How to Apply

A completed baccalaureate degree from a regionally-accredited institution, or an equivalent institution as determined by Northwestern University, is required prior to matriculation into the program. Applicants are welcome to apply with a baccalaureate degree in progress, provided that this degree will be conferred prior to matriculation.

• Applicants educated outside the United States and English-speaking Canada must utilize a transcript evaluation service. See the International Applicants page for details.
• Applicants from the United States or Canada with coursework completed outside those countries do not have to utilize a transcript evaluation service if the coursework appears on their transcripts from the U.S. or Canadian institutions (e.g., study abroad).
• Applicants must have an Overall GPA and Overall Science GPA of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale, as calculated by CASPA.

Official transcripts must show that the following prerequisites have been completed. Substitutions are not accepted.

To be considered further for admission, all prerequisite coursework must be completed no earlier than 7 years prior to application cycle deadline. Thus, for the 2023-24 application cycle, all qualifying prerequisite coursework will have been completed on or after September 1, 2016.

Applications will still be considered if prerequisites are still in progress or planned for the future. In fact, this is a common circumstance, and it carries no advantage or disadvantage to an applicant during application evaluation.

As of September 1, 2023, up to three prerequisite courses may be in progress or planned for the future. In this scenario:

• Up to three prerequisite courses may be in progress or planned to be completed between September 1, 2023 and December 31, 2023.

• Only one prerequisite course may be in progress or planned to be completed between January 1, 2024 and May 26, 2024.

Qualifying prerequisite coursework will also adhere to the following guidelines:

• Prerequisite courses must be completed with a grade of "C" or higher. Prerequisites may also be completed with a grade of "Pass" if the granting institution certifies on their transcript that such a designation is equivalent to a grade of "C" or higher.
• Labs are not required for any prerequisites.
• A single course cannot be used to satisfy multiple prerequisites.
• Coursework can be completed through any regionally-accredited institution, must be taken for college credit, and must appear on an official college transcript. Coursework taken for continuing education credits, "CEU" credit, or certificates of completion will not fulfill prerequisites.
• Coursework from Kinesiology, Exercise Science and Nutrition departments may not be accepted to meet our prerequisites. Applicants should be prepared to produce syllabi detailing week-to-week content for these courses if requested by admissions officials. Prerequisite courses must cover, in sufficient detail, the content areas listed in the table below.
• Lower-division or "Intro/Survey"-level coursework may not fulfill prerequisites. Applicants should be prepared to produce syllabi detailing week-to-week content for these courses if requested by admissions officials. Prerequisite courses must cover, in sufficient detail, the content areas listed in the table below.
• The program will honor credits completed at community colleges and online through regionally accredited institutions.
• AP coursework will be accepted as long as classes appear on a college transcript with assigned credits. If AP coursework is completed Pass/Fail, the passing grade (or equivalent) must be a C or higher.

For the 2023-2024 application cycle, candidates must present in their CASPA materials a minimum of 1,000 hours of direct patient care experience, accrued upon the date of application submission. CASPA applications submitted with fewer than 1,000 accrued hours of direct patient care experience are not considered further for admission. Enrolling class cohorts average well over 1,000 clinical hours at the time of application submission.

In accordance with the CASPA FAQ guidance on Experiences, applicants shall include past, current and/or in-progress experiences. Do not include future or planned patient care experiences or hours.

Hours associated with the completion of previous academic degrees, certifications or training do not count for this Program. Preference is given to applicants having experience that requires a period of training and results in direct, hands-on patient care. When evaluating a given clinical experience, our Program considers the role, hours, level of responsibility, and degree of patient interaction.

All else equal, roles that feature greater clinical responsibility and, proportionally, a greater number of weekly hours providing direct, hands-on patient care, are valued more highly than roles of lesser responsibility or with fewer hours of weekly direct patient care.

As such, on your CASPA application, please be sure to detail the depth and breadth of your direct clinical responsibilities in each role you have held. If you have been promoted or have been progressively assigned more clinical responsibilities in a given role over time, please note this in your application.

Applicants are encouraged to "shadow" a PA to become knowledgeable about the role of the physician assistant. This experience does not count as patient care experience. Due to conflict of interest considerations, the Northwestern University PA Program is not able to assist PA Program applicants with obtaining PA shadowing experiences. You may consider contacting your local physician assistant organization (in Illinois, the Illinois Academy of Physician Assistants) for assistance and networking opportunities.

Evidence of community service (i.e., healthcare for underserved populations, medical mission trips) is also highly valued.

For all applicants, patient care experience hours are automatically projected forward based on the date of CASPA application submission and the provided weekly hours. Applicants who start new positions or experiences or who wish to report significant updates to their weekly hours and/or professional responsibilities may do so via CASPA. Alternatively, updates and modifications to patient care positions and other experiences may be sent to paprogram@northwestern.edu

GRE (Graduate Record Examination)

The submission of Graduate Record Examination (GRE) test scores is not required and any GRE scores submitted will not be evaluated during application review.

CASPer, PA-CAT, and MCAT

The submission of CASPer, PA-CAT, or MCAT test scores is not required and any such scores submitted will not be evaluated during application review.

TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language)

Official TOEFL scores are required of all applicants who have not earned a baccalaureate degree or graduate degree from a regionally-accredited U.S. or Canadian college or university, regardless of the official language of the country in which the education took place or the predominant language of the degree-granting institution. Minimum scores are listed below.

Results from the TOEFL Essentials Test or IELTS cannot be used in fulfillment of the TOEFL requirement.

Professional or academic experience will not be considered as a potential basis for waiving the TOEFL requirement.

Minimum TOEFL scores

Official and valid TOEFL scores must be submitted and received by our Program by the September 1 application deadline. PDF score report copies received at the time of testing or in the mail are not considered an official score report. TOEFL scores are valid for two years prior to the May/June of intended enrollment.

The Northwestern University Physician Assistant Program's Institution Code is 4888.

Visit the TOEFL website for more information.