Sould I be Pre-PA?

[sciencemajor3]

Hey guys,

I'm home from summer and just stumbled across this site, and overall, it's been super helpful. I'm going to be a junior at the U of Pittsburgh, and I was hoping to get an outsider's perspective on my lowish GPA to see if I should even consider Pre-PA or not. I'm going for a neuroscience major, but I might switch to biology. I'm pretty sure I want to do something in the health-care field, maybe addiction therapy or speech pathology, but PA school sounds interesting as well.

 

Overall, my GPA is a 2.7. I'm really hoping to bring it up these next two years, as I dealt with a lot of personal issues sophomore year and wasn't the best at adjusting to college as a freshman.

So far, I have 250 hours working in a hospital collecting data for a medical study (paid), and over 600 volunteer hours from a hospital in high school (don't know if those will count or not towards the PA application). This summer I have an internship at a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center, and next semester I'll continue my research job at the hospital.

Below are my science grades so far. Any advice would be appreciated. I'm somewhat behind in credits because of having to repeat biology 1/2, but I'll be taking anatomy/phys next semester.

 

General Chemistry 1/2 with labs:   B+

Biology 1 with lab:   C-, retook and got a C

Biology 2 with lab:   C-, retook and got an A

Organic Chemistry 1/2:   C

Organic Chemistry 1 lab:   B+

Physics 1: B+

[DiggySRNA]

Yes, you should still be a pre-PA. 

You still have these pre-PA related courses left to complete:

• Genetics,
• Immunology (optional),
• Statsc(or precalc/calc),
• Cell (optional)
• A&P I and II, 
• SPANISH WOULD BE HELPFUL
• Humanities & Social Sciences (Women's Studies, Philosophy, Sociology/Psychology)

And more HCE. If you can pull your average above a 3.0 with the above classes then you still have a shot. BTW- NO ONE SAID you have "have" to complete your BS/BA in 4 years, I'm personally taking 5 years to increase my GPA (will be much cheaper by doing so).

 

*count direct patient care/health care experience you have done through college. HS seems irrelevant at this point in your life (:

[lov2xlr8]

Lots of schools will look at your undergrad trend. Doing well in the last 2 years will help Adcoms to look past those first 2 years.

[JohnnyM2]

Sciencemajor3, Just be aware, in your calculations, that when you fill out the CASPA application for PA school you will have to report both grades for a repeated course. Unless you have already taken that into account, your CASPA GPA is less than 2.7. Generally, you need a 3.0 to be competitive and many (most?) schools won't give you serious consideration with anything less.

 

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