Cyclios

PA · Towson, Maryland · public

Towson University Physician Assistant Program prerequisites

What Towson asks for in the 2026-27 cycle, as read from the school's own admissions page. 9 lines differ from the standard PA school set, marked below.

Read from the school’s pageCheck it with the school

Coursework

  • General chemistry with labnot required here

    Not on the six-course list. Biochemistry is the only chemistry Towson requires by name, though general chemistry will normally be needed as a prerequisite to reach it.

  • Biochemistryrequired

    1 semester · 3 credits

    "Biochemistry," 3 semester hours, no lab. Towson names biochemistry specifically and offers no organic chemistry alternative, which makes this the course to watch: it is the only chemistry on the list and it usually carries general and organic chemistry as its own prerequisites at the institution teaching it.

  • English or writing-intensivenot required here

    No English or writing prerequisite is listed.

  • Statisticsrequired

    1 semester · 3 credits

    "College-level Statistics in any discipline," 3 semester hours. The phrase "in any discipline" is generous: a psychology, business or sociology statistics course counts, not only biostatistics.

  • Psychologynot required here

    No psychology prerequisite appears on the list. The only non-science course Towson requires is statistics, and it accepts a statistics course from any discipline.

  • Anatomy and physiologyrequired

    2 semesters · 8 credits · lab

    Towson splits this into two rows and accepts either shape of the sequence: "Anatomy (or Anatomy and Physiology I) with lab" at 4 semester hours and "Physiology (or Anatomy and Physiology II) with lab" at 4 semester hours. A separate anatomy course and a separate physiology course answer it just as well as the combined A&P I and II sequence. No recency window is stated.

  • Microbiologyrequired

    1 semester · 4 credits · lab

    "Microbiology with lab," 4 semester hours.

  • Medical terminologyrequireddiffers

    1 semester · 2 credits

    Most PA programmes ask for 1 credits and list it as recommended.

    "Medical Terminology," minimum 2 semester hours with 3 preferred. Required here rather than recommended, and the B- floor applies to it like every other prerequisite.

Experience hours

  • Patient care experiencerequired

    500+ hours

    "Applicants must have a minimum of 500 patient contact hours completed in a health care setting prior to applying." Towson draws the line explicitly: "Hands-on patient contact experience must involve interacting with patients directly," and shadowing and self-employment hours are excluded. Paid employment and volunteer work both count. The hours must be done before you apply, not before you matriculate.

  • Healthcare experiencenot required here

    Towson publishes only the 500 hour patient contact minimum and asks for no separate healthcare experience figure.

  • PA shadowingnot required here

    No shadowing requirement is published, and shadowing hours are explicitly excluded from the 500 patient contact hours.

Letters

  • Science faculty letternot required here

    Not required. A faculty member is one of several acceptable writers for the second letter, with no science discipline attached.

  • PA letternot required here

    Not required by name. The one specified writer is "a clinician with direct clinical oversight," which a PA satisfies but so does any other clinician who supervised you.

  • Supervisor letterrequireddiffers

    1 letter

    Most PA programmes publish no minimum and list it as recommended.

    "A minimum of 2 recommendation letters is required." One must come from a clinician with direct clinical oversight, which is the line recorded here: the writer is a clinician who supervised you, not merely one you observed. The second letter is open to "a coach, faculty member, supervisor, military officer, or other individual who knows the student well," but not to academic advisors, friends or family.

Also on the school’s page

Towson keeps its prerequisite list to six courses, 20 or 21 semester hours in all, and puts the pressure on the grades instead. Every prerequisite must be finished "with a grade of 'B-' or better" at a regionally accredited institution before the CASPA application is submitted, not merely before matriculation, so a course in progress in the summer will not do. The science GPA bar is the highest number on the page: "An overall science GPA of 3.20 or higher is required." No prerequisite recency window is published, which is unusual on this path and works in the favour of career changers. On exams the program says "No GRE scores are required," and the page names no PA-CAT requirement. Applications must be verified in CASPA by August 1, and verification can take up to four weeks, so submit well before the deadline. The application for summer 2027 opens April 23, 2026.

School

towson.edu/chp/departments/physician-assistant-masters

Check your transcript against this list

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

See it for PA school

Also in Maryland

All PA programmes, compared