PA · Irvine, California · private

Chapman University Physician Assistant Program prerequisites

What Chapman asks for in the 2026-27 cycle, as read from the school's own admissions page. 15 lines differ from the standard PA school set, marked below.

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Coursework

Biology with labrequiredextra here
2 semesters · 8 credits · lab
Chapman requires the full introductory biology sequence, which most PA programs fold into anatomy and physiology instead: "General Biology I & II with labs: 8 semester units." Neither the lecture nor the lab may be taken online or hybrid.
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.
Biochemistrynot required here
Chapman's chemistry requirement stops at "General Chemistry I & II with labs: 8 semester units." Neither biochemistry nor organic chemistry appears on the prerequisite list.
English or writing-intensiverequireddiffers
2.7 credits
Most PA programmes ask for 2 semesters · 6 credits and list it as recommended.
Required rather than recommended, and only one course of it: "English Composition: 2.66 semester units." The unit figure is one quarter course expressed in semester units, so a standard 3 unit composition course clears it.
Statisticsrequireddiffers
2.7 credits
Most PA programmes ask for 1 semester · 3 credits.
"Introduction to Statistics: 2.66 semester units." One course, and it does not release you from the separate pre-calculus or calculus requirement.
Calculusrequiredextra here
2.7 credits
A second, separate math course beyond statistics: "Pre-Calculus or Calculus: 2.66 semester units." Pre-calculus is enough, but statistics does not answer this line because Chapman requires that one too.
Psychologyrequireddiffers
2.7 credits
Most PA programmes ask for 1 semester · 3 credits.
"General Psychology: 2.66 semester units." Chapman names the introductory course specifically rather than accepting abnormal or developmental in its place, and asks for sociology or cultural anthropology separately.
Sociologyrequiredextra here
2.7 credits
"Sociology/Cultural Anthropology: 2.66 semester units." Either discipline answers it, and it sits beside the psychology prerequisite rather than substituting for it.
Geneticsrequiredextra here
2 credits
"Genetics: 2 semester units," and it carries the program's one exemption from the in person rule: genetics is the only science prerequisite that may be completed in an online or hybrid format.
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.
Microbiologyrequireddiffers
3.3 credits · lab
Most PA programmes ask for 1 semester · 4 credits · lab.
"Microbiology with lab: 3.33 semester units," which is one quarter course converted. Slightly below the baseline four units, but the lab is required and neither lecture nor lab may be online or hybrid.
Medical terminologyrequireddiffers
1 credits
Most PA programmes ask for 1 credits and list it as recommended.
Required, not recommended: "Medical Terminology: 1 semester unit." A change lands here for applicants in this cycle: starting with the 2027-2028 cycle, medical terminology must be taken for a letter grade rather than pass or fail.

Experience hours

Patient care experiencerequireddiffers
1000+ hours
Most PA programmes ask for 500+ hours.
A hard minimum of 1,000 direct patient contact hours, and the timing matters as much as the number: the hours are required at application submission, not by matriculation, so hours you plan to work over the following year do not count toward it.
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
Recommended with no hour figure attached, and Chapman states a preference for who you shadow: PA shadowing is preferred over physician shadowing.

Letters

Science faculty letterrecommendeddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum.
No faculty letter is named. With only two letters required and one reserved for a PA, MD or DO, a science professor competes with a supervisor for the single open slot.
Physician letterrequiredextra here
1 letter
Chapman requires two letters and constrains one of them: "One must be from a PA, MD, or DO." This line and the PA letter line are the same letter, not two separate asks, and any of the three credentials satisfies it. The second letter has no stated source.
PA letterrecommendeddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum.
A PA letter satisfies Chapman's one constrained letter but is not required by itself: "One must be from a PA, MD, or DO." Only two letters are required in total, so this is a small packet by PA standards and each writer carries weight.
Supervisor letterrecommendeddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum.
Chapman does not name a supervisor letter. Of the two required letters, one must come from a PA, MD or DO and the other is unconstrained, so a patient care supervisor is a natural choice for the second without being asked for.

Also on the school’s page

Chapman is one of the few PA programs that still requires a standardized test: "All applicants must complete the Graduate Record Examination (GRE)." No minimum score is published, the test must have been taken within five years of the application deadline, and official scores are due by August 1, 2026. The program names no PA-CAT. It is also a January start, so the calendar runs a cycle ahead of most: "The application deadline for classes beginning January 2027 is August 1, 2026." Eleven prerequisite blocks, five science and six non science, each needing a letter grade of C or better; from the 2027-2028 cycle medical terminology must also carry a letter grade rather than pass or fail. Chapman quotes several prerequisites in odd unit counts because the list is written to accept quarter credits, so read 2.66 and 3.33 semester units as one quarter course rather than as a typo. Two policies are unusually generous and unusually strict in the same breath. Generous: "There is no expiration date for prerequisite courses," which is rare on a path where five to ten year windows are the norm. Strict: "Science lectures and labs, except for Genetics, may not be taken in an online or hybrid format," so genetics is the only science that may be done online. Both GPA floors are stated minimums, 3.2 cumulative and 3.2 cumulative science.

School

chapman.edu/crean/academic-programs/graduate-programs/physician-assistant/admission.aspx

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