Do I stand a chance?

[snwPA123_]

I am just reaching out to see if any of you can relate to my situation and/or can provide some insight. I will provide my stats, as well as some relevant background information in order to create a clear picture.

 

1.       Academics:

a.   Prerequisites/Sciences = 3.36; or 3.6 (w/o first grade included in retakes)

                                                               i.      General Biology I = B

                                                              ii.      General Biology II = A

                                                             iii.      General Chemistry I = A

                                                             iv.      General Chemistry II = D/B

                                                             v.      Physics I = B

                                                            vi.      Physics II = A

                                                           vii.      Anatomy & Physiology I = B+

                                                          viii.      Anatomy & Physiology II = C+/A

                                                           ix.      Advanced Physiology = B+

                                                            x.      Microbiology = Pending

                                                           xi.      Organic Chemistry = Pending

                                                          xii.       Psychology = C/A

b.   Community College: CGPA = 3.65

c.   University: CGPA = 3.29

2.       Healthcare Experience:

a.   Intern CVICU = 126 hrs

b.   EMT = 500 hrs.

c.   Medical Mission = 60 hrs

3.       Volunteering/Shadowing:

a.   Physical Therapy Shadowing = >200 hrs.

b.   PA shadowing = 80hrs.

c.   Cardiothoracic Surgeon = 4 hrs.

4.       Teaching Experience:

a.   Teacher’s Assistant Human Anatomy & Physiology I & II

 

 

More or less this information should provide a more complete picture of my current predicament. Obviously, I was not the perfect poster-child pre-pa student, though I can only hope I am still of consideration. In the beginning of my undergraduate career I did face a few obstacles that put a damper on my GPA. If one were to calculate my GPA without my first semester my cumulative GPA would increase by ~0.10, which is substantial. I feel that I am a pretty well rounded individual with minor flaws in my undergraduate career. I believe I have optimized myself in terms of academics, so now I plan to focus on my HCE/relative experiences.

 

The questions I propose for my readers would be the following:

·     In the information that I have provided do you think I am competitive for PA schools?

·     What would you recommend I do to increase my chances of acceptance?

·      I am planning to apply for the 2016-2017 cycle, but I will prepare for the worst possible case. What do you think would be the            best experience to boost my HCE (EMT, CNA, ER tech, RN, etc.)?  

 

I appreciate anyone who takes the time to read this. Thank you in advance!

[DiggySRNA]

·      I am planning to apply for the 2016-2017 cycle, but I will prepare for the worst possible case. What do you think would be the            best experience to boost my HCE (EMT, CNA, ER tech, RN, etc.)?  

 

Continue working as an EMT. 

[MT2PA]

First - your retakes ARE factored into your GPA so plan on the lower sGPA.  Also, your sGPA will include all science courses, not just pre-reqs.

 

Your undergrad GPA will include all courses - not separated by community college vs University so depending on how many credits were taken into account for both of those GPAs, you'll likely land somewhere in the middle of those.  

 

With that in mind, a sGPA of around 3.4 and a cGPA of around 3.4/3.5 is decent.  It doesn't open all the doors for you, but it certainly won't rule you out based on GPA.  Apply smartly to programs where those GPAs are competitive with matriculating student stats and you could be fine.  Schools won't calculate your GPA without your first semester so it's best just to accept it on the whole.  A .10 increase isn't going to make your app significantly better and no adcom is going to take the time to calculate that.  It's fine to not have a perfect transcript but you can't pretend it didn't happen so just accept that your GPA is what it is and work with it instead of calculating what could have been.

 

You need more HCE so keep logging hours as an EMT.  Mission trips and intern often won't count as actual HCE hours as they are not paid and have really varying job descriptions.  Aim for at least 2000 hours.  Honestly, this will likely be your biggest downfall when applying.  Your GPA isn't stellar enough for schools to overlook the low HCE (whereas someone having a 3.9 *might* be able to get away with lower HCE hours).  Again, look for and apply to schools where you at least meet the minimum requirements here.  If a school requires 2000+ hours or is known for matriculating students with decades of experience, you're chances are less good and you may be wasting your money in applying.

[gipa]

I agree with Diggy and MT2PA. Keep accumulating the HCE. I have a less than stellar transcript (several C's and a D in two classes) and explained the circumstances in my personal statement. I then spent a lot of time in several different health care fields and took a few post-bacc classes. Taking a year to accumulate more hours definitely helped me get into PA school.