PA Applicant Stats Page

[Guest louisweil]

Undergrad: Temple University BA, Anthropology
Undergrad GPA: 3.43
Post-Bacc: Saint Joseph's University
Post-Bacc GPA: 3.2

CASPA verified: 7/24/2016

GRE: V 161 Q 154 W 4.0

Age at time of application: 27

Direct Patient Care:
2500 hours as an EMT at a private ambulance company
3000 hours as an ED Tech at a Level 1 Trauma Center

Volunteer experience:
100 hours as Emergency Room volunteer
40 hours of giving educational tours as a docent of the Mütter Museum (renowned for medical history and anomalies)
12 hours as a marathon finish line medical volunteer
80 hours community service projects in greater Philadelphia area

Awards/Certifications: Dean's list (undergrad), Eagle Scout Award, EMT-B, NREMT-B, CPR, ACLS, PALS

Shadowing: 18 hours shadowing 4 different EM PAs

LOR: 3 EM PAs, Anatomy Professor.

Applying (for 2017):
Thomas Jefferson University
PCOM
Arcadia University
Philadelphia University
Drexel University
Rosalind Franklin University
Rush University
University of Colorado
George Washington University
Temple University

Rejected: All

Waitlisted: None

Accepted: None

Attempt: First


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[StethoscopeandSparkle]

Undergrad:  University of Florida (Bachelor's of Health Science c/o 2016)

 

CASPA cumulative GPA: 3.6

CASPA science cumulative GPA: 3.7

 

CASPA Submitted: Late July

CASPA Verified:  Early August

 

Age: 21 (currently 22 but when applying and interviewing was 21)

 

GREs:

-       Verbal:                             159                 81%

-       Quantitative:                    160                 78%

-       Analytical Writing:            5.0                  93%

 

HCE: 2000+ on Med/Surg unit as CNA. 600 on Pediatric Unit

 

Community Service Hours: 1000 hours in pediatric volunteering

 

Shadowing: ~150 with Cardiology PA, two Pediatric Hem/Onc PAs, and Oncology MD

 

LORs: Nurse Manger on Med/Surg Unit, Cardio PA, 3 charge nurses from med/surg unit

 

Schools Applied: 

University of Florida                Northeastern               Yale                George Washington University                   Duke

Emory                                      Shenandoah                Baylor            Penn State                                                 Drexel  

University of Utah                    UT Southwestern        MUSC           Eastern Virginia                      University of Alabama at Birmingham                                    

(15 total)

 

Interviews: 

-Northeastern

-George Washington University

-Yale

-Baylor

-Drexel

-Shenandoah (declined)

-Penn State (declined)

 

Waitlist:

-Baylor

 

Rejected:

Northeastern, Yale, UF, University of Utah, UT Southwestern, Duke, Emory, MUSC, UAB, 

 

Accepted:  

Drexel

George Washington University 

 

Attending:  George Washington University 

 

Attempt:  1st

 

**Got a TON of remarks on my age and if I thought I was mature enough to handle going straight from undergrad to PA school.**

random, but started a blog about PA school- feel free to check it out https://stethoscopeandsparkle.wordpress.com

[PAtoB]

Let me preface this post by saying that I place complete blame upon this forum for making me such a paranoid wreck that I applied to way too many schools.  How many is too many?  29.  29 is too many.  I was sure that my GPA wasn’t high enough or my HCE was no good or I was too old, or too young, or whatever other spastic negative thought came to me while poring over this website.  PA Forum, you are a blessing and a curse.

 

Undergrad: Skidmore College, B.S. in Dance

Cumulative Undergrad. GPA: 3.72         

Science Undergrad. GPA: 3.76

Graduate School: N/A

Post-bacc GPA: 4.0 (52 credits)

Honors: cum laude, departmental honors, honors society

 

Age at application time: 40, holla

 

1st GRE: 154 quantitative (56%), 164 verbal (94%), 5.5 writing (98%)

 

HCE: 1100 hours phlebotomy

Certifications: EMT-B. Got it, never used it.

 

Volunteer: Red Cross (60 hours), Animal rescue (40 hours), volunteered in various arts-in-education, scholarship foundation, and community outreach programs for dance (1000s of hours).

 

Shadowing: 60 hours internal medicine, cardiology, and orthopedics

 

LOR: 2 PAs that I shadowed, professor, pre-health advisor, lab supervisor

 

Schools Applied: Too many, see disclaimer.

 

CASPA Submitted: 07/04/2015

CASPA Verified: 07/20/2015

 

Denied: South University, Philadelphia U, Rosalind Franklin

 

Interview invites: Thomas Jefferson, College of St. Joseph, Indiana U, Clarkson, UNC Chapel Hill, Chatham, SUNY Upstate, NOVA Ft. Myers, Albany Med, Arcadia, Lock Haven, Rush, DeSales, Cornell, Yale, Rutgers, Wake Forest, George Washington, Duke

 

Interviews attended: College of St. Joseph, Albany Med, Lock Haven, Cornell, Yale, Rutgers, George Washington

 

Withdrew before hearing from: Drexel, James Madison, UNE, MCPHS, Stonybrook, Hofstra

 

Accepted: College of St. Joseph, Albany, Lock Haven, Cornell, Yale, George Washington

 

Attending: Yale

 

Many will judge me for applying to so many schools, but there was a method to my madness and some surprising results that others might learn from.  I am 40 years old and coming from my former job I took a HUGE pay cut when I got the job as a phlebotomist.  In my mind, applying was a one shot deal so forking over the money for 29 schools seemed like a rational idea at the time since I wouldn’t have to apply again (more $) and also spend another year getting paid a low wage.  Also, I honestly didn’t know how desirable a candidate I was until I started hearing back.  3.7 is a good GPA but it’s not 3.8 or 4.0.  I read that 1000 hours was the bare minimum and that phlebotomy was not considered “desirable” to schools.  Every school I applied to I researched thoroughly and made sure all of my pre-reqs and HCE requirements lined up even if only the minimum.  I also just looked at schools I would be willing to go to if I only got into one. 

 

The most interesting thing about this experience is that the schools I considered my just-for-the-hell-of-it/reaches got back to me very quickly, and I was in the first or second interview groups (GW, Yale, Cornell, Duke, Rutgers, Wake Forest).   And the schools I thought I was a shoo-in for I didn’t hear from by the time I had already interviewed and been accepted at 6 others (I’m looking at you, Drexel, Stonybrook, MCPHS, and UNE). 

 

So I guess the moral is that this is not an exact science.  You cannot know what is possible until you fork over the cash and hit that submit button.  I feel so very fortunate to have gotten the opportunities that I had. Best of luck to everyone, especially my fellow oldies.

Out of curiosity, what was your total out-of-pocket cost for these 29 schools? Because you also had to pay for each school's separate graduate program application separate from CASPA, correct? I'm guessing you spent >$3,000?

[JetéToPA]

Out of curiosity, what was your total out-of-pocket cost for these 29 schools? Because you also had to pay for each school's separate graduate program application separate from CASPA, correct? I'm guessing you spent >$3,000?

 

CASPA totalled $1575.  I honestly can't remember how much each of the supplementals were.  I didn't do supplementals for every single one of them though (some ask for supplementals only if they're interested and I never heard from some of them) .  I think it ended up being less than $3000 but more than $2500.

[dacomajkin]

I've been reading this forum for over a year and I am so excited to finally post on it!

 

Undergrad institution: Wayne State University (Detroit)- B.A. in Biological Sciences

CASPA Cum. Undergraduate GPA: 3.35

CASPA Science Undergraduate GPA: 3.14

Age at application: 22

GRE: (No prep time)

Quantitative - 152

Verbal - 145

Writing - 3.5

 

CASPA Application Submitted Date: 08/01/15

Application Verified Date: 08/20/15

Patient Care Experience:

-3 years as a clinical research assistant. Worked in a pathology lab using a spectrometer to collect data on brain tumors and colon. Few schools did not accept it as direct patient contact.

-1 year as a medical office assistant in a family practice. I got limited exposure working directly with patients. Many schools accepted this as direct patient contact.

 

Community Service: 350+ hours (Mostly general hospital volunteering, I was part of a school organization that arranged various volunteering opportunities in which I participated).

 

Shadow Experience: 30 hours shadowing two surgical PAs. My job as a research assistant entails lot of cooperation with different specialist (MDs) so essentially I have over 200 hours of shadowing doctors.

 

Achievements: Co-author on 2 publications in medical journals, certified phlebotomist (never used it), community scholar award, and I am forgetting few other things.

 

LOR: Pediatric Surgeon/Director of Research aka my boss, Surgical PA (shadowed), Family practice manager.

Schools Applied: (13) Western Michigan University, Rosalind Franklin, Eastern Michigan University, Augsburg University, University of Toledo, Drexel, George Washington university, Touro Nevada, Arizona school of Health Sciences, Duke, Texas Tech University Health Science Center, Northwestern, Desales.

 

Interview Invites: University of Toledo

Rejected: All except one

 

Accepted: University of Toledo

Attempt: 1st

 

Before applying I spent hours and hours looking through almost every page on this forum. Each time I was more discouraged because my GPA, GPAs, and GRE were below average; my patient care experience was inadequate; and I was too young. So I decided to write this post to give many applicants the courage who find themselves on a crossroad of attempting get in or continue with post-Bach.

 

My single biggest mistake in my application was not submitting early. I could have had at least 2 more interviews to several rolling admission programs. After submitting my app, the waiting game beings but for me it lasted until March (kinda late). I did not receive a single interview from any place, so in January I registered for 3 science courses in a community college to boost my GPAs (btw I called few schools who rejected me and said this was my biggest problem). I even got a different job working as a rehab aide to get more patient contact experience. Even though I was devastated, I was not going to give up.

 

One day in March I received an interview invite out of the blue; mind you, at this point 12 schools already rejected me. I was more than happy to accept and went 2 weeks after (later dates were available but I wanted to go early). I prepared as much as possible, had about 25 questions written down which I could recite verbatim. Going in with low stats and being my only interview, I knew this was do or die (reapply). Listened to Lose Yourself on my drive there lol.

 

I believe the interview levels out the playing field. The admission committee knows you on paper but that's not going to help much if your personality is not well suited for this career. Fortunately for me, the whole interview process (~5 hours) went great and that's mostly due to the program director and interviewers for creating a very comfortable/relaxed atmosphere. As a matter of fact, I was considerably more nervous before going to the interview than during the actual interview. Also, I really liked everything the program had to offer, the facilities are top notch located on their integrated medical campus.

 

Suggestions: Before interview invite

1. Apply early!!! I spent so much time procrastinating on my personal statement and it did not help.

2. Shadow PAs. This is crucial.

3. Be involved in the community, volunteer, good things will happen!

 

After Invite:

1. Prepare for the interview as much as possible. When you get there, be polite to EVERYONE. Most importantly, be yourself and keep calm.

2. Send thank you notes. I know this sounds cliche but it's a professional thing to do and worked for me.

 

I hope this helps. GOODLUCK!!!

[cjosephsmith]

I've been reading this forum for over a year and I am so excited to finally post on it!

 

Undergrad institution: Wayne State University (Detroit)- B.A. in Biological Sciences

CASPA Cum. Undergraduate GPA: 3.35

CASPA Science Undergraduate GPA: 3.14

 

Age at application: 22

 

GRE: (No prep time)

Quantitative - 152

Verbal - 145

Writing - 3.5

 

CASPA Application Submitted Date: 08/01/15

 

Application Verified Date: 08/20/15

 

Patient Care Experience:

-3 years as a clinical research assistant. Worked in a pathology lab using a spectrometer to collect data on brain tumors and colon. Few schools did not accept it as direct patient contact.

-1 year as a medical office assistant in a family practice. I got limited exposure working directly with patients. Many schools accepted this as direct patient contact which I found ironic.

 

Community Service: 350+ hours (Mostly general hospital volunteering, I was part of a school organization that arranged various volunteering opportunities in which I participated).

 

Shadow Experience: 30 hours shadowing two surgical PAs. My job as a research assistant entails lot of cooperation with different specialist (MDs) so essentially I have over 200 hours of shadowing doctors.

 

Achievements: Co-author on 2 publications in medical journals, certified phlebotomist (never used it), community scholar award, and I am forgetting few other small things.

 

LOR: Pediatric Surgeon/Director of Research aka my boss, Surgical PA (shadowed), Family practice manager.

 

Schools Applied: (13) Western Michigan University, Rosalind Franklin, Eastern Michigan University, Augsburg University, University of Toledo, Drexel, George Washington university, Touro Nevada, Arizona school of Health Sciences, Duke, Texas Tech University Health Science Center, Northwestern, Desales.

Interview Invites: University of Toledo

 

Denied: All except one

 

Accepted: University of Toledo

 

Attempt: 1st

 

Before applying I spent hours and hours looking through almost every page on this forum. Each time I was more discouraged because my GPA, GPAs, and GRE were below average; my patient care experience was inconsistent; and I was too young. So I decided to write this post to give many applicants the courage who find themselves on a crossroad of attempting get in or continue with post-Bach.

 

My single biggest mistake in my application was not submitting early. I could have had at least 2 more interviews to several rolling admission programs. After submitting my app, the waiting game beings but for me it lasted until March (kinda late). I did not receive a single interview from any place, so in January I registered for 3 science courses in a community college to boost my GPAs (btw I called few schools who rejected me and said this was my biggest problem).

I even got a different job working as a rehab aide to get more patient contact experience. Even though I was devastated, I was not going to give up.

 

One day in March I received an interview invite out of the blue; mind you, at this point 12 schools already rejected me. I was more than happy to accept and went 2 weeks after (later dates were available but I wanted to go early). I prepared as much as possible, had about 25 questions written down which I could recite verbatim. Going in with low stats and being my only interview, I knew this is do or die (reapply). Listened to Lose Yourself on my drive there lol

 

I believe the interview levels out the playing field. The admission committee knows you on paper but that's not going to help much if your personality is not well suited for this career. Fortunately for me, the whole interview process (~5 hours) went great and that's mostly due to the program director and interviewers for creating a very comfortable/relaxed atmosphere. As a matter of fact, I was considerably more nervous before going to the interview than during the actual interview.

 

Yesterday I got the acceptance call and could not be any happier!

 

Suggestions: Before interview invite

1. Apply early!!! I spent so much time procrastinating on my personal statement and it did not help.

2. Shadow PAs. This is crucial.

3. Be involved in the community, volunteer, good things will happened!

 

After Invite:

1. Prepare for the interview as much as possible. When you get there, be polite to EVERYONE. Most importantly, be yourself and try to stay calm.

2. Send thank you notes. I know this sounds cliche but it's a professional thing to do and worked for me.

 

I hope this helps. GOODLUCK!!!

Congrats! This helps me a lot. I'm actually waiting for that call too from UT. Only school I applied to actually. I have a question about your thank you notes. I sent a thank you email to my interviewer, only because I was in the very last group to be interviewed. And did not want to hesitate. Did you send it to the entire program, mailed or emailed? Did they mention. They received your note or notes?

 

The wait is killing me. I'm hoping they haven't made all their phone calls yet.

 

Again congrats on getting in!!

 

Sent from my LG-H901 using Tapatalk

[dacomajkin]

Congrats! This helps me a lot. I'm actually waiting for that call too from UT. Only school I applied to actually. I have a question about your thank you notes. I sent a thank you email to my interviewer, only because I was in the very last group to be interviewed. And did not want to hesitate. Did you send it to the entire program, mailed or emailed? Did they mention. They received your note or notes?

 

The wait is killing me. I'm hoping they haven't made all their phone calls yet.

 

Again congrats on getting in!!

 

Sent from my LG-H901 using Tapatalk

 

I sent it to every person who interviewed me, the chair, and even the administrative assistant (5 total). The goal of a thank you note is to remind them of you one last time before they move on to other interviewees. Although snail mail is nice, it would take a week and they could forget you by then. So I sent an email within 48 hours of my interview while they remember me. Nobody responded back but that's completely normal.

[cjosephsmith]

I sent it to every person who interviewed me, the chair, and even the administrative assistant (5 total). The goal of a thank you note is to remind them of you one last time before they move on to other interviewees. Although snail mail is nice, it would take a week and they could forget you by then. So I sent an email within 48 hours of my interview while they remember me. Nobody responded back but that's completely normal.

Great I did the same thing and sent it with 24 hours to the person who interviewed me.

 

Sent from my LG-H901 using Tapatalk

[keyara808]

Undergrad institution: Thomas Edison State University – Bachelor of Science in Applied Science and Technology

 

CASPA Cum. Undergraduate GPA: 3.27

 

CASPA Science Undergraduate GPA: 3.39

 

Age at application: 33

 

GRE: (Didn’t take the GRE so only applied to non-GRE schools-just didn’t have time)

 

Application Verified Date: 8/17/2015

 

Patient Care Experience:

-Spent 12 years as a military corpsman in the Navy.

Places I worked during my time in the Navy: Surgical, Internal Medicine and Oncology ward. Immunization and Internal Medicine Clinic. Deployed during Operation Iraq Freedom and Enduring Freedom (my role there was to assist the General Surgeon during surgery, take care of patients in the ICU, perform minor surgical procedures like suturing, ingrown toenail removal, wound debridement, and see active duty members during sick call.

Supervisor of the following departments: Medical records, Patient Administration, Wellness and Prevention Health and Deployment Health

I got selected to become a Nuclear Medicine Technician as a military corpsman so my last five years in the Navy I worked as a Nuclear Medicine Technician.

 

Community Service: 1000+ hours (teaching smoking cession classes, volunteer for medical coverage during 5K runs, teaching classes to junior sailor for advancement, Orphanage activities like creating games for the kids, fundraising for different organizations, helping with school sport physicals (immunization, doing visual acuity test, taking vital signs), voting assistant representative for the active duty members, and financial advisor for junior sailors-helping them make budgets in aid to save more.

 

These hours were accumulated during my years spent in the Navy and none of the schools I applied to had a time limit on their volunteer hours so I just kept track of what I did over the years.

 

Shadowing Experience: I worked along side two PAs during my time in the Navy. I decided to also shadow PAs in the civilian sector to see how thing were. I shadowed three PAs (Urgent Care, Emergency Medicine, Primary Care), did around 130 hours. I wanted to really get a feel for these specialties as they are the areas of my interest- could change after PA school though!

 

LORs: 1 MD, 1 PA, 1 microbiology professor, 2 past supervisors

 

Achievements:

The Arnold Fletcher Award for exceptional achievement in independent learning(BS degree GPA 3.885), 1 Navy and Commendation Medal, 3 Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals, 2 Letters of Commendations, Nuclear Medicine Technician California State License, and Medical Assistant Certification (worked part time as a MA while I went to school to finish up my pre-reqs)

 

Schools applied (9): Le Moyne College-NY, Philadelphia University-PA, Wichita State University-KS, Drexel University-PA, Southern California School of Health Science-CA, Samuel Merritt-CA, Stony Brook University-NY, Pacific University-OR and University of Madison Wisconsin.

 

Interviews:

Le Moyne

Wichita State (declined)

Drexel

Southern California School of Health Science (declined)

Philadelphia University

 

Waitlist:

Le Moyne, NY

 

Rejected:

Drexel University, Pacific University, Stony Brook

Didn’t get a look by University of Madison Wisconsin (received an email stating one of my courses needed the second half and therefore I couldn’t be move through the next process)

 

Accepted: Philadelphia University, Le Moyne College (removed from the waitlist)

 

Attending: Le Moyne College

 

Attempt: 1st

 

I did my research and applied only to schools where I could see my self-attending and schools I though I would be a good candidate at that program. I have to say, I really doubted myself at times during the process, I kept seeing these 3.8+ GPA and that made me feel like I was inadequate at times. Take it from me, believe in yourself, what is there for you once you put in the work, it will be yours eventually!

I did a little bit of prepping for the interview. I took advice from the PAs I shadowed, they said they are pretty much are just looking for someone they can see as their colleague one day, and just be yourself. I went to Le Moyne and Philedelphia interview and did just that. They made it so easy to be yourself and they were very inviting and everyone tried to answer all your questions. The one interview I wasn’t myself was at Drexel, I was really sick that day and my interviewers were not as welcoming as I had experienced so that really through me off. I would say lesson learned, mentally prepare yourself for ALL types of interviewers you may encounter. At the end of the day, I ended up where I really wanted to be and can’t wait to start this upcoming August! If anyone has any questions feel free to message me and I will do my best to answer! Best of luck to everyone this upcoming cycle, especially to my veterans out there!!!! [emoji106][emoji3]

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[9jaRIANPA]

Undergrad: UCLA (Anthropology Major)

 

CASPA cumulative GPA: 3.64

CASPA science cumulative GPA: 3.42

 

CASPA Submitted: end of May 2015

CASPA Verified: middle June 2015

 

Age: 34

 

GREs:

- Verbal: 154

- Quantitative: 150

- Analytical Writing: 4.0

 

HCE: ~1100 hours as a American Red Cross volunteer CNA in a family clinic at a Naval hospital

50 hrs as a American Heart Association health educator

 

150 hrs EMT-B student (never used the certificate)

 

RESEARCH: Research assistant at UCLA, analyzing field data on the behavior of wild white face capuchin monkeys at lomas barbudal site in Costa Rica.

 

 

Shadowing: 25 hours with a family medicine PA

 

LORs: family medicine PA I shadowed, Anatomy and Physiology professor, Naval hospital Family medicine physician

 

Schools Applied:

Rosalind Franklin, IL - USC, CA - Stony Brook, NY - Saint Francis, PA - Samuel Merritt, CA - CCNY, NY (Sophia Davis school of biomedical education - Marshal B Ketchum university, CA - Duke university, NC - Campbell university, NC - University of Wiscinsin Madison - Cornell university, NY - CUNY YORK COLLEGE - South college, TN - UC DAVIS, CA - University of Alabama Birmingham (15 total)

 

Interviews:

- UC DAVIS, CA

-Stony Brooks, Ny

- CCNY Sophia Davis School of biomedical education, NY

 

Still Waiting:

-South College, TN

 

Waitlist:

- UC Davis

 

Rejected:

Stony Brook, NY - Saint Francis, PA - Samuel Merritt, CA - USC, CA - Marshal B Ketchum university, CA - Duke - Campbell - university of Alabama Birmingham - Rosalind Franklin university - University of Wisconsin Madison - Cornell - Saint Francis -CUNY YORK .

 

Accepted: CCNY Sophia Davis school of biomedical education

 

Attending: CCNY Sophia Davis school of biomedical education

 

Attempt: 1st

 

I am still in shock, and so excited to be posting this! I got the call of acceptance the day the new 2016-2017 CASPA cycle opened. I was already prepping to rework my PS, and look into gathering new LOR's. I was so drained and wanted to give up, but this just shows that God is in control and we should never give up! :)

[KRushin]

I thought I'd go ahead and post this because this thread help me tremendously, and I thought I'd take the time to give back. I am another one of those stories that some love to hear, that you can get into a PA program with a low cumulative GPA. Don't want to give false hope to anyone either. It takes tremendous dedication, persistence, and turning your life around (and more schooling). So here is my story, and application. Sorry for long post, feel free to skip to stats if you don't want back story :-p.

 

My story in a nut shell:

In High School, I was student athletic trainer (my HS program was structure and taught like a college program). I loved every moment of it, and did well. For college, I decided I wanted to continue to pursue the orthopedic route as an MD (didn't know much about PAs at this point). My undergraduate started out amazing but "life" happened and ended up struggling financially and emotionally (depression), so my grades fell by the wayside as I tried to stay afloat (failing and repeating many classes. I was more worried about work [tutoring, and other people's grades] than my own grades. I  "tripped headed into the finish line". In fact, I actually received an academic probation warning letter after my last semester (but I had just graduated). I took half a year off and reflected on not achieving my lifelong goal. Luckily, I was a tutor for the university and knew lots of the faculty personally and from my time tutoring. They knew I was smart and capable. My University's GPA wasn't too bad (just CASPA's calculated GPA). They gave me a shot and accepted me to Grad School and gave me a Graduate Assistantship. I took my second chance, ran with it and never looked back!

 

Biggest tip if i were to reapply:

1. Apply early... like really (especially if one portion of your application is really deficient, like my undergraduate GPA). By the time my application was received, some people were already being accepted and interview slots were getting tight... so it is easy to pass on application that is deficient in one area.
2. Like so many others have suggested... Have a strong personal statement. Something that grabs the attention of someone who is reading it. Be genuine and after the statement they should have a good understanding of who you are, and why you want to be a PA. Don't need to explicitly state these things, but I think a strong story with inferred meaning is even better.
3. Be sure you have a more accurate gauge of your CASPA GPA. I was instantly rejected to 3 schools I applied too because I was assuming my CASPA GPA was higher... would be nice to have back that $400-500. 
4. Try to find a good fit for you application, It will save you time and money. In hindsight of the schools I picked, I really should have only applied to 5-6 of them, not all 14 I applied too. I'm not saying don't apply to lots of schools, just apply to "13-14 good fits" around the country. For me, only ~5-6 of the ones i picked were actual good fits and realistic, while the others were long shots "because they were close". Do your research and find good fits. After all my school was halfway across the US!

 

Note: I can't see old official verified applications. Most of the CASPA GPA's I remember , but some of them are close approximation to what I remember.

Bachelor's Degree: Health Science Studies (Pre-Med), Baylor University

CASPA Cumulative Undergraduate GPA: 2.89

CASPA Science Undergraduate GPA: 2.78

Note(156 ATTEMPTED, 138 credits received): My university calculated GPA was higher(~3.3,  so ~0.4 points higher!), but as you can see failing/retaking classes severely affects CASPA GPA. 

 

Graduate Degree(36 hours): Exercise Physiology (M.S.), Baylor University

Grad GPA: 3.85

Grad Science GPA: 3.88

 

[After Grad school] Post-Bac Science GPA(19 Hours): 4.0 - All Science PA Preqreq's (Anatomy, MicoBio, Genetics,etc...)

 

GPA(50): 3.92 

Overall CASPA GPA: 3.11

Overall CASPA Science GPA: 3.00 (yes, exactly 3.00)

Age at application time: 25

GRE: Q: 155 (60%), V: 151 (50%), A: 4.0 (56%) 

LOR: Cardiac Rehab Head-Nurse, Ortho PA, and Professor (Grad Program Director)

Direct Patient Care: (type & hours): 600 - 3400 hours

600 Hours - Cardio-Pulmonary Rehabilitation (In-hospital Phases 1-3)- Exercise Physiologist

~2800 - Athletic Trainer/Sports Medicine - High School, its debated if you should have high school things on your application, but I felt strongly that this helped guide me to where I am. Interestingly, this came up during my interview and they agreed! Although, in general, I would still follow the advise of not putting high school based credentials unless you feel strongly and can justify why you believe it should.

Health Care Shadowing: 410 hours

110 hours Orthopedic PA

~300 hours Orthopedic Surgeon - High school

Extracurricular/Research Activities:  Volunteer + community service hours (~160 hours since start of college)

 

Schools Applied: (14!!!!): UNT, UTMB,Baylor, TTU, AT Still, OU OKC, Arkansas, Mississippi College, Misericordia, Wingate, Samuel Merritt, Rosalind Franklin, Methodist, South College

Application Submitted Date (most): ~ 7/25/2015
Schools Received Application Date: Early August

Application Verified: 9/1/2015

Schools Rejected:  UNT, UTMB, Baylor, TTU, AT Still, OU OKC, Mississippi College, Misericordia, Samuel Merritt, Methodist

Interview Invites: 1 - Wingate

Interview Date: Wingate - 2/17/2016 (One of the last interviews unfortunately)

Waitlisted: Wingate (5th), 
Accepted: Pulled of wait list Wingate 6/1/2016!!

Attending: Wingate

Attempt: 1st

 

 

Find the right school that fits you. I had no idea who Wingate was prior to doing research into PA Schools. I found out about them because of this forum thread in particular! I got a strong impression and feeling Wingate was similar to Baylor (personality, atmosphere, mission, faculty, etc..). Best of all, they put more emphasis on recent success than entire academic history.  It was a no-brainer to apply to Wingate. Once I arrived on campus for my interview and got to talk to faculty and staff, everything I thought was confirmed, and I knew it was perfect a place for me.

 

If anyone has any questions or would like to talk, feel free to send me a private message.

[Petunia]

 

I thought I'd go ahead and post this because this thread help me tremendously, and I thought I'd take the time to give back. I am one of those stories some love to hear, that you can get into a PA program with a low cumulative GPA. It takes tremendous dedication, persistence, and turning your life around. Lastly, it only takes ONE school to like you.

 

My story in a nut shell: My undergraduate started out amazing but "life" happened and ended up struggling financially and emotionally (depression), so my grades fell by the wayside as i tried to stay afloat (failing and repeating many classes) and i "tripped headed into the finish line". In fact, I actually received an academic probation warning letter after my last semester (but I graduated). I took half a year off and reflected on not achieving my lifelong goal. Luckily I was a tutor for the university, and knew many of the faculty and they knew i was quite smart. When I applied to Grad school they were actually quite shocked when they did see my transcript (they thought it would be better). They gave me a shot and accepted me to Grad School and gave me a Graduate Assistantship.... I took my second chance, ran with it and never looked back. 

 

Biggest tip if i were to reapply:

1. Apply early... like really (especially if one portion of your application is really deficient, like my undergraduate GPA). By the time my application was received, some people were already being accepted and interview slots were getting tight... so it is easy to pass on application that is deficient in one area.
2. Be sure you have a more accurate gauge of your CASPA GPA. I was intantly rejected to 3 schools I applied too because I was assuming my CASPA GPA was higher... would be nice to have back that $400-500. 
3. Try to find a good fit for you application. Save your time and money, in hindsight of the schools I picked I really should have only applied to 6-7 of them, not all 14 I eventually applied too. Not saying don't apply to lots of schools, just ones that are realistic / a good fit.

Note: I can't see old official verified applications. Most of the CASPA GPA's I remember , but some of them are close approximation to what I remember.

Bachelor's Degree: Health Science Studies (Pre-Med), Baylor University

CASPA Cumulative Undergraduate GPA: 2.89

CASPA Science Undergraduate GPA: 2.78

Note(156 ATTEMPTED, 138 credits received): My University GPA was much higher, but as you can see failing/retaking classes severely affects CASPA GPA.

 

Graduate Degree(36 hours): Exercise Physiology (M.S.), Baylor University

Grad GPA: 3.85

Grad Science GPA: 3.88

 

Post-Bac Science GPA(19 Hours): 4.0 - All Science PA Preqreq's (Anatomy, MicoBio, Genetics,etc...)

 

GPA(50): 3.92 

Overall CASPA GPA: 3.11

Overall CASPA Science GPA: 3.00 (yes, exactly 3.00)

 

Age at application time: 25

 

GRE: Q: 155 (60%), V: 151 (50%), A: 4.0 (56%) 

 

Direct Patient Care: (type & hours): 600 - 3400 hours

600 Hours - Cardio-Pulmonary Rehabilitation (In-hospital Phases 1-3)- Exercise Physiologist

~2800 - Athletic Trainer/Sports Medicine - High School, its debated if you should have high school things on your application, but I feel strongly that this helped guide me to where i am, and interestingly talked about it during my interview and they agreed! Although, in general, I would still follow the advise of not putting high school based credentials unless you feel strongly and can justify why you believe it should.

 

 

Health Care Shadowing: 410 hours

110 hours Orthopedic PA

~300 hours Orthopedic Surgeon - High school

 

Extracurricular/Research Activities:  Volunteer + community service hours (~160 hours since start of college)

Schools Applied: (14!!!!): UNT, UTMB,Baylor, TTU, AT Still, OU OKC, Arkansas, Mississippi College, Misericordia, Wingate, Samuel Merritt, Rosalind Franklin, Methodist, South College

Application Submitted Date (most): ~ 7/25/2015

Schools Received Application Date: Early August

Application Verified: 9/1/2015

 

Schools Rejected:  UNT, UTMB, Baylor, TTU, AT Still, OU OKC, Mississippi College, Misericordia, Samuel Merritt

Interview Invites: 1 - Wingate

Interview Date: Wingate - 2/17/2016 (One of the last interviews unfortunately)

Waitlisted: Wingate (5th), 

Accepted: Pulled of wait list Wingate 6/1/2016!!

Attending: Wingate

Attempt: 1st

 

Find the right school that fits you, for me once I saw how similar Wingate was to Baylor, and how the cared more about recent success than entire academic history... it was a no-brainer to apply to Wingate. If anyone has any questions, or would like to talk feel free to send me a private message.

 

Awesome story!  I'm so happy for you- and how exciting to be starting so soon!

[Jacob_whitney]

Undergrad Ed School: Union University (Cell and Molecular Biology)
Cumulative Undergrad. GPA: 3.553
Science Undergrad. GPA: 3.48


Age at application time: 21

GRE:

159 Quantitative (75%)

157 Qualitative (74%)

4.0 Analytical (56%)

Direct Patient Care: 
1000 hours EMT-B

Extracurricular/Research Activities:

Collegiate Cross Country NCAA Division II

I have been a volunteer Leader in an organization called Young Life for 2 years now. It is a Youth Outreach Ministry. (About 6 hours a week)

 

 

LOR: HPAC committee at my University, an MD, and my Cross Country Coach (Has a doctorate in exercise science)

 

Schools Applying: Wake Forest, UAB, Lincoln Memorial, NAU, UT Memphis, Elon

Submitting application: June 30th

 

 

ADVICE NEEDED:

I understand I am a relatively young applicant but I am trying to determine what I really need to beef up before I submit my applications or what I really need to emphasize in essays and what not. Any suggestions or comments are appreciated!

[gc8]

Jacos_W. It would strengthen your application to do some shadowing of PAs. Programs like for applicants to have a solid understanding of what they are getting into, plus it will help you when you have some anecdotes to reference when interviewing with the program.

 

Also, it would be great if you could get a solid letter of recommendation from someone at your EMT-B job, as well as from a PA. Your volunteer experience would be better if you could somehow do some volunteering for the underserved. A lot of PA programs really emphasize serving those who are low on finances, insurance, etc. Good luck to you.

[acasto]

Undergrad Ed School: Bowling Green State University

Cumulative Undergrad. GPA: 3.94

Science Undergrad. GPA: 3.99

 

Age at application time : 21

 

1st GRE: 155V, 157Q 4.0W

 

Direct Patient Care : approx. 80 at time of application, became a full time resident care associate at an assisted living facility during interview processes. Have about 350 now.

 

Extracurricular/Research Activities: genetics research on parasites, attended bioinformatics workshops for two years, leadership positions in 3 organizations, volunteered as a swim coach for Special Olympics, volunteered for a children's hospital several times, approximately 100 hours shadowing physicians, and 40 shadowing PAs

 

Schools Applied: 5

 

Application Submitted Date: sometime in early September

 

Schools Received Application Date: (approximate date) 2-3 weeks after application

 

Interview Invites: 5

 

Denied: 1

 

Withdrew Application: 1

 

Waitlisted: 2

 

Accepted: 3 (accepted at both the schools I was wait listed to)

[Jacob_whitney]

Jacos_W. It would strengthen your application to do some shadowing of PAs. Programs like for applicants to have a solid understanding of what they are getting into, plus it will help you when you have some anecdotes to reference when interviewing with the program.

 

Also, it would be great if you could get a solid letter of recommendation from someone at your EMT-B job, as well as from a PA. Your volunteer experience would be better if you could somehow do some volunteering for the underserved. A lot of PA programs really emphasize serving those who are low on finances, insurance, etc. Good luck to you.

Thanks for your input! I have limited (16 hours) of shadowing. I am working on getting a few more hours here in the next few weeks. Hopefully up to at least 40.

[Faggiolaccio]

I have moved my stats to the appropriate "Not accepted" page.

[bbowler]

Undergrad Ed School: Dixie State University

 

Cumulative Undergrad. GPA: 3.7

Science Undergrad. GPA: 3.58

 

Age at application time : 25

 

1st GRE: 147 quant 147 qual 5 written

 

Direct Patient Care : psych tech 1600 hrs

Psych tech 600

Orderly - heart team 1500

Patient transporter imaging - 300

 

About 4000 total

 

Extracurricular/Research Activities:

 

Cum laude

Ambassador presidency member

Treasurer pre PA club

Member AAPA

 

Volunteer

 

7700 hours missionary service

150 hours doctors volunteer clinic

150 hours Boy Scouts advisor

150 hours youth advisor

60 hours visiting with assisted living facilities

 

Shadow

 

60 hours orthopedic PAs

60 hours cardiovascular and thoracic PAs

8 hours general surgery PA

 

LOR

 

Orthopedic PA

CV PA

President of University (mentor)

 

Schools Applied: NYIT, U of U, Midwestern AZ, Samuel Merritt, Touro CA, Indiana State, UT southwestern, Emory, South College, Clarkson, Albany, GWU

 

Application Submitted Date: 5/26/16

 

Verified: 5/27/16

 

Interview Invites:

 

Denied:

 

Withdrew Application:

 

Waitlisted:

 

Accepted:

 

My GRE is a little low which is unfortunate but I was hoping I could still look competitive what do you guys think?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[orthotech85]

@bbowler I would suggest you take the expense and retake the GRE as some places might auto filter you if they have a hard 150 per category cutoff

[gcox87]

Just FYI, this thread is generally for accepted stats. People who have applied and still waiting normally post on the "stats not accepted yet" thread.

[8404PA]

Accepted Stats

I finally get to post these! I hope I am a beacon for those who are concerned about their stats. Don't give up and if you truly want to be a PA, you will be one. I still remember siting on a ridge line in Afghanistan thinking about how impossible it would be for me to become a PA; how a high school student with a 1.21 GPA could ever hope to take physics, chemistry and cellular physiology and expect to be one of the 2% of applicants who are told "congrats, welcome". I changed my thought process and told myself I would do it - I'm proof that once you eliminate the impossible, no matter how improbable, must be possible. I also highly recommend Andy Rodican's books. 


Undergrad Ed School: Wright State University (BS - Applied Physiology) 

Cumulative Undergrad. GPA: 3.379
Science Undergrad. GPA: 3.2

Age at application time : 27

 

Attempt: first time 

GRE: 307

Direct Patient Care : Navy Corpsman with infantry Marines (est. 21,400 hours) and includes a few certifications

Extracurricular/Research Activities: 2 yrs combinatorial synthetic chemistry for Alzheimer's drug discovery. Organic Chemistry lab TA, Anatomy lab TA, Elementary Chemistry TA.

 

​LOR: PA, Ochem Professor and Marine infantry officer

 

Shadow: 80 hours, not including time working for a PA as a corpsman

Schools Applied: 12-ish schools

Application Submitted Date: 20June2015

Interview Invites: Ohio Dominican, South College

Denied: n/a

Waitlisted: Ohio Dominican 

Accepted: South College

[PzawifetoPA]

I've reposted my Stats on the Not Yet Accepted page...

[TheFatMan]

Accepted Stats

I finally get to post these! I hope I am a beacon for those who are concerned about their stats. Don't give up and if you truly want to be a PA, you will be one. I still remember siting on a ridge line in Afghanistan thinking about how impossible it would be for me to become a PA; how a high school student with a 1.21 GPA could ever hope to take physics, chemistry and cellular physiology and expect to be one of the 2% of applicants who are told "congrats, welcome". I changed my thought process and told myself I would do it - I'm proof that once you eliminate the impossible, no matter how improbable, must be possible. I also highly recommend Andy Rodican's books. 

 

 

Undergrad Ed School: Wright State University (BS - Applied Physiology) 

Cumulative Undergrad. GPA: 3.379

Science Undergrad. GPA: 3.2

 

Age at application time : 27

 

Attempt: first time 

 

GRE: 307

 

Direct Patient Care : Navy Corpsman with infantry Marines (est. 21,400 hours) and includes a few certifications

 

Extracurricular/Research Activities: 2 yrs combinatorial synthetic chemistry for Alzheimer's drug discovery. Organic Chemistry lab TA, Anatomy lab TA, Elementary Chemistry TA.

 

​LOR: PA, Ochem Professor and Marine infantry officer

 

Shadow: 80 hours, not including time working for a PA as a corpsman

 

Schools Applied: 12-ish schools

 

Application Submitted Date: 20June2015

 

Interview Invites: Ohio Dominican, South College

 

Denied: n/a

 

Waitlisted: Ohio Dominican 

 

Accepted: South College

When you put your PCE into CASPA, did you list each duty station/or primary duty (sick call, senior line, whatever) separately, or did you simply put "Hospital Corpsman - 21k hours". I have not applied yet but am curious.

 

Rah.

 

Also, congrats on the acceptance!

[dilemma84]

Finally get to post on this after years of hard work.

 

Undergrad Ed School: Rutgers (Biochemistry)

Cumulative Undergrad. GPA: 3.4
Science Undergrad. GPA: 3.3

Age at application time : 24

 

Attempt: second time

GRE: none

Direct Patient Care : CNA subacute unit ~1000 hours

Extracurricular/Research Activities: one semester research on drug interactions

 

​LOR: PA, Superintendent, and supervisor from subacute unit

 

Shadow: countless hours of shadowing an emergency medicine PA and pain medicine PA

Schools Applied: 16ish

Application Submitted Date: around May, 2015

Interview Invites: Rutgers, USciences, Touro (bay area)

Denied: UPhila

Waitlisted: Rutgers, USciences, Touro (bay area)

Accepted: RUTGERS!!!! - also my top choice and really the only place i wanted to go for PA

 

 

Dreams do come true if you work hard enough to earn them!

 

Can't tell you how often i was on this forum looking for ways to improve my application, tips and tricks, reading up on applicants' stats and wishing one day i can do the same.

[8404PA]

When you put your PCE into CASPA, did you list each duty station/or primary duty (sick call, senior line, whatever) separately, or did you simply put "Hospital Corpsman - 21k hours". I have not applied yet but am curious.

 

Rah.

 

Also, congrats on the acceptance!

Thanks brother. I just lumped it all together into one number. Seemed to have a significant impact in both my interviews because they all commented on my experience several times.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk