Applying this Cycle!!?

[BenJaminEPT]

Hi guys, Looking for some advice as i begin my application journey!!! Here is my situation.....

26yo

Undergrad: Michigan State University Human Biology (Pre Med) GPA: 2.9 sGPA:2.9

Post Grad:  I was accepted into a career advancement course called PrepMD its basically a 6 month program that teaches you the ins and outs of implantable Cardiac Pacemakers and Defibs and some EP..... Preparing you to be a clinical specialist or Sales rep in the field.  I graduated #1 in that class of 40 people with a 96% average.

Job:  Because i felt my love was in medicine and I did not want to go back to sales (owned my own festival merchandising company for 3 years)  I accepted a position at Boston Medical Center as a Electrophysiology/Cardiovascular Tech doing..........(1000+ HCE)

• Assists physicians during pacemaker/ICD/CRT device implants
• Assists physicians during ablations(Cryo & RF) of tachycardias including atrial fibrillation, atrial tachycardia, AVNRT, AVRT, and ventricular tachycardia
• Assists physicians during lead extractions using Spectrenetics laser technology
• Manages all electrophysiology technologies and systems before, during and after each procedure
• Proficient in the use of General Electric’s CardioLab/Prucka Recording System 
• Responsible for operating programmer/analyzer technology from Medtronic, Boston Scientific, St. Jude Medical, and Biotronic
• Troubleshoots and evaluates proper function of implantable pacemakers and ICDs before and after procedures
• Responsible for the completion of procedure billing and insurance forms

Have a great relationship with Docs and will be able to get LOR from them.

Lots of Shadowing and working with Cardiologist Electrophysiologist and OR PAs and MDs

Low GPA:  A few of my early chem classes I took when i was 17 as a freshman and got 2.0s but my last two years never received anything below a 3.0

I havent taken the GRE and was planning on applying to schools that don't require it.  

Should i even waste my time applying with such low GPA scores?

Appreciate you taking the time to read this and hopefully you can lend me some advice.  Thank you so much

[Jdabrowski]

Sit this cycle out. That GPA is a real hard stop for a lot of schools. Do research now on where you want to go and see what their minimum GPA, GRE, and healthcare hours are. I would recommend a post bacc program if you can that focuses on science courses to get no less than a 4.0 for a post bacc GPA. In your case you will need the GRE to show you can succeed in passing exams with that GPA. I would aim for 310 or higher. For healthcare hours make sure you have direct patient contact. Taking a year off might sound horrible but it will make you a far more competitive applicant and show you are serious about becoming a PA. During that time keep shadowing PA's to get a LOR from one of them that is most familiar with your clinical work. I would also start writing one hell of a personal statement addressing why you want this, why your gpa is what it is, how did you fix that, etc. The main PS is always "Why do you want to be a PA". I would start there for sure.

 

Best of luck! Let me know if you need any further advice. I'm going to be a straight shooter on this and am not going to sugar coat it.

[JD2012]

Depending on how many credits you have it may take 2-3 classes to get that GPA into the 3.0 range.  I would do that in the meantime as well. With the lower GPA you will have to shine in other parts of your application to make up for it.