nikki386

BA in Political Communication cGPA: 3.60 sGPA: 3.65 PCE: 3,200 as an MA for an ENT, 1,080 as an ER scribe HCE: 2,560 as a patient coordinator at a cosmetic surgeon's office Volunteer: ~200 in hospice and at a food bank (I don't remember the exact number) Shadowing: 64 (16 ER PA, 16 IM PA, 42 ENT PA) LOR: ENT PA, ENT office manager, ER physician

I am a first generation student from a low income family. I was raised by a single mom who never graduated high school, and my siblings and I survived off of various forms of public assistance throughout our lives. In high school I had no idea that preparing for college was a "thing" and I used fee waivers to apply to two universities for the heck of it. I was (to my surprise) admitted into one of them, but had to turn down the acceptance because we couldn't pay for the deposits or moving expenses. Instead, I worked right after graduating high school and tried to fit in classes at the local community college. Eventually I graduated with a bachelor's degree, it just took about 3 years longer than it normally would have. Some years later and a few post-bacc classes in between, I am applying to PA school! It has been a really long, tough road, but I feel a sense of pride for having overcome obstacles that I easily could have allowed to derail my future. It is also nice to really be able to connect and understand others who have gone through similar challenges.

I received an interview invite! My application was under review as of 7/22, I selected the 11/8 interview date.

If it were me, I'd pay the seat deposit and cross my fingers for another acceptance. In life, you are going to faced with difficult decisions like this again and again. There is no telling if you will be offered another acceptance this cycle or the next. Sometimes when you are in between a rock and hard place you just have to take what is being offered to you, even if it isn't ideal. At the end of the day, it is a short 2 years of your life and the end goal is to be a certified PA and move on. Some programs allow you to coordinate a rotation or two in a different city or state, that might be an option for you to make connections in a desirable area.

Hi, I took the course earlier this year. It is classified as an "introductory" course, so beware of that. There is an exam each week of the course, and they are not proctored. There are no midterm or final exams. There is one paper due at the end of the course. I don't have the syllabus on hand, but it was worth taking since it only took about two months to finish.

I am planning to apply to Barry - Miami in May or June, but I had a question about the 10 year age limit on all of their prerequisites. I tried reaching out to the admissions coordinator for clarification but they haven't returned my email and I need to finalize registration for the upcoming semester. I know that Barry requires all prerequisites to be no more than 10 years old by matriculation, but I am unsure of the timing of one prerequisite in particular. I took a sociology course during the spring semester in 2010, and if I were to be admitted to Barry next year, I'd start in 2020. The statements on the website say "prerequisites more than 10 years old will not be accepted" and another says "there is a 10 year limit by the year of matriculation". I know it is probably a silly question, but what do you think? I really want to avoid paying for another class if I don't have to.

I am retaking anatomy and physiology, and a psych class next semester. To say it sucks to retake classes I passed with As, is an understatement!

Hi Sarah, Thank you. What was the name of the community college?

Hello everyone, I hope someone can help me out... I graduated college in 2011 and there are about 4 classes that I will need to retake before they become "expired" per some of my prospective PA programs. I live in Florida and earned all of my college credits in the state of Florida. The programs I am applying to are also located in Florida. I met with an academic advisor at my local college to override an alert that was keeping me from registering for a few classes this fall. I was told that once you pass a class in the state of Florida with a C or better, you are not allowed to attempt the class again. The advisor reached out to the dean and he confirmed that I would not be able to register, but to "try a private university". That would be a viable option if one class didn't cost $2-3,000. I need to retake about 4. I understand the law is in place to maintain the integrity of GPAs, but what about people in my situation? This seems so unethical. To add insult to injury, I passed all of the courses with As. Does anyone know if there are other public colleges in Florida where you can appeal this rule? ~$8,000 out of pocket to retake 4 classes which may or may not result in admission to PA school seems like a risky investment. Is this my only option?

I too am in my 30s applying to PA programs, so I completely understand your plight. My last college math class was about 12 years ago. I took the GRE and scored a 144 on the quantitative section. ? Statistically speaking, older test takers typically perform better on the verbal than the quantitative section in comparison to younger test takers, but unfortunately, I do not believe the admissions committees are sympathetic to that. What I would do is contact your prospective programs and ask them how critical the GRE scores are in the application process. The reality is your healthcare experience is probably superior to a majority of the applicants you are competing with, and you seem to have a strong upward trend with regards to your GPA. If most other aspects of your application are strong, and you performed well enough on other sections of the GRE, they may be willing to forgive a poor quantitative score on a case by case basis. At least, that is what the programs I am applying to informed me. With that said, I would still prepare for the prospect that your poor quantitative score is going to be an impediment to getting an interview this cycle. I am retaking it myself. I personally have been using Magoosh to some success, but the Khan Academy on YouTube has much better explanations of relatively simple math concepts that I have long forgotten.

Thanks for the suggestion! I will check it out.

As soon as possible. I was planning to apply June/July, and really didn't want to have this one class in progress. But if it comes to that, I guess there isn't much I can do. UC Berkeley seems like a good alternative.

Ahh it's full. :(

I need genetics online too. I wish I saw this thread sooner! How do I find more information about the USC Maymester courses? I can't find anything....

Thank you for the reply! And congrats on your acceptance! I was looking into UC-San Diego or UC-Berkeley Extension. I thought about University of Phoenix, but was concerned about the credits and reputation, etc. I suppose it's not much of a problem after all. Were you able to register at any time, or were there deadlines for registration?