MT2PA

General interview rules because apparently this isn't common knowledge. You pay for all expenses. All prospective students should consider this when applying to schools - if you can't afford last minute flights, hotels, rentals, etc and will have to turn down interviews due to finances, don't even bother applying. You are expected to attend the interviews in person. This is not just showing up, answering some questions, and leaving. PA interview days typically involve multiple aspects in addition to the interview including group interviews, writing prompts, tours, Q&A with current students, etc. When I was interviewing there were students who had an interview on the west coast on a Friday and had to get to the east coast for a Saturday interview. I had 5 days to book a flight and plan travel for an interview. With the usually acceptable problem of needing to request an alternative date due to other interviews and/or work, you need to be there. Anything else you're questioning (asking for travel expenses or video interviews) will quickly get you passed over for someone who is willing to put the time and money into the process.

RE: exams - try 1-2 per week, not 1-2 per month. There is ALWAYS something to be studying for in PA school. That said, OP, I've seen some long distance success and some failures. I've seen live in relationships thrive and fail during PA school. Everyone has different levels of necessary studying in school - some study a lot and all the time, others do less. There is no one size fits all answer. Can you take a whole weekend off? Sure. Are you the kind of person that can do that and keep up with the workload and not fail? Only you know that.

COA includes tuition, fees, allowance for books, health insurance, living expenses. Each school determines their own based on cost of living and program fees (mine included an estimate for transportation, for example). Your school sets these estimates and you are unlikely to successfully request additional fees over that. However, usually between stafford and PLUS loans, you should reach the COA assuming you have good credit (PLUS is based on credit). I attended one of the most expensive programs in an expensive city and I was easily able to obtain full COA in loans and had no problem living on that (and I'm adult with adult expenses).

It's less about how many but which ones. Your HCE is weak so don't go all in at programs where the average matriculating student has 4000+ hrs of high quality HCE - you won't likely fare well there for example.

If all you're worried about are man hours and no actual fee payments, you're over thinking this.

Read the details of the contract - it may or may not specifically state it. Logically, however, if you terminate prior to even starting it's likely they will try to make you repay fees (frankly, why should they pay them if you won't be working for them?).

Talk to your preceptor and/or talk to your program. I'm pretty sure there's an 80 hr max per week for PA students so at the very least you'll be over that. As far as working 22 days in a row...not sure if there are actual rules that might help you with that but in theory common sense should step in either from preceptors or from your program.

You need to shadow some PAs and Drs if you think NPs are the only ones who care about patients, how their lives are affected, and are teaching preventive medicine to patients. Do you think that primary care PAs or physicians aren't teaching their patients the value of a healthy diet, exercise, and smoking cessation? Only NPs do that?

If this is simply a matter of how to write it (not what to say) consider this a creative writing exercise. You didn't start your personal statement with "I want to be a PA because.." - you found a way to make it interesting and eye catching. Do the same here. Off hand I can think of several ways to start such an essay - but they want to know what you have to say, not what I have to say.

Frankly if I were you I'd wait to apply until next year when you'll have not only more recent HCE/PCE but more relevant and just MORE PCE if you work as an EMT. Retaking a few courses and adding some shadowing really isn't going to boost your application much. Save your money, get some good PCE, and apply early next cycle.

Even programs that are not officially 'rolling admissions' do typically begin to review applications prior to the deadline (it would take forever if they waited) and often offer a few seats to the top applicants after each interview (you want to snag the good students early lest they accept somewhere else and call off the search). I know my program usually sends out offers to the first interview prior to the application deadline and they are NOT rolling admissions. If you don't submit until the deadline, that's one less interview date (quite a few interview spots) you're missing out on. Just statistically lowering your chances.

The norm is NOT to compensate preceptors. However, it is not unheard of. Some of the newer programs or those that students have to set up their own rotations are more likely to find preceptors who request to be paid. If your program sets up your rotations/finds preceptors for you, you should talk to your school. At the very least it is incredibly inappropriate for a preceptor to talk to you about being paid. My program refuses to pay preceptors however if you find your own rotation, say for an elective, and the preceptor requests to be paid - the student would be responsible for it. The program will not do it. This is also something that is done up front. Personally it feels a little...like a slippery slope to pay preceptors. I'd rather have someone teaching me who genuinely wants to as opposed to someone who is just looking for extra cash.

You need to talk to your program. Unfortunately there are some rotations where you don't just do what your preceptor does. You can learn a lot from nursing/ancillary staff and what they do...you just need to find out what your program THINKS you should be doing at that site. It's not a perfect world and not every rotation is everything it should be. Not saying it's right, but that's how it is.

You could try a private loan - but I think even they only give up to the COA under student loans - so it really would be a personal loan. Get a roommate, cut costs, do what you can. I've found that most schools are actually quite generous when determining the COA - I went through school in one of the most expensive cities and managed to do it without roommates and without living in poverty.

You're 10 mo from graduation which realistically means 12+ mo from being employable...you can certainly ask or try to get a rotation with them in case they have a position open in the future but the likelihood that they wait more than a year to fill a position is simply unrealistic.