Program Overview

BA/DMD Rutgers School of Dental Medicine

The BA/DMD program 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.

Program Requirements

• Students must be matriculated students who are in their fourth semester or have earned a minimum of 60 degree credits.
• Transfer students must be enrolled for one year at Rutgers-New Brunswick earning 30 credits.
• Students must have earned and maintained a minimum cumulative and science GPA of 3.5 at Rutgers.
• Students 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.
• 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.

Program Benefits

• Students will have a conditional, early acceptance to RSDM.
• 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.

Credit Exchange

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.

AP Credit Policy

• If granted AP credit for College Writing, students must take one upper-level English at Rutgers with the same amount of credit work.
• If granted credit for AP Bio and Lab, students must take 2 courses from the approved biology elective course list (200 level or higher).
• If granted AP credit for Chemistry and Lab, students admitted to the accelerated program will need to take Orgo lab and a course in Biochemistry by the end of the junior year.
• If granted AP credit for Physics and labs, students must take any 2 courses from the list of approved courses by the end of the junior year.

Application Process

• 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 no later than Friday, May 23 @ 5pm.
• A minimum of 3 science letters of recommendation must be submitted on behalf of the applicant to the HPO office.

Additional Requirements

• Prior to matriculation at the dental school, BA/DMD students must complete two semesters of General Physics and labs, Organic Chemistry lab, a course in Biochemistry, 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.
• Minimum DAT scores must be achieved, but are not necessarily sufficient to guarantee admission.