PA · Franklin, Indiana · private
Franklin College Physician Assistant Program prerequisites
What Franklin College asks for in the 2026-27 cycle, as read from the school's own admissions page. 12 lines differ from the standard PA school set, marked below.
Coursework
- Biology with labrequiredextra here
lab
The baseline does not carry introductory biology on this path, but Franklin does: "General Biology with labs," 2 semesters, listed alongside anatomy and physiology and microbiology rather than in place of them. Counted in semesters, so no credit hour figure is published. Subject to the seven year science recency window and the C minimum.
- 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
lab
"Organic Chemistry with lab," 1 semester, on top of the two semester general chemistry sequence. One semester only, with the laboratory. Subject to the seven year chemistry recency window.
- Biochemistrynot required here
Biochemistry does not appear in Franklin's prerequisite table. The chemistry block is two semesters of general chemistry with labs plus one semester of organic chemistry with lab, and nothing else.
- English or writing-intensiverequireddiffers
2 semesters · 6 credits
Most PA programmes ask for 2 semesters · 6 credits and list it as recommended.
Required here rather than recommended, and broader than English: "1 composition or communications course," 1 semester. A communications course answers it as fully as a composition course does.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 terminologyrequireddiffers
1 credits
Most PA programmes ask for 1 credits and list it as recommended.
Required rather than recommended: "1 Medical Terminology course," 1 semester, listed as its own prerequisite category.
- Social sciences and humanitiesrequiredextra here
No published minimum
Franklin asks for a second social science course beyond introductory psychology: "1 additional behavioral/social science class," 1 semester, with no list of acceptable disciplines published.
Experience hours
- Patient care experiencerequireddiffers
200+ hours
Most PA programmes ask for 500+ hours.
"A minimum of 200 documented patient care hours under the supervision of a licensed health care professional is required." This is one of the lowest published floors on this path, and the program's admissions and policies page says the hours are self reported in CASPA and assessed "on quality and description of duties" rather than on which profession you held. Two hundred is the floor for eligibility, not a competitive figure.
- 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 letterrecommendeddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum.
The academic letter is specified as "a professor/instructor" with no discipline attached, so a science professor is one way to answer it rather than a separate requirement.
- Faculty letter (any discipline)requiredextra here
1 letter
"One from a professor/instructor." Franklin does not say the academic writer has to be a science professor, so any instructor who taught you answers it.
- Physician letterrequiredextra here
1 letter
"Applicants must provide three letters of recommendation. One from a professor/instructor and one from a physician or other healthcare provider." A physician is named first but any licensed healthcare provider, a PA included, answers this line.
- PA letterrecommendeddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum.
No PA letter is named. A PA answers the "physician or other healthcare provider" slot, but nothing requires that writer to be a PA.
- Supervisor letterrecommendeddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum.
No work supervisor letter is named. Franklin requires three letters and specifies only two of the writers, a professor or instructor and a physician or other healthcare provider; a supervisor from your patient care work is a natural third but is not required by title.
Also on the school’s page
Franklin counts its prerequisites in semesters rather than credit hours, so no credit figure is recorded on lines where the program publishes only a number of semesters. The table reads: chemistry, general chemistry with labs for 2 semesters and organic chemistry with lab for 1; biology, general biology with labs for 2 semesters, human anatomy and physiology with labs for 2, and microbiology with lab for 1; social sciences, general psychology for 1 semester and "1 additional behavioral/social science class" for 1; statistics or biostatistics, "Any course," 1 semester; composition or communications, 1 semester; and medical terminology, 1 semester. Grades are floored per course, not just on average: "No individual course grades below a 'C' may be counted for a pre-requisite course." The recency window is narrow and applies to the sciences only: "Chemistry and biology coursework should be completed within 7 years of matriculation." Timing: "All pre-requisite course work should be completed prior to September 1 in the year before." On grades, "A minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 is required" and "A minimum cumulative BCP GPA of 3.0 is required," and the program's admissions and policies page adds that admission is "typically more competitive than the minimum." On tests, that same admissions and policies page states "The Franklin College PA program does not require the GRE"; neither page mentions the PA-CAT, so no test is stated as required here. The prerequisite page states no shadowing requirement and gives no figure for it.
Check your transcript against this list
Cyclios keeps this list beside your coursework and tells you what Franklin College still needs from you.
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