GRE

[Viking15]

Is it too late to take the GRE? I'm planning on applying this cycle.

Also, Amy idea on low GPA due to health issues but an upward trend the last two years and all As during post bac looks?

I have 2 years of pt tech and MA at orthopedic office and hospital.

Shadowing of neurosurgery PAs and internal medicine doctor.

Any thoughts ??

[DiggySRNA]

No it is not too late. The cycle opened less than 24 hours ago haha.

 

You can still submit your CASPA application....the schools requiring it won't review your file until you submit your GRE scores though.

 

As for low gpa with upward trend...do you meet the 3.0 minimum requirement? If not, your app will be tossed. If it meets the minimum requirement, you might stand a chance.

 

What's your cGPA and sGPA?

[Viking15]

cGPA 3.28, sGPA 3.15

[DiggySRNA]

What's your upward trend like?

 

Apart from GPA, what's your application like? 

• Community service/humanitarianism, volunteer experience?
• LORs?
• any interesting stores?

[Viking15]

Concussions from being a collegiate athlete. Last 60 hours is a 3.9, mostly As. With post bac - organic chem A and microbio A.

Volunteer/service: tutoring, soccer coach

LORs: 1 MD, organic chem professor, PY/OT from where I work at the hospital.

Idk if family experiences matter, but have had a lot of experience with my brother lately as he is a paraplegic from a car accident and I help out a lot.

[PA-C-to-be]

You can absolutely take the GRE during the cycle (even though I would strongly discourage doing so). I took it last May while applying and submitted my CASPA in June it was a lot of added stress on top of applications/shadowing/working, so I wouldn't recommend taking it during the cycle if you're trying to apply early but it's definitely something that can be done!

[Viking15]

Okay. What would you say regarding my stats?

Also - back in 2011 I got a C- in biology 1. Would you recommend retaking. ? I emailed a few schools but got a pretty vague answer.

[pastudentw]

Okay. What would you say regarding my stats?

Also - back in 2011 I got a C- in biology 1. Would you recommend retaking. ? I emailed a few schools but got a pretty vague answer.

 

I would say it is likely you should retake it since the majority of programs require at least biology 1 and many require the biology 1 and biology 2 year series and all the programs I've ever looked at don't accept any grades lower than a C for a pre-req course (of course, there may be exceptions). As always, I will say it really depends on the programs you are looking to apply to and what their pre-req classes are.

 

Related to your other posts, taking the GRE will help open up more programs you could apply to. I used magoosh to study for it and loved it. It was super efficient and feel like I did much better using magoosh than the GRE books. Although doing the GRE this cycle could slow your application down which is a huge factor with rolling admissions schools. I feel like the way I scored an interview at the program I'm at was partly contributed to how early I submitted. Something to think about. 

It may be necessary to briefly talk about why you may have had challenges in the past with your GPA and focus on how you overcame that and improved with that upward trend recently. You don't have to be specific at all with what the medical issue was. You could just simply state it and focus on the positive that came out of it. Be able to address this if you score an interview and they ask you about some not so awesome grades in the past.

If your 2 year patient care work has been full time you should have some good hours on your application! 

[Viking15]

Thank you so much for your help! I may apply to a few early on and take the GRE by June then apply to the rest. As for Biology, I just state that I am retaking it and they won't necessarily dump me aside? Yes I have been working full time for the past two years and taking classes as well as moving forward with receiving my medical assistant certificate to continue with patient care hours.

[pastudentw]

If you can show plans for having that bio 1 course "in progress" then no you wouldn't necessarily have your application disqualified for not meeting the minimum requirements since most programs allow one or two in progress courses at the time of application, as long as those courses would be completed by matriculation time.

Always best to check how your list of programs you plan on applying to will handle in progress courses and if they want to see that you are registered for the course to verify the in progress status.

[Viking15]

Awesome. In regards to filling out the transcripts on CASPA, it asks for the subject. Is that just wish category it would fall under? For example, I took statistics. Under subject there is a category for mathematics and statistics.

[pastudentw]

This is answered on the CASPA FAQ page. Go through every section honestly and then refer back to it constantly. 

 

https://portal.caspaonline.org/caspaHelpPages/frequently-asked-questions/academic-history/coursework/index.html

 

"Course Subject Select the CASPA course subject for the class using the drop-down menu which bests describes the course you took. If you cannot determine the correct subject based on your course’s title, please default to the department the course was offered through."

 

 

 So for statistics my course was listed as MATH 1040 so I listed mine under mathematics. But for someone else it could possibly be listed under STATS 1040.