TPA16 Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Disclaimer: I WANT TO BE A PA, this is not a jealousy post, I am just curious on the logistics my friend and i come from the same university Me: applied to PA 3.35 GPA, (From 2.0 --> 3.6, 3.8 ,3.7) experience as emt, dental assistant, medical assistant, pt assistant (over 1,200 hours) shadowed 3 PAs, 1 DO, 2 NP Friend: applied to DO 3.5GPA volunteer hospital for 70 hours, EMT cert but never used 27 MCAT PA school, ~ 28-40 seats DO school, 100-300 seats me: 1 interview invite and 1 rejection, applied to 15 schools (so far) friend: 2 invites, 1 waitlist, applied to 40 schools (so far) me: pretty detailed interview experience involving my healthcare credentials and motivation to become pa him: simple questions, "whats the best quality in a doc?" "what color would u be and why " I am so happy for the both of us that we both got at least one interview so far. I know he took the mcat which honestly was a crazy experience, i give him so much credit for that. and I guess thats a huge factor med schools look at. for some reason, I just feel that theres less of a chance to get accepted on my end than his. i guess the difference in GPA also goes a long way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disciple3 Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 It's not just you, it has become harder. I can't remember where I read it but about 27% of the people that apply to PA school will get a seat somewhere as opposed to like 30something% of those that apply to med school. There are other threads on here about this. Also remember the DO application allows for grade replacements and PA doesn't... my GPA would've been great then ^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cop to pa Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 27.35% for PA 44% for MD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HMN Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Just curious where you got these numbers. I was recently accepted to 3 programs, one of which seemed obscenely competitive and I had speculated that getting into the COM would have been easier...I just know if I use your numbers with my statistician husband, he's gonna ask for sources.... 27.35% for PA 44% for MD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camha92 Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 well, i've seen those percentages on the apaa and other credible sources; they speak for themselves. However, keep in mind that medical schools have MUCH more competitive applicants from VERY GOOD universities and colleges. Let's take schools like harvard and stanford for instance. They have ~3.9 gpa from top 50 universities and ~37 mcat scores. I doubt even the most competitive PA applicants have those stats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JPG13 Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 well, i've seen those percentages on the apaa and other credible sources; they speak for themselves. However, keep in mind that medical schools have MUCH more competitive applicants from VERY GOOD universities and colleges. Let's take schools like harvard and stanford for instance. They have ~3.9 gpa from top 50 universities and ~37 mcat scores. I doubt even the most competitive PA applicants have those stats. Agreed. PA admissions is more competitive in a strictly numbers sense. But using raw data isn't the end all be all. I think a lot of unqualified/under-qualified people apply to PA school simply because it's "popular" right now (what with it topping all the "best jobs in America" lists and whatnot). Everyone and their mom wants to be a PA, which inflates the number of applicants but does not tell us anything about the quality of applicants. Pre-meds need better GPAs (average GPA is higher than pre-PA applicants IIRC), a good MCAT score (let's be honest, the GRE is a joke), clinical experience/volunteer hours, an active extracurricular life, and sometimes research depending on the school. I'm not saying pre-PAs DON'T have those qualities. I myself applied with a 3.9 sGPA/cGPA and 2,000 hours of HCE, and have studied for the MCAT in the past so I fully understand how much harder it is than the GRE. I'm sure there are many outstanding pre-PA applicants that have great stats and ECs. I just also think there are lots of sub-par applicants trying to get into PA school because it's a trendy profession right now. So let's put things in perspective. Just because med school numbers are more friendly doesn't mean it's significantly easier. Also, it's widely known that DO schools are less competitive than MD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cop to pa Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 HMN, there's a thread on the pre-pa board started on 15 October with the sources I used for the PA calculations. The person after me gave the med school one and listed source there. Sorry, copy and paste ain't working for me right now. Oh, and I was mistaken. Med school is 34%. Not sure where I pulled 44% from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pa2 Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 i for one am thankful this is the case. look at law. the market is flooded with lawyers. too many lawyers, not enough jobs. i am sure every single person here (if they read the news daily) has encountered one or many articles talking about how law applications for law schools are dropping as jobs are drying up or being outsourced (some of them) and that too many are graduating with law degrees. controlling the job market artificially (purposely banning or blocking incredibly good applicants because of no "seat" which can simply be created but isn't) is a good thing. i used to think this was some kind of racketeering scam going on to keep tuition costs high but no, there just are too many people who are capable, and you can't give every hard working person a license to practice. why? well, for one, life is not fair, and yes, two, we have to control supply and demand. you can't let your industry run amok with too much supply. everytime i read physician shortage (obviously i am not a doc.), i become happy. secondly, it's mostly just luck that will get you in. either the interviewer doesn't like you or has a bad day or a good one. to say that an extracurricular activity or some random act of charity/work is better than a comparable one makes no sense over why one applicant for a seat is better than another. it all comes down to whether someone likes you at that point. everyone is already comparably qualified or overqualified at that point (regarding grades/exams/ability to handle the material in professional school). whenever i went for a job interview, i was always aware of my competition. people competing against me were comparable to what i was offering. i was chosen (or not chosen) because i was either male, or of a certain age or background, or had one little thing that the interviewing person liked. it is NOT because i was "more" qualified. same thing with seats in PA school. after the interview, you are liked by that school's culture or not. simple as that. if you don't get a seat, you aren't dumb or a failure. you simply don't fit there. what i am sick of is news articles and media constantly talking about "hot job trends." what i have learned in life is that jobs choose you. usually (if not always) if you hate your job, you will quit. you wouldn't choose a hot trendy job because of money or prestige. you need to be able to do it day in and out and usually people burn out at a point. the money is great but doing work you hate will not last. medicine is not a job to make you rich; i meant to say simple jobs won't make you rich, from medical assistant up to PA (anything below md, do, etc.). you are working in this field because you actually like medicine. and most doctors i know (although they deserve the money imo) do it because they are really good at it and do like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winterallsummer Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 Excluding MCAT I would say PA school is harder to get into. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moy505 Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Excluding MCAT I would say PA school is harder to get into. Not true. MD med schools are deff harder to get into. I know people that have interviewed at schools like Duke for PA that have a very slim chance of getting into ANY MD school. Admission into DO school is probably very similar to admission into PA school. It's common to see DO students with 3.5 GPAs and 27MCATS. FYI a 27 MCAT is not to difficult to achieve if you study for 3 solid months. This is all assuming that the applicant has everything else PA schools look for. Obvs if the applicant has 0 HCE then med school is prob easier to get into. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbum Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 secondly, it's mostly just luck that will get you in. either the interviewer doesn't like you or has a bad day or a good one. to say that an extracurricular activity or some random act of charity/work is better than a comparable one makes no sense over why one applicant for a seat is better than another. it all comes down to whether someone likes you at that point. everyone is already comparably qualified or overqualified at that point (regarding grades/exams/ability to handle the material in professional school). Really? Just luck? What about years of effort getting better grades than average, studying to get better GRE scores, time spent gaining quality HCE, preparing and practicing for interviews, etc, etc, etc. If a person is content to be an "average" candidate, then sure...some luck will be involved. But it is entirely possible for a person to stack the deck SO much in his/her favor that luck is a non-factor. It is possible to be the obvious choice for PA school...it takes work, but I'll take that over taking my chances any day. "It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." -Invictus, by Henley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MT2PA Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 whenever i went for a job interview, i was always aware of my competition. people competing against me were comparable to what i was offering. i was chosen (or not chosen) because i was either male, or of a certain age or background, or had one little thing that the interviewing person liked. it is NOT because i was "more" qualified. same thing with seats in PA school. after the interview, you are liked by that school's culture or not. simple as that. if you don't get a seat, you aren't dumb or a failure. you simply don't fit there. Yea I take a little issue with this, too. I agree that if you don't get in it may be that you just don't fit (and maybe didn't apply to the right schools). But in all honesty, there are probably some applicants that just really aren't cut out for the field. Drive doesn't always get you where you want. I've applied for many jobs, and interviewed, and I know whole-heartedly that I got the jobs because I was more qualified than other applicants. Sure, that may not be true for an entry level, HS education only job, but as someone with degrees and certifications for a specific field, I got the job because I could do it. At some point, that holds true for PA school (or med school). All applicants are NOT equal and your age and gender should NOT play a role; the most qualified applicants will be the ones to get in. If you didn't get in, it's not because of your gender or age, it's other factors. Even people who get interviews aren't cut out for the field. You can look great on paper but have some serious character flaws that come out in an interview and, I'm sorry, that makes you less qualified than another applicants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
db_pavnp Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 I am comfortable with an alternate opinion - every interview process is inherently defined by humans and is obscenely biased. It gets worse as the applicant to seat ratio grows and this is true for every profession, job, whatever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAGuy55 Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 Both are difficult in their own way. PA students have much greater clinical experience as opposed to MD/DO who basically have a few shadowing hours. GPA requirements are similar and most PA applicants have the biology degree which is what most pre meds have. I have friends in PA school who could have easily gained admission to medical school. I have friends in med school who would not have been accepted to PA school due to lack of experience. Both are great careers. Depends on your own personal and professional goals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyfall Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 I heard it's just as hard. I saw interviewees for PA school who had GPA of 3.8+ (mostly bio majors too) and with stellar extracurriculars/experience. They totally could've applied for med school too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nsen1 Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Any suggestions? I'm thinking to apply for PA school in 2017 for the 2018 year. I still have to take all my prerequisites, i have a few W's and I know it looks bad. My GPA as of now is a 3.4 which is average but it's in liberal arts and sciences. Is there any suggestions on applying to PA school? Such as GRE score, prerequisite science courses etc. I was thinking of going to med school but I would rather do PA instead. I also know that is highly competitive. Thank you very much! ~MiSs Sen xo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cop to pa Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 A LOT of threads on this forum about this subject. Welcome here. Please take a look, and try not to hijack threads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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