Strohmboli Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 Hey guys, so I know there are a lot of fragmented threads that say X school or Y school look at applicants more holistically as opposed to putting so much weight on GPA, but I wanted to get a cumulative listing (with help from the community) of schools that in your experience look at applicants with GPA less in mind. I screwed up early in college so my cum GPA is on the low end for applying and I am kinda in a rut with what schools I should even look at... One thing I've seemed to run into is although Pacific U states they only look at the last 45 credits etc, they have really high GPA standards. Looking for schools that aren't like that. I believe I'm a great applicant, my cum GPA just isn't stellar...looking at right around a 2.9- 3.0 at best....however, my science GPA is 3.4ish and general pre req GPA is 3.6+.in my understanding Idaho St, Duke, MEDEX and Touro are examples of schools that put less emphasis on GPA. Do you know any others? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiggySRNA Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 What is your HCE like? The schools you listed, especially MEDEX, favors years and years of high quality experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strohmboli Posted March 11, 2016 Author Share Posted March 11, 2016 What is your HCE like? The schools you listed, especially MEDEX, favors years and years of high quality experience. At the time of applying next year I'll have around 4k hours as ER tech/ EMT-B in Level 1 Trauma Center/ED, and 2000+ hours as scheduler/clerical position in private practice GI. I know some schools don't consider the clerical work, although I did work directly with patients to go over medical hx etc... On top of that the usual 100-125 hours shadowing, 300 hours-ish volunteering with medical org Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiggySRNA Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 University of Utah PA Program also values HCE. "Exceptions to the GPA policy are rare and at the discretion the graduate admissions committee, where final acceptance is determined. Applicants whose total or overall science GPA (CASPA calculation) are less than 2.7 will not be considered." Might want to give them a shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strohmboli Posted March 11, 2016 Author Share Posted March 11, 2016 University of Utah PA Program also values HCE. "Exceptions to the GPA policy are rare and at the discretion the graduate admissions committee, where final acceptance is determined. Applicants whose total or overall science GPA (CASPA calculation) are less than 2.7 will not be considered." Might want to give them a shot. Good looking out! I forgot about Utah. Seems like the "West coast" is more flexible? Maybe just a small sample size so far... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disciple3 Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 Strohmboli, please refer to the PA applicant stats thread. My post is probably several pages back but I applied to many "holistic" programs. Check it out and check into each of those programs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancer_dancer01 Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 The problem is that the PA profession as a whole is becoming more popular so you will have more qualified applicants each cycle. The more qualified applicants the more likely they will have better GPAs and HCE which makes it harder for applicants to stand out. For example I had a 3.8 overall GPA and about 10000 hours as a respiratory therapist and a lot of my other classmates had way more hours of HCE than me and similar GPAs. As long as you meet the minimum requirements you will have a chance with any program but be aware that you will be going up against a lot of other applicants with similar or better application "stats" (GPA, HCE, research, etc). This is where you have to make your personal statement stand out and have great LORs, that is what will set you apart. Just keep grinding away and applying at a variety of programs. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disciple3 Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 with something around a 3.05 cGPA I got interviews at about half the programs I applied to (12/25?, and declined several of them). But I spent a lot of time to make my HCE, personal statement, GRE etc all shine. You can do it if you want it badly enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wcoast25 Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 I have a very low gpa for most pa applicants, lower than yours, and I was accepted to 4 programs this year. I spent numerous hours researching every single school and what they look for. schools that DON'T require HCE (ie. Idaho State) are going to look for higher gpa, specifically pre-req gpa, and gre scores than other programs that really take HCE into consideration. Also, look at demographics of schools and who they accept. From what I could see MEDEX leans towards northwest students, especially those doing a career switch (ie. nurses, paramedics, military vets, etc). I am from a very rural area in Washington, which I hoped would help me, with thousands of hours of HCE as an MA and I didn't get an interview with them, I think if I had the same amount of hours but was an RN or something I maybe would've gotten an interview. I applied to UofU as well with no interview. I think, and this is not doctrine, that some of the older schools really look at the type of HCE. They're going to take a paramedic over a scribe. They might be willing to accept a lower GPA but they are really looking at high quality HCE. I think looking at a schools demographics is HUGE and really spend time researching each and every school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strohmboli Posted March 11, 2016 Author Share Posted March 11, 2016 The problem is that the PA profession as a whole is becoming more popular so you will have more qualified applicants each cycle. The more qualified applicants the more likely they will have better GPAs and HCE which makes it harder for applicants to stand out. For example I had a 3.8 overall GPA and about 10000 hours as a respiratory therapist and a lot of my other classmates had way more hours of HCE than me and similar GPAs. As long as you meet the minimum requirements you will have a chance with any program but be aware that you will be going up against a lot of other applicants with similar or better application "stats" (GPA, HCE, research, etc). This is where you have to make your personal statement stand out and have great LORs, that is what will set you apart. Just keep grinding away and applying at a variety of programs. Good luck. Yeah, I think this is the general trend with some schools, probably the majority of schools. I guess my intention with this tread was less of a pity party for me, but more so for people to bring forth schools that they knew looked at people as a whole package and not just "stats". If you exclude the first 40 credits on my college transcript I have a 3.65 cum and science GPA goes up to around 3.75 too. I'm a double major in Biology and Neuroscience with 2 minors (chem and psych). I'll have close to 7k hours of HCE, 4k of which is HIGH QUALITY IMO- I'm dealing with GSWs, stabbings, major MVC, multi system traumas in addition to the STEMIs, strokes, and all the other things that happen in a level 1 trauma center/ inner city ER... My LORs are going to be exceptional due to the relationships I've fostered with providers and one professor for whom I TA in anatomy. As Far as my narrative, I'm obviously planning on writing the pants off of that thing and have already been drafting a close to final draft.... Obviously I can't pretend those bad classes didn't happen tho, so I'm looking for people to help me find some schools that they know look at people as a agglutination of Stats, HCE, LOR, life experience etc. not just, as you mentioned, some schools: "Oh you don't have a 3.7 cGPA, kindly gtfo of here with that weak app". Sorry for the word vomit, it's just frustrating to see people who are "22yo, 400 hours HCE as a MA over the summers, 3.3cGPA, 3.5sGPA 305GRE" getting into schools and I feel like I can't sniff an interview rn despite my accolades and accomplishments....All due to choices I made 8 years ago as an 18year old kid- the neuroscientist in me wants to blame my underdeveloped prefrontal cortex and hypersensitive limbic system at that age but the reality is I screwed up and now am watching people with weaker applications and less HCE get in to schools sole because their cumGPA is a little higher. I'm not taking anything away from these people, as I'm sure plenty will be great PAs, but it's undoubtedly frustrating when I know I'd be a kickass addition to a school Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliB Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 Yeah, I think this is the general trend with some schools, probably the majority of schools. I guess my intention with this tread was less of a pity party for me, but more so for people to bring forth schools that they knew looked at people as a whole package and not just "stats". I can't give you names of schools ... as my research along the same lines was more two years ago. I was an atypical candidate, and not just based on a cGPA that's lower than anyone else on this thread so far! I had no geographical limitations so I literally looked at almost every program that uses CASPA to get to a short list of schools that seemed a possible fit and/or interested me. You may get specific suggestions on this thread, but at the end of the day I think you need to do the research. The main thing I looked at was the stats of the recent cohorts of the program ... and with respect to GPA, NOT the average GPA; look at the RANGE of GPAs. You can apply the same approach on any other atypical stat (e.g., prior degree). If the program's cohort is extremely homogeneous, then it's probably not the best opportunity for the atypical candidate. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dabba Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 Go through the thread of accepted students and look for lower gpa trends. Thats what I did Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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