PA School Prerequisite Checklist: The Printable CASPA Worksheet- a free, printable worksheet that tracks every prerequisite, deadline, hour, and transcript across all your CASPA programs — so a single missed detail doesn’t end your cycle.
THE QUICK ANSWER
A PA school prerequisite checklist is a single document that lists every course CASPA programs require — typically Anatomy & Physiology, General Biology, Microbiology, General Chemistry, Statistics, Psychology, English Composition, and often Biochemistry and Medical Terminology — with space to track your grade, credits, and completion date against each program’s specific rules.
The printable worksheet that accompanies this guide does exactly that across all six parts of your application — prerequisites, programs, patient-care hours, references, testing, and a final pre-submission review. Scroll to the bottom to download and print it free.
If you are applying to physician assistant programs through CASPA, you already know the application is less a form than a logistics project. A single PA program might list ten or more required prerequisite courses, each with its own credit-hour minimum, lab requirement, recency window, and grade floor. Multiply that by the eight, ten, or twelve programs most competitive applicants apply to, and the result is a spreadsheet-sized tracking problem that applicants routinely get wrong.
And getting it wrong is expensive. CASPA opened on April 30, 2026 for the 2026–2027 cycle and closes April 1, 2027, but most of the roughly 180 participating programs set their own deadlines months earlier — often in the fall — and admissions are overwhelmingly rolling. A prerequisite you thought was satisfied but wasn’t, a transcript that arrived a week late, or a course that fell outside a program’s recency window can quietly end a cycle before an interview is ever offered.
This guide walks through how to use the free printable worksheet, why each of its six sections matters, and how to close any gaps it surfaces. Let’s start with why a written checklist is non-negotiable for a competitive application.
PA admissions in the current cycle are more competitive than they have ever been — recent data puts the average acceptance rate around 31%, which makes a seat statistically harder to win than admission to many medical schools. CASPA, operated by the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA) on the Liaison platform, is unforgiving of small mistakes. The fee structure alone — $185 for your first program and $66 for each additional designation — means a wasted cycle is a real financial loss on top of a lost year.
The applicants who navigate this cleanly are not smarter; they are more organized. They treat the prerequisite list as a checklist to be verified line by line against each target program’s published requirements, rather than a rough memory of “I think I have everything.” That is the entire job of the worksheet that accompanies this guide.
Three things a written checklist catches that memory does not:
The printable worksheet is organized into six sections that mirror the actual sequence of a CASPA application. Working through them in order keeps the whole project visible on one or two pages. Here is what each section does at a glance, before we walk through each in detail:
This is the heart of the worksheet: a row for every common PA prerequisite, with columns to record the course you took (or plan to take), the credits, whether it included a lab, the grade you earned, the date completed, and a status checkbox. Before you fill it in, pull the published prerequisite list for each of your top programs from their websites and from the CASPA Program Directory, then map your own coursework against it.
The standard PA prerequisite set the worksheet covers:
| Prerequisite | Typical Requirement |
| Anatomy & Physiology | 1–2 semesters with lab (some programs accept separate Anatomy + Physiology) |
| General Biology | 1–2 semesters with lab |
| Microbiology | 1 semester, lab usually required |
| General Chemistry | 2 semesters with lab |
| Organic Chemistry | 1 semester (program-dependent) |
| Biochemistry | 1 semester — increasingly required, sometimes in place of OChem |
| Statistics | 1 semester |
| General Psychology | 1 semester |
| Abnormal / Developmental Psychology | 1 semester (program-dependent) |
| English Composition | 1–2 semesters |
| Medical Terminology | 1 course — required or recommended by many programs |
Note: This is a composite of the most commonly required courses. No single program requires all of them, and a few will ask for something not listed here. Always verify against each program’s own page.
As you fill this section in, the most useful habit is to flag every row that is missing, in progress, or aging out of a recency window. Those flagged rows become your action list — and Section 7 below explains exactly how to close them.
Most competitive applicants apply to between eight and twelve programs. This section gives you a row per program to record its deadline, its application type (rolling vs. fixed), its outstanding-prerequisite limit, its testing requirement, and your submission status. Because deadlines range from mid-June through the following April and most admissions are rolling, the single most valuable habit this section builds is submitting early — verified-early applicants are interviewed first.
One column applicants overlook is the in-progress limit. A program that allows only one outstanding prerequisite at application is telling you something important: if you have two science courses left to finish, that program may not be reachable this cycle unless you complete one before you submit. Recording the limit next to each program turns a vague worry into a clear decision.
Direct patient-care hours are the prerequisite applicants most often underestimate. Programs commonly expect anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand hours, and many set a hard minimum — 1,000 hours is a common bar. This log lets you track hours by role and setting and tally a running total so you know exactly where you stand against each program’s requirement before you apply.
It also helps you distinguish patient-care experience (PCE) — hands-on roles like medical assistant, EMT, scribe with patient contact, or CNA — from broader healthcare experience (HCE). Programs weigh these differently, and several state minimums for PCE specifically. Logging the type alongside the hours keeps you from assuming a number that won’t count the way you think it will.
CASPA requires references entered directly into the system; you cannot upload them yourself. This section tracks who you’ve asked, what type of reference they are (academic, clinical supervisor, PA, physician), the date requested, and whether the letter has been submitted. Build in a buffer — references are the component most likely to stall your verification, and a single slow recommender can hold up every program you’ve designated.
Testing requirements vary widely: some programs require the GRE, some require the PA-CAT (a PA-specific science exam covering anatomy, physiology, microbiology, and more), many require Casper, and a growing number are test-optional. This section tracks which tests each program needs and your scores. It also includes a transcript tracker — and here is the rule that ends more cycles than any other: CASPA only accepts transcripts sent directly from each registrar’s office. Self-sent transcripts are rejected. Request every transcript early and confirm receipt in CASPA.
The last section is a short, high-stakes checklist to run immediately before you hit submit: coursework entered and matching transcripts exactly, all transcripts received, the required number of references in, personal statement finalized, payment ready, and program-specific supplemental questions answered. This is your last line of defense against a clerical error torpedoing months of work — and the single most common reason a verified application gets delayed is a coursework entry that doesn’t match the transcript.
The worksheet’s real value shows up the moment Section 1 reveals a prerequisite you are missing, one that’s about to fall outside a recency window, or a grade that won’t clear a program’s floor. The good news: a missing or expired prerequisite is one of the most fixable problems in the entire application, because these foundation courses can be completed online, self-paced, and for a fraction of the cost of a four-year institution.
PrereqCourses.com offers regionally accredited, self-paced versions of the courses that appear most often on PA prerequisite lists, delivered through Upper Iowa University (HLC-accredited). If your audit turns up a gap, these are the courses that map directly to the worksheet’s foundation rows:
One honest caveat worth keeping on your worksheet: a small number of competitive programs restrict upper-division prerequisites (advanced biochemistry, certain anatomy sequences) to four-year institutions or will not accept online lab courses. Where that’s the case, note it in your Target Program Tracker and plan to complete that specific course at a brick-and-mortar school. For the large majority of foundation requirements, though, an accredited self-paced course is a fully accepted — and far faster — way to close the gap. You can browse the full catalog here.
A checklist only works if you use it as a living document. A few habits make the difference:
What prerequisites do I need for PA school?
Most CASPA programs require Anatomy & Physiology (often two semesters with lab), General Biology, Microbiology, two semesters of General Chemistry, Statistics, General Psychology, and English Composition. Many also require or strongly recommend Biochemistry and Medical Terminology, and some require Organic Chemistry or a second psychology course. The exact set varies by program, which is why the worksheet has you record each program’s requirements separately.
Can I apply to PA school with prerequisites still in progress?
Usually yes. Most programs let you apply with one or two prerequisites marked “in progress,” but the limit is strict and varies by school, and any in-progress course must be completed by a program-specified date if you’re accepted. Track each program’s in-progress limit in Section 2 of the worksheet.
Do online prerequisite courses count for CASPA and PA programs?
For most foundation prerequisites, yes — as long as the course is from a regionally accredited institution and appears on an official transcript. A minority of competitive programs restrict certain upper-division courses to four-year schools or decline online labs, so always verify with each target program. PrereqCourses.com delivers its courses through Upper Iowa University, which is regionally accredited by the HLC.
How old can my prerequisite courses be?
It depends on the program. Many PA programs accept science prerequisites only if completed within the last five, seven, or ten years; others have no time limit. The worksheet’s “date completed” column exists so you can spot a course that’s aging out of a target program’s window before you spend an application fee.
How many patient-care hours do I need?
There’s no universal number, but many programs set a minimum (1,000 hours is common) and competitive applicants often have well beyond that. Programs also distinguish direct patient-care experience from broader healthcare experience. Use Section 3 to log hours by type and setting so you can compare your total against each program’s requirement.
Does CASPA accept transcripts I send myself?
No. CASPA only accepts official transcripts sent directly from each institution’s registrar. Self-sent transcripts are rejected, and a late or missing transcript is one of the most common reasons an application stalls in verification. Request every transcript early and confirm receipt inside CASPA.
When does CASPA open and close?
For the 2026–2027 cycle, CASPA opened April 30, 2026 and closes April 1, 2027. However, most programs set their own deadlines — often in the fall — and admissions are typically rolling, so submitting a verified application early is a meaningful advantage.
PA school admissions reward organization as much as they reward credentials. The applicants who get verified early, hit every program deadline, and never lose a seat to a clerical error are not working harder — they’re working from a checklist. Download the printable CASPA worksheet, audit your prerequisites against your target programs, and turn a spreadsheet-sized problem into a single page you can actually finish. And if the audit surfaces a missing or expired course, PrereqCourses.com can help you close the gap quickly — accredited, self-paced, and built for exactly this moment.
Download & Print the Worksheet
The printable CASPA worksheet that accompanies this guide is yours to keep. Print it, work through all six sections against your target programs, and tape it above your desk for the cycle. When the audit surfaces a missing prerequisite, PrereqCourses.com can help you close it quickly — accredited, self-paced, and built for exactly this moment.
This guide is for general planning. Always verify prerequisite, testing, and deadline requirements directly with each PA program and with CASPA, as policies change between cycles.
