Honest opinion on my chances for PA school

[HWK]

Hello! I know these threads are a dime a dozen but I wanted your opinion on how my application looks for PA school? Im a 29 year old non traditional student who’s worked a number of jobs after undergrad ranging from finance, teacher overseas, and physical therapy tech. I thought I wanted to pursue PT but I’ve gotten bored and frustrated with the lack of autonomy/ scope of practice. I’ve worked almost full time the past couple of years (to support myself) while taking all my prerequisites at my local community college. I would love advice on how I can improve my application. I wont be applying this May so I would have another year to make changes. Thanks!

 

Undergrad: Business Admin. - 2.99 GPA (Poor I know!)

Postbacc GPA: 3.9+ (Almost all of my science credits)
Overall Undergrad GPA: 3.1…
Science GPA: 3.7… 
GRE: 151 V, 151 Q, 4.5
HCE: 4000+ - Physical Therapy Tech, Outpatient clinic
Shadow Hours: Currently obtaining a variety
Volunteer: 300+ at a number of places
Extracurr: Extensive! Im very active!

Gen Chem 1/2: B, A
Bio 1: A
Physics 1/2: A,A
Anatomy/ Physiology 1/2: A, A
Stats: A
Psych Gen/ Life: A, A
Microbio: Taking next fall
Medical terminology: A
Orgo 1: Taking next fall

[student 123456]

Everyone on this forum is generally pretty pessimistic but I think you have a great shot! The only thing is how many shadow hours do you have? I think you want to have a good answer of why you're sure PA is for you, since you explored PT and ended up not wanting to to it. If I were you, I would go ahead and apply this may assuming you have good relationships formed for references. Applying is really about finding a good fit program, and I think that your stats are good enough to get you in. Unless you want to go to a "top tier" school.

[HWK]

Everyone on this forum is generally pretty pessimistic but I think you have a great shot! The only thing is how many shadow hours do you have? I think you want to have a good answer of why you're sure PA is for you, since you explored PT and ended up not wanting to to it. If I were you, I would go ahead and apply this may assuming you have good relationships formed for references. Applying is really about finding a good fit program, and I think that your stats are good enough to get you in. Unless you want to go to a "top tier" school.

Thank you for the quick response! Im currently in process of obtaining those shadow hours to build a better foundation of why I want to be a PA. I also want to build better relationships with PA's/ MD's for my letter's of rec. I was thinking about obtaining my CNA certification but I really dont want to dish out $1000+ for something I may only use temporarily. 

[wildPAbrendan]

It might be worth gettingI work as a CNA at a hospital now and it has definitely given me a lot of exposure to PAs/physicians and I've had some good candid conversations with them. It's given me the chance to build rapport and get some good letters of recommendation from 2 physicians, 2 PAs, and a manager who highlighted how much patients love me. Knowing that part of my app is airtight gives me some good peace of mind.

[student 123456]

Thank you for the quick response! Im currently in process of obtaining those shadow hours to build a better foundation of why I want to be a PA. I also want to build better relationships with PA's/ MD's for my letter's of rec. I was thinking about obtaining my CNA certification but I really dont want to dish out $1000+ for something I may only use temporarily. 

I think your hours are fine... might depend on the school but we have 2 or 3 previous PT aides in our class. I was a CNA and actually felt the opposite of wildPAbrendan- I used a supervisor for a letter but he was an RN and nurses were the main coworkers I built relationships with. I found PAs to shadow and write letters based on mutual friends.

[HWK]

I think your hours are fine... might depend on the school but we have 2 or 3 previous PT aides in our class. I was a CNA and actually felt the opposite of wildPAbrendan- I used a supervisor for a letter but he was an RN and nurses were the main coworkers I built relationships with. I found PAs to shadow and write letters based on mutual friends.

So I have a couple PT's I can use for letters and a professor. How many PA's or MD's letters would you recommend? 

[wildPAbrendan]

Most programs ask for at least 1 PA and 1 physician, and 1 more PA or physician. Some school specifically say they don't want references from professors, and some say it's fine. check each school.

[student 123456]

So I have a couple PT's I can use for letters and a professor. How many PA's or MD's letters would you recommend? 

I had one teacher, one PA (who I shadowed), and the RN who supervised me. I think most, if they specify usually require one PA letter. I talked to the PA a lot about my goals, determination, asked a lot of questions, etc so that she was able to talk about that in my letter (since she didn't know me super well). 

[Rondaben]

The one thing I would do would be to retake the GRE.  Its a data point but if you can get that up to a 310ish I think you would have a reasonable shot at some schools.  Groom your references also--sometimes its who you know, not what you know.

[Guest HanSolo]

Most programs ask for at least 1 PA and 1 physician, and 1 more PA or physician. Some school specifically say they don't want references from professors, and some say it's fine. check each school.

No professors? Odd. I would think that would be highly recommended.

 

General idea of LORs, in no particular order, is this:

1) Clinical

2) Academic 

3) PA

 

That's straight from a program director. 

 

I think some places will favorably view your sGPA. Some wont look past your cGPA. So it goes. Also, your GRE score seems a bit low. Might want to try and bump that up to at least above 50th percentile if it is not already. 

[MT2PA]

No professors? Odd. I would think that would be highly recommended.

 

General idea of LORs, in no particular order, is this:

1) Clinical

2) Academic 

3) PA

 

That's straight from a program director. 

 

I think some places will favorably view your sGPA. Some wont look past your cGPA. So it goes. Also, your GRE score seems a bit low. Might want to try and bump that up to at least above 50th percentile if it is not already. 

 

Some of us haven't taken courses in YEARS or even decades - kind of defeats the purpose of submitting an academic reference.  If you're just taking courses here and there to hit requirements, especially online courses, there's not much you can do to build a relationship and all they might be able to offer is little more than a grade would tell admissions committees.  

 

I submitted all professional/supervisor references (no shadowing, long since graduated undergrad) and had no issues.  

[Guest HanSolo]

I agree with what you are saying, MT2PA. It's by no means essential. I'm just speaking from an "ideal" perspective. Half of PA school is academic and the other half is integration of that. I'd say if you can get a good academic reference - someone that can talk about your drive, commitment, personality, etc. - then it's absolutely worth it.

 

That being said, many academic references probably come from profs who have little to no clue who the student really is. You can say that about many references, though. Thus, I'll amend my statement to say it's important to get the best references you can get from a variety of sources.

[HWK]

The one thing I would do would be to retake the GRE.  Its a data point but if you can get that up to a 310ish I think you would have a reasonable shot at some schools.  Groom your references also--sometimes its who you know, not what you know.

 

Im planning to retake it late April to see if I can bump that up! 

 

 

No professors? Odd. I would think that would be highly recommended.

 

General idea of LORs, in no particular order, is this:

1) Clinical

2) Academic 

3) PA

 

That's straight from a program director. 

 

I think some places will favorably view your sGPA. Some wont look past your cGPA. So it goes. Also, your GRE score seems a bit low. Might want to try and bump that up to at least above 50th percentile if it is not already. 

I think I will use my current supervisor (Physical Therapist), My A&P professor whom I had a great relationship with, an MD I helped treat in my clinic and established a relationship with, and a PA I have yet to find... What are your thoughts on these choices?  

 

Some of us haven't taken courses in YEARS or even decades - kind of defeats the purpose of submitting an academic reference.  If you're just taking courses here and there to hit requirements, especially online courses, there's not much you can do to build a relationship and all they might be able to offer is little more than a grade would tell admissions committees.  

 

I submitted all professional/supervisor references (no shadowing, long since graduated undergrad) and had no issues.  

So you had 0 shadow hours??? Or, you just shadowed years before and lost contact with those individuals? 

[Guest HanSolo]

I think that's totally fine for LORs. References these days are generally a formality. Everyone should be able to get 3 people to say nice things about them. That being said, a poor reference will keep you out. A great reference could help. 

[greenmood]

I think you have a great shot if you are smart about where you apply. Generally, that's true of everyone except those who don't meet basic admission criteria. Do your research.

 

Word of caution. Physical Therapists, depending on the practice location and environment, can have a tremendous amount of autonomy. Your experience has obviously made you wary. I would encourage you to branch out, shadow some PTs as well as PAs in more environments. What you don't want is to get through PA school and then be dissatisfied for the rest of your professional life with the degree of freedom you have.

 

Good luck!

[MT2PA]

Im planning to retake it late April to see if I can bump that up! 

 

 

I think I will use my current supervisor (Physical Therapist), My A&P professor whom I had a great relationship with, an MD I helped treat in my clinic and established a relationship with, and a PA I have yet to find... What are your thoughts on these choices?  

 

So you had 0 shadow hours??? Or, you just shadowed years before and lost contact with those individuals? 

 

0 shadowing.  I don't necessarily recommend it but I had 6+ years of healthcare experience where I SAW what PAs did and had stellar grades so the arguably more important aspects of my application (grades and HCE) were pretty strong so 0 shadow hrs didn't really hurt me.

 

That's not to say that's the case for everyone or that I'd recommend trying to get by without them but it wasn't something I could fit into my schedule so I made the choice to focus on working/taking classes instead.

[south]

You have organic chemistry coming up - for a lot of people that's surprisingly difficult, a bit of a bugaboo.  Make sure you prepare to tackle that - it's a problem solving course that requires careful study.  

 

With a year plus, I can't help wondering if there's an opportunity to get some different HCE.  A tech job, or compressed EMT or CNA course with a few hundred hours could work wonders for you. 

 

I think you're in decent shape.  Your GRE scores are 50th and 45th percentile so you may want to look at that.  Good luck