cbrsmurf Posted April 8, 2010 Author Share Posted April 8, 2010 So I just finished my first quarter and managed to get 1 B and the rest A's. Doesn't mean I'll be a good PA, but at least the didatic portion is starting off well. ^ In response to the Q about, I took classes at a community college after my undergrad. Take as many as you can at once (I took over 20 units in one semester and worked full time) and it still won't even be half of the time you need to devote to PA school. Some were repeat classes of bad grades during undergrad, some were new, such as pharmacology and nutrition. Although those were not prereqs for the school I am currently attending, it has given me a headstart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marilynpac Posted April 8, 2010 Share Posted April 8, 2010 Congrats cbrsmurf. As I said earlier, this just may be your niche. It is. Keep your focus. Those As are a shot in the arm! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bike mike Posted April 8, 2010 Share Posted April 8, 2010 Glad to hear that more recent hard work can overshadow some past poor performance. My undergrad performance started of slow (I think I changed majors about 4 times) but had a gradual uptick in performance. i received a masters in kinesiology and held a 3.7 in grad school. Went to work in cardiac rehab and now am the lead exercise physiologist with 12 years experience. I have now completed Microbiology, Sociology, Anatomy. A in all and am taking Physiology now - should get an A. Also volunteer in a free clinic once or twice a month. Didn't get in this year and hope that next application cycle will be the one that lands me a spot in PA school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbrsmurf Posted April 10, 2010 Author Share Posted April 10, 2010 ^ can't believe you didn't get in w/ those stats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bike mike Posted April 10, 2010 Share Posted April 10, 2010 Thanks for the encouragement cbrsmurf. Well, I wasn't all that surprised because the school I applied to "strongly encouraged" that Anatomy, Physiology, and Micro be taken in the last 10 years and it had been 14 yrs since I had completed physiology by the time I applied. I think that "strongly encourage" should read as "don't even think you'll get in if you haven't". Since I'll have completed these three classes over the past year and a half I feel I'll be a stronger candidate next time around. Besides, I have really enjoyed taking these classes over, it has been a really good refresher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradtPA Posted April 10, 2010 Share Posted April 10, 2010 I think that "strongly encourage" should read as "don't even think you'll get in if you haven't". Bingo. When you get 500+ applicants for 30 seats you can afford to be choosy.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stars4ever Posted April 14, 2010 Share Posted April 14, 2010 cbrsmurf - which postbac program did you do? I'm a graduate of UCD and with similar gpa as you. Do you have any pointers for me? I've tried applying at SFSU for their postbac program, but got waitlisted then rejected. I'm currently working as an MA at a rheumatologist office (4 years now). It's so frustrating and I'm almost ready to give up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krunny Posted April 15, 2010 Share Posted April 15, 2010 congrats to all that got in! I had a question, I will be applying this year or soon actually now that CASPA opened up today and I was wondering what I can do to make my application much stronger? My gpa is about a 2.9 and science gpa even lower than that. I have over 1000hrs of work done, and I plan on taking the GRE at the end of this month. I was involved in clubs during my undergrad both in PA and Pharmacy as well. I did a lot of volunteer work for both fields and felt that PA was something I would much rather stick with. Is it bad to include the work I did for Pharmacy under my research and volunteer sections? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYCPA5 Posted April 17, 2010 Share Posted April 17, 2010 Waited a long time to post this! Status: Accepted to Touro Manhattan PA Program class of 2013! Its for the wait list, but its still says acceptance instead of "We regret to inform you....." So, there is def. hope for all the low GPAers out there! :) It only takes one yes! Kacs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graciousgracie Posted April 17, 2010 Share Posted April 17, 2010 yay! ucsd is a gpa killer! :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J383 Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 I have some questions about admissions. I graduated from college in 2005 with a less than stellar GPA (read 2.8). Then I got my Masters in Education and taught H.S for 3 yrs. Then I heard about Medical Technology, took courses in Micro and Anatomy and Physiology 1 + 2 (straight A's in all) and applied to the Medtech program. The Medtech school is accredited and will allow me to sit for the ASCP exam and obtain my license as a Medical Laboratory Scientist. We have taken courses in: Clinical Immunology 2.5 Credits Clinical Chemistry 6 Credits Clinical Hematology 4.5 Credits Clinical Immunohematology/ Blood Bank 5 Credits Microbiology 2.5 Credits Parasitology 2.5 Credits Clinical Coagulation 2.5 Credits Urinalysis/Body Fluids 2.5 Credits Along with these courses, 3 days a week, for a year, we work in various hospital labs around the city. This makes up our clinical rotation grade and we are in the hospitals from 9am-5pm. That puts me at 1000+ hours of healthcare experience (but it isnt direct patient care) With 4 months left in the program, I have As and Bs in all of the above courses. The only class that I've never taken in my academic career was Organic Chemistry (it wasnt required). But I plan on taking that in the summer as I study for my ASCP exam. When I look at prerequisite websites for P.A programs the courses that they mention are generally: Mathematics (Precalculus or Statistics) (3 credits) General Biology + Laboratory (8 credits) General Chemistry + Laboratory (8 credits) Microbiology (3 credits) Organic Chemistry + Laboratory OR Biochemistry + Laboratory (4 credits) Anatomy + Laboratory (4 credits) Physiology (3 credits) Youth is wasted on the young and who I was as a student in college, 6 years ago is not who I am now. Do you think with all the courses I have taken after graduating college I have enough to offset some of those lower grades I obtained when I was younger? I hear everyone talking about their gpas being 3.4 and 3.8 and I haven't applied to CASPA yet because my medtech grades wont be officially available until August. So I don't know where I fall on the CASPA g.p.a scale. I know that they weigh science courses differently but i dont know if all of the post bacc courses I've taken will be outshadowed by the grades I got in college. What else could I be doing to make myself a standout applicant in a sea of standout applicants? I have made contact with two PAs but due to scheduling they still dont have time for me to shadow with them Do additional qualifications such as knowing cpr, really enhance your chances? Sorry for the long winded email but thanks in advance for your reply (and thank you to anyone else who wants to reply). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pa4ever Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 First of all Congrats!!! Second, this might be a really dumb question but how do you raise a GPA after you have already graduated? Is it by re-taking classes at a local college or doing post grad and what exactly is a post grad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbrsmurf Posted February 1, 2011 Author Share Posted February 1, 2011 ^ Re-taking classes does not replace your grade. It just averages out. An A grade replacing a C just equals 3.0. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marilynpac Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 Wow, since this thread has been started a lot is happening very fast to our profession. For those of us who have already graduated, we are grateful that we are done. For many trying to get in....not so. All programs are going to be masters programs and many programs aren't waiting until the deadline and are masters now. Class size will be smaller, competition even more fierce than before(is that possible?), and I have a feeling that we won't be seeing threads like this one going up anymore. This thread has between 7000-8000 views, that speaks volumes. I still look in the PrePA section and someone with a 2.3 or 2.5 will ask what is the fastest, easiest way to get into PA school. A real slap in the face for the rest of us who worked for yrs to get top notch grades and high quality hce. PA school is unique b/c it's a combination of physical and mental work to get in. Not too many other professions can say that. I wrote a post quite a while ago stating that anyone who really wants PA will climb over, bend under, go around, or just push right through any barrier that's put in front of them...that's the PA way. I still stand by what I wrote, it's just going to be a lot more difficult....good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted March 29, 2011 Moderator Share Posted March 29, 2011 how to get into pa school with bad stats? have a parent alumni donate 5 million dollars for a new lecture hall...aside from that good luck.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marilynpac Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 Interesting you should say that E, we had a couple in our class where the parent attended the DO program, donated money, and their child walked into the PA program. One even bragged about while in undergrad didn't bother to show up for his finals, some sort of protest I guess. I call it a "pass" not a free one.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desdes Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Congrats!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahabbaz Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 what's the average amount of schools everyone is applying to??? am i crazy for only applying to 2??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambyrizvi Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 hey quick question ho many semester hours or classes did u take to reach that 3.9 post bacc gpa ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted April 3, 2011 Moderator Share Posted April 3, 2011 what's the average amount of schools everyone is applying to??? am i crazy for only applying to 2??? depends on your gpa/gre/hce, etc I applied to 2 but was pretty sure I would get in. if you don't have lots of experience or a great gpa apply to 10 or so. more than that is silly. if you don't get into 1 of 10 there is something wrong that you need to address. I know an applicant who applied to 35 and got into most. what a waste of money, time, and resources. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marilynpac Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 The OP applied to 18...through CASPA! Eventually got in with a 2.5...act of God.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noekae Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 Love the comic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahabbaz Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 I'm really first starting the process so I really don't know whats considered good my gpa is 3.8, i didn't take GRE's and my hce is i just got certified for emt, 200 volunteer hrs, and 200 shadowing hrs of a pa in a hospital and now shadowing a surgeon - do u think i should be ok??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkimee Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 Thanks for the post... I hope that I will be able to post up a similar thread sometime this year once CASPA opens up again... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbrsmurf Posted April 10, 2011 Author Share Posted April 10, 2011 I just finished my didatic 15 month portion. I didn't get a single C, but some classes were definitely hard to get an A in (for me, at least). Some more HCE might have made some things easier to remember, but doesn't really come into play in this part of the training, in my opinion. I am pretty sure prior HCE experience will play a much larger part in the clinical portion. I guess I'll be seeing real soon how that'll go. Pretty excited and scared. Good luck to all who are interviewing around this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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