L2014 Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 Hey all, I have applied this cycle and sent out quite a few applications. I've received a few rejections outright, an interview that turned into wait list, and still have not heard back from a handful of schools. Now that it's December I am formulating my plan for the worst case scenario of re-applying next cycle. Here are my stats: Overall GPA: 3.36 Science: 2.84 Experiences: ~1,000 hours working as a scribe in the ER ~1,500 hours working as a Registered Pharmacy Technician ~150 hours volunteering at a clinic (triage, vital signs, assisting provider, etc) ~250 hours shadowing (primary care PA, NP, orthopedic PA) I know that the majority of my patient experiences are not the most hands-on, but most of the schools I applied to count the scribe hours as direct experience. At this point I think my science GPA is holding me back the most. I am planning on taking Organic 2 with Lab in the Spring, but this is at a community college and the selection of classes that I have not taken is very slim. Would it raise a red flag to admissions committees if I were to take a 2000 or even 1000 level science class such as Nutrition or Human/Reproductive Inheritance in order to boost my science GPA over the 3.0 threshold?? Additionally, should I plan to obtain better patient care experience by getting my CNA license. I previously had my license and applied to several positions over the course of a year without success as I did not have any previous experience in the health care field. Any advice is appreciated! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guiriguiri Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 Harder classes are better but anything that counts (check CASPA), I would take to get my sGPA over a 3.0 and avoid some automatic rejections. You want a human to have to look at your application at the very least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyNameWasUsed Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 Definitely take the upper division courses and get As. How's your GRE? Also great mentality on thinking about a backup plan already! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L2014 Posted December 3, 2015 Author Share Posted December 3, 2015 Definitely take the upper division courses and get As. How's your GRE? Also great mentality on thinking about a backup plan already! That's what I figured. GRE is decent I think 149 verbal, 157 quantitative, 4.5 writing. Going to email around to my top schools and see if they think I should retake it. Thanks! I know it isn't an easy route to become a PA but I'm determined! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphycol31 Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 I wouldn't bother to retake the gre. Most want to see your at least at the half way point, which you are. As far as science courses go, I was a biology major and chose lots of science electives surrounding evolution and ecology. I personally found these upper levels to be less difficult, interesting, and they didn't hurt me because I had all the required prerequisites. Something to consider. Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cop to pa Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 If your prereq classes are low (C range) then consider retaking them. Otherwise, look at the CASPA FAQ for what counts as science classes, take some you haven't taken before (CASPA averages retakes) and ace them to boost the sGPA above 3.0. Harder/upper division courses are great to show you can do it, but you need to boost that sGPA for anyone to look at what you actually took. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vejovis Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 Take classes and work as a PCT in a hospital. Great hands-on experience and no license needed. Hospital will train you Sent from my Samsung Galaxy using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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