hello1212 Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dndandrea Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 I had a similar GPA to yours (3.44) with a strong uptrend of mostly As and a couple of Bs. I too was taking more credit hours, difficult upper electives, and final prereqs. I didn't do excellent on the GRE, but I did about average (303). I got an interview for basically every school I applied for (except the two out of state and one I didn't do a supplemental app for). Keep your head high and keep working as a scribe unless you find a better position. There's a lot of PA students who were once a scribe. It's not the best HCE, but it is good. Just be prepared to explain how your job will help you as a PA student during interviews. I only had 1 day of volunteer experience in my app, and it didn't even apply to the medical field. The only way to strengthen your app even more is to take strong electives, better HCE (maybe ER tech or nurse assistant), volunteer work, excellent LOR from a PA and one of the doctors you work with, and an interesting personal essay (which you should get started on very early). Study for the GRE and take it seriously. I did mediocre on it and I spent a lot of time studying. It's easy to some, hard to others. Keep your head up, you certainly have a chance at PA school! The up trend in your GPA will definitely stand out and you can explain (if this is the case) that your GPA started going up as you found yourself interested in medicine and becoming a PA. Mine started going up and never went down after I took my first A&P class. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hello1212 Posted January 10, 2015 Author Share Posted January 10, 2015 I had a similar GPA to yours (3.44) with a strong uptrend of mostly As and a couple of Bs. I too was taking more credit hours, difficult upper electives, and final prereqs. I didn't do excellent on the GRE, but I did about average (303). I got an interview for basically every school I applied for (except the two out of state and one I didn't do a supplemental app for). Keep your head high and keep working as a scribe unless you find a better position. There's a lot of PA students who were once a scribe. It's not the best HCE, but it is good. Just be prepared to explain how your job will help you as a PA student during interviews. I only had 1 day of volunteer experience in my app, and it didn't even apply to the medical field. The only way to strengthen your app even more is to take strong electives, better HCE (maybe ER tech or nurse assistant), volunteer work, excellent LOR from a PA and one of the doctors you work with, and an interesting personal essay (which you should get started on very early). Study for the GRE and take it seriously. I did mediocre on it and I spent a lot of time studying. It's easy to some, hard to others. Keep your head up, you certainly have a chance at PA school! The up trend in your GPA will definitely stand out and you can explain (if this is the case) that your GPA started going up as you found yourself interested in medicine and becoming a PA. Mine started going up and never went down after I took my first A&P class. Thank you for taking the time to respond to me. I really appreciate the advice! Given my situation, would it be smart to skip applying this spring and wait for spring 2016 to apply? I'm worried it'll look bad if I take a whole extra year off again, this is already my first year after my undergrad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hello1212 Posted January 10, 2015 Author Share Posted January 10, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dndandrea Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 Thank you for taking the time to respond to me. I really appreciate the advice! Given my situation, would it be smart to skip applying this spring and wait for spring 2016 to apply? I'm worried it'll look bad if I take a whole extra year off again, this is already my first year after my undergrad. I don't see any reason why you shouldn't apply this spring. I would wait until your spring semester grades come out (if you think you'll get As) to actually submit your application since it will boost your GPA up and allow you to log more hours into your HCE. If worst comes to worst, you don't make it in this cycle but obtain more HCE and boost your GPA until next spring. They'll ask what you did to improve your odds this time around and you already got your answer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliB Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 Also start researching the programs you are interested in attending. Find out what attributes they place the most emphasis on in their students -- start working that into your plan of action. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Also start researching the programs you are interested in attending. Find out what attributes they place the most emphasis on in their students -- start working that into your plan of action. Agreed, this is a good way to decide which programs to apply to and how to steer yourself over the next few months or next year. I'm not sure there are many programs that would look DOWN upon you taking another year off to gain HCE. HCE is at the root of the profession. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cm7sus4 Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 PM sent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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