Program Admissions Requirements | Applicant Selection Process | Technical Standards | Guaranteed Interview Pathway
Guaranteed Interview Pathway Acceptance for Austin College Students Entering as Freshman
Students entering Austin College (AC) as freshman that meet the criteria below will be guaranteed an interview to the Austin College Physician Assistant (PA) Program. Applications via this pathway will be accepted via the Central Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA) starting in April. Applicants who meet the criteria below and have verified CASPA applications by 11:59PM ET on July1st will be invited to interview with the PA program in late July, prior to the general applicant pool. All other applicants who meet the established criteria will interview with the general applicant pool beginning in August each year.
Below are the application criteria for this pathway:
- Must be a U.S. citizen or U.S. legal permanent resident to qualify for admission to the program.
- Must enter Austin College as a freshman (students classified as transfer students are not eligible for this program).
- All prerequisite coursework must be taken at Austin College.
- Must work with the Pre-Health Program to develop a plan to obtain prerequisite coursework in the allotted time frame.
- Applicants applying at the end of the junior year may have no more than TWO outstanding prerequisites and those prerequisites must be completed by the end of the fall semester of the senior year.
- Applicants applying at the end of the senior year must complete all prerequisite courses by the end of fall semester of the senior year.
- Required Courses – All required courses must be taken for a letter grade and must be completed at a grade of “C” or higher, including those taken after notice of acceptance (C- grades will not be accepted).
- Biology
- BIOL 115: Evolution, Behavior, and Ecology
- BIOL 116: Cell Biology
- BIOL 228: Genetics
- BIOL 234: Anatomy and Physiology
- BIOL 230: Microbiology
- BIOL352: Systemic Physiology
- BIOL 261: Medical Terminology
- Chemistry
- CHEM 111 (or 211): General Chemistry I (Inorganic Chemistry)
- CHEM 112: General Chemistry II
- CHEM 221: Organic Chemistry I
- Social Science – complete prior to undergraduate graduation
- PSY 101: General Psychology or SOC 101: Introduction to Sociology
- Statistics
- Specific course approval must be obtained from a Pre-Health advisor prior to enrollment, as there are several courses offered at AC that can satisfy this requirement and these may vary over time.
- Must have an overall GPA of 3.5 and a science 3.5 GPA at the time of application as calculated by CASPA. Cumulative and science prerequisite GPAs should be maintained at a minimum of 3.5 at the time of graduation.
- Recommendations:
- Three letters of recommendation are required.
- A letter from a healthcare professional knowledgeable of the applicant’s performance in the clinical setting is highly recommended.
- At least one recommendation must come from an Austin College professor able to speak of the applicant’s academic capabilities.
- Applicants for whom English is not their first language: official Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL IBT) scores are required.
- A minimum overall score of 100, including a minimum speaking section score of 26, is required to be considered for admission
- Scores must be sent directly from the Educational Testing Service (ETS) to CASPA in electronic format
- Scores may be no more than two years old
- Three letters of recommendation are required.
- Biology
It is strongly recommended that applicants have exposure to the healthcare field prior to application to the Guaranteed Interview Pathway. Specifically, it is recommended that students have at least 200 hours of documented direct healthcare experience (paid or volunteer) prior to matriculation into the PA program. These hours, however, are not a requirement for being granted an interview or admission into the program.