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Hello, I am a high school senior that is interested in becoming a PA. I‘m currently in the process of applying to colleges and would like to know what major would be the best for me to pursue. For a little bit of background, I had originally planned on majoring in Biology because I read that it was the most common route taken for PA school( I’m also quite fascinated with biology itself). However, after researching again, I now plan on getting a BSN so that I'll have a backup job in the medical field just in case everything doesn't go as planned. I've read that majoring in Nursing unfortunately doesn't look good because PA schools will question the student's commitment to the PA profession. Personally, I am certain that I want to become a Physician Assistant but I also want to be able to secure a job in the medical field after receiving at least my bachelors. It also seems as though the medical-related jobs that I could get with a Biology degree wouldn't be very patient care related, which is something that I wish to have in a job. Overall, I feel as though I would prosper in a more health-centered major because it relates more to my passion. So ultimately, my questions are: 1. Between majoring in Biology and Nursing, which is the more advantageous route to take in order to become a PA? 2. Is there any true disadvantage to having a BSN when it comes to applying to PA schools? 3. Are there any other majors that would be a better choice to study than Biology or Nursing? I would greatly appreciate it if anyone can get help me out!

Hi everybody! So, I have been on the road to PA school for the past 7(!) years. I honestly didn't think it would take this long but life gets in the way sometimes. I am applying to programs this spring and I've turned out to be quite the non-traditional applicant, as I'll detail below: -Massage therapist for the past 11 years, mostly working independently for more money but also in chiropractic and acupuncture offices as I do now -Life science major at community college (mostly just knowing out PA pre-reqs, before the state of CA decides to get rid of all PA certificate programs at CC's). Did pretty well there. -Transferred and got a BS in anthropology (GPA: 3.7), since I already had my pre-reqs done and just needed a bachelors, I decided to study something I felt would make me more well-rounded in my understanding of people (and boy did it ever!) without having to risk possibly not getting accepted right away due to impacted life science majors at my college -Clinical care volunteer at a large hospital since May '16 -Quit a slave-like scribe job after 5 weeks in the ER to accept a job as a behavioral therapist doing applied behavioral analysis (ABA) with autistic kids. I wanted to be more "hands on", work with staff who bother to know my name, and a huge boost in pay didn't hut either. I had applied for physical therapy aide jobs as well but many of them seem to want people who are on the road to PT and have an exercise background, despite often wanting PT aides to do some massage therapy. Maybe I'm just getting cold feet but I worry that my background will be too off the beaten path. I'd like to hear of any success stories from those who had non-traditional backgrounds yet still got accepted into PA progams, if there are any. Thanks in advance!