dental · Newark, New Jersey · public
Rutgers School of Dental Medicine prerequisites
What Rutgers asks for in the 2026-27 cycle, as read from the school's own admissions page. 3 lines differ from the standard dental school set, marked below.
Coursework
- Biology with labrequired
2 semesters · 8 credits · lab
Two semesters with lab. As universal for dental school as it is for medical.
- General chemistry with labrequired
2 semesters · 8 credits · lab
Two semesters with lab. The DAT's general chemistry section assumes the full sequence.
- Organic chemistry with labrequired
2 semesters · 8 credits · lab
Two semesters with lab at most schools. A small number accept one semester plus biochemistry; confirm on the school's page before planning around it.
- Biochemistrynot required here
Not listed among Rutgers' predental requirements, which name only biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, physics and English. Biochemistry appears nowhere on the requirements page or the FAQ, so it is not required here even though roughly half of US dental schools now ask for it.
- Physics with labrequired
2 semesters · 8 credits · lab
Two semesters, algebra-based accepted essentially everywhere. A handful of schools want only one semester; the two-semester plan covers them all.
- English or writing-intensiverequired
2 semesters · 6 credits
Two semesters of English or writing-intensive coursework at most schools that name it.
- Anatomy and physiologyrecommended
3 credits
Named by a minority of schools and useful preparation for the first year regardless.
- Microbiologyrecommended
3 credits
Required at a meaningful minority and recommended widely; a strong pick for the spare science slot.
Experience hours
- Dentist shadowingrecommendeddiffers
100+ hours
Most dental schools ask for 100+ hours and list it as required.
Neither the predental requirements page nor the admissions FAQ mentions shadowing, dental observation or an hours figure at all, so no requirement and no number is recorded. Rutgers reviews files holistically and reads demonstrated interest in dentistry as part of that, which chairside time is still the ordinary way to show.
- Non-clinical volunteeringrecommended
100+ hours
Few schools publish a number; committees still read for a service habit held over time.
Letters
- Committee letterrecommended
1 letter
"ONE Pre-Health Advisors Committee letter (preferred)." Preferred is the school's own word: the committee letter is not merely accepted in place of the three individual letters, it is the route RSDM would rather see.
- Science faculty letterrequired
2 letters
Two science letters, as the baseline assumes, in the individual letters route: "Three letters (two must be from Science Faculty, the third letter can be from an employer, personal, etc.)." The third slot is genuinely open, which is why no writer is recorded for it.
- Dentist letternot required here
No dentist letter is named. The individual letters route is fully specified as three letters, two from science faculty, with the third open: "the third letter can be from an employer, personal, etc." A dentist you shadowed would fit that third slot, but nothing at Rutgers requires one.
Also on the school’s page
RSDM's predental list is short and sits squarely on the dental baseline's numbers: "Biology 8 credits", "General Chemistry 8 credits", "Organic Chemistry 8 credits", "Physics 8 credits" and "English 6 credits", with the rule that "All science courses must include laboratory instruction." Two conditions are worth planning around. "Advanced placement courses will not be accepted towards requirements", so AP credit that cleared a sequence at your undergraduate institution still has to be replaced with real coursework here. And these are the courses required at the time of application, not merely by matriculation. No biochemistry appears anywhere on the requirements page. On numbers, the admissions FAQ answers the question of a minimum GPA or DAT score with "No. The RSDM Admissions Committee implements a 'holistic file' review process when screening applications and selecting candidates," and offers class averages instead: the 2024 entering class averaged a 3.7 science GPA, a 3.7 overall GPA, a DAT Academic Average of 22 and a DAT Total Science of 22. Those DAT figures are printed on the retired 1 to 30 scale, which the DAT left behind for 200 to 600 in March 2025, so they are recorded as Rutgers published them rather than converted. Letters and transcripts go to AADSAS directly, never to the school. Cross-checked against https://sdm.rutgers.edu/admissions/predoctoral-admissions/faq.
School
sdm.rutgers.eduCheck your transcript against this list
Cyclios keeps this list beside your coursework and tells you what Rutgers still needs from you.
See it for dental school