Advice on PA Route

[Kennethj505]

Hello!

I'm a first generation college student and I am wanting to go down the PA route. I'm a little lost and discourage, I don't know where to begin and my GPA is at a 2.8. I am working hard to get it up but I am trying to find alternative routes to get to PA school (Just in Case). I am very active on campus with different health organizations and as well as my fraternity. My GPA is suffering mainly because I'm not sure how to study and get bad test anxiety. I have been seeing and academic coach to get me on the right path and help me address these issues. Any advice would be super helpful. I been looking in to a PA school in my hometown and the GPA requirement is a 3.0 and I will be touring the school to get a feel for it.

I also have a few questions.

I was wondering if I could take my prereqs after graduation at a community college back home?

What entrance exam would I have to take for PA school. (GRE or something along those lines?

Also any advice would mean the world to me. I feel lost and I just need a push in the right direction.

[Kaylee272]

You can do it! People get accepted into pa school with lower GPAs everyday. Technically as long as the school is accredited you can take your prereqs at community college! I myself never took prereqs at cc so I am not sure if programs look at them the same but you can easily call the programs you are interested and ask if it matters! However, I did take extra courses at a cc as an easy way to boost my GPA! What year in undergrad are you? The more credits you have the more credits it will take to raise your gpa abobe a 3.0.

Next, I'd say study hard an ace the GRE (yes, its the GRE I like to explain it as a college level SAT) Study early and take it early in case you want to retake it! Id say at a minimum take it before CASPA opens at the end of April so you don't need to study and do your apps at the same time! I used the magoosh online study program and found it EXTREMELY helpful!

The next thing programs will look at is patient care experience, do you have any yet? I found that volunteering at a walk in clinic was the best for me during undergrad when I was busy. This way I was able to schedule myself as little or as often as I wanted! Or, get a CNA or EMT cert and start working nights, PRN, anything you can! Then full time after graduation!

Take advantage of your fraternity! Gain a leadership position and continue volunteering!  

Finally, make yourself stand out to the programs, make them want to get to know you after reading your app! There are so many ways to do this! Clubs, internships, unique patient care experience, mission trips, etc.

GPA is just one aspect of who you are. I have word for word had admissions reps tell me that as long as they know you will pass PA school, your grades are good enough. Do a year or two of great work and look into programs that focus on the last 60 credits!

Good luck with the journey! If you have any other questions PM me (I am a recently accepted pre-pa student, I don't know everything but not long ago I was in your shoes with LOADS of questions)

[pastudentw]

Another piece of advice,

If you need to try to get your GPA up, try to calculate using the CASPA GPA calculation and see what your current CASPA GPA is and how many credits you would need to at least get over the 3.0 hump. While getting over the 3.0 minimum is good because at least you will be considered, be aware of the average accepted GPA for the schools you are looking to apply to. This will give you a more realistic expectation of where you need to be. Take all the community college credits you would like, unless a program specifically says they only accept university credits (which is a very small minority of programs).

Getting a good GRE in some cases might counteract a lower end GPA just because it might signify that you are a good standardized test taker. Every program is different in how they weight the GRE. Some it is just a hoop to jump through as a graduate program, others consider it more. Magoosh really was a great resource for me too. Aim for above the 50% percentile in each category but just look at the requirements of the school you apply to. Some have minimum cut offs, others don't. Some don't even require the GRE.

It is very important that you are addressing the test anxiety that you have now. I can tell you that test taking is an extremely important skill in PA school and to pass the PANCE. Study habits are obviously very important but the reality is that you can't know everything, that is where test taking ability can come into play. Plus all your clinical skills you learn for the real world :)

If you feel lost, shadow as much as possible with who ever will let you. Get some contact with working PAs or if you are considering other medical professions, shadow those too.

Good luck!

[EmergencyMedicine]

if you want to take the island, burn the boats.  Work on it like your existence depends on getting in.