When preparing for a big exam such as the INBDE, we all hope that everything goes smoothly and that you are ready to go on test day.  However, life can throw curveballs and things may happen that you have no control over, whether it be a personal or family emergency, not feeling prepared, or other personal reasons; sometimes we have to go to our plan B and reschedule the test.  In this article, we will discuss the reasons that may lead you to reschedule your test.

🚧 Roadblocks in Studying

If you are like me and know you have a big exam to prepare for, let’s say about 6 to 9 months away, you may create a timeline and set goals for each week or month leading up to the big day. However, many individuals will be thrown off this tentative plan for various reasons such as work, school, or other personal responsibilities. Therefore, there are a few factors that come into play when deciding whether or not to reschedule:

• Is there enough time to reschedule, do you already have a job offer that you must start and by postponing the exam could jeopardize the position?
• Is a later date available at the testing location?
• Do I have the money to pay to reschedule? 
• Are you burned out from studying or do you feel you could use the extra days to help augment your score? 

Many may feel that postponing the test will be to their benefit and will give them more time to study, however, many times this may not be the case, as waiting longer increases stress and anxiety. Therefore, if you have been preparing for months and feel that you do not know enough as your test day approaches, just know that you ARE ready and everything will be fine!

🌿 Personal Issues

It is life, things happen.  When events happen that are beyond our control then we have no option but to reschedule. Such events include personal or family emergencies, feeling sick the day of, a natural disaster, or any other unforeseen circumstance.

In such instances, it is critical to realize that you matter the most and that your well-being and state of mind are most important. After all, you must realize that regardless of the fact that this is a huge exam, it is not more important than yourself and your health. Therefore, it is best to reschedule the exam when you know that you are in the right state of mind and can provide the exam with your undivided attention.  

Despite the fact that you will have to pay a fee to reschedule, at the end of the day it is a whole lot better to pay this fee than failing the exam and having to pay for another exam to retake it.  It will also lead to unnecessary anxiety and stressors as you prepare to take the exam again.  

💰 The cost of rescheduling

We touched on this briefly above, but the postponing fee varies depending on how far out you decide to postpone. It is important to be in contact with your Prometric Center.  If you do not show up for the exam, you will lose the entire fee you paid for the exam, therefore, if it is a true emergency you will need to call the Department of Testing Services at 800-232-1694 or email them at tesingproblems@ada.org.  If you postpone the exam 1-4 days from the test day, you will have to pay a fee of $150.  If 5-29 days from test day then it depends on when you reschedule the exam, if before 6/30/22 then it will be $60 and if it is after 7/1/22 then a $70 fee will be requested.  If you are more than 30 days from your exam date and you decide to postpone the test then you will be requested to pay $25 if before 6/30/22 and $40 if after 7/1/22.

🤔 So should you reschedule or not?

This is all up to you, and at the end of the day, it will not matter if you postpone the test for a couple of weeks or a month.  What will matter is that you passed and are now a board-certified dentist.

Therefore, if you feel that pushing forward the test will help with your test anxiety and give you more time to look through key material. Then go for it!  It will help you feel more confident and hopefully help you achieve a better score.

At the end of the day, just remember there is never a right time to take such a big test and you can always study more.  But just know that if you have been preparing for months and months, you are likely ready and you know more than you think.  It is now time to show what you know, so stop, take a deep breath, and go for it!