EWil Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 Hi, my name is Emma and I was curious if anyone can help me out with a question. I currently work as a certified surgical tech and went back to school to finish my bachelors degree with the hopes of applying to pa schools afterwards. I have ran in to a few snags here and there that I was able to work out but have I run in to another issue that could set me back. I was looking at some of the programs that I was interested in and saw that some of them ask for a matriculation of science courses be 3 yrs to 5 yrs before applying. I have been a CST for almost 5 yrs and some experience before that as a CNA. My question is if these programs would take into a grandfather effect since I have been in the medical field for a bit or if they will not accept my classes that I took back in 2009/2010 unless I go back and make those classes current? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiggySRNA Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 It would be best to send an email to the programs you're interested in and ask for confirmation. They will be the one to ultimately decide. I hope it works in your favor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphycol31 Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 I believe you can appeal some classes to the schools where you would state what you discussed. Contact the schools your interested in directly to find out there procedure. Some schools, because I dealt with this a bit myself, are more than 3-5. Some as many years as 7-10. So really do your research and if it means retaking a few pre-requisites for your goal, than its about the dedication :) Goodluck! Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittlestBig Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 I know the school I got into makes no exceptions so that it's a completely fair application process. That being said, only 1 class had to be taken in the last 5 years and the other classes had to be taken within 10. The 5 year deadline can be tricky for everyone because even if you take a course your freshman year of college and graduate on time, you're running close to the 5 year mark. I'd say depends on the school but most are pretty strict because they want the person to have the highest chance of succeeding when in their program. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MT2PA Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 Totally depends on the school. Some will use it as a hard cutoff to weed out applications while others may be lenient if it's off by a year or so. Others still will waive the expiration if it's something you use regularly in your profession. That said, gen bio and ochem are rarely going to be considered 'used' in most careers. If you choose not to contact the schools (I highly recommend you do) err on the side of assuming it is a hard cutoff or you'll waste a lot of time and money applying to programs that will toss your app early on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EWil Posted January 17, 2016 Author Share Posted January 17, 2016 I am currently in gen Chem and will have taken everything else within the time allotted besides anatomy and physiology, and microbiology (I took in 2009 and 2010). Hopefully it does work out in my favor because I was already pushed back a year to apply due to advisor issues. I will be calling the programs tomorrow to hopefully get the answers I'm hoping for. Thank you all for your advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pa*prika Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 I find myself in the same scenario. My pre reqs will be about 10 yrs old by the time I apply....does this mean I will have to do them ALL again? Even though I have been working and using this knowledge all this time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator rev ronin Posted January 19, 2016 Administrator Share Posted January 19, 2016 It would be best to send an email to the programs you're interested in and ask for confirmation. No it wouldn't. They have currency requirements on science prerequisites for a reason. For every person who wants an exception or waiver, there are 5-15 applicants who already meet those requirements. Why would a program even bother to consider such a request unless it was from an exceptional candidate, such as a Ph.D. Biology professor who wants to go into direct patient care (and don't laugh--we've had them pop up on this forum occasionally) While it's true that you never get 100% of what you do not ask for... it's really not a productive use of your time or energy. Why would a program be more inclined to grant such a waiver than a waiver of minimum GPA requirement? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MT2PA Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 I find myself in the same scenario. My pre reqs will be about 10 yrs old by the time I apply....does this mean I will have to do them ALL again? Even though I have been working and using this knowledge all this time? Depends on the program and how you've been 'using' the knowledge. Very few careers actually put the pre-reqs to use in a way that maintains the knowledge. So short answer? Probably, yea, you'll need to retake them or find programs with no time limit on pre-reqs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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