PA · Conroe, Texas · public

Sam Houston State University Physician Assistant Program prerequisites

What Sam Houston State 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.

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Coursework

Biology with labrequiredextra here
6 credits
Biology I and Biology II, 3 semester credit hours each. The table does not state a lab on these rows. "Biology I & II may be replaced with advanced biology coursework, subject to program approval," so an upper-division substitution is possible but needs the program to sign off.
General chemistry with labrequireddiffers
6 credits
Most PA programmes ask for 2 semesters · 8 credits · lab.
Chemistry I and Chemistry II at 3 semester credit hours each, 6 total. The table does not state a lab requirement on either row, only that science courses "must be intended for science majors."
Biochemistryrequired
1 semester · 3 credits
"Biochemistry or Organic Chemistry," 3 semester credit hours. Either course satisfies the line, and only one semester of one of them is needed.
English or writing-intensiverecommended
2 semesters · 6 credits
English composition, usually two semesters where it is asked for at all.
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
"Psychology (Normal or Abnormal)," 3 semester credit hours. Abnormal psychology satisfies this on its own, so an introductory course is not strictly required.
Geneticsrequiredextra here
1 semester · 3 credits
"Genetics," 3 semester credit hours, a named prerequisite rather than an elective. Uncommon on the PA path and worth planning around.
Anatomy and physiologyrequired
2 semesters · 8 credits · lab
"Anatomy & Physiology I (Human Preferred)" and "Anatomy & Physiology II (Human Preferred)," 4 semester credit hours each. The two course rows do not spell out a lab, but the substitution clause reads "A combined Human A&P series with lab (two semesters / 8 semester credit hours) can fulfill the A&P I and II prerequisites." Human is preferred, not mandated.
Microbiologyrequireddiffers
3 credits
Most PA programmes ask for 1 semester · 4 credits · lab.
"Microbiology," 3 semester credit hours, and the table does not name a lab. Lower than the 4 credit lab course most programs require.
Medical terminologynot required here
Medical terminology is not on the prerequisite table. The eleven listed courses are the whole requirement.

Experience hours

Patient care experiencenot required here
No patient care hours minimum is published. The admission requirements list is a bachelor's degree, the prerequisite coursework, the GPA floors, and three letters; experience enters only as a preference factor phrased as "health-related and/or direct patient care experience."
Healthcare experiencerecommended
500+ hours
No hours minimum of any kind is published, and the program does not split the two categories: "health-related and/or direct patient care experience" appears once, as one of the listed preference factors weighed in holistic review, next to "healthcare professional licensure or certification." Experience helps here, but nothing gates on a number.
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 letterrecommended
No published minimum
Only a handful of programs require a science faculty letter by name. An academic letter is welcome nearly everywhere and mandatory almost nowhere.
PA letternot required here
No PA letter is named. Three letters of recommendation are required by the September 1 deadline and the program does not specify who writes them.
Supervisor letternot required here
No supervisor letter is named. Letters of reference are weighed holistically alongside the personal statement, with no writer specified.

Also on the school’s page

Sam Houston State's MPAS is a new program, first cohort August 2026, 40 students per cohort, and it holds Accreditation-Provisional status; the page warns that "official notification of acceptance will be withheld until the ARC-PA issues its determination of provisional accreditation." The single hardest line here is the prerequisite grade floor: "Each prerequisite course must be completed with a grade of 3.0 or higher (4.0 scale)," a B in every prerequisite rather than the usual C. Alongside it, a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 and a minimum cumulative science GPA of 3.0, all prerequisites finished by August 1, a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited U.S. institution before matriculation, and three letters of recommendation by the September 1 deadline at 11:59 PM ET. The recency rule is written in reverse of the usual form: "Minimum 15 SCH must be completed within the last 10 years," so older coursework is not disqualified as long as 15 recent semester credit hours exist. "Science courses must be intended for science majors." Pass grades are accepted for 2020 to 2021 coursework, but "no grades of pass or credit will be accepted for science courses." AP, IB, CLEP and concurrent enrollment credit documented on an official transcript is accepted, as are community college and online or distance courses from regionally accredited institutions. On testing the policy is total: "No Entrance Exams Required. GRE, PA-CAT, MCAT, CASPER and similar exams are not required. If scores are reported in CASPA, they will not be considered during the review process." Three letters are required and the program does not say who writes them. Review is holistic against a predefined screening rubric, and the published preference factors include healthcare professional licensure or certification, "health-related and/or direct patient care experience," leadership service, community engagement particularly in underserved areas, an economically or educationally disadvantaged background or regional history of East Texas residency, military service or veteran status, and first generation college student status. Deferrals of admission "will not be granted for any reason."

School

shsu.edu/academics/colleges/health-sciences/physician-assistant-studies-athletic-training/index.php

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