Admissions

Statistically, our program accepts more Georgia residents due to the high number of in-state applications received.

The Augusta University Physician Assistant Program has a thorough and holistic process of reviewing candidate applications that occurs in three phases.

Phase 1: Initial Review 

1. Candidate applications completed in CASPA are received by the Augusta University Graduate Admissions Office.
2. Graduate Admissions Office reviews and verifies documents, collects supplemental application materials from candidate.
3. Candidates who meet: 
   
   • minimum requirements for GPA and BCP GPA
   • minimum standardized exam score (GRE or PA-CAT)
   • and who have completed (or have plan to complete before matriculation) all prerequisites will be forwarded for program review in SLATE. All prerequisite coursework should be from within the past 10 years. 
   • Cumulative overall undergraduate GPA minimum: 3.0
   • Cumulative undergraduate Biology/Chemistry/Physics (BCP) GPA minimum: 3.0
   • GRE minimum overall: 290 (must be within last 5 years)
   • PA-CAT: no minimum (must be within last 5 years)
   • Any prerequisite courses not yet completed should be described in supplemental application with plan for when/how those will be completed.
4. Program screening: Candidate applications will be screened and selected for interview based on the quality of the following criteria. The program considers the strength overall using a consistent formula. As long as a candidate meets the minimum for each area, they can be screened and considered. However, candidates should understand if they only meet the minimum in every category, the overall strength of the application will not be sufficient to be invited for an interview.
   
   • Overall GPA: preference for interview is given based on strength of GPA with higher preference given in subsequently higher GPA classification [minimum 3.0-3.20, 3.21-3.35, 3.36-3.55, 3.56-3.80, 3.81-4.0]
   • BCP GPA: preference for interview is given based on strength of GPA with higher preference given in subsequently higher GPA classification [minimum 3.0-3.20, 3.21-3.35, 3.36-3.55, 3.56-3.80, 3.81-4.0]
   • GRE Exam or PA-CAT Exam:
     • Quality of GRE and scoring depends on classification in the following areas:
       • Meets minimum 290 overall score
       • Quantitative Percentile: Higher preference is given for higher percentile ranking within the following classifications [30-34, 35-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-100]
       • Verbal Percentile: Higher preference is given for higher percentile ranking within the following classifications [30-34, 35-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-100]

       • Note: the program does superscore GRE scoring for candidates and will take the highest quantitative percentile and highest verbal percentile from any attempts in the past five years

     • Quality of PA-CAT and scoring depends on classification in the following areas:
       • PA-CAT composite: higher preference is given for higher classification in the following ranges [484 and below, 485-504, 505-520, 521-539, 540 and above]
       • A & P: higher preference is given for higher classification in the following ranges [477 and below, 478-497, 498-517, 518-540, 541 and above]
       • Biology: higher preference is given for higher classification in the following ranges [484 and below, 485-507, 508-526, 527-546, 547 and above]
       • Chemistry: higher preference is given for higher classification in the following ranges [479 and below, 480-502, 503-523, 524-546, 547 and above]
   • Anatomy and physiology prerequisite coursework: Candidate must have a B or higher in A&P I
   • Letters of Reference (LORs): Candidate must have minimum of three LORs and minimum of one LOR from a PA. Quality of all LORs should be sufficient with no concerns or red flags.
   • Healthcare experience: Candidates must have a minimum of 160 hours of direct patient care/healthcare experience (e.g. work as an EMT/LPN/MA/CAN/RN/Scribe/Pharmacy Tech) (additional hours experience will be preferred in later phases of admissions consideration)
   • PA shadowing: Candidates must have a minimum of 40 hours shadowing with PA(s) at the time of this screening (additional shadowing hours will be preferred in later phases of admissions consideration)
   • CASPer : Program prefers for this to be completed prior to the program screening but must be completed prior to acceptance.

   • Note: the program reviews the quality of the above criteria as outlined to determine candidates invited for an interview.

   • Potential outcomes of program screening:

     • Invited for interview if sufficient strength of candidate application
     • On Hold, candidates with borderline application strength are on hold for further program review to be considered for an interview. Essays and additional application components may be considered by the admissions team to compare candidates.
     • Declined: applications that do not meet minimum requirements or that fail to meet overall quality criteria of the above components will be declined.

Phase 2: Interview 

1. Registration Checklist: Candidates invited to interview with the program complete a registration checklist that collects additional information on shadowing, healthcare experience, and volunteer experience. If candidates have completed additional time in these areas since initial application was submitted, this can be included and described in the registration checklist.
2. Interview: Candidate is scored by interviewers on quality of interview. Candidate qualities valued by the program include emotional intelligence, resiliency, accountability, integrity, determination, trainability, professionalism, maturity.

Phase 3: Final Review 

Candidates are reviewed after the interview process is completed for their application and final decision is based on the combination of the following:

1. Overall quality of initial program screening of application (GPA, standardized exam, etc.)
2. Interview quality
3. Quality and quantity of PA shadowing, direct healthcare experience, and volunteer experiences.
   
   • PA shadowing:
     • Hours: Higher preference is given for candidates with more hours shadowing in the following classifications [40-49, 50-59, 60-74, 75-99, 100+ hours]
     • Variety: preference is also given for candidates who have shadowed in more medical fields in the following classification [1, 2, 3+]
   • Healthcare experience: Higher preference is given for candidates with more hours of direct healthcare/patient care experience in the following classifications [160-299 hours, 300-499 hours, 500-799 hours, 800-999 hours, 1000+ hours]
   • Volunteer experience: Higher preference is given for candidates with more hours of volunteer experience in the following classifications [0-19 hours, 20-39 hours, 40-59 hours, 60-99 hours, 100+ hours]
4. CASPer score completed and no flags or concerns
5. LORs meet quality criteria
6. Quality of essay and supplemental application

Potential outcomes of final review process:

1. Acceptance: Offered a seat in the cohort for matriculation
2. Waitlisted: Added to waitlist of strong candidates that may be pulled for acceptance into the cohort as the admissions cycle continues.
   

   • Note: Candidates who are waitlisted should contact the program with any updates in the important components of the application reviewed. If a candidate has a new GRE/PA-CAT score, has completed a prerequisite since interviewing, or has completed more PA shadowing/healthcare/volunteer experiences since interviewing, the candidate should notify the admissions team to update their application with the program while the program is still in the admissions cycle.

3. Declined: Candidates who are declined are welcome and encouraged to work on their application strength to be more competitive and apply in the next cycle.

Interviews are by invitation only. This year’s interview cycle will include opportunities for virtual interviews. Selected applicants will need to be available between the hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the day of the scheduled interview.

Applicants whose first language is not English must submit official TOEFL scores. A minimum TOEFL score of either 250 on the computer-based exam (cBT), 600 on the paper exam (pBT), or 100 on the internet based exam (iBT), with 26 in the speaking component. Applicants must take the TOEFL by October 1 to be considered for admission the following year.

Applications, and all supporting documentation, must be received by the Graduate Admissions Office no later than October 1 to be considered complete. Early submittal is highly encouraged!

The Admissions Committee selects the applicants who seem best qualified for the program from among those who apply and submit all required documentation. 

Mandatory Prerequisites for the Master of Physician Assistant Program

 

 

Transfer Credit Policy

Advanced placement credits will be accepted if included on your official transcript. However, they will not be included in your overall grade point average. 

There is no transfer of credit (except for 90 semester hours of prerequisites at a regionally accredited institution) or credit for experiential learning allowed. Previous medical professions coursework will not be accepted toward completion of the MPA degree. It is important that our students are exposed to specific course content. To ensure this, only courses taught within our curriculum are accepted for credit toward graduation. The Augusta University Physician Assistant Program does not have a program in which foreign-trained physicians or medical graduates are given advanced placement or preference in admission decisions. For additional information, please see the Office of Academic Admissions' Transfer Credit Policy.

Criminal Background Check

Criminal background checks will be conducted on conditionally accepted applicants prior to their enrollment in participating programs in the College of Allied Health Sciences. Final admittance is conditional on a satisfactory criminal background report which must be completed and approved prior to matriculation. Additional information regarding this policy may be found here.

Guiding Principles in GPA Calculation

Augusta University does not honor grade forgiveness at another institution. All grades from all courses attempted and earned are included in all of our transfer GPA calculations and evaluations for admission.

Credit by Exam (AP/CLEP) may be accepted, but grades are not earned, therefore they cannot be calculated in the GPA considered for admission.

The Physician Assistant Program at Augusta University does not accept Health Science based science courses as equivalent for prerequisite science requirements. While the Transfer Equivalency Guide for students transferring into an undergraduate program at AU may indicate that a health science based science course will transfer in as an undergraduate science equivalent course, the PA Program will not accept this course.

All science prerequisite coursework is expected to be at the level of what would be required for a science major in an undergraduate program. Remedial or introductory level coursework will not be accepted. For example, BIO 1101 & 1102 at Augusta University are introductory science courses that non-majors can take. BIO 1107 & 1108 are the first sequential Biology courses in a science major curriculum. In this example, the PA Program would not accept BIO 1101/1102 as meeting the prerequisite of Principles of Biology I/II, but BIO 1107/1108 would be accepted.