The Master of Science in Anesthesia program offers rigorous, innovative instruction at our locations in Cleveland OH, Houston TX, Washington D.C., and Austin TX. You are able to apply to one, two, three, or all four of our program locations for one application fee.
Case Western Reserve University Master of Science in Anesthesia has partnered with the Centralized Application Service for Anesthesiologist Assistants, or CASAA, to collect and manage applications. CASAA is the online application service for all graduate-level anesthesiologist assistant education programs in the United States. Through CASAA, prospective students may use a single web-based application and one set of materials to apply to multiple Master's level anesthesiologist assistant programs in the United States.
Our central admissions office in Cleveland processes applications for all four locations. You will hear directly from the central admissions office about decisions and next steps. If your complete and verified application is competitive, it will be forwarded to your first preference location for further review. That location is given the first opportunity to consider you for an interview and admission. If your location of preference does not invite you to interview or offer admission, the program can then consider you for your 2nd, 3rd, or 4th preference campus. An applicant may only be considered for one location at a time. CWRU operates as one program even though it has multiple campuses. The applicant should not expect offers of admission from multiple locations. Only one offer of admission will be made.
The following outlines the application process.
1. Complete an online application through CASAA
The application opens each year in March for matriculation in May of the following year. In the CASAA application, you will be instructed to select which of our locations you are applying to and rank them in order of preference. Once your application has been submitted and is in “Verified” status, the admissions team will review your application. Communication regarding applications is through the CASAA application system. Be sure to check your junk mail on a regular basis because sometimes the emails from CASAA end up in the spam folder. The CASAA application must be submitted and complete by October 1 for early decision applications or by January 15 for regular decision applications. If the deadline falls on a weekend, the deadline becomes the next business day.
Click here to complete the online application.
CASAA Applicant Evaluations
Three evaluations must be received by CASAA before your application can be verified by CASAA. Your evaluators must complete their evaluations online as instructed in the CASAA application. The evaluation requires completion of two parts: (Part I) a rating of attributes and (Part II) a letter. The letter must be uploaded to the online evaluation portal in CASAA. Letters of recommendation should not be sent directly to CWRU. Confidential letters are preferred.
Evaluations are very important in our decision-making process. They provide three additional voices advocating for your admission into the MSA program and your fitness for becoming an anesthetist. We encourage you to choose evaluators who know you well and can objectively comment on your potential as an anesthesiologist assistant student. We strongly recommend that you ask your evaluators not to submit letters written for other post-baccalaureate programs, such as medical school. Repurposed letters of recommendation may be detrimental to the review of your application. Family members and friends should not provide evaluations.
Anesthesiologist Assistant Shadowing Experience
The MSA program strongly recommends shadowing a certified anesthesiologist assistant in the operating room environment for 16 or more hours. If you are in an area where CAAs are not prevalent, then shadowing an anesthesiologist or nurse anesthetist practicing within the anesthesia care team model is suggested. Use the MSA program's shadowing form to keep a detailed record of your shadowing hours so that you may upload that document to your CASAA application.
Applicants may request a shadowing experience by contacting their preferred site location directly. While requests can be made at any program location office, the procedures may differ according to affiliate hospital regulations. The program tries to accommodate as many applicants as possible, and requesting a shadowing experience in no way implies or guarantees a shadowing placement.
2. Submit Admissions Test Scores Case Western Reserve
University's Master of Science in Anesthesia program accepts the MCAT and the GRE. Your application will not be considered complete until an official admissions test score has been received. Other entrance exams may be considered on a case-by-case basis. For early decision applicants, the program will accept September admissions test scores even though those scores may be released after the early decision deadline.
MCAT Scores
Applicants should self-report their MCAT scores and enter their AAMC ID number in the CASAA application. Then applicants must contact the Association of American Medical Colleges to request that their official scores be released to CASAA.
GRE Scores
Applicants should self-report their GRE scores and use the designated institution code to indicate the CWRU MSA program as a score recipient. The designated institution code for the CWRU CASAA is 4354.
3. Complete Casper Assessment
All applicants are required to complete the Casper assessment as part of their application. Visit AcuityInsights.app to create an account and complete Casper: an online, open-response situational judgment test.
You will register for the Casper test for Anesthesiologist Assistants (CSP-10101 - U.S. Professional Health Sciences).
Casper assesses for non-cognitive skills and interpersonal characteristics that the MSA program believes are important for successful clinical practice and patient care. In implementing this Casper assessment, we are taking a more holistic and objective approach to reviewing prospective students.
A list of test dates can be reviewed here. Applicants are encouraged to complete Casper before or concurrently with the submission of their application (but no later than the December 4, 2025 test date) to ensure there is no delay in the review of their application. Your application will not be considered complete without the Casper results. If you are a reapplicant, you will need to take a new Casper assessment.
Interview
Once an application is in Verified status, official GRE or MCAT scores have been received by CASAA, and Casper scores are released, the admissions committee will review the application and decide whether to extend an interview invitation.
If a prospective student is invited for an interview, they will interview at their location of first preference as indicated on their application. The Master of Science in Anesthesia program will consider them for all the CWRU locations to which they applied, but they need only interview once. Phone interviews are not permitted.
The interview day is an opportunity for the program to discuss with the prospective student their qualifications, experiences, and motivations for joining our program, and for the prospective student to engage in one-on-one interviews with the admissions committee. The prospective student can choose to interview in-person or virtually (by way of a Zoom meeting). This choice should be based on convenience, comfort level, and ability to assess fit for the program. The prospective student's choice of interview format will not affect the committee's decision on their application in any way.
After the interview, the central admissions office will provide the prospective student one status update, typically two weeks after the interview.