cornell0702 Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Hi all, I am in the midst of taking prerequisites for PA school and am unsure of whether to apply for the 2013 school year or wait until 2014. I was hoping some of you could offer some advice/opinions on if I have a chance of getting in Philadelphia University's PA program. Here are my stats: Undergrad Major: Psychology Undergrad GPA: 3.96 Graduate Major: Special Education Graduate GPA: 4.0 HCE: I will have at least 600 hours by the time I apply in August (working as a CNA) I have completed some prerequisites, but will be taking A & P over the summer, as well as Chem and Medical Terminology. I do not have a lot of health care experience, but I have spent the last 5 years working with students with disabilities (everything from Down syndrome, to cerebral palsy, to emotional disturbances), so I feel like I do have some related experience. Thoughts? Do I even have a chance or should I wait a year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted February 15, 2012 Moderator Share Posted February 15, 2012 wait a year. your app will be much stronger with > 2500 hrs of hce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planteater Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 You certainly have a chance. There are schools out there that accept students with a minimum of 250 or 500 hours and some of the 1000 hour schools might look at you if you are on track to have that many hours by the time they interview you. Your other experience is great and I personally wouldn't want to attend a school that didn't think so. Based on his posts, I don't think emedpa has a very high opinion of schools with low requirements. I will just say that there are multiple schools of thought on this and while I highly respect his opinions here on the forum; I disagree that you should wait a year to gain more CNA experience when there are high quality schools out there that do not require a lot, especially with your other stats & experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted February 16, 2012 Moderator Share Posted February 16, 2012 Based on his posts, I don't think emedpa has a very high opinion of schools with low requirements. I will just say that there are multiple schools of thought on this and while I highly respect his opinions here on the forum. I believe HCE is the most important factor in getting into pa school followed by gpa. I believe all pre-pa students need a strong pre-req background to include a+p, etc. I think of "low requirements" as low hrs of hce required. I'm fine with an experienced applicant with > 3.2 gpa and will take them any time over someone with no experience and a 4.0 gpa. a 3.2 gpa in someone who works full time while raising a family is more impressive than a 4.0 in someone who does nothing besides school. almost anyone can get a 4.0 without other responsibilities aside from school.. multitasking is a needed skill when practicing medicine and an older applicant with life experience who has gotten all B's with a handful of A's has demonstrated this well. I also think shadowing is BS and an excuse for not having real experience. community service is nice as it shows you have an interest in someone besides yourself. the gre is a waste of time as far as I am concerned. if you have a good gpa and bomb the gre because you had a bad day should you not get into pa school? gpa is a much better indicator of academic ability than a single test on a single day. regarding the OP; 600 hrs of experience is basically 15 weeks of experience. that's essentially full time for one season. I know there are programs that will accept that but most quality programs have a lower end cutoff of >1000 hrs and many top programs want > 2000 hrs. Medex/U.WA a top 3 program wants 4000 hrs. an extra yr of work means they could apply to almost any pa program instead of just a handful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mktalon Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 You don't have much HCE, but I do believe that your work in special education should have definitely contributed to developing skills needed to be a PA. With that said, if you work full time over the next year, you will be an unstoppable candidate (assuming your not an jerk or anything like that). If you don't have any real good reasons that demand you start this year, I definitely say wait a year and get a good full year of HCE under your belt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planteater Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 I meant low HCE requirements when I said low requirements- sorry my brain goes faster than my fingers! Philidelphia University seems to value both health care and human service experience (http://www.philau.edu/paprogram/paselection.htm), so I think you should definitely apply. I got into a program that didn't mind my lack of health care experience and seems to really value my life experience (I am 33 and have been a stay-at-home mom for the last 6 years) and goals (to go back to Africa to work with the Masai and to work with some friends of ours with the Navajo in Arizona). I don't fit the mold of what many on this forum say is right, but I sure am glad I tried this year and found a program I really love (even if it is brand new). emedpa- I hope to meet you in person once I am a PA- maybe in Haiti :-). Then, maybe, just maybe, I can convince you that I took a great path even if it wasn't what you would normally recommend! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAAdmission Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 The main value of healthcare experience is to demonstrate that you know what you are getting yourself into. Nothing is harder than trying to break the bad habits of some nitwit know-it-all EMT that thinks a run report constitutes a good H&P. I have spent a good deal of time trying to get people to unlearn things... The GRE gives a few insights: -Does the applicant choke under pressure? -Does the applicant stink at standardized tests? -Did the applicant go to a weak institution where they took fluff courses and grades were inflated? It really has to be viewed as part of a much larger picture, however... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornell0702 Posted February 16, 2012 Author Share Posted February 16, 2012 Thank you for all the advice & opinions. If it makes any difference at all, I was working 20 hours a week throughout college (either at camps for children with disabilities or 1:1 with children/young adults with disabilities), and worked full-time as a Special Education Teacher in a low-income urban area throughout graduate school. I am hoping to get more than the 600 hours (it was my low estimate), and I would like to shadow some PAs, which is proving to be more difficult than I anticipated. Either way, I appreciate the replies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted February 16, 2012 Moderator Share Posted February 16, 2012 emedpa- I hope to meet you in person once I am a PA- maybe in Haiti :-). Then, maybe, just maybe, I can convince you that I took a great path even if it wasn't what you would normally recommend! sounds like you are doing well and planning for a future that makes good use of your training. I'm sure you will do fine. my response to those who get in without significant experience is generally " don't you think you would have had an easier time in pa school and learned more if you had a prior framework in healthcare?" almost everyone says that this is the case regardless of how they are doing in school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sealer04tx Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 One thing to consider is that if you apply this year and don't get in, you can 1) get some feedback from schools about your application and 2) look more serious as a 2nd round applicant. It depends on the schools you're applying to and if you want ot spend the money to find out. I know this last round I applied to 8 schools and 2 gave me a personal feedback appointment. They were both very informative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emsterHP Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 totally apply! i was in a very similar situation--strong grades in undergrad and grad school, strong GRE scores, barely 500 hrs health care experience (and even that wasn't exactly direct patient care...it was from shadowing, volunteering at a hospital, and doing social research for the health bureau as part of my master's)...i applied to 12 schools thinking i would be lucky if i got a couple interviews. but i only had one rejection and was offered interviews everywhere else (including philaU, BCM, yale, midwestern, cornell, just to name a few). and i'll be starting at philaU in july! i think you'll get a bunch of interviews. good luck!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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