Central Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA)
CASPA is the common application for PA schools. It requires that you enter all of your post-secondary coursework from URI and other colleges at which you have earned credits as well as a personal statement; a detailed work/activities list; personal and demographic information; letters of recommendation; and school-specific information (e.g., additional short essays). You will need to have official transcripts sent to CASPA from all of your colleges/universities. Read the CASPA instructions to learn more.
Because PA schools consider applicants on a rolling basis, we strongly recommend starting your CASPA as early as possible, with the goal of submitting your application around late-June/early July of the year before your hope to begin PA school (see the timeline above). Read more about the application on the CASPA website.
Personal statement
For your CASPA application, you will submit a personal statement. The topic for your essay is open-ended and entirely dependent upon what you would like admission committees to know about your candidacy that is not obvious from other parts of your application. The limit is 5,000 characters, spaces included.
Start early on your essay, and plan on several revisions before submitting it to CASPA. Please attend a personal statement writing workshop to help you get started, or make an appointment with URI’s Writing Center.
Read more about the personal statement on the CASPA website.
Letters of evaluation
PA schools differ in their requirements for letters of evaluation. This is why we suggest that you request 3-4 letters from supervisors, mentors, and/or professors who are very familiar with your work. Avoid letters from family members or family friends, and from peers. Letters should be based on experiences you have had since high school.
CASPA has a module that allows your evaluators to directly upload letters in support of your candidacy.
PA Schools do not require a committee letter; you therefore do not need to participate in URI’s HPAC process before applying to PA school. Learn more about letters of evaluation on the CASPA website.
Standardized Tests
The GRE: some of the PA schools that interest you will require the GRE; these programs will look for a score at the 50th percentile or higher on all three parts of the exam. To find out which programs require the GRE, review the list of programs on the PAEA website.
If you decide to take the GRE, we recommend that you plan your preparation early. Whether or not you take a prep course, give yourself enough time to review and practice (with sets of practice questions as well as full-length practice exams). We suggest giving yourself a minimum of 8-10 weeks of prep time, and that you take the GRE no later than May or June of the year before you hope to begin PA school.
GRE WebsiteThe PA-CAT: this is a new exam that is being used by only a small number of PA programs.
PA–CATOptimal timeline: PA school admission for a 2026 start
| Late January or Early February 2025 | Attend a virtual applicant info session. In this meeting we will cover key things you need to know about the PA admission process including: – the timeline – CASPA application – personal statement and other essays – letters of recommendation – what a competitive application looks like. Register for the info session on Handshake |
| January-April 2025 | GRE Preparation Plan on an 8-10 week prep period Take the GRE by May 2025 Note: Not all programs require applicants to take the GRE. To find out which schools require them, review the program list on the PAEA Program Directory. |
| February-March 2025 | Pre-Application Assessment Meeting with Pre-Health Advising – Appointments are available on Handshake – Complete PA Self-Assessment google sheet (required for JWU Affiliation Agreement) Begin building your preliminary list of PA schools |
| March 4, 2025, 4:00-5:00 pm | Get started on your CASPA personal statement. Attend a Personal Statement Writing Workshop: Learn about best practices for application personal statement writing and brainstorm potential topics for your essay. Virtual workshop–registration will be posted to Handshake. |
| March-April 2025 | Write personal statement Pre-write your work and activities list Finalize your PA school list Request letters of recommendation |
| Late April – June 2025 | Complete and submit your CASPA application* Important Note*: do not start the CASPA 2025 application! Wait for the CASPA 2026 application to be posted in late April) Recommendation: submit as early as possible: interview spots will fill up as applications are reviewed CASPA Help Center |
| July 2025-April 2026 | Application review, interview days and decisions at PA schools Interview invitation start as early as July though most are in the fall and early spring term Most PA schools begin in the summer of 2026, though some will begin in January 2026 |
Am I a strong applicant?
Successful applicants to PA school have the following:
A strong academic record: PA schools need to know that you can succeed in their fast-paced, intensive curriculum. Admission committees will look to your academic record for evidence of your readiness. This is why we recommend that you have grade point averages of 3.5 or higher in biology-chemistry-physics (BCP) and overall. If your GPA is lower, admission committees give strong weight to a trend of improvement (e.g., very strong junior-senior year or post-baccalaureate grades).
Significant direct patient care experience: The clinical portion of PA education is short compared to all other health profession training programs. This is because the PA curriculum assumes that students already have significant patient care experience (e.g., military medic, EMT, med tech, CNA, medical assistant). We recommend that you have at least 1,000 hours of patient care experience before applying, but competitive applicants have between 3,000 – 4,000 hours. This is often times hard to do during your undergraduate years: the majority of PA students have worked in the field full-time after college. “Gap years” (aka: “growth years”) are not only acceptable but very much the norm.
Leadership: Involvement on campus as a student leader goes to show your level of balancing multiple responsibilities while in undergrad. URI has 150 student organizations to become involved in, including a Pre-PA Club, becoming a Pre-Health Student Ambassador, athletics, and so much more.
PA Admission dataFurther PA school admission information
Application process overviews
Health profession training programs have different application processes. Browse other programs: