PA Admissions

Application
The NGU PA Medicine program’s application cycle will open at the end of April 2022, and run through August 1st, 2022, via the Central Application Service for PA (CASPA). Our next cohort will begin in January 2023. CASPA is an online application clearing house. As of March 2022, the cost for a CASPA application was $179 for the first program you apply to and $55 for each additional program. All applications that have a verified status from CASPA by or on August 1 will be reviewed. To ensure your application is verified on time, CASPA recommends submitting your application at least 4 weeks in advance of the August 1 deadline.
- Applicant Worksheet
-
Special Consideration
Refer to article 4.1 in the PA Admissions Handbook for further detail.
The program favors applicants with a higher cumulative undergraduate GPA, higher grades on prerequisite courses, higher GRE scores, more direct patient care hours, more shadowing/volunteerism hours or veteran status, or have a Masters or Doctorate degree.
All North Greenville University graduates who meet the PA Program’s admission requirements will be invited for an interview pending interview slot availability at the time the application is received. An invitation to interview, however, does not guarantee admittance to the program.
All military veterans (veterans must produce a DD214 showing an honorable discharge) will receive the full point value for the volunteerism portion of the pre-screen scoring matrix.
The program recognizes that the COVID-19 crisis has impacted many applicants and has resulted in unexpected changes. Due to COVID-19, many institutions of higher education transitioned to online instruction and have given students the option of Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory(S/U) or Pass/Fail (P/F) grading for courses. Courses taken during Spring 2020 through Fall 2021 that have a S or P grade instead of a letter grade will be accepted for prerequisite requirements if this was an institutional change secondary to the COVID-19 crisis. As a general rule, the NGU PA program recommends students elect letter grades for all courses when the decision is theirs to make. However, if this is not possible, the courses will be accepted and allowed to meet the prerequisite requirements. However, no GPA quality points will be awarded when calculating the cumulative prerequisite, or last 60-hour review GPAs for courses with a pass/fail or satisfactory/unsatisfactory grading system. Therefore, pass or satisfactory grades will neither hurt nor help your pre-interview score.
As a reminder, the program does not require a minimum number of paid healthcare experience or shadowing hours. Therefore, there are no additional requirements that need special consideration due to the COVID-19 crisis. This policy will apply to the 2021-2022 CASPA application cycle and beyond when Spring 2020 through Fall 2021 courses apply to our required prerequisite courses or last 60-hour review GPA calculations. We will continue ongoing evaluation of this policy and make additional changes as necessary in response to COVID-19.
-
GRE
The GRE is required for admission and the scores must have been taken and recorded within the last five years (at the time of application). This GRE requirement, however, is optional for applicants with a Master’s Degree or higher from a U.S. regionally accredited institution.
Please refer to article 3.2 in the PA Admissions Handbook for further detail.
-
Letters of Recommendation
Three letters of recommendation (each from a ‘professional’ source; should not be from a relation or close family friend).
-
Paid Healthcare Experience
A minimum number of patient care hours are not required for admittance into the program. However, a point value for paid health care experience is added to the applicants overall score. To receive points for paid health care experience it must be from a paid position(s) and not volunteer work.
Please refer to article 3.4 in the PA Admissions Handbook for further detail.
-
Shadowing & Volunteerism
A minimum number of PA Shadowing or Volunteer hours are not required for admittance into the program. However, a point value for provider (PA/MD/DO) shadowing and volunteerism (mission work, soup kitchen, big brothers/sisters, etc.), is added to the applicants overall score. Military veterans (with a DD214 showing honorable discharge) will receive the maximum point value for shadowing and volunteerism. Please refer to article 3.5 in the PA Admissions Handbook for further detail.
-
TOFEL
An applicant whose native language is not English and who does not have a full year (two semesters) of composition or its equivalent in English studies must demonstrate skills in English understanding and use. Recent scores on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) normally suffice. TOEFL scores should be submitted with the CASPA application or directly to NGU Graduate Admissions when CASPA is not used. Satisfactory scores are based on the testing format and include:
- Internet-based TOEFL: Score of 100 with a minimum score of 20 on each section.
- A total score of 600 on the paper TOEFL, with a score of 55 on the Listening Comprehension.
- A total score of 250 on the computer-based TOEFL.
- A level 112 from the ELS Language Centers or other recognized evidence may be considered satisfactory, pending the Admissions Committee approval.