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2nd Year Applicant


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On what basis would it be harder?  If you've not improved your application it will be harder if the average of all other applicants has improved more than you have, but hopefully no one does that.

 

Every second or subsequent-time applicant should have more HCE, more classes, a better GPA, a more refined personal statement, and better LORs than the previous year.  Now, you can improve from "entirely hopeless" to "mostly hopeless", but if you're not even getting interviews last year, you should be able to, and if you were waitlisted last year, you should get an acceptance.  Again, all this assumes that you're getting and taking good advice on how to strengthen your app.  If your sGPA is 2.2, neither I nor anyone can help you get in next year.

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I've actually heard the opposite - some schools say that it takes a lot of applicants 2 rounds to get in to their program.  The only way I could see it being harder is that there *may* be more applicants the next year - but with the # of schools increasing, # of seats is going up, too.

 

And like Rev said, if you're not a good applicant, applying again isn't going to magically improve your odds.

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Something to think about if you had an interview last year; if you interviewed, you probably  have what it takes as far as grades experience , etc. You may need to consider your interview skills, because if you don't interview well and you don't improve on those skills, nothing else matters. Good Luck

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have a fairly similar GPA as you IwanttobeaPA and was accepted this year on my second attempt. Just keep your head up and work on improving your application just as others said. I accrued more valuable Direct patient contact hours, retook a class and did more shadowing.

 

Talk about reapplying in your statement and how you have worked to improve your app. I think showing that determination and perseverance helped me!

 

It can be done! Good luck :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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  • 2 months later...

I'm also going to agree with rev on this one, although I do understand more schools are opening their doors to the PA-S crowd and the popularity of the field is growing. BUT as was previously mentioned, unless you're sitting around staring at the calendar and waiting for CASPA to open every year without having improved some aspects of your application, the second time around should show some progress... despite a growing applicant pool. I'm gearing up for round two right now, and I can tell you that one year of rejections lit a fire under me to work on EVERY part of my app. Not to mention, if you're applying to some of the same programs again, you're showing committed interest. Hopefully you make mention in your app of the progress you've made since last cycle (like USAA52 mentioned).

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It is extremely common for people for apply 2 or 3 times. You'd be surprised. Consider the odds of the situation in many schools: 1500 applicants for maybe 50 seats? Qualified people are bound to be turned away.

 

As other people have mentioned, make improvements where you can and make that time in between each CASPA for fulfilling. Challenge yourself in medicine, refine your thoughts---your chances will be better.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello everyone! I have a quick question as a second year applicant. I am reapplying to 1 program this cycle but am also adding 4-5 new programs to my list. I have read that you should re-write your personal statement the second time around but I LOVED my PS last year and am struggling coming up with a new one that is as good. Is it detrimental to use a similar (slightly edited) version of your previous PS? I am not sure if it will be held against me or if they'll even have access to the precious one at all.

 

Thank you for your help!

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Hello everyone! I have a quick question as a second year applicant. I am reapplying to 1 program this cycle but am also adding 4-5 new programs to my list. I have read that you should re-write your personal statement the second time around but I LOVED my PS last year and am struggling coming up with a new one that is as good. Is it detrimental to use a similar (slightly edited) version of your previous PS? I am not sure if it will be held against me or if they'll even have access to the precious one at all.

 

Thank you for your help!

 

I used my almost-the-same personal statement.  I liked it and it very much reflected what led me back to medicine.  Since I did get interviews the first year applied, I didn't consider it a weakness in my application (my grades were a different story!).  I would say I kept 85-90% of it (though I did make tweaks in wording that are typical when you go back and re-read something a year later).  

 

What I did change was my closing statements in the last couple of paragraphs.  I was fairly generic as I applied to some of the same schools but also additional schools, but I made sure that my closing statements talked about what I'd been doing to improve myself as a healthcare professional (not just better my "applicant stats") ... and as a PA student and clinician.  

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