Will a post bacc program help me with admissions?

[mackenzie.dc]

Does anyone have suggestions for good academic enhancing post baccalaureate programs?

 

I have bachelors degrees in Integrative Physiology and Psychology, an am EMT-B, and am about to finish my two-year service as a Peace Corps Health Volunteer in Tanzania. I applied to a few PA schools for the coming fall, and got quickly rejected. I feel that my application and life experiences are very strong-BUT-my GPA is low at 3.2.

 

The GPA definitely seems to be the weak link in my application, but I am bound and determined to continue pursing PA school.

 

Will a one-year postbac program help my case, and can anyone make any school suggestions to complete them at?

 

Thanks!

[LESH]

Sending you a pm.

Take care

LesH

[Boatswain2PA]

What is your pre-requisite GPA?  If this is high (3.8+) then maybe start working on a masters in something (pub health?).  If this isn't high, then re-take those.

[SocialMedicine]

make sure your application is truly strong. have people review statements/essays etc. were the recommendations questionable ? Did you apply to a full range of PA programs ?

 

the EMT work alongside peace corp is a very strong experience in my opinion. nice. 

 

you need to improve the science GPA. you could identify a university and take several courses over. especially if you are taking 2 courses w/ top marks and working full time it would show someone you can handle a heavy work load in sciences.  Careful about taking those courses at a community college given some schools will not accept this. 

 

i would consider a degree with function over a post bacc program. i would hate to see someone spend 40k on a post bacc experience and fi they could not get into a PA program have no outlet to use those skills and tuition spent. 

[Febrifuge]

My post-bacc helped me a ton, but my BA was at that point 13 years old, and had almost no math or science in it.

 

Be aware, there is a lifetime max a person can get in terms of federal-funded undergrad student loans; doing more bachelor-level work is not something to take on lightly for a few reasons, that being one of them.

[Joelseff]

Why is this in the Professional PA section?

[Febrifuge]

I'd say a good 10 to 25% of posts that get any traction have some type of disclaimer about "I'm not a PA yet, but I wanted to ask the pros."

 

If you don't like them, don't respond to old ones and they won't jump back up to the front page. ;)