PA · Gainesville, Georgia · private
Brenau University Physician Assistant Program prerequisites
What Brenau asks for in the 2026-27 cycle, as read from the school's own admissions page. 11 lines differ from the standard PA school set, marked below.
Coursework
- Biology with labrequiredextra here
2 semesters · 8 credits · lab
"Biology I + Lab, 4 semester hours" and "Biology II + Lab, 4 semester hours." Survey courses do not satisfy it.
- General chemistry with labrequired
2 semesters · 8 credits · lab
The two-semester sequence with lab. Around a fifth of programs want only one semester or skip general chemistry entirely and start at organic or biochemistry.
- Organic chemistry with labrequiredextra here
1 semester · 4 credits · lab
"Organic Chemistry I + Lab, 4 semester hours." One semester, and biochemistry is only recommended beside it.
- Biochemistryrecommendeddiffers
1 semester · 3 credits
Most PA programmes ask for 1 semester · 3 credits and list it as required.
Recommended only, not required: it appears in "Other recommended courses include General Physics I, Biochemistry, Abnormal Psychology and Medical Terminology." Brenau's required chemistry is general inorganic I and II plus organic I.
- Physics with labrecommendedextra here
3 credits
"Other recommended courses include General Physics I, Biochemistry, Abnormal Psychology and Medical Terminology." One semester, recommended not required, and Brenau does not specify a lab. It adds that "Recommended courses are regarded as important elements of comprehensive preparation."
- English or writing-intensivenot required here
No English or writing course is on Brenau's required list. The only English coursework named applies to graduates of foreign institutions where English is not the language of instruction, who must show 18 US semester hours including 3 in English composition, 3 in English literature and 3 in public speaking.
- Statisticsrequired
1 semester · 3 credits
Statistics, not calculus. The exception is regional: several Oklahoma and Texas programs require college algebra instead and do not count statistics, so check those individually.
- College mathematicsrequiredextra here
1 semester · 3 credits
"College Algebra or higher, 3 semester hours," required in addition to the separate statistics line rather than instead of it.
- Psychologyrequired
1 semester · 3 credits
General psychology. Many programs fold it into a broader social or behavioural science block that sociology or anthropology also satisfies.
- Geneticsrequiredextra here
1 semester · 3 credits
"Genetics, 3 semester hours." One of the three courses carrying Brenau's 10 year recency window, waivable case by case for applicants with current relevant health care or teaching experience in the area.
- Anatomy and physiologyrequired
2 semesters · 8 credits · lab
The full A&P sequence with lab, the one course essentially every program names. Recency windows bite hardest here: several programs expire A&P specifically, one at three years, while leaving the rest of the list alone.
- Microbiologyrequired
1 semester · 4 credits · lab
Named by nearly every program, usually 3 or 4 credits. A minority accept it without the lab, so read the school's own line before dropping one.
- Medical terminologyrecommended
1 credits
Required outright by nearly half of programs, which is more than its recommended level here suggests. Several refuse a certificate or a free online course and want transcript credit; a few teach it after acceptance instead.
Experience hours
- Patient care experiencerequired
500+ hours
"Prior health care experience is required and is considered for admission. Applicants must submit verifiable information documenting at least 500 hours of direct patient care experience by the application deadline of Sept. 1 in order to be considered for admission to the program. Higher numbers of direct patient care hours are considered more competitive." The 500 is a real floor and the hours must already be documented on September 1, not projected.
- 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
Under a fifth of programs set a shadowing minimum; among those that do the median is 20 hours and a handful ask for 100 or more. Several count shadowing inside their experience total rather than separately, and a few have dropped it from scoring entirely.
Letters
- Science faculty letternot required here
Brenau names no science faculty letter. Its first letter accepts a professor in any discipline or any professional or educational contact of six months or more.
- Physician letterrequiredextra here
1 letter
Brenau's third letter: "One additional clinical reference from a health care professional (e.g. physician assistant, physician, dentist, pharmacist, registered nurse, nurse practitioner, physical or occupational therapist, etc.)." A physician is one option among several, so any of those clinicians answers it.
- PA letterrequireddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum and list it as recommended.
"One letter from a physician assistant or physician (MD/DO)." A PA is not strictly required here, a physician satisfies the same line. Letters from relatives, friends, personal health care providers or family friends are not accepted.
- Supervisor letterrequireddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum and list it as recommended.
"One letter from a professor or any individual who has worked with the applicant in a professional or educational environment. Reference should have worked with the applicant for a minimum of six months." A professor in any discipline satisfies it, so this is not strictly a work supervisor line.
Also on the school’s page
Brenau's required list, all needing a grade of C (2.0) or better and all finished by the September 1 application deadline: college algebra or higher 3 semester hours, statistics 3, general psychology or higher 3, biology I with lab 4, biology II with lab 4, general inorganic chemistry I and II with labs 8, organic chemistry I with lab 4, microbiology with lab 4, genetics 3, and human anatomy and human physiology or combined A&P I and II with labs 8. Three of those carry a recency window: microbiology, genetics, and anatomy and physiology "must have been completed within 10 years of the time of application. Waivers for the time limit will be considered on a case by case basis for those with current, relevant health care or teaching experience in these areas." Brenau also states plainly that "Survey courses are not accepted to fulfill the required science prerequisites," and that quarter hour institutions must show the equivalent quarter hours. The GRE is required and has no published minimum: "GRE official scores for all three sections of the test must be submitted to Brenau University (Code: 4397) prior to the application deadline of Sept. 1." There is no PA-CAT mention. The class matriculating in January 2025 averaged GRE 155 verbal, 152 quantitative and 4 analytical writing. CASPer is required of applicants invited to interview, not of everyone. GPA floors are unusually low for this path: 2.75 cumulative undergraduate and 2.75 overall science, with recent accepted classes averaging around 3.4 to 3.5 cumulative and 3.3 to 3.4 science. A baccalaureate degree must be awarded before the program starts in January. Admissions is not rolling: applications must be CASPA verified by September 1, on ground interviews run June through September with no alternate dates, and the committee meets in early October to select from the whole pool. Around 33 seats are filled each year from roughly 700 verified applications and 150 interviews. Brenau names two groups given additional consideration: those raised in or resident in northeast Georgia or a rural or medically underserved community, and those with prior military experience.
Check your transcript against this list
Cyclios keeps this list beside your coursework and tells you what Brenau still needs from you.
See it for PA schoolAlso in Georgia
- Agnes Scott College Physician Assistant ProgramDecatur
- Augusta University Physician Assistant ProgramAugusta
- Berry College Physician Associate ProgramMount Berry
- Emory University Physician Assistant ProgramAtlanta
- Mercer University Physician Assistant ProgramAtlanta
- Morehouse School of Medicine Physician Assistant ProgramAtlanta
- South University Savannah Physician Assistant ProgramSavannah