Guest GoyaHoya69 Posted June 28, 2016 I have applied to a bunch of schools this cycle (1st time applicant), but am a bit worried that I may have applied to only really good schools. Thus, I'm looking to apply to 1 or 2 "lower tier schools" or "safety schools," if they even exist. What do you all believe qualifies as a lower tier school? Lower than national average PANCE scores? Little to no patient care experience required? Anything else? Thanks for your help.
orthotech85 Posted June 28, 2016 "lower-tiered" schools are in my opinion any school which you exceed the average accepted applicants statistics. Think of it that way its not that these schools are of lesser quality its just that these are schools which you would be an above average applicant.
Administrator rev ronin Posted June 28, 2016 Administrator The PA profession is still pretty young to have stratified out into tiers. Some of the schools with low PANCE pass rates, repeated probationary accreditation, etc., are targeting specific populations (of both students and where they want their graduates to work) rather than just taking the best students they can get. Don't assume that just because the applicants look like you in terms of GPA/HCE that those are the only things that school looks at.
Petunia Posted June 28, 2016 http://www.physicianassistantforum.com/index.php?/topic/39512-easy-schools-to-get-accepted-into/#entry288577 Here was a thread of mine. I thought people had good responses. IE- focus on the interview. Someone even said that my list included a spread including the best and worst schools. Like you, I am a first time applicant. And I only want to do this one. A few of my schools seem to have lower requirements, so you may want to look into them Good luck!
jlumsden Posted June 28, 2016 If you don't end up getting a suitable offer of admission, I think you would be better served by taking a careful look at your deficits, and working on them in the coming year. Reapply; some schools look very kindly on second year applications. It's just not worth it to get subpar education. Also, don't think about provisional education. Some schools have been closed down, with the students left high and dry, with tens of thousands of dollars of debts.
Administrator rev ronin Posted June 28, 2016 Administrator Also, don't think about provisional education. Some schools have been closed down, with the students left high and dry, with tens of thousands of dollars of debts. Citation, please? Under ARC-PA and NCCPA rules, students who graduate from provisional or probationary accreditation schools are still eligible to sit for PANCE.
Guest GoyaHoya69 Posted June 28, 2016 so would you all recommend staying away from provisionally accredited programs?
MT2PA Posted June 28, 2016 so would you all recommend staying away from provisionally accredited programs? I'd avoid programs on probation but provisional accreditation usually just means it's a newer program. In my opinion, that's nothing to be afraid of although it doesn't necessarily mean it's any easier to get into.
jlumsden Posted June 29, 2016 Citation, please? Under ARC-PA and NCCPA rules, students who graduate from provisional or probationary accreditation schools are still eligible to sit for PANCE. I mistyped. I was referring to programs that closed due to loss of accreditation.
Administrator rev ronin Posted June 29, 2016 Administrator I mistyped. I was referring to programs that closed due to loss of accreditation. Yeah, THOSE... those are a problem. But how many times has a program on probation closed and stranded students? Normally what happens is a phased shutdown, where they are not allowed to accept any new students, but graduate the existing ones during the process of a shutdown. Still not a good thing, but I haven't heard of students being recently left in the lurch like the concern you originally raised.
Petunia Posted June 29, 2016 The only thing I have heard of people left high and dry..... is a a developing program that finds out very close to the class starting that they did not earn provision accreditation... However, these students/applicants are advised of the risks of the school not gaining accreditation. I haven't yet heard of someone who was in the middle of the program and become disqualified from sitting for the PANCE. But..... schools like MalcombX who closed.... only had a 50% pass rate, those even though those who were in the program prior to it's closing got to sit for the PANCE- many of them didn't pass...
MT2PA Posted June 30, 2016 The only thing I have heard of people left high and dry..... is a a developing program that finds out very close to the class starting that they did not earn provision accreditation... However, these students/applicants are advised of the risks of the school not gaining accreditation. I haven't yet heard of someone who was in the middle of the program and become disqualified from sitting for the PANCE. But..... schools like MalcombX who closed.... only had a 50% pass rate, those even though those who were in the program prior to it's closing got to sit for the PANCE- many of them didn't pass... And I think now schools who are applying for provisional accreditation can't accept applicants until they GET the provisional status - which would in theory remove that 'high and dry' situation. At least, that was my experience when applying to new programs.
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