Physician Assistant Program Admissions Requirements
A bachelor’s degree from a four-year regionally accredited college or university. No specific major is required. An overall GPA of 3.0 or higher is recommended.
Satisfactory completion (a letter grade of C or better) in the Medical Core Prerequisite courses. All coursework must be taken in the United States at a regionally accredited institution. A prerequisite GPA of 3.2 or higher is recommended.
A science GPA of 3.0 or higher is recommended.
A minimum of1,000 hours clinical experiencewith direct patient contact completed by July 15 of the year planning to enter. Although applicants may be in-progress of completing hours at the time of application, applicants who have completed and/or exceeded the minimum 1,000-hour requirement at the time of application are deemed more competitive. Beginning with the application cycle for 2025-2026 (entry in August 2026), these hours must be completed at the time of application.
Standardized Tests: The MUPAP does not require a standardized test (e.g., GRE, PA-CAT, MCAT, or Casper) for admission. Extra consideration will not be given if test scores are submitted.
The MUPAP recognizes academic success with review of (cumulative)total, science, and prerequisite GPA. Further, the MUPAP values diverse backgrounds within its cohorts and specifically identifies the below qualities in application review as contributing to the diversity of our program and profession.
• Students who are from economically and/or environmentally disadvantaged backgrounds (determined from HRSA indicators on the application)
• Military affiliation (active duty, veteran, reserves)
• Extracurricular activities (i.e. student athlete, club/organization member/leader, quality volunteer experiences)
• Completion of an honors program
• Graduate of a master’s level science program with a 3.0 GPA or higher.
• Rigorous post-bacc performance (with 25 or more semester hours and above a 3.0 GPA)
• Cape Fear region resident
No history of drug abuse or conviction of a felony.
No history of dismissal from a PA, medical, or nursing school for academic or disciplinary reasons.
Applicants who have attended and/or completed a foreign or domestic medical school must have achieved a 3.0 overall GPA (program will use WES evaluation for GPA calculation for foreign schools), no history of dismissal from the medical program, and/or no failures on the United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE).
Advanced Placement: The programdoes acceptadvanced placement (AP) credit from high school for prerequisite coursework. The programdoes not grantadvanced placement into the program based on previous educational experiences. For example, if a student has been enrolled in another medical program (i.e. PA school, medical school), coursework completed in the previous program will not replace any curricular components of our program, if accepted. All required curricular components of the program must be completed.
Applicants who have completed their degree outside the US must follow policies forForeign Graduates.
Three letters of recommendation are required as a part of the CASPA application. Applicants are considered more competitive if they are determined by the evaluator to exceed “Average” marks (‘Good’ or ‘Excellent’) in the following categories:
• Adaptability
• Conflict Resolution
• Empathy
• Intellectual Ability
• Interpersonal Relations
• Oral Communication
• Reaction to Criticism
• Reliability
• Self-Awareness
• Team Skills
• Written Communication
• Overall evaluation
Completion of a successfulinterviewwith the Admissions Selection Committee.
Applicants must review the Policies and Procedures page to ensure understanding of specific program policies and requirements separate of cognitive and non-cognitive admissions requirements.
