Guest bflow Posted September 4, 2014 Share Posted September 4, 2014 Hey y'all, I am gunning for PA school but I do not know if I have a chance at being accepted quite yet. I've got a BS in Sociology cGPA: 3.1 sGPA:3.09. I have not taken the GRE yet. I have taken all of the prereqs and I am also working as an EMT. I know my GPA is subpar for PA school so I am considering applying to 1 year special masters programs ( i.e. MA Biomedicine) to enhance my app. Is this the most logical, time/energy efficient way of potentially becoming a suitable applicant? Are SMPs for PA applicants? What options do I have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MedLib42 Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 A masters program can be a good option, but keep in mind that CASPA calculates your undergrad and graduate GPAs separately, and many schools will still put a decent amount of weight on your undergrad GPA (especially since that's where your prerequisites were accrued). Not to mention, you may incur a lot more debt if it's a fairly expensive program (most are) and PA school isn't cheap either. A good rule of thumb is to retake any class you got a "C" or lower in to begin with especially if any are prerequisites - most schools require a B or better for prereqs. Shoot for an "A" on the retake though, as an increase in only a half or one letter grade can look worse on an application. Past that, you might also consider spending a year taking additional undergrad science classes as a non-matriculated student, or start a second Bachelors degree in something like Biology with a pre-med concentration (you don't have to go through to degree completion). Take some higher level non-prerequisite science classes in relevant areas (pathophysiology, immunology, virology, pharmacology, biochemistry, and so on). Work on achieving as many As as possible. This way, all of your undergrad classes will get calculated in CASPA together, and it will raise your overall GPA (and might be cheaper for you in the long run, although that depends on the school). That's not to say a Masters' program is a bad option, necessarily, you'll just have to weigh the pros and cons of the different options. You might even contact some of the schools you're interested in and ask whether they typically prefer to see someone with a stronger undergrad GPA or a lower undergrad but strong grad GPA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoopeda Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 SMPs are, what, 2 years, full time? Spend half that time getting straight science As at your local college or university. Your undergrad and science GPAs go up into a more typical PA student range, your recent (trend) GPA goes through the roof, and you save 1 year and tens of thousands of dollars in the process. SMP certainly couldn't hurt, but it seems like the expensive and long way into PA school. Best to spend the year as a postbac while you work on more HCE, in my opinion. That said, head over to the Ask an Admissions Director thread, and see what she says! Good luck... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator LT_Oneal_PAC Posted September 8, 2014 Moderator Share Posted September 8, 2014 SMPs are, what, 2 years, full time? Spend half that time getting straight science As at your local college or university. Your undergrad and science GPAs go up into a more typical PA student range, your recent (trend) GPA goes through the roof, and you save 1 year and tens of thousands of dollars in the process. SMP certainly couldn't hurt, but it seems like the expensive and long way into PA school. Best to spend the year as a postbac while you work on more HCE, in my opinion. That said, head over to the Ask an Admissions Director thread, and see what she says! Good luck... I'm 99% sure that SMPs are 1 year, but pretty intensive. And expensive. I would second what Zoopeda said based in cost alone and somewhat based on the fact your GPA could come out worse. It would be one thing if you were applying for med schools can sometimes care about getting CC credits, but most PA schools aren't going to care usually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dream2pa Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 i think it depends on individual situation. for instance in my case since i have a bachelors in biochemistry i have taken all high level science classes e.g. biochems , immunology, pathophys. I have almost 5000 hours of patient care experience and the only thing hindring me from attending PA school is my GPA. after much deliberation i have enrolled into SMP as a last resort. So far its not too bad and the cost is same as attending any other university. my advice is to weight all your options. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoopeda Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 i think it depends on individual situation. for instance in my case since i have a bachelors in biochemistry i have taken all high level science classes e.g. biochems , immunology, pathophys. I have almost 5000 hours of patient care experience and the only thing hindring me from attending PA school is my GPA. after much deliberation i have enrolled into SMP as a last resort. So far its not too bad and the cost is same as attending any other university. my advice is to weight all your options. Good luck Applicants who have taken "all" high science level classes available are few and far between. After a quick search, the cheapest SMP I found was LECOM: 2 year program, $20k tuition (2 years' room and board not included). Several others (GWU, PCOM) are one or two years and $40-50k tuition. Taking a whole year of lab sciences (4 of them, full time) at my local state university would cost me $12k and one year. (And Oregon doesn't even offer great in-state rates.) No comparison. The real question becomes, are you going back to school simply to raise your GPA to gain admission to a PA program, or are you going because you want to study the sciences more deeply, regardless of whether you end up in PA program? Since you don't seem to be seeking a specific type of training beyond the generic title 'SMP,' it sounds like the former is more the case here. If that's true, going postbac is a no-brainer (barring some sort of linkage favoritism between PA programs and certain SMPs). That last thought might be something you want to look into, actually (PA schools that look favorably upon students of other specific programs--more common among med schools but probably exist for us). Otherwise, take a few courses at a big university, a few at a CC in evenings, and 5 or 10 hours building HCE. Your call, of course. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dream2pa Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 there are online programs as well like one year medical master in USF is offered 100% online. it cost around 15000 / year. like i said there are options available for every situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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