Afraid I applied too late this cycle....

[rfinch]

Hey everyone,

First off, let me say that I'm a first-time applicant to PA schools, and in this particular post, I'm not really sure what I'm looking for. Perhaps, I need to commiserate with others in similar positions, find a bit of consolation, and maybe even get a bit of advice about reapplying during next year's cycle.

When I submitted my first applications in late August I knew that I was applying late in the cycle, but at the time I was naive enough to believe that I could land a few interviews. To give you some background, I have a 3.98 overall GPA, a 4.0 science GPA, an M.A. in Cultural Anthropology, lots of volunteer experience working with refugees, homeless populations, and intravenous drug users, about 2100 hours of HCE as an EMT in a 911 system, and GRE scores as follows: 151 Quant, 164 Verbal, 4.5 Analytical. I applied so late in the cycle namely because I wasn't sure I would be able to take my GRE this summer, however, I was ultimately able to schedule it for mid-August and as soon as my prospective programs received my scores I submitted all of my apps.

Since then, I have anxiously watched my email for interview invites and combed through the forums pertaining to my programs. Perhaps the wait is just getting to me, but I know that some of these programs are finishing up their interview cycles in the next month and a half and I'm starting to worry a bit. Thus far, I have only received one interview at a top-tier school and was placed pretty far down on the waitlist, but I have yet to hear from any of the other 6 programs I applied to. I think that I'm a decent candidate, but perhaps that's overly presumptuous.

All I can think is that I applied entirely too late in the application cycle.  Given that, I'm also not sure what I can do to strengthen my application other than applying earlier next year. I mean, I do plan to continue taking more upper division courses over the next 9 months, logging more HCE hours, and even shadowing a few new PAs, but as I stated earlier, I thought I was a fairly decent candidate already (there's that ego again). Additionally, I'm not quite sure how to reapproach my essays for the next cycle since I've more or less already mined the narrative gold out of my previous experiences for my CASPA and supplemental application essays this year.

Like I said, I'm not really sure what I'm looking for in this post, but I think that there are probably others like myself out there who are going through the same anxiety-provoking experience and perhaps simply connecting with one another can alleviate some of the worry and self-doubt. With that being said, if you have any advice or words of wisdom I would love to hear them. Thanks!

[UGoLong]

Different schools have different closing dates. Several have fall closing dates for applications so, depending on where you applied, it might not have been too late.

[Wellness]

With those stats, you need not apply early. From reading plenty of threads like this, the common suggest is to not apply late unless you have amazing stats. I think it's safe to say your stats are amazing. 

 

For the essay situation, I would not worry about that until at least the new year. You can't apply until late April, so there is no need to start looking at that yet. As for suggestions, I honestly have no idea if it is a good idea to submit similar essays or not from year to year. 

[PACrankset]

All good advice above. Your stats are very good, you have a solid plan if you don't get in this year. So just sit back and wait to see what happens for the remainder of this cycle. On the essay question, if sure there is something else you can write about, maybe even just tweak your essay from this year. I will say if you don't get in this year, you should apply as soon as applications open. If you do that you should not have an issue at least getting interviews at the schools you apply to. 

[kerby]

I would not worry- I was in the same boat. I had known I wanted to apply for PA schools for a few years, however was planning on waiting until at least the next cycle to apply. I submitted applications on 10/30 for a school with a 11/1 due date- and though I waited until last February for an interview, I was accepted to the school that I barely made the app deadline. 

[JD2012]

Just continue to accrue HCE hours. You academic/GRE stats are fantastic and I would say it is not impossible to land an interview as well an acceptance this cycle.  

If you do have to apply another cycle, which a lot of people do, apply early!  

The only way you can mess this up is if your LOR's are super generic, and your personal statement is a wreck.  Other than that, everything else is spot on.

[MusicalPA]

My husband didn't apply until 10/1 of the 2015 cycle for the start date of Aug 2016. He had very similar stats as you. His interviews ranged from Nov all the way to Feb. He did get accepted to a school he interviewed in Feb. So depending on which schools you applied to, there is still a possibility of getting interviews and accepted. One of the schools that he was waitlisted for in Nov, called him 2 weeks before their classes started to see if he wanted to take a spot. At the school he is currently at, a student got a spot a few days into school actually starting. So you never know what might happen.

If you have all the prereqs and your gpa is that good, I wouldn't waste money on more classes. Just make sure your LORs are good, you have a good personal statement, and you rack up more HCE.

[rfinch]

Thanks for the replies everyone! It's good to know that my stats are at least fairly competitive (I was starting to think that they weren't competitive at all). Plus, it's been really helpful to hear your encouragement and suggestions about how to proceed in the coming months. In either case, with any luck I'm just working myself up over nothing. Thanks again!