emtstang Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 So I'm one of the many that have a lower gpa. My overall is 2.8 and my science is 2.9. I have taken over 180+ credit hours, and have finished basically all pre reqs for pa school already. Looking back at all my grades, what really killed me was doing dual credit courses my junior/senior year of highschool. I printed out all my classes from caspa and highlighted the classes I got C and below in. Do i "start over" and retake these courses? Do I sign up for different courses and pull for the A? I would appreciate any/all advice. Thank you all in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PACdan Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Depends. Some colleges do one time grade replacement if you retake a course, some average the grade. But dear me, 180 credits is A LOT. Do you have a master's degree? If not, acing a bio/health master's program with upper level courses could be a way...if you can get in. Then you go do another master's for PA though. :/ Sent from the Satellite of Love using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timon Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 I was in your shoes and had about 220 semester units when I was accepted. My stats were 2.31 undergrad cGPA (125ish), 3.69 MBA (45 units), 4.0 post bach prerequisites (43 units). Basically for every 1 unit of a 4.0 grade unit your GPA increases 0.005. Once I finished prerequisites I started taking other classes that were recommended or would add to my base knowledge once in PA school like nutrition, embryology, histology, and etc. I also had a backup plan once I finished these classes and had a 3.0 to start taking courses that would increase my scope of practice and that would increase my GPA. I saw quick programs like EEG tech, RT that counted my completed courses and etc. Some schools honor grade replacements like Western University in CA, however you'll need to increase your cGPA to a 3.4 to get an interview although you can apply with a 2.7 (they'll accept your app but you'll be last on the list). Something I made sure to do was make sure I had a balanced application and I encourage you to do the same thing. Every month I made sure I increased 3-4 application stats (GPA, shadowing, community service, volunteering, leadership, seminars, paid direct patient contact HCE, HCE certification like acls / pals / NRP / etc). When you apply make sure you pay attention to the average accepted student stats. You may be spinning your wheels if a program has an avg accepted student GPA of 3.5 / 0 HCE / 500 + community service hours. You'll notice some programs will have play on GPA for 2k-4k hours of paid direct patient contact HCE. You may also notice that programs avg accepted stats are probably 3.2 GPA / 2k HCE / 20-100 hours community service. It's a numbers game when you have a lower GPA. How long / units / $$$ does it take to go from 2.__ GPA to the 3.3+ everyone else is? At 0.005 per unit increase that may be a lot of time and money. In the meantime you could shorted that time and be a more well rounded applicant / clinician if you put the same amount of focus in increasing your paid HCE with an emphasis on taking Certs that will increase your GPA and give you a greater scope of practice. Just food for thought. Keep your head up and keep trying. If I can do it then you can too! Some posts for you to read: Post #1 http://www.physicianassistantforum.com/index.php?/topic/7183-i-did-it-you-can-too/#entry93944 Post #3 http://www.physicianassistantforum.com/index.php?/topic/11682-low-gpa-please-help/ Post #9 http://www.physicianassistantforum.com/index.php?/topic/4955-burnout-tips-on-dealing-with-it/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emtstang Posted February 25, 2014 Author Share Posted February 25, 2014 I was in your shoes and had about 220 semester units when I was accepted. My stats were 2.31 undergrad cGPA (125ish), 3.69 MBA (45 units), 4.0 post bach prerequisites (43 units). Basically for every 1 unit of a 4.0 grade unit your GPA increases 0.005. Once I finished prerequisites I started taking other classes that were recommended or would add to my base knowledge once in PA school like nutrition, embryology, histology, and etc. I also had a backup plan once I finished these classes and had a 3.0 to start taking courses that would increase my scope of practice and that would increase my GPA. I saw quick programs like EEG tech, RT that counted my completed courses and etc. Some schools honor grade replacements like Western University in CA, however you'll need to increase your cGPA to a 3.4 to get an interview although you can apply with a 2.7 (they'll accept your app but you'll be last on the list). Something I made sure to do was make sure I had a balanced application and I encourage you to do the same thing. Every month I made sure I increased 3-4 application stats (GPA, shadowing, community service, volunteering, leadership, seminars, paid direct patient contact HCE, HCE certification like acls / pals / NRP / etc). When you apply make sure you pay attention to the average accepted student stats. You may be spinning your wheels if a program has an avg accepted student GPA of 3.5 / 0 HCE / 500 + community service hours. You'll notice some programs will have play on GPA for 2k-4k hours of paid direct patient contact HCE. You may also notice that programs avg accepted stats are probably 3.2 GPA / 2k HCE / 20-100 hours community service. It's a numbers game when you have a lower GPA. How long / units / $$$ does it take to go from 2.__ GPA to the 3.3+ everyone else is? At 0.005 per unit increase that may be a lot of time and money. In the meantime you could shorted that time and be a more well rounded applicant / clinician if you put the same amount of focus in increasing your paid HCE with an emphasis on taking Certs that will increase your GPA and give you a greater scope of practice. Just food for thought. Keep your head up and keep trying. If I can do it then you can too! Some posts for you to read: Post #1 http://www.physicianassistantforum.com/index.php?/topic/7183-i-did-it-you-can-too/#entry93944 Post #3 http://www.physicianassistantforum.com/index.php?/topic/11682-low-gpa-please-help/ Post #9 http://www.physicianassistantforum.com/index.php?/topic/4955-burnout-tips-on-dealing-with-it/ First off, I can not thank you enough for your input as well as the effort you put in your reply. After reading the links you provided, I'm trying to set up my own plan as well however I had another question... 1. You stated you finished your bachelors with a poor gpa, then spent the rest of your time/classes on pre reqs and aced them all! So for myself, I have already taken pre reqs, and if I understood your advice, it was to take classes that apply to health care and ace those? I feel a little bit better knowing that im atleast on the right track with trying to improve my application. For example, I do plan on going to paramedic school (as soon as i get rejected, if it comes to that) 2. Another questions, were you able to get grades for your pals, ekg class, etc.? From what i have gathered, they are just certs? (I do plan on getting my acls, ekg cert, as well, I already have pals) Also, i plan on signing up for a community response team and i found out that I am eligible to recieve my associates in science from way back when. I had never applied to recieve my diploma for that, not that it matters since i already have my bachelors but im guessing it just adds to my belt. Anywho, again, thank you for the advice, and i hope i understood what you were trying to get across as far as classes go and increasing my gpa! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timon Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Certs and classes are two separate things. Acls and pals are 1 day classes but you can add it to your application. But when you take a class towards increasing your scope of practice like paramedic you're doing double duty (cert + GPA). So two different things going on. Also some employers require acls / pals etc so it makes your a more desirable candidate. So gotta look at the big picture but you're on the right track. Best of luck! Keep me posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtn89 Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 Does anyone know if taking Introductory science courses will contribute to the science GPA too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timon Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 They absolutely do. However I don't think the adcom would be impressed if you loaded up your transcript with intro classes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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