Community College vs 4 year college?

[betty]

Hello

My name is Betty, I am a 2011 applicant for pa program, I actually applied last year to 3 schools, and got rejected by 3 of them since my GPA was below 3.0. My GPA was 2.96:(

I graduated from University of Maryland College Park last August. And now i am taking classes at a community college to boost my GPA up.

Will there be a problem for the pa admission committee the fact that I am taking classes at a community college, and not a 4 year.

I am also taking some grad level courses to prove that i can handle graduate level classes.

What do you think is the best move, for a person who has already graduated from a 4 year college and has GPA lower than 3.0?

P.S I got all A's in my science classes when i was at a community college, but got mostly C's at University of Maryland COllege Park

I really need your advice on this issue

Thanks a lot

[little_storm]

Hi Betty,

I think that you should focus on making your application very strong in other areas - for example, having lots of quality healthcare experience and continue to boost/maintain your grades through the community college. Strong GRE scores and an outstanding essay won't hurt, either. You should be prepared to answer questions about your grades - perhaps even offer an explanation or defense about it before you're asked (in a confident way you can explain that you recognized you were having difficulties, you made a plan to fix it, you've shown that you could stick to the plan, etc). I had a graduate degree in another area before applying to PA school but took nearly all the pre reqs at a community college. I had a strong graduate and undergraduate GPA - no one questioned the community college classes... but our situations are a little different. Don't try to cover up or hide anything, just be confident in yourself and what you want, show them that you are committed and successful. :) Good luck

[marilynpac]

You better call the schools you are planning to apply to. Many schools want upper level classes at a four yr school.

[normarl]

I am getting the "we prefer the courses taken at the 4 year university level" rather than simply saying no at some places.

[HopefulPA]

Best thing you can do is go directly to the source. Call the 3 programs you want to get into and "ASK THEM WHAT YOU NEED TO DO" to be a stronger candidate for "THEIR PROGRAM". We can all take a guess at what you need to do but it might be wrong.

 

Good Luck

 

BTW- almost all of my pre-reqs were from a CC but I also had a very strong GPA in both my previous degrees Undergrad "3.68" and Masters "4.0" I also 4.0 all my pre-reqs. I also just met the experience at the minimum level. That was good enough for my program but might not have been good enough for your programs.

[betty]

Thank you so much for all the advice everybody:)

God bless you all

Betty