Desperately need motivation, any advice?

[hopefulmomma]

I'm 23 years old and have been working towards getting into a Physician Assistant program for the past three years. I have been so sure of myself these past few semesters with so much determination (taking 20+ units a semester & still managing straight A's). But now that applications for the upcoming cycle are opening soon, I've been completely stressed. I've been doubting myself and worried about whether I will/can even get accepted into a program. This stress has definitely been draining my drive & motivation to keep going. 

A little background: unfortunately my first year as an undergrad didn't go too well & I ended up with a measly 1.7 GPA. Horrible, I know. Luckily, I was able to turn myself around and found my passion in healthcare. 

I'm also asking for feedback in regards to programs located only in (Northern or Southern) California due to personal circumstances.

BA in Human Development
3.8 GPA in my last 60 units & even 3.895 Major GPA, but only raised my Overall GPA to 3.3
(Yes, I know "but the upward trend..." but another concern is my science GPA.)

Science GPA 3.4 (possibly raise to 3.5) what worries me is that I've received mostly B's in main science prereq courses
Anatomy: B 
Physiology: B 
Genetics: A
Field Biology: A
Gen Chem 1: B in lecture (A in lab, lecture was 3 units & lab 1 unit)

I got A's in a few Intro Science courses (kinesiology, pharmacology, etc..) to help boost my sGPA, but I know prereqs weigh more.
currently taking Microbiology (pretty sure I'm getting a B) & Gen Chem 2 in fall (probably get a B there too *cries*)

Certification: Certified Medical Assistant 

PCE: ~3,000+ hours
1.5 years as MA in a medical group/building that rotated me between offices. I worked alongside PCPs, PAs, NPs, & specialists (cardiology, GI, internal medicine, etc...). There was even a walk-in office which saw 70-80 patients a day.
1 year as surgical assistant in plastic surgery office (assisted in surgical procedures; facelifts, neck lifts, liposuction) 

Shadowing: 50+ hours shadowing orthopedic surgeon & his fellow PA orthopedic surgeon 
15 hours shadowing DO in laparoscopic & robotic surgical procedures in a hospital

Volunteer: 
- Mentoring teen moms group living in undeserved communities, providing resources & encouraging continual advancement in life
- 3 weeks in S. Africa working w/ children diagnosed w/ HIV in the townships, as well as visiting hospice patients and patients suffering from Alzheimers. Also organized various activities for students living in undeserved areas & orphanages.

Internship: Interning at a non-profit organization, alongside CEO and other executives. This organization advocates for children living in economically disadvantaged households by focusing on the importance of education. We ensure our students, especially those at a disadvantage, are given the same resources and opportunities to succeed as any other child.

LORs: 
Orthopedic Chief of Surgery from respectable hospital (would this be an issue if I only shadowed him? I've heard it isn't recommended to get LORs from shadows? Not sure if this is true or not though)
Physician Assistant I worked alongside at former job
Supervisor/Professor during S. Africa trip (she nominated me for my departments student of the month)
Medical Director of multiple facilities (including an in-home hospice & family practice)
Supervisor at Internship

No research experience

I guess I'm just looking for feedback on whether I'm actually a competitive applicant or not and what I need to work on to make myself stand out more. I just need some reassurance I'm not wasting time or money trying to pursue this path. Any advice is greatly appreciated! I need cold, hard, and brutal truth please.

[pastudentw]

You have a better application than you think! You'll be just fine especially if you have a great personal statement and apply to the right schools. Make sure you do well on your interviews!

[UGoLong]

A reasonable background and record, I should think. I’d rethink the LOR from someone you shadowed unless you shadowed for weeks. Get letters from people who know you well enough to write a great letter. Best one I ever read was from an applicant’s college soccer coach. It told us about her drive and personality.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[lgonz]

You have a TON of very valuable experience. I don’t think your GPA should be too big of an issue and I definitely think you can use it as a great opportunity to show how your work ethic and determination has pushed you these past several years to rise above and get to where you are today. Going from a 1.7 overall GPA to a 3.3. overall GPA obviously takes a lot of hard work but you accomplished it. 

Are you by any chance a mom? I’m assuming this based on your username. If you are, then hopefully these words of advice from me will be helpful. Being a mom at this age and trying to pursue PA school is a long and difficult road. You have gotten this far and I truly think you have a great chance of being accepted into PA school this upcoming application cycle. I had my daughter when I was in high school (15 years old and scary young lol), but she motivated me so much and now, at 21 years old, I’ve been accepted into two really great PA programs here in Texas. It is possible and with support from your family and friends it can definitely be done. It’s normal to have doubts, get discouraged, and wonder at times if it is all worth it. Try to remind yourself why you chose to pursue this goal in the first place and continue to work hard towards it. Once you get accepted and attend a program it will only get (incredibly) harder, but keep using your little one/ones for motivation to keep pushing forward. (BTW if you are not a mom then please disregard this entire paragraph lol I'm just assuming from your username)  

My science gpa was a 3.6 and my overall gpa was a 3.4 so honestly not much different than yours (and I too did very poorly my freshman year in undergrad). Your HCE, shadowing hours, and volunteering hours are fantastic. Having a LOR from an orthopedic chief of surgery is really great, but like UGoLong mentioned above, make sure he knows you well enough to write a great LOR for you. It seems that all you have left to do to get that acceptance is write a kick-ass personal statement and do well on the GRE. You are definitely competitive with other applicants, and the long path to getting accepted is almost over! Keep on keepin' on and you will get there soon. 

[moleashish]

With those stats you will get in somewhere. Now limiting to just northern and southern cali schools probably will be your biggest obstacle. I was just told by a friend who got accepted to Western U at Pamona that their cut off for interview was 3.5 GPA. And many new PA schools in Southern Cali are probably aiming to get students with high GPA to boost their stats. With all that said, I would recommend you contact admissions for every school to see if they can give you any info on how competitive you are for them. I would hate to see you not get anywhere because you have a great experience and decent stats for many PA schools. 

I'm from Cali and I didn't get accepted or even interview from any schools in cali. All my interviews were from out of state. So, please do consider a few schools out of state where you would have a good chance/support to survive the school. Keep them as back up.

Good luck. You have a great chance. Applications are stressful and will make you doubt yourself, most of us go through the same phase. But you can do it. 

[hopefulmomma]

4 hours ago, LGonz said:

Are you by any chance a mom? I’m assuming this based on your username. If you are, then hopefully these words of advice from me will be helpful. Being a mom at this age and trying to pursue PA school is a long and difficult road. You have gotten this far and I truly think you have a great chance of being accepted into PA school this upcoming application cycle. I had my daughter when I was in high school (15 years old and scary young lol), but she motivated me so much and now, at 21 years old, I’ve been accepted into two really great PA programs here in Texas. It is possible and with support from your family and friends it can definitely be done. It’s normal to have doubts, get discouraged, and wonder at times if it is all worth it. Try to remind yourself why you chose to pursue this goal in the first place and continue to work hard towards it. Once you get accepted and attend a program it will only get (incredibly) harder, but keep using your little one/ones for motivation to keep pushing forward. (BTW if you are not a mom then please disregard this entire paragraph lol I'm just assuming from your username)  

Hi, thank you so much for your response! This was something I really needed to read because I am a single mom of a 4 year old boy & reading this has given me so much hope in continuing! It has been such a long & difficult journey but I know it will be worth it in the end. I just don’t want to fail/disappoint him. 

Some days I really just want to give up but then every time I look at my son it just pushes me 10x harder to keep going.

Congratulations on your acceptance btw! I really hope to be in your position this time next year!

[hopefulmomma]

59 minutes ago, moleashish said:

With those stats you will get in somewhere. Now limiting to just northern and southern cali schools probably will be your biggest obstacle. I was just told by a friend who got accepted to Western U at Pamona that their cut off for interview was 3.5 GPA. And many new PA schools in Southern Cali are probably aiming to get students with high GPA to boost their stats. With all that said, I would recommend you contact admissions for every school to see if they can give you any info on how competitive you are for them. I would hate to see you not get anywhere because you have a great experience and decent stats for many PA schools. 

I'm from Cali and I didn't get accepted or even interview from any schools in cali. All my interviews were from out of state. So, please do consider a few schools out of state where you would have a good chance/support to survive the school. Keep them as back up.

Good luck. You have a great chance. Applications are stressful and will make you doubt yourself, most of us go through the same phase. But you can do it. 

I really wish I could apply to every single school, in state & out of state, but unfortunately due to my circumstances it just isn’t feasible to do so. I’m a single mom so I need to stay in state because I have support from my family here to help with my son.

True, WesternU is definitely one of the harder programs to get into but my top school as of right now is Touro. If you don’t mind sharing your stats with me? & what other programs did you apply to in CA? Just so I can see what my prospectives are. 

[moleashish]

1 hour ago, hopefulmomma said:

I really wish I could apply to every single school, in state & out of state, but unfortunately due to my circumstances it just isn’t feasible to do so. I’m a single mom so I need to stay in state because I have support from my family here to help with my son.

True, WesternU is definitely one of the harder programs to get into but my top school as of right now is Touro. If you don’t mind sharing your stats with me? & what other programs did you apply to in CA? Just so I can see what my prospectives are. 

Definitely. I actually did have interview invite from Touro but declined due to it being 3 years vs another school that I had interview the next day being 2 year. I had applied to USC, Touro, Western U, UC Davis, Loma Linda (I pulled my application because their mission/vision didn't align with mine).

Touro I believe has the MPH and MSPA dual degree program so make sure you have a strong answer for why on both those fields. 

Your stats are better than mine :) I had 3.3 cGPA and 3.1 sGPA. However, 20K PCE hours. Several organizations, leadership roles, teaching experience and Navy Corpsman + Cardiovascular tech experiences. And I think I was able to write a decent PS with strong LORs. 

I really hope you get multiple interviews. Cali schools are a mixed bag so definitely apply early. And like said before, check with schools to find how to make yourself competitive for their programs. 

Good luck. 

[lgonz]

2 hours ago, hopefulmomma said:

Hi, thank you so much for your response! This was something I really needed to read because I am a single mom of a 4 year old boy & reading this has given me so much hope in continuing! It has been such a long & difficult journey but I know it will be worth it in the end. I just don’t want to fail/disappoint him. 

Some days I really just want to give up but then every time I look at my son it just pushes me 10x harder to keep going.

Congratulations on your acceptance btw! I really hope to be in your position this time next year!

I have no doubt that you will be successful in your goal of becoming a physician assistant. You have made it this far and that little boy of yours is going to be what motivates you through it all. If you need any help at all with your personal statement or have any other questions you think I could help you with, please don't hesitate to ask! I wish you the best of luck!

[StevenBrule]

13 hours ago, hopefulmomma said:

 

Certfication: Certified Medical Assistant 

PCE: ~3,000+ hours
1.5 years as MA in a medical group/building that rotated me between offices. I worked alongside PCPs, PAs, NPs, & specialists (cardiology, GI, internal medicine, etc...). There was even a walk-in office which saw 70-80 patients a day.
1 year as surgical assistant in plastic surgery office (assisted in surgical procedures; facelifts, neck lifts, liposuction) 

Shadowing: 50+ hours shadowing orthopedic surgeon & his fellow PA orthopedic surgeon 
15 hours shadowing DO in laparoscopic & robotic surgical procedures in a hospital

Volunteer: 
- Mentoring teen moms group living in undeserved communities, providing resources & encouraging continual advancement in life
- 3 weeks in S. Africa working w/ children diagnosed w/ HIV in the townships, as well as visiting hospice patients and patients suffering from Alzheimers. Also organized various activities for students living in undeserved areas & orphanages.

Internship: Interning at a non-profit organization, alongside CEO and other executives. This organization advocates for children living in economically disadvantaged households by focusing on the importance of education. We ensure our students, especially those at a disadvantage, are given the same resources and opportunities to succeed as any other child.

LORs: 
Orthopedic Chief of Surgery from respectable hospital (would this be an issue if I only shadowed him? I've heard it isn't recommended to get LORs from shadows? Not sure if this is true or not though)
Physician Assistant I worked alongside at former job
Supervisor/Professor during S. Africa trip (she nominated me for my departments student of the month)
Medical Director of multiple facilities (including an in-home hospice & family practice)
Supervisor at Internship

 

Your medical/volunteer, patient care experience is pretty amazing.  LORs SOUND nice but I really hope these individuals know you well personally.  If this is the case, you have a solid application.  I would consider discussing your responsibilities as a parent and any hurdles you've had to overcome in your personal statement (which I'm sure is already pretty amazing given your background).  When interview time comes, make sure you research the faculty, the program, etc. better than any other interviewee.  Also consider a letter of intent as well as sending individual thank you letters to your interviewers following your inevitable interviews.  I found this to be an effective strategy in getting into my top choice program.

Don't lose sight of your accomplishments. Don't give up.

[rev ronin]

No research experience? GOOD.

Research experience is for med school, and is just as likely for an Adcom to question your commitment to the PA profession is it is to impress anyone.  Well, maybe not THAT bad, but PAs are not researchers, we are clinicians, so research experience is irrelevant to a PA's daily job.

[EMEDPA]

5 minutes ago, rev ronin said:

No research experience? GOOD.

Research experience is for med school, and is just as likely for an Adcom to question your commitment to the PA profession is it is to impress anyone.  Well, maybe not THAT bad, but PAs are not researchers, we are clinicians, so research experience is irrelevant to a PA's daily job.

yup, when I was on admissions committees I would throw out any application that had research as the only HCE.

[EMEDPA]

I think overall your chances are good. If you apply to 3-5 programs in CA you should get into at least one. Your volunteering, shadowing,  and HCE is above avg. your gpa and sci gpa are ok, but not great.

Look into Stanford in particular. As an older program, they value hce>gpa.

[LadyNichiavelli]

Wow. Your stats truly look amazing. I wouldn't sweat the small stuff. I truly foresee you getting an interview as long as you apply smart and apply early.

[ProSpectre]

10 hours ago, rev ronin said:

No research experience? GOOD.

Research experience is for med school, and is just as likely for an Adcom to question your commitment to the PA profession is it is to impress anyone.  Well, maybe not THAT bad, but PAs are not researchers, we are clinicians, so research experience is irrelevant to a PA's daily job.

I feel like this is a bit of a hard line to take on research experience. Sure, PAs are primarily clinicians by training, but there are PAs who do perform research (some here on this forum). Most of the professors at one of the programs I interviewed at participate in research and have scholarly work published and listed as part of their faculty credentials for the program. I was asked about my own undergrad research in my interview for the program I actually attend, and not in a manner questioning my commitment to the profession, but rather with genuine interest. 

Maybe some members of admissions committees look down on research experience, but I don't see why it would be an issue for otherwise strong applicants. I performed undergrad research, and it was a great experience that resulted in a publication; if nothing else, it helped to strengthen my resolve on becoming a PA (mainly because it showed me that research wasn't a primary interest of mine). It also resulted in my strongest LOR from the professor I did the research with (I was told it was my strongest letter by an adcom). And for the record, I went back to finish my undergraduate degree in my late twenties specifically to go to PA school, so the research I did was not to get into medical school.

Having said all of that, I completely agree that having no research experience will have no negative impact on an application though, I just wanted to throw in my thoughts for those applicants who do have research experience that may be reading this. 

To the OP: I can't speak to the programs in CA, but overall your application looks pretty solid. Don't worry too much about your freshman year grades since the upward trend will be quite apparent, just have an answer for how you turned it around, and move on. Focus now on writing a really strong personal statement and getting your application in early in the cycle, and you'll have a good chance of getting in somewhere. The application process is tough, but just stay motivated, and take it one step at a time, and you'll be fine. Good luck!

[rev ronin]

ProSpectre,

Yes, I hinted at the hyperbolic nature of my advice in the post itself.  PA faculty members who do research are very different than entry level PAs, and they represent the fraction of any profession which is necessarily involved in research: there are research diesel mechanics, but no one cares if a trade school applicant has research experience, nor should they.

I see a concerning trend to apply med school ideas to PA school inappropriately, to wit:

"Non-traditional applicant": That would be someone under 30.  Traditional PA applicants are mid-career paramedics, nurses, etc.  I don't care if traditional grad school age is mid 20's and most PA applicants are there now, that's not a traditional PA school applicant.

"gap year": No such thing.  Get a job and work in healthcare for a while.

"safety school": No such thing.  Different programs have different foci, so don't think that just because your sorry CASPA app landed on a rural-focused, high-experience-focused Adcom that they will look at your 3.001 suburban CNA background as desirable.

... and people posting about their research experience.

[EMEDPA]

2 hours ago, rev ronin said:

"Non-traditional applicant": That would be someone under 30.  Traditional PA applicants are mid-career paramedics, nurses, etc.  I don't care if traditional grad school age is mid 20's and most PA applicants are there now, that's not a traditional PA school applicant.

 

I would argue 25-27 or so as this cut off. There are plenty of folks in their mid to late 20s with years of experience and a degree. at 27 I had 10 years experience in ems including 5 years as an ER tech and 5 years as a paramedic in 2 busy urban 911 systems and a BS degree from the university of Ca with all PA prereqs done.

[hopefulmomma]

19 hours ago, EMEDPA said:

I think overall your chances are good. If you apply to 3-5 programs in CA you should get into at least one. Your volunteering, shadowing,  and HCE is above avg. your gpa and sci gpa are ok, but not great.

Look into Stanford in particular. As an older program, they value hce>gpa.

Thank you so much for this feedback!

I had been looking into Stanford, but I know my GPA is pretty subpar so I didn't think I stood a chance. However, researching more I know they really focus on underserved communities which is where I am passionate about doing more in.

I just have to take the GRE & I'm planning on doing so within the next month or so.