PA hopeful in need of assistance from seasoned members

[MCarson96]

Hello, I am a 20 year old first generation college student currently in a Biology BS program with a minor in Chemistry at a well-known NYS college. Like many of you, I hope to be accepted to a PA program when I graduate but I don't have much guidance throughout the process. The PA that I shadow went through this process many moons ago when it was not so competitive so he doesn't really know how to help me become a more competitive applicant. My stats are:

 

-3.65 cumulative GPA (expected to be a 3.7 by graduation to achieve my goal of Summa Cum Laude)

 

-sGPA: 3.7+ with my best grades being in upper-level chemistry

 

-I will be graduating from the honors college and will spend the next school year working on an Organic Chemistry honors research thesis for 9 hours a week and will be presenting at a convention with my supervisor (and hopefully being published)

 

-I am a TA for Organic Chemistry as well as Microbiology and currently work as a volunteer at a nursing home.

 

-I am taking violin lessons and participating in Sinfonia as a way to relax and to make myself stand out as a person who can do more than science.

 

I still have a year left in school and am planning on taking a year off to work on my HCE. I am trying to get a job as a pharmacy tech right now to start working on HCE and will be taking a course over the summer to receive my CNA. I am well-liked by many of my professors as well as my research advisor and have been offered many LOR's. I come from a relatively poor family so I am feeling discouraged about being accepted to a program due to my lack of opportunities to study abroad and participate in fancy over-seas internships like many of my classmates have done. I would like to know if I have a competitive edge for acceptance and how I can make my healthcare experience stand out since that is what I will be focusing on next in this journey towards PA school. The schools I am looking at are:

 

*Yale (my reach school)

*Albany Med (can get an alumni LOR)

*U. of New England

*U. of Bridgeport CT

*Clarkson (long-shot, the program is so small)

*U. of Colorado Aurora

*Quinnipiac in CT

[Monte]

Your grades are on the right track.. All you need is hours! CNA is great.. aim for 1000-2000hrs at minimum; combine that with a solid GRE and you should be good to go! You don't need study abroad opportunities or fancy internships, I can assure you.

[newton9686]

Yeah no one really cares about 1 week mission trips. Admissions would much rather see someone who volunteered once a week every week.

[GreatChecko]

Get some good, hands on, HCE, and you'll be very competitive. Keep up the good work.

 

Don't worry about doing anything "fancy" to make yourself stand out, you've done pretty well already.

[rev ronin]

Yeah no one really cares about 1 week mission trips. Admissions would much rather see someone who volunteered once a week every week.

I'm not sure the two are linked.  I disagree with the first--weeklong mission trips, especially overseas, do matter--and the second isn't incompatible with the first.  In fact, I would say someone who made a habit of volunteering throughout their life, who also did mission trips, tends to come across as looking pretty dedicated to helping others.