and pre-clinical simulation at Crawley. Years 2-4 clinical placements at the Oral

Intake size: La Trobe Dental — International intake 25 places (OzTREKK). Domestic intake not publicly disclosed by La Trobe.; UWA Dental — ~36 places annually across all DMD quotas (Direct + Graduate combined; Fraser's UWA 2027). Domestic vs international split not publicly disclosed.. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Post-interview offer rate

La Trobe Dental: N/A — academic results only. UWA Dental: ~33% interview-to-offer.

Post-interview odds give you the clearest signal of how competitive each school is at the final stage — a school with a 60% post-interview success rate is structurally easier to convert than one at 25%, even if the interview thresholds look identical on paper.

What makes each distinctive

La Trobe Dental: La Trobe's sole dental program is a 5-year undergraduate Bachelor of Dental Science (Honours) at the Bendigo campus — NOT a graduate DDS (no graduate-entry DDS exists at La Trobe per public sources). UCAT is NOT required for Year 12 applicants (required only for non-Year-12 entry).

ATAR-only selection at Year 12; Regional Benefits Program drops the ATAR floor to 85 for rural applicants.

UWA Dental: UWA Dental runs a 4-year graduate Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) — Western Australia's only graduate-entry dental program. Co-located with the Oral Health Centre of WA at the Crawley campus. Pre-interview ranking weights GAMSAT and GPA; the MMI carries substantial weight in the final composite. Strong rural and Aboriginal Health pathways.

Which is right for you?

Start with the admission test: La Trobe Dental needs no national admission test, UWA Dental needs GAMSAT. Preparing for one well beats splitting your time across two. Check your state of origin before you apply — La Trobe Dental draws heavily on Victoria applicants and UWA Dental on Western Australia, and an interstate application often faces a materially higher bar.

They suit different stages too: La Trobe Dental is school-leaver (undergraduate) entry, UWA Dental is graduate entry. Your preference list should ultimately weight: which admission test you can realistically score well in, whether your state of origin gives you a bonus at either school, and where you'd actually want to live for four to five years.

Common questions

La Trobe Dental uses no admission test. UWA Dental uses GAMSAT. The test mismatch means you may need to prep two assessments simultaneously, or you can pick the school whose admission test you're stronger in. GAMSAT is graduate-only and sat in March/September; UCAT-ANZ is undergraduate-leaning and sat in July; some schools (notably Bond and JCU) run their own selection model with no national test.

Where to go next

La Trobe DentalEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in fullUWA DentalEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

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