Zh33r Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 I apologize if this thread has been talked about, but I need all the advice I can get...my credentials are listed below: What are my chances, what needs to be done to improve my application... Male 25 yo Undergrad: BS Human Biology; Cleveland Chiropractic College of Kansas City December 2011 overall GPA: 2.93 Science GPA: 2.84 GRE: Taking soon Shadowing/Observing/Volunteering: Liver Transplant Team: 2 months (150 hrs) Shriners Hospital Pediatrics (2 hrs per week-ongoing) Pre-Health Professions Club (CCCKC) Pre-PA club USF Community Service/Mentoring (150 hrs) Applied: 2012: Western University of Health Sciences, Touro College (Vallejo), MCPHS, Wagner College 2013: MCPHS (Manchester), Gannon University, Jefferson University, EVMS... No interviews... GPA is "low" due to personal issues that lead me to want to be in medicine in the first place, scored low in courses like Zoology and Botany. (FR year) I have such heavy set of science courses the last 2 years of undergrad, that it is nearly impossible to raise my GPA. (Mostly B's) Retaking these courses wont help (since CASPA averages retaken courses) Should I try to get into a Masters program? become a Respiratory Therapist/Nurse/Radiology Tech for few years? Any Advice, should I keep fighting and applying for this new cycle? I have wanted this for a very long time. I have received acceptance letter to an offshore international medical school in Hungary, and a cardiopulmonary rehab program in NY and respectfully declined both. thank you all, sorry for the long post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjl12 Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 Post-bacc classes could be very beneficial for you. Your GPA is very low in comparison to many of today's competitive applicants. Also, a strong post-bacc performance would verify your maturation, commitment, and work ethic. And you don't need anything like 60 credits to prove this (a typical master's program). 30-40 credits of ~A's should more than suffice given that the credits consist of hard science classes. Again, you might only need like 20-25 credits, Even if you're working, could do this part-time year-round (8 credits/semester). Keep us updated on what you decide to do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zh33r Posted March 21, 2014 Author Share Posted March 21, 2014 bjl12, on 20 Mar 2014 - 9:04 PM, said: Post-bacc classes could be very beneficial for you. Your GPA is very low in comparison to many of today's competitive applicants. Also, a strong post-bacc performance would verify your maturation, commitment, and work ethic. And you don't need anything like 60 credits to prove this (a typical master's program). 30-40 credits of ~A's should more than suffice given that the credits consist of hard science classes. Again, you might only need like 20-25 credits, Even if you're working, could do this part-time year-round (8 credits/semester). Keep us updated on what you decide to do! Thank you for your input, much appreciated! I will keep in touch! Z Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fakingpatience Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 Do you have any paid experience? from what I've seen that can be hugely important to most schools Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zh33r Posted March 21, 2014 Author Share Posted March 21, 2014 Do you have any paid experience? from what I've seen that can be hugely important to most schools in the past two years since I have graduated, I have put in over 2000 applications (Medical scribe, pharma companies, patient transport, etc...) and had only one job interview (12 people, 11 females, me being the only male and did not get the position, I was the only one with a Bachelors, the rest were Soph/JR's in college) I live in Tampa Florida now (previously KC,MO) and I have contacted so many PA's about shadowing and volunteering and every single one says "NO" with an attitude... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PACdan Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 in the past two years since I have graduated, I have put in over 2000 applications (Medical scribe, pharma companies, patient transport, etc...) and had only one job interview... Holy cow! Are you filling them out with a red flag of some sort? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zh33r Posted March 21, 2014 Author Share Posted March 21, 2014 Holy cow! Are you filling them out with a red flag of some sort? haha. no way, just can't get a break and coming from a Middle Eastern family, I rarely have any hospital connections (most first generation Middle Eastern families in the states have regular occupations, non-hospital related). staying positive though, it has been a struggle. Z Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyM2 Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 GPA is "low" due to personal issues that lead me to want to be in medicine in the first place, scored low in courses like Zoology and Botany. (FR year) I have such heavy set of science courses the last 2 years of undergrad, that it is nearly impossible to raise my GPA. (Mostly B's) Retaking these courses wont help (since CASPA averages retaken ... Reading your various posts, there is something really wrong with this story. There is clearly more here than meets the eye. Perhaps related to the "personal issues" to which you have referred. I have never heard of someone applying to 2000 jobs and getting only one interview. Not have I heard of a situation where no PA will let you shadow them. Allow me, if you will, to clue you in to a few things. First, the world works on relationships, and you need to build them with everyone you meet. If you know a lot of people and they consider you to be hard working, trustworthy, forthright, friendly, reliable, courteous, etc. they will help you. If people regard you poorly, they won't give you the time of day. Second, you are using your time poorly and spinning you wheels if you are applying to so many jobs. The idea is not to blanket the world with applications and. resumes. That is a poor strategy. Use your existing relationships or build new ones to help you. Want to shadow a PA? Find a friend or family member who knows a PA. When I tell people my daughter is going to PA school, they invariably tell me about a daughter, niece, etc who is a PA. Many of the doctors I go to have PAs in their offices. You need to arrange to meet these people and build a relationship with them. ( learn to start building a relationship in 15 minutes. It's fun. I do it all the time.). In short order, you will have a shadowing opportunity. Same thing with jobs. I could send in applications for every entry level job opportunity at Microsoft and would likely get no interviews, so I wouldn't waste my time. If you want to be an ER scribe ( which I think is a terrific way to get hce) find the hospitals near you that have scribe programs and invite the lead scribe to lunch to discuss the program. Let them know how interested you are. Ask them what their goals are. Try to find out what you have in common like snowboarding, scuba diving or just about anything. (People like to talk about themselves and no one becomes a scribe as a career.) That's how you build a relationship. Then leave the guy/ gal a resume and ask them to consider you the next time there is an opening. I'm not saying this is true of you (how would I know), but if you are viewed as a self centered, supersilious ass with no character you will never be able to build relationships, so ask your friends and family how you come across. As I started earlier, there is something wrong with this whole story that I think you haven't told us. Sent from my Kindle Fire HDX using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted March 21, 2014 Moderator Share Posted March 21, 2014 as above, get some paid hce. this will likely require getting some kind of cert. keep taking science classes. get all As. do this until your total and sci gpa is >3.0 good luck. you can probably get in somewhere if you take a year off to work on your app in the ways mentioned above. targeting new programs may help as well as they often have fewer applicants the first year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zh33r Posted March 21, 2014 Author Share Posted March 21, 2014 JohnnyM2, on 21 Mar 2014 - 12:05 AM, said: Reading your various posts, there is something really wrong with this story. There is clearly more here than meets the eye. Perhaps related to the "personal issues" to which you have referred. I have never heard of someone applying to 2000 jobs and getting only one interview. Not have I heard of a situation where no PA will let you shadow them. Allow me, if you will, to clue you in to a few things. First, the world works on relationships, and you need to build them with everyone you meet. If you know a lot of people and they consider you to be hard working, trustworthy, forthright, friendly, reliable, courteous, etc. they will help you. If people regard you poorly, they won't give you the time of day. Second, you are using your time poorly and spinning you wheels if you are applying to so many jobs. The idea is not to blanket the world with applications and. resumes. That is a poor strategy. Use your existing relationships or build new ones to help you. Want to shadow a PA? Find a friend or family member who knows a PA. When I tell people my daughter is going to PA school, they invariably tell me about a daughter, niece, etc who is a PA. Many of the doctors I go to have PAs in their offices. You need to arrange to meet these people and build a relationship with them. ( learn to start building a relationship in 15 minutes. It's fun. I do it all the time.). In short order, you will have a shadowing opportunity. Same thing with jobs. I could send in applications for every entry level job opportunity at Microsoft and would likely get no interviews, so I wouldn't waste my time. If you want to be an ER scribe ( which I think is a terrific way to get hce) find the hospitals near you that have scribe programs and invite the lead scribe to lunch to discuss the program. Let them know how interested you are. Ask them what their goals are. Try to find out what you have in common like snowboarding, scuba diving or just about anything. (People like to talk about themselves and no one becomes a scribe as a career.) That's how you build a relationship. Then leave the guy/ gal a resume and ask them to consider you the next time there is an opening. I'm not saying this is true of you (how would I know), but if you are viewed as a self centered, supersilious ass with no character you will never be able to build relationships, so ask your friends and family how you come across. As I started earlier, there is something wrong with this whole story that I think you haven't told us. Sent from my Kindle Fire HDX using Tapatalk 2 I appreciate your feedback, my "personal issues" was that my moms heart stopped for 14 seconds in the ER, I left school to go home to take care of her since my father was overseas working with the US ARMY in Iraq. second thing is, I just moved to Tampa, Florida, every clinic I walked into didn't even turn around to look at my face when I asked them about opportunities or if I could see the PA/Physician. the hospitals are full on staff and volunteers, I have walked into multiple places because applying online was just not helping anymore, but handing them my resume was not enough either. it is what it is... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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