Jump to content

Reapplying advice on essay/school choice


Recommended Posts

Hello! So I am definitely reapplying this year. Last year was my first time applying and I made the mistake of sending my application in summer instead of when the portal opened. Since then I have taken a few extra courses, acquired more HCE (almost doubled) and am planning on changing jobs to get a different experience. I was wondering how I should adapt my essay to this new cycle? Obviously I do not want to send in the exact same essay, but my feelings about being a PA are still the same. I was interviewed by a few top ranked programs but did not get in because of the large applicant pool (according to the admissions offices). I usually do well in job interviews so I would hope my interviewing skills are not terrible, but maybe they just don't stand out as much when there are many others because I'm not a complete extrovert? I'm not really sure what exactly went wrong there. Also, should I reapply to the programs that interviewed me and rejected me as well? I would appreciate all the advice I can get! Thanks! :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As mentioned above I would apply to the schools you interviewed at provided you are still interested in those schools. Your application will have improved and a lot of schools actually like applicants. On the topic of the personal statement you are right in not submitting the same essay. Your feeling may not have changed but maybe there was a patient or an experience that helped solidify your decision more in the past year, you can use something like this as the basis for your essay. Perhaps not getting in motivated you even more or you learnt an important lesson from your rejections. These are all good examples of things that you may choose to write about in your essay, remember you want to try and have an essay that grabs attention and retains the adcoms attention.

For some inspiration I reapplied to multiple schools that I had applied to in the past, one I applied too three times. I was eventually accepted to my top choice school but it took two cycles and I was not interviewed there the first year I applied. The other school I applied at for three cycles I was declined the first year, waitlisted to interview the second and invited to interview the third year. I used the feedback from that school to help my application a lot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 hours ago, PACrankset said:

As mentioned above I would apply to the schools you interviewed at provided you are still interested in those schools. Your application will have improved and a lot of schools actually like applicants. On the topic of the personal statement you are right in not submitting the same essay. Your feeling may not have changed but maybe there was a patient or an experience that helped solidify your decision more in the past year, you can use something like this as the basis for your essay. Perhaps not getting in motivated you even more or you learnt an important lesson from your rejections. These are all good examples of things that you may choose to write about in your essay, remember you want to try and have an essay that grabs attention and retains the adcoms attention.

For some inspiration I reapplied to multiple schools that I had applied to in the past, one I applied too three times. I was eventually accepted to my top choice school but it took two cycles and I was not interviewed there the first year I applied. The other school I applied at for three cycles I was declined the first year, waitlisted to interview the second and invited to interview the third year. I used the feedback from that school to help my application a lot.

Thanks! great advice! Do I have to rewrite the whole essay or can I use parts of my previous essay that are still relevant such as how I decided to choose the pa route?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrator
2 hours ago, silverstarlight said:

Thanks! great advice! Do I have to rewrite the whole essay or can I use parts of my previous essay that are still relevant such as how I decided to choose the pa route?

Rewrite it from the ground up, including relevant experiences or wordings again as appropriate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As Rev said I would personally recommend rewriting it from the start. You can reuse similar reasoning or experiences, but word them differently or relate them to new experience you have accumulated over the past year. If you edit your old one you run the risk of appearing lazy, as most schools will have access in some way to your previous years application.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/25/2018 at 11:19 AM, PACrankset said:

As Rev said I would personally recommend rewriting it from the start. You can reuse similar reasoning or experiences, but word them differently or relate them to new experience you have accumulated over the past year. If you edit your old one you run the risk of appearing lazy, as most schools will have access in some way to your previous years application.

That's a very good point.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Welcome to the Physician Assistant Forum! This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Learn More