I was told my a professor that I have a slim chance of getting into PA schools, and I should look at other career feilds

[Guest orangepop]

Hi,

Recently, I emailed a professor about a possible letter of recommendation for PA school. He told me he would not be able to write me a strong letter of recommendation, after looking at my transcripts. He also told me my chances at getting into PA school are slim, and I should start looking at other career fields. Currently, my overall gpa is a 3.2, and my science gpa is a 2.98. I still have one science class to take that will raise my science gpa to a 3.0. I also have around 4 W's in classes like art appreciation, and nutrition, after incorrectly registering. None of my withdrawals are in science classes. After hearing what my professor has said, I feel extremely upset, and am now considering changing fields. Opinions?

[ilygurlie]

Well, a pro is that he let you know he can't write you a strong one and saved you possible rejections due to a bad LOR.

Honestly, your stats are pretty low but not impossible to get in with. Do you have great PCE and a lot of it? Leadership? Lots of volunteering? I would definitely do a postbacc and take upper level sciences.

[pastudentw]

I would agree that the positive spin to this is thankfully he didn't write a letter for you at all. No LOR in my opinion is better than a bad one since you can just try to find someone else to write a great one!

Although your sGPA is low, your cGPA isn't that bad. Unfortunately having just one more science class to push you over the 3.0 mark isn't realistic to have a competitive GPA right at the minimum. Then on top of that you need some other part of your application that balances that out and most of the time that ends up being high quality and amount of patient care hours. Personally, my GPA wasn't that great but other parts of my application probably tipped things in my favor.

GPA and previous W's are things that will be crucial to discuss strategically and tactfully in your personal statement. And it will be important to get outstanding LORs so it might be good to take your time with who you ask and make sure you give them some direction for what you want in those LORs. 

But if becoming a PA is something you are absolutely passionate about, then by all means there is no reason you can't achieve it. There are so many factors that go into the entire process. There have been plenty of people who have come back from much worse GPA's and it requires a TON of work, but can be done. This professor was just giving his opinion which can be hard to take but use it as a learning experience to push forward and a motivator to exceed those application requirements.

Good luck!

[majetito]

This is ONE voice. ONE opinion. There will more voices. Receive honest criticism as a motivator.  When you become a health care provider there will be patients who do not like you, will not think the world of you, and might complain to your supervisor about you. Whatever they have to say, receive it...grow from it...learn from it even if you are not in the wrong...and press onward to be better. 

I wouldn't let one voice push you off course, if this is truly a desire of yours. Good luck!

[philllyvee]

I just finished speaking with a friend who got into medical school with a 3.41 GPA. Anything is possible. My best advice to you is you have to apply to GRE schools and you have to fucking kill the GRE. That is your only way of letting adcons know that you are in fact a capable student.

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[MTOPAC]

It is absolutely possible. I started PA school 8 months ago. When i was accepted, my caspa GPA was significantly below 3.0 My science GPA was great though.

What I did, was after undergrad, I continued taking 4,5 and 6000 level science courses to keep ever so slowly raising my GPA. I also worked as an MA the entire time. And shadowed. It took me 4 years after graduating undergrad to get into PA school, but I did it. It's possible. FYI, I had an advisor at my university tell me that with my grades, getting into PA school was unrealistic. And on the off chance I did get in, I would struggle. For the first time in my life I have straight As - and it's in PA school. She's got egg on her face now.

 

Don't let other people tell you what you can and can't do. It might take some time...but you can definitely get into PA school if you put the work in.

[Jesscfisher]

I would like to say that I was YOU at one point and i was recently accepted into a PA program. What I did was keep on pushing forward with the science courses and learned what learning style worked best for me to get A+'s in those classes. Then in my apps, I told them "yea that happened, but I learned my study style and KNOW that I can do this." I also kept up with the (diverse type) medical experience I had and volunteering as usual. You know there is something to be said about letting things happen in their own time too. I wanted to just get that minimum 3.0 and apply, but life happened, it took me longer than i expected, I even gave up at one point. However, I gained exceptional life experiences to add to my application and ended up in classes where my professors were asking ME if they could write me letters! So, don't let one person keep you back. If this is what you want, you make the adjustments needed, push forward, rely on your support system, and go for it! It may take a little longer, but it will happen!

Best of luck!