ilygurlie Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 I'll admit, I become very apathetic in college. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do for the first two years (so I just took a whole bunch of science classes, because I knew I wanted to do medicine) and by the time I came across being the PA profession my grades were awful. I know it's super competitive.. probably more competitive than med school, but I KNOW this is what I want to do. I graduated this past May with a 3.1 gpa in general sports science (most people go to PT school with this major, few people go to PA or med school). My science gpa is awful. I have gotten a D in organic chem I, II, and Physics. It's probably a 2.5 right now. My current plan is to retake those classes + more upper level sciences at another college near my original hometown. I am aiming for a 4.0 GPA now that I am motivated to become a PA. I'm hoping my GPA will go up to a 3.3 by the end of the full school year. I have also taken a CNA course and will be getting my certification soon. I know I messed (edited) up greatly, but I am hoping I can get into PA at most in two years. Is this possible? I want to get about 1000 paid work hours by next August.. but I don't know if this is enough. I have talked to PA admission board members, and they have told me if I have a stellar GRE score, that could offset some of my grades. I don't mean to brag, but my previous school was a top notch school known to be academically challenging. That's not an excuse of why I did poorly.. but I am hoping they realize I'm not stupid, just was lazy and didn't seem to have any motivation. Any advice is appreciated, thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreatChecko Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 So...this being a professional board and all, I wouldn't go about dropping F-bombs so nonchalantly. "Messed up," "Didn't do well," "Partied too much"....we'd get the point. Otherwise, the plan looks sound. You're just going to have to show that this is a sustained improvement and that those grades weren't a pattern. This will probably take more than a few classes, depending on your overall record, of course. A good GRE score will definitely help too, but focus on that later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilygurlie Posted August 20, 2015 Author Share Posted August 20, 2015 Oh apologies haha. I had posted this on reddit's prephysicianassistant forum (reddit is not professional at all haha) beforehand and just copy and pasted. Thanks for the advice. People were telling me I wouldn't be able to handle working and the courseload and I should just divide the classes into four semesters. Guess I'll see how it goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbum Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 The best "weak application" answer seems to be to thoroughly research every PA program out there and find them ones where your unique strengths are what they're looking for. Then apply to a lot of them. Sooner or later it'll pay off, especially if you heed the excellent advice given above. If you really want to be a PA (or anything else for that matter)...I mean really, really want it...then the only thing that should make you quit should be your own funeral. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 Unfortunately, PA programs viewing you as "lazy and not having any motivation" isn't much better. PA programs want people who have shown that they are driven and motivated to pursue a career that can be very demanding and stressful. Why should they risk taking a chance on you given your lack of effort in undergrad? I would definitely pursue the CNA route and accumulate as many hours as possible to show your commitment while squeezing in science courses at your local community college. Focus on getting an 'A' in every one of them and definitely retake any prerequisite courses that you received a 'D' in since almost all programs have a 'C' cutoff grade. I would not bother with physics as this is typically not a requirement but consider retaking organic and maybe taking biochemistry as well. Study hard for the GRE and focus on scoring at least in the 50 percentile range or above for all categories. There are plenty of people out there that have been in a similar situation as you and have gotten into PA school so keep your head up and good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glorious_Ignoramus Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 There is quality advice on this thread. PA school is very, very competitive; I recently interviewed at a school which admits a 75 student cohort each year (fairly large for PA school it seems to me) but the acceptance rate is 3%. And it is no ivy league school. Schools can only be selective when the competition is fierce - you need to do everything in your power to start overcoming the obstacles of your past. Timon has great posts about overcoming a low GPA. Best of luck to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAGuy55 Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 Like Glorious stated above. It's a fierce competition. The average population who are not informed on the rigors of PA school have absolutely no idea how difficult it is to matriculate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilygurlie Posted August 21, 2015 Author Share Posted August 21, 2015 Thank you all for the advice. I realize how competitive this field is. Many of my friends pursued the PA field but later switched to something else when they realized it was too competitive. I took Biochemistry this summer and got a B+. I will definitely take this all to heart and study hard this upcoming semester. Got my classes and they are all chemistry or biology classes with labs! I'm going to be quite busy.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyM2 Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 DO NOT retake physics. Most PA schools don't require it and probably don't care. At best your new grade will get averaged, in CASPA, with your prior bad grade. Instead take something more relevant (parasitology or something), and make sure to get an A. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilygurlie Posted August 22, 2015 Author Share Posted August 22, 2015 Are you sure? My pre health advisor said to retake it to show I can excel in EVERY science course. I don't like having a D on my transcript and not being able to rectify it in some way if that makes sense.. but maybe it's just a waste of credit hours I could put to better use elsewhere. I do plan on taking immunology, virology, medicinal genetics as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyM2 Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 Those medical science courses are all good ideas. If you get As, they will be great ideas because it shows you can excel in tough medical and biological science courses. If PA schools put any stock in physics, it would be a pre-req. Ask your pre-health advisor if s/he realizes an A on a retake does not replace the bad grade? And what if you get a C? That really puts you in a pickle! I think they are just flat wrong. Schools look at grades, and science grades in particular, to see if you can handle a very rigorous graduate medical program. A bad grade in physics is easy to explain away. You just say: "I really just never got physics. Medical and biological sciences are my strength." Your interviewers likely never "got" physics either so they will be on your side. I was a physics major and I found physics way tougher than chemistry and biology. Death by differential equations and integrals. Trust me and don't retake physics. It just doesn't compute. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted August 22, 2015 Moderator Share Posted August 22, 2015 agree with JM2 above about the retake. some folks get physics, some folks get chemistry, some folks get both. I loved physics, but hated almost every chem course I ever took with very few exceptions, related more to great teachers than course material. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glorious_Ignoramus Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 JM and EMED have it right on. No need to retake physics; I got lackluster grades in physics, never retook, and so far have interviews at 3/6 schools with Sept deadlines, others with later deadlines still waiting to hear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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