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Best time to submit CASPA with min HCE


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Hi everyone,

I am trying to decide when the best time to submit my CASPA application. I will have around 1100 hours working at a hospital as a CNA by late May. From my understanding, it is best to submit applications as early as possible for programs that admit under a rolling admissions basis. I am not exactly sure what is considered early submission, but I am planning on submitting all my CASPA materials by late May. Many of the programs that I will be applying to require a minimum of 1,000 hours. My question is, should I wait longer and work more before submitting my CASPA application at a later date? Would it be better if I submitted my application early with an HCE closer to the minimum or at a later date with a slightly greater amount? With working full-time after graduation, I believe I can accumulate up another ~150 hours until late June. 

Here's a little more about myself if it would help provide a more structured opinion. 

-Science GPA: 3.57

-cGPA: 3.64
-GRE: haven't taken it yet, but I've been taking practice tests and I've been getting scores in the mid-150's for Verbal and Quant. 
-HCE: ~1100 hours as a Nursing Care Assistant at a University Hospital (if submitted late May)
-Volunteer Experience: 100 hrs at a local thrift store; 150 hrs at my university's hospital; 30 hours at a local CSA farm
-Research Experience: 2 years experience doing research in plant biology (not sure if that helps at all)

-Leadership Experience: Held 2 executive board positions in two frats I'm in
-Other Extracurriculars: Tri-Beta National Honor Society, Alpha Chi Sigma, Biology Student Mentor (1 year), Student United Way Member (first 2 years of college), Red Cross Organization Member (first 2 years college)

-Shadowing: ~40 hrs from various PA's
-Letter of Recs- I know 1 professor (A&P) and 2 healthcare supervisors or 1 healthcare supervisor and 1 PA (depending on if I can get one). 


Thank you everyone for your time! 

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CASPA will let you forecast hours through October IIRC

Some programs will not accept projections and only look at what is in CASPA at time of submission.  Having said that, I'm not sure another 150 hours is going to make a big difference.  I don't have any strong recommendations one way or the other.  Overall, your stats look fine and I'd expect you'd get interviews without much trouble if you apply to schools where you match their typical matriculant reasonably well.

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