953 Danby Rd Ithaca, New York 14850
42.42105, -76.50049
Weighted: baccalaureate, advanced degrees, veteran / Ithaca student / alumni status (preference), overall + prereq GPA, direct patient care experience, 3 LORs (within last 5 years), personal & supplemental statements, healthcare experience especially with medically underserved/vulnerable or rural populations, and interview performance.
Summarized from the program’s official admissions / selection-process pages. Always confirm current details on the program’s website.
★ Straight From the Program — 2026 PAEA Virtual Admissions Fair
The admissions team stressed a process detail that quietly sinks applications: direct patient-care hours must be entered in the CASPA Experiences section with verifiable contact information - hours mentioned only in an essay or resume do not count. They also emphasized quality over bare quantity, noting that experience serving disadvantaged populations strengthens your story well beyond clearing an hours threshold. On coursework, course titles are not self-explanatory: if you are unsure whether a class counts, send the institution name, the course code and the syllabus or description and ask, rather than assuming. They described their review as holistic while being clear that holistic review still begins with meeting the published minimums. Elective rotations are positioned as the place to explore a specialty, and clinical training draws on regional health systems including rural and health-professional-shortage areas of upstate New York, community hospitals and a VA hospital.
Shared by this program’s admissions team at the PAEA Virtual PA Admissions Fair on August 22, 2026, and paraphrased here. Admissions guidance changes between cycles — always confirm requirements, deadlines and prerequisites on the program’s official website.
Format: Panel interview Where: Virtual
Interviews for the 2026-2027 cycle run virtually via Zoom from October 2026 through March 2027, each involving two interviewers drawn from the program director, principal faculty, IC faculty and alumni. An invitation is competitive and does not guarantee acceptance.
Summarized from Ithaca College’s own admissions and interview pages — verified 2026-08-01. Interview formats and dates change between cycles, so confirm with the program before you make travel plans. See the program’s interview page.
The mission of the Ithaca College Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies program is to educate, engage, and empower physician assistant learners to achieve excellence through medical theory, clinical practice, and exemplary professional performance in communities*. Communities = historically marginalized, underserved, health professional shortage areas, and rural.
A free 10-day email course on actually getting into PA school — the three kinds of deadline and which one quietly ends applications, what your CASPA GPA really is, how to build a school list you qualify for, and what committees are looking for in your essay and your interview. One short email a day, written by a practicing PA.
