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Cumulative GPA Dilemma


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My CASPA app, once verified, states I have a 3.10 cGPA and a 3.24 sGPA. I do have a bachelors degree. I was wondering should I try to boost my cGPA? I know it's a long stretch with all the classes I would have to take due to having a bachelor and having a lot of credits but would that be worth it or should I just leave it and boost my application in other areas?

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You should boost your application in whatever way possible and increasing your cGPA would be beneficial but perhaps consider local community college classes, pursuing a medical certification which also goes towards your sGPA and provides you with new job access, or picking up language courses to boost your cGPA while making you more well-rounded rather than just taking aimless classes and wasting money. Always see your education as an investment that you can get something from. It is always good to continue building your application through volunteer and work-related experiences to provide you with more confidence when you do become a PA. Everything you do now also will be able to be put on your resume when you are in pursuit of a job as PA-C and community service is always appealing. 

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In addition to ajames' excellent advice, I would also recommend more Psychology classes.  My program only required ONE of General, Lifespan, or Abnormal.  I had all three, plus a couple of graduate level (seminary) counseling courses, plus a fire department chaplain training program... and when I went into family medicine, I *still* wanted more behavioral health tools in my toolbox!

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7 hours ago, ajames said:

You should boost your application in whatever way possible and increasing your cGPA would be beneficial but perhaps consider local community college classes, pursuing a medical certification which also goes towards your sGPA and provides you with new job access, or picking up language courses to boost your cGPA while making you more well-rounded rather than just taking aimless classes and wasting money. Always see your education as an investment that you can get something from. It is always good to continue building your application through volunteer and work-related experiences to provide you with more confidence when you do become a PA. Everything you do now also will be able to be put on your resume when you are in pursuit of a job as PA-C and community service is always appealing. 

The reason I ask is because Ive taken a lot of post-bacc courses so financially I cannot afford to take a lot more classes. I do have 5500 volunteer EMT hours 1,000 paid EMT hours and 300 ER tech hours. Im lacking in community service, GRE and and cGPA. Im already preparing for the first two for next cycle although Im still awaiting responses from the schools Ive applied too, which was kind of late. I applied the second week of august, so I have started to prepare for the next cycle just incase. Thank you for your input. Im not sure how else exactly I can better my application without spending too much money on taking classes.

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5 hours ago, rev ronin said:

In addition to ajames' excellent advice, I would also recommend more Psychology classes.  My program only required ONE of General, Lifespan, or Abnormal.  I had all three, plus a couple of graduate level (seminary) counseling courses, plus a fire department chaplain training program... and when I went into family medicine, I *still* wanted more behavioral health tools in my toolbox!

I do have a bachelor in Psychology so Ive taken all three of those courses plus more. I was thinking computer science courses or business? I cant financially afford to take too many classes, which is why I want advise on how else I can better my application now. Im preparing for the GRE and beginning community service soon. So far I have a cumulative 6700 hours of PCE. Im waiting on a few programs to get back to me but Im still preparing for next cycle just incase.

 

Thank you for the feedback!

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I dunno about specific programming classes, but having an IT background made me an easy sell into a large EPIC-centric practice when I was a new grad, so yeah, computer stuff is good.  Business, I had more of a background in (13 years for Fortune 50 company) than coursework, but it still really does help think through the economics of stuff.

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