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The PA program is a full-time program and due to the nature of the heavy course load, high academic standards and the various clinical rotations, the School of PA Medicine does not recommend any type of employment while enrolled in the program. Students must ensure they have adequate financial resources prior to matriculation into the program. Please refer to the tuition and fees tab for additional information related to costs associated with the program. A student may not be compelled to be an employee of the program. (ARC-PA Standard A3.15e)

The PA program is structured to be face to face instruction and students must be willing to attend the program on-campus. The PA program will make every attempt to temporarily accommodate for illness and injury to a student on a case-by-case basis. Please contact the PA program if you have any additional questions.

The PA program does not offer part-time enrollment and is only available full-time, each student admitted to the program will matriculate once per year with an established cohort.

No, the sequencing of the curriculum is unique to the NU PA program and requires all students to enter the program as a cohort.

Yes. The PA program will conduct a routine criminal background check on all admitted students, prior to matriculation. The cost associated with the background check will be the responsibility of the incoming student. If you have questions related to criminal background, please contact the PA program at pa-admissions@northwestu.edu.

The PA program will conduct a routine urine drug test for all students admitted to the program prior to matriculation in the program and again prior to the clinical phase (final year) of the program. The cost associated with the drug screen will be the responsibility of the student and is required. Students should be cognizant that many clinical training sites require drug screening as a prerequisite for participation in a clinical rotation. If you have any questions related to the drug screen, please contact the PA program.

Yes, starting with the 25–26 application cycle, we began practicing a modified rolling admissions process. Qualified applications are screened for minimum requirements as they are received and then reviewed in batches. After each batch is completed, applicants will receive a notification of interview invitation, denial, or standby for a future interview event. An invitation to interview can come at any time during the interview cycle. 

Interviews occur throughout the fall and winter months. Each interview event will result in some candidates being admitted, some denied, and the rest will remain in consideration for admission after each subsequent interview event. An offer of admission can occur at any time throughout the interview cycle. 

At the end of our interview cycle, all interviewed candidates not offered an initial seat will be notified of their status: high alternate waitlist or alternate waitlist. 

We encourage applicants to submit when their application is strongest as we aim to hold seats open until the end of our interview cycle. 

Our CASPA-designated “green” application deadline requires applications to be complete and verified before January 15鈥痑t 8:59 PM Pacific Time / 11:59 PM Eastern Time (PCE must be at least 500 hours and up to two outstanding prerequisites are allowed). If your application has yet to be verified by CASPA, we highly recommend submitting it in early December to allow time to complete the verification process. Applications that are unverified or verified by incomplete at the application deadline will not be considered. No exceptions will be made.

The PA program does NOT require GRE scores to be submitted with the application, if you have taken the GRE and it is included in the application, the PA admission committee will not review the results, and therefore, it will not factor in the decision of admission to the program. Similarly, the PA-CAT and CASPer are not required and will not be reviewed. 

Applicants for whom English is not their first language may be required to pass an English proficiency test. To learn more, see our international applicant page.

Yes, with the following caveats: 

1. You must submit ALL transcripts from any college or university attended.
2. Any transcript submitted from a school located outside of the US or Canada must be supplemented by an official course-by-course evaluation for US degree equivalency and GPA, performed by an institution approved by NACES (). For more information on foreign transcript evaluation and submission through CASPA, please .
3. You must demonstrate English language proficiency, see our international applicant page.
4. You must meet all the requirements for admission to the PA program.  
   • Note: all prerequisite coursework must be complete at a regionally accredited US or Canadian institution of higher learning. No exceptions will be made.
   • Foreign medical experience will count towards the PCE requirement.

Yes, as long as you meet all the requirements for admission to the PA program as well as entry requirements, including the ability to obtain a visa. See our international applicant page for more information.

With a holistic admissions policy, there is no one factor that can help bolster your application. It’s a complicated process, but we encourage you to ask yourself some questions and find actionable solutions: 

• Are any of your GPAs close to the minimum requirement? Take more or retake courses to improve your GPA, especially prerequisites if below 3.0. 
• What is the quantity and quality of your PCE hours? Consider expanding your clinical experience. 
• Have you volunteered with vulnerable populations or in a faith-based context? Consider finding an organization that aligns with our mission and vision. 
• Do you lack leadership experience? Find an opportunity at work or in a extracurricular activity where you can take on more responsibility. 
• Do your essays speak to our mission and values? Have a friend or coworker provide feedback on your essays. 
• Are your letters of recommendation from supervisors in the healthcare field (particularly medical providers) that have known you for a significant amount of time? If not, consider who could write a stronger letter for you.

Start by studying our website. Next, we encourage every interested applicant to attend an information session. They are held on Zoom for one hour, or you can attend in-person and receive a tour of our program’s building afterwards. We also have a social media presence on and .

NU School of PA Medicine is a closed campus, so we do not offer campus tours outside of information sessions and interview events. You may register to attend an information session and attend in person to receive a brief tour of the graduate program building. If you are invited to an interview, a full campus tour will be provided as part of the interview event.