How to Reschedule Your DAT: Process, Deadlines & Fees

Yes, you can reschedule your DAT date online — log in to the DAT scheduling system through your DENTPIN on the ADA's testing portal, open your existing appointment, and pick a new date. There's no phone call or mailed form. The only real variable is the DAT rescheduling fee, which is tiered and gets more expensive the closer you are to your original test date.

We're the founders of DATPractice, and we both scored in the top 3% on the DAT. Rescheduling itself is a five-minute process, not a crisis. The real decision — reschedule or test anyway — is what actually matters, and that's what most articles skip.

Can I reschedule my DAT date online? Here's the exact process

You reschedule the DAT the same place you scheduled it: the ADA's DAT application and scheduling portal, accessed with your DENTPIN. There is no separate rescheduling office, no walk-in option at Prometric, and no need to call anyone.

1. Log in to the DAT scheduling system with your DENTPIN credentials.
2. Find your existing appointment inside your account — it will show your current date, time, and test center.
3. Select the option to reschedule that appointment.
4. Browse available dates and centers the same way you did when you first booked, and pick a new slot.
5. Review the rescheduling fee that applies to your specific timing before you confirm.
6. Pay the fee and confirm. You'll get a new confirmation for the updated appointment.

That's the whole flow. The portal won't let you skip the fee step, so you'll always see the exact charge before you confirm — no surprise bill after the fact.

The DAT rescheduling fee: how it scales with time

The DAT rescheduling fee isn't a flat number. It's tiered based on how many days sit between the moment you make the change and your original appointment date. Reschedule with weeks or months of runway and you'll pay the lowest tier. Reschedule in the final days before your test and you'll pay the highest — sometimes a meaningfully larger amount.

The logic is the same logic every testing and travel company uses: last-minute changes cost the system more to accommodate, so they charge more for them. It also nudges test-takers toward deciding early rather than waiting until the week of.

We're intentionally not putting a dollar figure on these tiers. The ADA sets and periodically adjusts the exact fees and cutoff windows, so treat this table as the shape of the policy, not the numbers — confirm current fees and cutoffs at ada.org before deciding based on cost.

DAT rescheduling deadlines: how close to test day can you actually change it

There's a final cutoff — a number of days before your appointment past which the portal stops allowing reschedules entirely. If you're inside that window, your only options may be testing as scheduled or canceling outright, which is a different process with its own rules.

Practically, that means:

• If you know you need to move your date, decide sooner rather than later. Every day you wait can push you into a more expensive tier.
• Don't assume you have flexibility right up until test day. The portal enforces the cutoff automatically — it won't warn you weeks ahead that your window is closing.
• If you're already inside the final days before your appointment, check your account directly rather than guessing whether rescheduling is still on the table.

Our DAT check-in process guide covers what to expect on the other end of this timeline, once test day actually arrives.

When to reschedule vs. when to test anyway

This is the actual decision, and it's not about the fee. The fee is a rounding error compared to the cost of testing underprepared and needing a retake later. Here's how we'd think about it, based on what your recent full-length practice tests are actually telling you.

• Scores climbing but not leveled off. If your last three or four full-length practice tests are still trending upward and haven't stabilized at your target, you're probably not done improving. Reschedule — a few extra weeks usually buys real, measurable gains.
• Scores flat and below target. A flat trendline below where you need to be is the clearest reschedule signal. More time with the same approach won't help; more time fixing the actual concepts behind your misses can.
• Scores consistent at target, but one rough attempt. One bad test after a string of good ones is usually nerves or an off day, not a readiness problem — testing as planned is often still correct.
• Reasons unrelated to readiness. Illness, a conflict, an emergency — reschedule without overthinking it, and move early to catch a cheaper fee tier.
• You keep rescheduling out of fear, not data. If you've pushed your date more than once while sitting at target the whole time, be honest about whether you're avoiding a test you're actually ready for.

The pattern we'd watch hardest is consistency, not a single number. One great score surrounded by mediocre ones is not the same as five scores in a row landing at your target — and only the second pattern should make you comfortable keeping your date.

What rescheduling changes — and what it doesn't

Rescheduling has zero effect on your score. It's purely administrative: your appointment shifts to a new date and, if you want, a new center. Nothing about testing later is flagged or held against you once your score reaches schools through AADSAS.

The real cost is timing, not stigma. If you're testing close to an application deadline, pushing your date back also pushes back when your score is available to submit — build that into the decision.

One more distinction: rescheduling is not canceling. Rescheduling keeps your registration alive and just moves the date. Canceling ends the appointment outright and follows a different fee and refund structure. If you still intend to take the DAT, rescheduling is almost always the simpler, cheaper move.

Before you reschedule, check these too

• Testing with accommodations? Moving your date can affect the accommodation-approval timeline — see our DAT accommodations guide.
• Confirm your new date still leaves enough runway before any application deadlines you're targeting.
• Worried about needing a retake later? Our DAT retake rules guide covers how many attempts you're allowed and how soon.
• Double-check the new confirmation for the correct date, time, and center before you close the portal.

The portal makes rescheduling nearly frictionless on purpose. The only mistake worth avoiding is letting a fee tier — genuinely small money relative to the DAT's stakes — talk you into testing before your data says you're ready, or talk you out of testing when it says you already are.