BA/DMD Rutgers School of Dental Medicine

Rutgers, The State University of NJ
Rutgers School of Dental Medicine (RSDM)

The purpose of the BA/DMD Combined Degree Program is to permit highly qualified students to complete the required courses for both Baccalaureate and dental degrees in a seven-year sequence.  The Program consists of three years of undergraduate study (BA degree) at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (RU) and four years of study in the Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) degree program at Rutgers School of Dental Medicine (RSDM).  Students apply to this program at the end of their sophomore year at Rutgers-New Brunswick.

Benefits for students accepted into the program include:

• Students will have a conditional, early acceptance to RSDM (see grade and DAT requirements below).
• Students will pay undergraduate tuition for three years + 4 years tuition at RSDM, thus saving one year of undergraduate tuition and fees.
• The courses taken in dental school will complete the major in Biological Sciences or Cell Biology and Neuroscience, in addition to the dental degree requirements.

Qualified applicants must meet the following criteria:

1. They must be matriculated students who are in their fourth semester or have earned a minimum of 60 degree credits.  (Note, applicants with an Associate’s Degree, regardless of whether it was earned as a dual degree in high school or as a traditional degree after high school, are ineligible to apply for the program.)
2. At a minimum, transfer students must be enrolled for one year at RU-NB earning 30 credits.
3. They must have earned and maintain a minimum cumulative and science GPA of 3.5 at Rutgers.
4. They must have completed at least two semesters of General Biology with lab, two semesters of General Chemistry with lab, two semesters of Organic Chemistry, Calculus I and II (or Calculus I + Statistics 379 or 401), and one semester of English (for those with AP credit in Bio, Chem or English, please see AP Credit Policy below).
5. Applicants should have no withdrawals or incomplete grades in any RSDM prerequisites.

Prior to matriculation at the dental school (in your third, undergraduate year), BA/DMD students must complete two semesters of General Physics and labs (for those with AP credit in Physics, please see AP Credit Policy below), Organic Chemistry lab, a course in Biochemistry (ex. 694:301 or 694:407) and a second English.

If conditionally admitted,  students are required to take and submit to the RSDM Office of Admissions their Dental Admission Test (DAT) scores by January 1 of their third year at Rutgers; Only ONE DAT attempt is allowed.   BA/DMD students must achieve at least a 20 as their Academic Average, 20 Total Science (SNS), 20 Organic Chemistry, 20 General Chemistry, and 20 Biology, but the scores are not necessarily sufficient to guarantee admission.

AP Credit Policy for students applying to BA/DMD

If granted AP credit for Expository Writing (355:101)

To be eligible to apply, students must take one upper-level English at Rutgers with the same amount of credit work.

If granted credit for AP Bio and Lab (119:115,116 and 117)

To be eligible to apply, students must take 2 upper-level biological sciences courses from approved list of biosci electives (https://biology.rutgers.edu/images/2020Uploads/bioscielectives_January_2020.pdf).  

Courses such as Genetics, Cell Biology, Systems Physiology, Microbiology that will provide strong preparation for dental school coursework are strongly recommended. Additionally, a laboratory course is strongly recommended, in order to satisfy the required 8 total credits for biology prerequisite. See NOTE below about overlaps. 

If granted AP credit for Chemistry and Lab (160:161, 162, 171)

In addition to the basic requirement to apply of Organic Chemistry 1 and 2, students admitted to the accelerated program will need to take Orgo lab (160:311, 2 credits) and a course in Biochemistry (ex. 694:301 or 694:407) by the end of the junior year.  NOTE: Biochemistry may not be used as one of the upper-level Bio electives if the student also has AP credit for both Biology and Chemistry.  See NOTE below for policy prohibiting using one course at Rutgers to replace multiple AP courses (double dipping).

If granted AP credit for Physics and labs (750:203, 204, 205, and 206)

If admitted to the program, any 2 courses from the list below by the end of the junior year.

• • 01:377:213 Functional Human Anatomy 
  • 01:377:371 Exercise Physiology
  • 01:377:303 Neuromechanical Kinesiology (prerequisite 377:213)
  • 01:377:350 Biomechanics (prerequisite 377:213) 
  • 01:750:327 Modern Instrumentation  
  • 01:750:397 Physics of Modern Devices 

NOTE:  Applicants are not permitted to “double dip” these requirements.  For example, if a prospective applicant has AP Bio credit and AP Physics credit, they cannot take Functional Human Anatomy and Exercise Physiology as their upper-level electives to fulfill the Bio and Physics requirement for the program. In this case, students would need to take another 2 courses for the Physics requirement. Individual courses must be taken for each AP sequence. 

Students with AP credit who are interested in applying to the BA/DMD program MUST meet with Dr. Vogel before the application deadline to discuss their individual options for AP coursework to allow their application to be reviewed.

The application will be available after spring break 2023.  Instructions on how to request a BA/DMD application will be sent out via the HPO listserv.  Completed applications must be emailed to the HPO office (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) no later than Wednesday, May 24 @ 5pm.(no exceptions)  In addition to the application, a minimum of 3 science letters of recommendation must be submitted on behalf of the applicant to the HPO office.   Recommendations from Rutgers teaching assistants and/or faculty are acceptable.