Health Professions Advisory Committee (HPAC) Review Process

The purpose of the Health Professions Advisory Committee (HPAC) is to assist students who aspire to health-related careers by providing information about the process and by reviewing the credentials of those who plan to apply to health professional schools. The Committee decides what level of endorsement a student will receive in his/her letter of recommendation from the University. The information listed on this website is for the 2024-2025 academic year.

Students should carefully consider their readiness for this intensive process, particularly since your ultimate rating will be shared as part of your official application package. Our goal is for you to be mentally and academically prepared for both the HPAC process and the application process. We encourage you to review and complete the Anatomy of an Applicant Self-Assessment Guide from the Association of American Medical Colleges website. Even for students applying to a health professional school besides medical school, this tool can be useful to understand the holistic nature of the doctoral level application process.

Pay particular attention to the 17 Core Competencies Listed in the Guide (pages 11-13) and make every effort to engage in development of these competencies so you are able to effectively address them in your application.

For personalized support, please make an appointment with your faculty advisor or Brianna Metzger, Associate Director of Pre-Health Advising.

To be eligible for review by the Committee, a student must:

1. Have completed or currently be taking:

• General Biology (8 credits)
• General Chemistry (8 credits)
• Organic Chemistry (8 credits)
• General Physics (8 credits)
• Mathematics (6 credits) – One semester of Calculus and one semester of Statistics are strongly recommended

2. Have earned credit for at least ten courses taken at Saint Joseph’s.

3. Meet the minimum GPA requirements outlined by HPAC which include:

• 3.2 cumulative GPA – Medical and Dental applicants
• 3.0 cumulative GPA –Podiatry and Optometry applicants 
• 3.2 science GPA for all programs
  • It is the Committee's experience that students with GPAs below these minimums are not competitive for admission into the respective health professional schools. Exceptions may be possible only with the permission of the pre-health advisor in consultation with the committee.

Students should go through the committee process in the spring of the year in which they plan to apply to professional school. For many students, this is the spring of their junior year, since many apply to professional school in the summer between junior and senior years for admission immediately after graduation. However, a growing number of students are deciding to delay their applications to professional school by one or more years. In those cases, students can seek HPAC review in their senior year or even after graduation.

To initiate the committee letter process, you must attend the information session held in the fall semester; if you missed the session and need the recording, please email Brianna Metzger. Students will receive access to the application after meeting with Brianna following the information session.

Once a file is complete, students will review their portfolio with two HPAC members. The goal of these portfolio review sessions is to provide students with more individualized advising and to help better understand their goals and motivations. The submitted materials will guide the conversation.  

When reviewing a candidate, committee members consider such factors as breadth and difficulty of course work, grade point average – both overall and in the science areas -- demonstrated interest in the academic major, interpersonal skills, community service, extracurricular activities, and knowledge of healthcare issues. The committee also reviews the written comments of four faculty evaluators chosen by the student, interviewers’ impressions, and the student’s own personal statement about why he/she aspires to a health career. MCAT, DAT, GRE or other admission test scores are not part of the student’s file and consequently are not considered by the committee. Following the portfolio review, the committee comes together to provide any additional information or context for the student's file.

As of the 2024-2025 academic year, ratings have been eliminated from the review process. This leaves the admissions committies at the professional schools to determine each individual’s readiness or competitiveness.