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Am I competitive for PA school?


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Hello,

I am a recent graduate with a BS in Allied Health Sciences and 2 minors in Biology and Chinese. I am an aspiring physician assistant. 

My Stats:

I have 1 C+ on my transcript in anatomy and physiology part II and 1 C in biochemistry. I am retaking anatomy and physiology Part II and will probably get a B/B- (i've been very bummed about this as I was trying to get a grade in the A range but I am trying my best and am worried this will affect my chances for PA school since this class is a retake and I am not doing all that much better). I am going to take Gen Bio I and II at my local community college in my year off (because I AP'ed out of it in high school so it is on my transcript as "T") and am planning on trying to get As in the classes. 

I got a B in Microbio, B in A&P part I, B+ in human genetics, A's in 3 semesters of general chemistry, B in organic chemistry, A in organic chemistry lab, A- in intro to psych, A in developmental psych, B+ in abnormal psych, A in general psychology II, B+ in statistics, B+ in english composition, A in an allied health writing intensive course, A in intro to nutrition, A in developmental nutrition. But I am worried about those 2 C's on my transcript. 

My GRE score was: Verbal reasoning 153, Quantitative 155, writing 5.0

My cumulative GPA is a 3.6 and my science GPA probably around a 3.4/3.5, I am not completely sure about the science GPA number but it is around there. 

I applied to PA schools in the cycle of 2016-2017 and got rejected from all the schools that I applied to: Rutgers, MCPHS (waitlisted, then rejected), Yale, Hofstra, Touro College (manhattan and bayshore). I am currently working as an ED medical scribe and volunteering as an EMT in my year off. I have shadowed an urgent care PA and a primary care PA (total hours around 30). I am hoping by the time I reapply, I will have 1000 hours of ED scribe and 500 hours of EMT. I know many programs do not accept ED scribe hours so I am kind of worried about that... (advice?)

As for community service, I have volunteered at a Woman's homeless shelter (around 50 hours), volunteer as a medical assistant (around 70 hours), went on a community service trip to Baton Rouge, LA helping to rebuild homes for people during Spring break of my senior year in college, participated in playgroups with orphaned Chinese children when I was in undergrad (total around 80 hours), raised money for over 14000 meals for underprivileged children in the Greater Hartford area, was Philanthropy chair for my sorority in undergrad, had leadership roles in Residence Hall Associating (Vice president) and in my sorority (Secretary) and in an honors co-ed fraternity (Secretary), was a mentor for incoming freshman for 2 years, and was Secretary for a non-profit organization on campus. I also worked as a student administrative assistant for 4 years in the Chemistry Department. Should I even include those non-medical related leadership roles? Are those important for PA schools? 

I will be taking 2017-2018 off and reapplying to PA schools 2018-2019 cycle. I am hoping to have my application submitted to CASPA as soon as it opens for the cycle of 2018-2019, hopefully helping my chances. 

Lately, I have just been feeling down about my future and am honestly just feeling very nervous and very uncertain/worried and doubting whether or not I can get into PA school. Over the years, PA programs have become more and more competitive and I feel like I'm in this luck of the draw type thing where I'm betting my future and wasting unnecessary time. I wanted to post on here to hear other people's experiences and what they think about my stats and whether they think I am a competitive applicant.

Also, how do people feel about direct MSN programs compared to PA programs? I am thinking of that as a fallback plan in case I do not get into PA school. I am looking into Simmons Direct MSN program. 

Also, please feel free to give me advice on what I can do to become a more competitive applicant. I appreciate any and all input and feel free to be brutally honest. 

Thank you

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I'm going to go out on a limb here and say direct entry MSN programs are slightly easier to get into due to less strenuous requirements. But, they are extremely expensive. A more cost-effective route* would be an ABSN(12-16months) -> MSN (1.5 -> 2 years full-time). *ASN/ADN does not interest you*

So far you look like you'll have a fair shot at getting into PA school with your current stats. 

I felt the same way (and still currently do) in regards to feeling uncertain about getting into PA school even though my stats match/exceed the current matriculants per PA program I applied to. I decided to abandon ship this cycle due to not getting in last cycle. Even though I am young, I am ready for a career and don't have the energy to keep trying my luck. So far I have changed the direction of my ship to ABSN --> DNP-FNP.

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1 hour ago, Diggy said:

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say direct entry MSN programs are slightly easier to get into due to less strenuous requirements. But, they are extremely expensive. A more cost-effective route* would be an ABSN(12-16months) -> MSN (1.5 -> 2 years full-time). *ASN/ADN does not interest you*

So far you look like you'll have a fair shot at getting into PA school with your current stats. 

I felt the same way (and still currently do) in regards to feeling uncertain about getting into PA school even though my stats match/exceed the current matriculants per PA program I applied to. I decided to abandon ship this cycle due to not getting in last cycle. Even though I am young, I am ready for a career and don't have the energy to keep trying my luck. So far I have changed the direction of my ship to ABSN --> DNP-FNP.

Are you going to re-apply next cycle or have you completely switching paths to RN then NP? 

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21 hours ago, Michelle27 said:

Hello,

I am a recent graduate with a BS in Allied Health Sciences and 2 minors in Biology and Chinese. I am an aspiring physician assistant. 

My Stats:

I have 1 C+ on my transcript in anatomy and physiology part II and 1 C in biochemistry. I am retaking anatomy and physiology Part II and will probably get a B/B- (i've been very bummed about this as I was trying to get a grade in the A range but I am trying my best and am worried this will affect my chances for PA school since this class is a retake and I am not doing all that much better). I am going to take Gen Bio I and II at my local community college in my year off (because I AP'ed out of it in high school so it is on my transcript as "T") and am planning on trying to get As in the classes. 

I got a B in Microbio, B in A&P part I, B+ in human genetics, A's in 3 semesters of general chemistry, B in organic chemistry, A in organic chemistry lab, A- in intro to psych, A in developmental psych, B+ in abnormal psych, A in general psychology II, B+ in statistics, B+ in english composition, A in an allied health writing intensive course, A in intro to nutrition, A in developmental nutrition. But I am worried about those 2 C's on my transcript. 

My GRE score was: Verbal reasoning 153, Quantitative 155, writing 5.0

My cumulative GPA is a 3.6 and my science GPA probably around a 3.4/3.5, I am not completely sure about the science GPA number but it is around there. 

I applied to PA schools in the cycle of 2016-2017 and got rejected from all the schools that I applied to: Rutgers, MCPHS (waitlisted, then rejected), Yale, Hofstra, Touro College (manhattan and bayshore). I am currently working as an ED medical scribe and volunteering as an EMT in my year off. I have shadowed an urgent care PA and a primary care PA (total hours around 30). I am hoping by the time I reapply, I will have 1000 hours of ED scribe and 500 hours of EMT. I know many programs do not accept ED scribe hours so I am kind of worried about that... (advice?)

As for community service, I have volunteered at a Woman's homeless shelter (around 50 hours), volunteer as a medical assistant (around 70 hours), went on a community service trip to Baton Rouge, LA helping to rebuild homes for people during Spring break of my senior year in college, participated in playgroups with orphaned Chinese children when I was in undergrad (total around 80 hours), raised money for over 14000 meals for underprivileged children in the Greater Hartford area, was Philanthropy chair for my sorority in undergrad, had leadership roles in Residence Hall Associating (Vice president) and in my sorority (Secretary) and in an honors co-ed fraternity (Secretary), was a mentor for incoming freshman for 2 years, and was Secretary for a non-profit organization on campus. I also worked as a student administrative assistant for 4 years in the Chemistry Department. Should I even include those non-medical related leadership roles? Are those important for PA schools? 

I will be taking 2017-2018 off and reapplying to PA schools 2018-2019 cycle. I am hoping to have my application submitted to CASPA as soon as it opens for the cycle of 2018-2019, hopefully helping my chances. 

Lately, I have just been feeling down about my future and am honestly just feeling very nervous and very uncertain/worried and doubting whether or not I can get into PA school. Over the years, PA programs have become more and more competitive and I feel like I'm in this luck of the draw type thing where I'm betting my future and wasting unnecessary time. I wanted to post on here to hear other people's experiences and what they think about my stats and whether they think I am a competitive applicant.

Also, how do people feel about direct MSN programs compared to PA programs? I am thinking of that as a fallback plan in case I do not get into PA school. I am looking into Simmons Direct MSN program. 

Also, please feel free to give me advice on what I can do to become a more competitive applicant. I appreciate any and all input and feel free to be brutally honest. 

Thank you

How many hours do you have now compared to how many hours you had when you applied the first time? It could be because you didn't have enough hours the first time. I agree with what Diggy says about you having a fair shot. So don't feel so bummed out.

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Glancing at your stuff you aren't applying to enough schools. I will tell you this is my third time (with 2 years of serious applications, first year was a few schools to get a feel) and I currently am running 2/3 on interview invites and have 12 more to hear from. Apply broad, apply greatly. Look at your PS and see if it is engaging. Have someone who doesn't know you well read it, do they want to meet that person? If they don't rewrite it until they do. You have a good shot, but after applying is done and you are waiting to hear from schools start looking at what you can improve. Can you get the GPA higher, more hours of shadowing, more hours of volunteering, etc. Keep on the grind and it will happen, trust me.

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On 8/16/2017 at 1:40 PM, Diane said:

How many hours do you have now compared to how many hours you had when you applied the first time? It could be because you didn't have enough hours the first time. I agree with what Diggy says about you having a fair shot. So don't feel so bummed out.

I had around 600 hours of volunteer EMT and volunteer Medical Assistant when I applied and got rejected. It is a rather low number compared to other applicants. Thank you for sharing! 

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23 hours ago, Jdabrowski said:

Glancing at your stuff you aren't applying to enough schools. I will tell you this is my third time (with 2 years of serious applications, first year was a few schools to get a feel) and I currently am running 2/3 on interview invites and have 12 more to hear from. Apply broad, apply greatly. Look at your PS and see if it is engaging. Have someone who doesn't know you well read it, do they want to meet that person? If they don't rewrite it until they do. You have a good shot, but after applying is done and you are waiting to hear from schools start looking at what you can improve. Can you get the GPA higher, more hours of shadowing, more hours of volunteering, etc. Keep on the grind and it will happen, trust me.

That's awesome! Congratulations, good luck on all your interviews! How early did you submit your application this cycle and what are your stats if you don't mind sharing? Also, what did you change from your previous applications, I'd really appreciate the insight from you because clearly what you did worked! 

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