ADVICE NEEDED**********

[PAhopefulLY94]

Hey everyone, 

 

So I applied to about 9 PA schools this year, thinking I would just go anywhere to be a PA. However, after doing some thinking after interviews and rejections, and acceptance, I really want to stay local in Michigan or even in Illinois to go to PA school. I got waitlisted at 3 schools. One in Wisconsin, one in Illinois, and one in Michigan (my top choice program). However, I got accepted to a school in Florida. I know anything can happen with being on the waitlist, but I am preparing for not getting in off the waitlist. I am not thrilled about the school I was accepted to.

 

So my question of advice is... if you were in my shoes and had a chance of getting into your top choice school if I re-applied, would you take one more year and re-apply locally and around the Midwest with a risk.. or would you just take the opportunity to go to Florida and finish your education?

 

I am also 22 years old (turning 23 this summer), 3.4 GPA, 3.6 last 60 credit GPA, 305 GRE with 5 on writing, worked as a medical assistant for 2,940 hours, research 2 years, and volunteered about 100 hours total.

[south]

Every situation is different, and in this one I am thinking you should wait.  Unless you need student loans to feed yourself or something, I think there's enough chance that one of the other schools is going to come through.  

 

Generally, I am not a fan of sacrificing opportunities just so you can stick around "home" vs going to be an adult somewhere else and I would normally give you a hard time for that.  

 

But moving for PA school is not an easy thing and you may have opportunities to make that a bit easier and yourself a little bit more comfortable.

 

Florida sucks, and going to PA school in Florida sucks (unless it's NW Florida, which really should secede).

 

Worst case, you apply to the same schools next year at age 23 having been through their process once (jot down some notes) with a little more HCE/Volunteer time.  

 

I had to do it right then when I did it so I moved 2500 miles and back and paid a higher tuition to make it happen.  It worked, but I wish I'd had the opportunity to wait.

[jayfmu]

I would go to florida, but then again when i applied i didnt want to wait around another year.  So i was going to be anywhere i could get into.

 

you got wait listed based on the applicant pool this year.  next year the applicant pool you are competing against might push you off the wait list all together. im saying its a possibility.

 

it all depends if you can afford to wait another year...   job, money, time, life.   A lot of factors could determine your choice .

[PAhopefulLY94]

Every situation is different, and in this one I am thinking you should wait.  Unless you need student loans to feed yourself or something, I think there's enough chance that one of the other schools is going to come through.  

 

Generally, I am not a fan of sacrificing opportunities just so you can stick around "home" vs going to be an adult somewhere else and I would normally give you a hard time for that.  

 

But moving for PA school is not an easy thing and you may have opportunities to make that a bit easier and yourself a little bit more comfortable.

 

Florida sucks, and going to PA school in Florida sucks (unless it's NW Florida, which really should secede).

 

Worst case, you apply to the same schools next year at age 23 having been through their process once (jot down some notes) with a little more HCE/Volunteer time.  

 

I had to do it right then when I did it so I moved 2500 miles and back and paid a higher tuition to make it happen.  It worked, but I wish I'd had the opportunity to wait.

Have you heard of Barry University in Miami? This is the school I was accepted to. I saw your post on the other feed I posted on too and I guess I am asking.. if my heart is not in the program I was accepted to... is it stupid of me to take another year, show my face all the time at my top choice program during this second year and take the risk again? 

[LIBK13]

Based on acceptance statistics alone I would just go now. But I applied in my later 20's and felt ready...waiting another year making very low income (gaining PCE) would have been rough. You're still pretty fresh out of undergrad though so another year to live with relatively low-stress and get some work experience couldn't hurt, especially if in the end you'll be happier and more comfortable in school if you get accepted 2nd time around.

[south]

I have.  Miami is crowded and expensive, and while the school itself is nestled in a decent neighborhood, Miami south and east of 595 isn't great.  Unless you have significant financial resources you may have to choose between the factors of cost/long commute/sketchiness.  Traffic is a nightmare and gets worse every year.  I-95 and myself are not currently on speaking terms.

 

Getting quality rotations is tough because of the large and ever-increasing number of MD / DO / PA programs in south Florida.  The job market - though this may not apply to you - is among the lowest paying in the USA.  You may very well find yourself on a rotation where not a word of english is ever spoken (as several of my classmates did) but if you speak Creole or Spanish this may not be a concern for you. 

 

My specifics about Barry aren't very trustworthy due to time and distance and my reluctance to identify myself.  What I do know isn't that great, but acceptable and would do the job - I'll defer to your own research in this forum and other places.

 

Barry would work and would get the job done and it's likely you would survive and take the PANCE and put south florida behind you like I have.

 

Your comparisons are cost of living, cost of tuition, cost of moving back and forth, cost of holiday travel (each trip is about $1000), reputations of how easy you can get things done there.  I could give a crap about names and stuff - is it near to impossible to get decent rotations or are they attached to a large hospital?

 

If you have not found out your position on the wait lists, this may help you.  Your deposit's been paid so you are headed to Barry unless you hear from a better school.  That's not bad.  

 

I really do get the other view that it's getting harder each year and you do have an acceptance in hand.  I'm still in the turn down and wait camp.  Continue to work your HCE and other angles.  Maybe add another category of HCE (scribe, tech, EMT).  Figure out those things that make you stand out, and then do them.  Show your face.  

 

I'm just the internet to you, though, so if there's a direction you WANT to go, then adult up and do that and don't look back.  Good luck!

[Dabba]

As I posted in your duplicate thread, go to FL

[EKPA]

.

[aty001]

I wouldn't count on getting in next cycle even if your application is better. I got waitlisted at the one school (Baylor) I got an interview to the first time I applied. This cycle, my PCE, LOR, essay and pretty much every aspect of my app was better and I ended up getting around 7 interview offers (I got accepted into my first 2 that I interviewed at and then cancelled all my other interviews) but I didn't even get an interview offer at Baylor this year despite my obvious huge improvement from last cycle. Just be aware that just because you got an interview this cycle does not mean that you will next cycle even if you're a lot more competitive. You don't know how competitive the other applicants may be one cycle to another. And some schools look down on reapplicants as well (so I've heard).

[PAhopefulLY94]

I wouldn't count on getting in next cycle even if your application is better. I got waitlisted at the one school (Baylor) I got an interview to the first time I applied. This cycle, my PCE, LOR, essay and pretty much every aspect of my app was better and I ended up getting around 7 interview offers (I got accepted into my first 2 that I interviewed at and then cancelled all my other interviews) but I didn't even get an interview offer at Baylor this year despite my obvious huge improvement from last cycle. Just be aware that just because you got an interview this cycle does not mean that you will next cycle even if you're a lot more competitive. You don't know how competitive the other applicants may be one cycle to another. And some schools look down on reapplicants as well (so I've heard).

Why did you apply the second time around? Did you not get any acceptances? If you got accepted anywhere, would you just go there? 

[brooks23]

I had a similar situation (although I moved cross country to attend school). I was immediately accepted to my second choice school, but wait listed for my first choice. Fortunately I was accepted to my first choice ultimately. What I did (and I suggest doing) is pay the deposit to save your seat at Barry, and then wait to see if you get accepted to your first choice. It's a pain to pay the deposit, but it guarantees that you'll be going to PA school. In the long run, In the long run, it pays to have insurance. Waiting, in my humble opinion, is just so risky. You're young, and have lots of time to spare, but admission is becoming more and more competitive every year with the increasing exposure of the profession. 

 

Can you find out where you are on the wait list? What are the PANCE passing rates like at Barry? If they're decent, I'd still consider attending if you don't get accepted to your first choice. 

[Acebecker]

I'm reaching back into history for some words of wisdom - I'm not sure who said them, but it might have been Aesop. 

 

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. 

 

I'd take the acceptance you have instead of waiting - your training will be what you make of it. 

 

Andrew

[greenmood]

Go to Florida. And find a way to be excited about it.

 

You can return to the midwest when you graduate. Keep your contacts fresh and stay on the lookout for job opportunities.

[anewconvert]

Pay your deposit for your seat and wait for July. All hell breaks loose in July as people start getting into waitlisted seats, abandoning their second/third/whatever choice, which opens up a seat for someone else. $1500 or whatever the seat costs to hold is peanuts in the end of things and buys you some peace of mind.

 

 

Personally I wouldn't go to South Florida for all the reasons already outlined in this thread, but to each his own. You are 22, and I know that you feel like you are in a time crunch, but really you have tons of time to make this happen. Knowing what I know now I would not accept a low ranked school on my list, work for a year or two and reapply. Maybe take a few classes in the interim to keep up the mindframe of being in school and pad my application.

[HMtoPA]

Miami is crowded and expensive, and while the school itself is nestled in a decent neighborhood, Miami south and east of 595 isn't great. 

 

 

 

I don't understand this statement...ALL of MIami is south of I-595!

[boli]

Take the acceptance. Once you graduate and pass boards no one will really care where you went to school. Unless you really want to put your life on hold for another year to maybe get in to a different program. 

[corpsman89]

Just accept the offer, and if you get taken off the waitlist on one of the other schools just take that acceptance. You definitely want to avoid south Florida.

[Valentine]

Can anyone elaborate to avoiding south Florida schools? Chose one over my top choice so I could save money living with my parents and now I'm wondering if I've hamstrung myself with everyone's attitudes towards them... Feel free to PM me.

[MT2PA]

Can anyone elaborate to avoiding south Florida schools? Chose one over my top choice so I could save money living with my parents and now I'm wondering if I've hamstrung myself with everyone's attitudes towards them... Feel free to PM me.

 

AFAIK it's less about the schools and more about the job market.  It's an oversaturated market and PAs typically aren't paid as well as the rest of the country (true for Florida as a whole but it's exceptionally bad in S.FL).  

 

What matters in the end is getting an education and passing PANCE.  If you can do that at the school you chose and save some money by living with your parents, do it.  Keep in mind that you'll likely have to/want to move away to a more profitable area after graduation.

[jkarram7]

I wouldn't say it's oversaturated by any means. As long as South Florida remains a destination for older retirees it will always have a decent job market. It may not have a high paying job in every specialty, but most locations (for most professions) you can only pick 2 of 3 things (money, specialty, or location.) I have a few friends clearing 150k working in orthopedics so I wouldn't worry too much about it.  

 

Source: PA student in didactic year in South Florida with job offers in GI, Urgent care, and Orthopedics.   

[south]

I wouldn't say it's oversaturated by any means. As long as South Florida remains a destination for older retirees it will always have a decent job market. It may not have a high paying job in every specialty, but most locations (for most professions) you can only pick 2 of 3 things (money, specialty, or location.) I have a few friends clearing 150k working in orthopedics so I wouldn't worry too much about it.  

 

Source: PA student in didactic year in South Florida with job offers in GI, Urgent care, and Orthopedics.   

 

No...yeah...I'm gonna have to go ahead and disagree.  I attended a very large, well-regarded private university there and graduated last year.  I got the hell out of south florida before I went broke but I text a dozen classmates still back there daily.   

 

I've said this before, but the two tippy-top salary offers in our class were a hair over $90k, and these were difficult surgical subspecialties where the student in question made a deep impression and were courted hard.  People lost their damn MINDS when they found out about those offers.  The program director makes slightly more than that.  

 

The overwhelming majority of offers were below 84, with the biggest number in the 77-78 range.  My offers (Infex disease, IM, surgery x2) were here as well.  My one classmate took the 70+ hour a week GenSurg job for $67k that I turned down in some amazement.  Well over half my class took FP/UC jobs for $74-75.  

 

I just checked in with 4 of my classmates in ortho, both surgical and non, and if you can find out who is paying $150k in south florida, without crazy 100 hour weeks or something, send me that contract and I will eat it on YouTube.  With a sauce of my choice, of course.  Total nonsense.  

 

I know a guy making that in south florida, but he has been at it for 20 years and the practice (and the hospital department) literally revolves around him.  I know of one other, who runs a sort of "local locums backup" company and she probably makes this - same high-stakes surgical subspecialty.  

 

I think most of us find it very...interesting...that you have "job offers" before clinical year, by the way...just saying...

[jkarram7]

Both the GI and Ortho job offers are from Doc's who I shadowed and are family friends. Is it so unbelievable that they would want to give me a job? The urgent care job is because I have a friend who works in upper management for a large urgent care chain who told me he would get me a job if I wanted starting at 86k for three shifts a week (one weekend). Obviously, It's not just what you know but who you know. 

 

The ortho job does require crazy hours and call. You are correct there, but it's definitely not 100 hours a week.

 

It's also worth mentioning these jobs are a little more north like in the west palm beach area, not Broward or miami dade because those areas are getting saturated, but west palm is still south florida. 

 

Like I said, sometimes it's who you know not what you know. 
 

I don't mean to come off as rude or aggressive so sorry if I came off that way. (The Canadian in me forced me to type this :) )

 

 

EDIT: Out of curiosity which coast were you on? Also, what state and specialty did you end up going to? 

[Ollivander]

Man that's so tough. Do you happen to know the total amount of debt you're estimated to accrue (with interest) over your time in school if you take the acceptance? If you're going over 100K in debt I'd probably take a second shot next cycle given your age. If you're waitlisted at the three schools you'd ultimately prefer attending, I feel like another year of PCE could possibly vault you in. For me, it'd come down to how much debt I estimated to take on by attending Barry that would be the deciding factor.

[south]

I was in Ft. Lauderdale, and ended up heading back to Phoenix to work in trauma surgery critical care.  For a decent salary and a livable cost of living :)

 

My tone was a little harsh as well, but it comes from a good place.   I mean no offense when I say those jobs you describe may or may not actually come to pass at those rates.  That would just be bad business sense, family friends or not, to pay that when you would not have to.

 

I lived in Boca for a while, and did roughly half my rotations there and West Palm.  A great majority of my classmates went north from Ft. L, and overall they report that you have to be talking Jupiter or even north of that before they start paying decent wages...I hear Orlando is marginally better but still a joke by the rest of the USA standards.  I don't know much about the west coast, but from the look of the forums here it seems about like Orlando with wages, probably significantly better trying to get a rotation though. We had a small handful score rotations there, but to do that sometimes you have to pay your own lodging and stuff (sometimes the school / rotation will pay though, I know that big cancer center does that). 

 

Unlike a couple dozen of my classmates, I somehow managed to avoid part of the typical south florida student experience - a rotation 90 minutes' commute into the inner city Miami with never a single word of english spoken.  (not talking spanish either)

 

Words fail me when I try to describe how crowded the medical student rotation system is...providers are getting $800-1200 to precept a student for 6 or 8 weeks and that was a couple years ago.  I have several of these contracts in my desk drawer, because I had to cold-call (actually visit and drop off letters) about a dozen OB-GYN offices because the ones our program was using quit our program (for a very good reason).  

 

I did it successfully, got the job done, it was the best option for me given my circumstances, but it wasn't a smooth ride and hurt me financially.  Anyone who has to work there after school isn't going to make a great living...