Cyclios

PA · Albany, New York · private

Albany Medical College Physician Assistant Program prerequisites

What Albany Med asks for in the 2026-27 cycle, as read from the school's own admissions page. 8 lines differ from the standard PA school set, marked below.

Read from the school’s pageCheck it with the school

Coursework

  • Biology with labrequiredextra here

    2 semesters · 8 credits · lab

    "Two semesters or 2 quarters of General Biology with corresponding labs." One life science biology lecture of at least 3 credits must be within the last five years.

  • General chemistry with labrequired

    2 semesters · 8 credits · lab

    "Two semesters or two-quarters of General Chemistry with corresponding labs." One chemistry lecture of at least 3 credits must be within the last five years.

  • Biochemistryrequired

    1 semester · 3 credits

    Albany's advanced chemistry line: "One semester or one quarter of Organic Chemistry or Biochemistry. Lab is NOT required." Either course satisfies it.

  • English or writing-intensiverequireddiffers

    1 semester · 3 credits

    Most PA programmes ask for 2 semesters · 6 credits and list it as recommended.

    Required here: "One semester or one quarter of any writing intensive course." Any department answers it.

  • Statisticsrequired

    1 semester · 3 credits

    "One semester or one quarter of any Statistics course."

  • Psychologyrequired

    1 semester · 3 credits

    "One semester or one quarter of any Psychology course."

  • Anatomy and physiologyrequired

    2 semesters · 8 credits · lab

    "Two semesters or 2 quarters of Anatomy and Physiology (A&P) with corresponding labs." No expiration date on A&P itself; online labs are accepted though in-person is preferred.

  • Microbiologyrequired

    1 semester · 4 credits · lab

    "One semester or one quarter of a Microbiology or Bacteriology course with a corresponding lab." No credit count is stated.

  • Medical terminologynot required here

    Not on Albany's prerequisite list.

Experience hours

  • Patient care experiencerequireddiffers

    1000+ hours

    Most PA programmes ask for 500+ hours.

    "At least, 1,000 direct patient care hours," complete by the October 1 deadline. "Experience must be in a licensed health care setting and can be paid or volunteer." Eligible roles include corpsman, paramedic, EMT, patient care associate or technician, nurses aide, phlebotomist, medical assistant, home health aide, mental health aide, ED volunteer, scribe, LPN or RN, orderly, athletic trainer, radiological technician, PT aide and licensed clinicians such as physical, occupational and respiratory therapists. "Any experiences obtained as part of your schooling or training (i.e. rotations, clinical, or hours in training) do not qualify for PCE," nor does shadowing, work outside licensed facilities, or non-direct roles such as records or reception. The typical accepted student had 2,100 hours at application.

  • Healthcare experiencerecommended

    500+ hours

    Many programs publish one combined healthcare figure instead of splitting patient care from healthcare exposure; where they do, the number lands here. Median published minimum is 500 hours.

  • PA shadowingrecommended

    20+ hours

    "We do not require any shadowing, but we recommend that all applicants shadow a PA." Shadowing "will not be counted toward PCE hours."

Letters

  • Science faculty letternot required here

    The recommended academic reference carries no science restriction; recorded on the any-discipline faculty line.

  • Faculty letter (any discipline)recommendedextra here

    1 letter

    "We require three individual verified letters of recommendations (committee letters only count as one letter). We do not require specific references, but we recommend an academic reference, a work reference, and one reference that speaks best to you as a candidate." The academic reference is this line, any discipline.

  • PA letternot required here

    "We do not require specific references." No PA letter is asked for.

  • Supervisor letterrecommendeddiffers

    1 letter

    Most PA programmes publish no minimum.

    Recommended, not required: "we recommend an academic reference, a work reference, and one reference that speaks best to you as a candidate." The work reference is this line.

Also on the school’s page

Albany publishes its prerequisites as semesters or quarters rather than credits, all from regionally accredited U.S. institutions with a grade of C or better: two semesters of General Chemistry with labs, one semester of Organic Chemistry or Biochemistry ("Lab is NOT required"), two semesters of General Biology with labs, two semesters of Anatomy and Physiology with labs, one semester of Microbiology or Bacteriology with lab, one semester of any Statistics course, one semester of any Psychology course, and one semester of any writing intensive course. Recency is unusual: "Most prerequisite courses do not have an expiration date. However, you must have one Chemistry lecture (at least 3 credits) and one life science Biology lecture (at least 3 credits) within the last five years." "We accept AP credits for corresponding prerequisites only, provided they are individualized courses on a college transcript. CLEP courses are also accepted." "We are now accepting all courses, both in-person and online courses and labs. Although, we prefer in-person labs if available." "We prefer all prerequisite courses and degrees be completed prior to application, but all pending courses and degrees must be completed prior to Oct. 1." A baccalaureate from a regionally accredited U.S. institution is required. "We do not have any GPA minimums, but applications will be pre-screened to identify the strongest applications for holistic reviews and interviews are generally offered to applicants with a similar profile to our accepted students": the typical accepted profile is a 3.90 overall GPA, 3.80 chemistry GPA, 3.88 science GPA and 2,100 patient care hours at the time of application. On testing: "Albany Medical College does not require any standardized testing"; no GRE, PA-CAT or CASPer is mentioned. Three letters are required, and a committee letter counts as only one.

School

amc.edu/pa

Check your transcript against this list

Cyclios keeps this list beside your coursework and tells you what Albany Med still needs from you.

See it for PA school

Also in New York

All PA programmes, compared