BA/DMD Rutgers School of Dental Medicine

This is a highly competitive and selective program for SAS or SEBS students at Rutgers University, New Brunswick. Students apply at the end of the sophomore year and must have completed the required prerequisites and demonstrated strong academic achievement, a passion for dentistry, and for helping others. Students who are not enrolled in SAS or SEBS must initiate a school-to-school transfer to one of those units in the spring semester of the sophomore year and be prepared, if accepted to the joint program, to complete a major in Biological Sciences and all of the requirements of their undergraduate school. In some cases, accepted students may major in Cell Biology and Neuroscience or Genetics but no other majors are compatible with the credit exchange that is integral to the program. If not accepted, students may cancel the school-to-school transfer. Accepted students will be expected to complete all SAS or SEBS core requirements by the end of their junior year. In their senior year, admitted students will take the complete first-year curriculum at Rutgers School of Dental Medicine and may use some of these credits in exchange to complete the elective course work for their school and the majors listed above. No other majors are compatible with the credit exchange. The program is not appropriate for students who intend to graduate in 3 years because of the credit exchange and the requirement that students in the program be simultaneously registered with the undergraduate unit and the dental school in the senior year/first year of dental school.

• Students will have a conditional, early acceptance to RSDM (see grade and DAT requirements below).
• Students will pay only for three years of undergraduate tuition at Rutgers + 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, in addition to the dental degree requirements.

The program is a joint program between the school of dental medicine and the undergraduate units. The program is structured to include an exchange of credit from the school of dental medicine toward fulfillment of participants’ undergraduate degree requirements. Admitted students will be able to use a portion of the completed credit from the first year of dental school toward certain specific major requirements as well as elective credit toward the 120 credits needed for the undergraduate degree.

Students with less than 60 credits completed at time of application (at end of second year)

Students are not eligible to apply if they will have fewer than 60 credits by the end of their second year.

Students with between 60-90 credits completed at time of application (at end of the second year)

Students are eligible to apply, provided they have fulfilled the necessary program prerequisites (see program information for details). If admitted, students must have their SAS or SEBS core requirements completed by the end of the junior year, along with any minor requirements (if applicable) and have completed a minimum of 96-degree credits. Students majoring in Biological Sciences, Cell Biology & Neuroscience, or Genetics (department approval required for joint program participation) would be able to utilize the exchange of credits from the dental school coursework to fulfill specific major requirements. Prior to applying, students should meet with their respective school and major advisors to understand the exchange of credit and confirm what required coursework they would be responsible for completing by the end of junior year.

Students with greater than 90 credits complete at time of application (at end of second year)

Applicants who will have 90 or more credits completed at the time of application could potentially graduate in 3 years. Applicants will need to provide a detailed explanation of what coursework they plan to complete during their junior year, since they will have reduced major requirements due to the credit exchange. Accepted students may not enroll part-time during their junior year. Students may choose to complete a minor or certificate, take additional coursework in an area of interest, fulfill departmental honors, or study abroad. There are no specific recommendations or requirements and applicants should choose based on their own individual situations, interests and personal goals. Students may want to reflect upon courses or activities that will enrich their undergraduate degree and that will help develop resources/skills that will prepare them for dental school and beyond. Accepted students who decide to graduate in three years will no longer be eligible to remain in the program and will need to reapply to RSDM through the traditional application process.

• 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.)
• At a minimum, transfer students must be enrolled for one year at Rutgers-New Brunswick earning 30 credits.
• They must have earned and maintained a minimum cumulative and science GPA of 3.5 at Rutgers.
• 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).
• Applicants should have no withdrawals or incomplete grades in any RSDM prerequisites.
• 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.

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. 694:395, 694:407 or 115:301) 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.  Minimum DAT scores must be achieved, but are not necessarily sufficient to guarantee admission: Academic Average-420, Total Science-430 and individual science scores as follows, Biology-420, General Chemistry-430 and Organic Chemistry-430. (New DAT scoring scale)

If granted AP credit for College 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  (3 credits or more) courses from the approved biology elective course list (200 level or higher).   Courses  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 to 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. 694:395, 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 the 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.

• • 01:377:223  Functional Human Anatomy 
  • 01:377:371 Exercise Physiology (prerequisite 377:223)
  • 01:377:303 Neuromechanical Kinesiology (prerequisite 377:223)
  • 01:377:350 Biomechanics (prerequisite 377:223) 
  • 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 Exercise Physiology as their upper-level elective to fulfill the Bio and Physics requirements 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 during the Fall of their sophomore year to discuss their individual options for their AP coursework.

The application will be available after spring break 2025.  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 Friday, May 23 @ 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.