FuturePa12 Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 So, intellectually I am below par. It's always been that way. I have no control over it. I am almost done with my business administration degree(a below average degree). I work as a transporter in a hospital and will transition into a EMT role by summers end. I guess my question is. If you can do well but have to work harder in the prereqs(Bio,chem,organic chem), can you handle PA school? I took a biology class recently and it is by far the most amazing subject in the world! From looking at the recent college grads from Red Rocks community college, there seem to be a lot of students coming from engineering backgrounds from School of Mines. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=71111598477 I called red rocks and you have about a 10% chance of getting in(300 people apply 30 get accepted). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator rev ronin Posted March 31, 2011 Administrator Share Posted March 31, 2011 Your success in the science prerequisites will be a good indicator of your success in PA school. Going into it with an attitude of working harder than the other hard-working pre-PAs is good. I called red rocks and you have about a 10% chance of getting in(300 people apply 30 get accepted). But acceptance isn't random. It is based on all the factors the school considers, including GPA, HCE, interviewing, maybe test scores or writing samples. Most applicants' chances for acceptance are MUCH higher or lower than 10%, depending on their background. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thinkertdm Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Probably not- but not because of your intellect. Once you start thinking of yourself as "below average", well, thats how things are going to turn out. Change your attitude, change your life! (ps you can get the complete edition by sending a self addressed stamped envelope to...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiaroscuro27 Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Probably not- but not because of your intellect. Once you start thinking of yourself as "below average", well, thats how things are going to turn out.Change your attitude, change your life! (ps you can get the complete edition by sending a self addressed stamped envelope to...) This! I don't have much to add to the above. This brings up an important question? How is intellect measured. By exam scores, by the amount of factoids one has in their head? Absolutely not. I know students who get fairly decent grades and they are dumb as a box of rocks. The key in PA school is learning how to APPLY the material you learn. Yes, the information learned must be memorized and recalled, but this has nothing to do with how smart you are. It simply is a demonstration of who can remember the most and regurgitate it on an exam. My dog could do that! Certainly, doing well in prerequisite courses is a good indicator of how well one could do in PA school. Of course, the choice is yours, and going by the statements you've made above, it is quite clear what choices you have made. If you think you lack the intellect to pursue this, don't waste your time. If you really want to be a PA, change your attitude FIRST...then give it all you got! Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Steve Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Boy I certainly hope I can make it....ain't no rocket scientist but I am good with my hands... Seriously....I have attended enough variety of education programs (EMT basic, Paramedic, Hospital Corps School, Critical care course for Corspman, Surgical technology school, Field Medical Service School, Firefighter I, II, III, pumps/hydraulics, aerial operations...) to have enough anecdotal evidence to prove that the smartest kid in class is most times not the most proficient. I have seen more top scoring students struggle to perform doing the most basic practical applications I am now finally comfortable running middle of the pack academically. Pass the test, excel in performance. Recognize your weaknesses....get that handled and you're 95% ahead of the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
austynmiller Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 I am actually in the Red Rocks program, 2nd year. It's tough to get in but GPA is only half of what they look at. They rate applicants on a point system. You get a certain amount of points for experiance, GPA, time since taking all of the prereqs, personal essay, interview, letters of recommendation, etc. So even if you don't consider yourself a smart person, you can make it if you work hard. That's really all it takes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delco714 Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Go for it OP. There are students who come off as regular einsteins. They know every factoid in the book. However, most can't apply it, and some are not made to deal with people. Hard work and dedication is the back bone to success in everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marilynpac Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 You have to remember one thing, the OP is just starting out. By the time s/he is ready for applying most of the schools will have switched to masters level, be smaller in size and competition will be more severe than it is now. Were talking almost all As with an occasional B. While the Bio classes are memorization, it's the Chem and OChem/BioChem classes that are killers. Once again, I have to agree with Rev, when the OP starts to take 3 difficult classes, then time will tell. Good luck to the OP. Oh BTW, some people do know that they don't have the retention capacity that others do, it doesn't have anything to do with attitude. To the OP, if your school offers free tutoring take advantage of it, I did and today I'm a PA! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted March 31, 2011 Moderator Share Posted March 31, 2011 intelligence like anything is on a bell curve. there are people in all professions(including physicians and college professors) who are on the left side of the curve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsboston Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 I give you the power law, the opposite of the bell curve! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_law. For instance, if you plotted registered users versus number of posts you wouldn't get a bell curve, but a power law. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebrown88 Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 You can do it, I am proof(PA-S2)! You will have to make up for it with effort and dedication. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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