How Am I Looking?

[mattjmartin28]

Hey, whats up to anyone reading this. I just wanted to throw up what my stats are at the moment out there and see what the general feedback is! I've  seen many other people do it, and so I'm thinking "ehh what the hell, why not!". But here they are! 

Age : 23

School and degree: Indiana University, Exercise Science

GPAc - 3.2

GPAs - 3.4

GRE - going to take soon

HCE - 640 hours.

Through an internship that develops and test biomedical devices. I was on the testing side. (Cook Medical Inc.)

PCE - 500 hours as a Patient Care Tech

I'll apply though in a couple months with about 1000. So I'm not too worried about that at the moment! But I work nights at a hospital and my duties consist of taking vitals, blood draws, wash people, work with the mentally ill, orthopedic inpatient stay patients, help people to the bathroom, blood sugars, clean up an elderly patient who may be incontinent, ect... haha so in other words, some exciting stuff! 

Shadowing - 200+ hours from a PA

                     - 30 hours from an MD

Non-health Care Work Experience - 6,262 hours

I have held many jobs throughout my life starting when I was 10 and up mowing lawns for money, and growing up on a farm, then other miscellaneous stuff throughout college summers and breaks.

Extracurricular Activities - 3636 hours

These hours include being a 10 year 4-H member, a club that used to be a big apart of me called Jr. Leaders, and when I was in FFA.

Volunteer - 462 hours

LORs - 1 PA, 1 MD, 1 Nurse in charge of my unit, 1 bio-mechanic Prof, 1 Genetic Prof.

 

I know my GPAc isnt the hottest around, but man, I was one heck of a SOLID B to B+ student my freshman and sophomore year. The only C's I have are in Gen Chem and Orgo. Yea, still a little salty about that. But my last 60 hours GPA is about a 3.6. So if you guys would like to throw some feedback my way, go for it! I know my PCE hours are a little low, but I'm currently bringing those bad boys up. I think it'd be especially cool if someone on an admissions board threw down some of their opinions as well. Thanks in advance for your replies!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PACrankset]

Are you planning on applying this cycle? If so Oct/Nov is very very late. I would say wait until the 19-20 cycle. Study hard for the GRE, aim for over 150 in verbal and Quant. Also might not be a bad idea to retake Chem and Orgo if you think you can get an A now. That would bump you slightly and it would look better to admissions instead of two glaringly obvious C’s

[PrePA94]

I would say, why not apply and see? Im also applying, and I have gpa's (science and cumulative) similar to yours. I applied back in May, and Im still waiting to hear back. I would also say, APPLY SMART. I only applied to schools that evaluate candidates holistically, are rolling admission, and have incoming class gpa's similar to mine (or only a bit** higher). Also, apply to newer programs, as their requirements tend to be more forgiving. STUDY HARD for the GRE. I did, and barely got a 300.

 

Wish you the best of luck, and just stay optimistic.

[jPAula]

@PrePA94 Hi! Can you tell me a few schools that you've found that have a more holistic approach? Thanks! 

[PrePA94]

7 minutes ago, jPAula said:

@PrePA94 Hi! Can you tell me a few schools that you've found that have a more holistic approach? Thanks! 

I can tell you the schools I applied to, but, depending on where youre from, you might just want to look into schools more geared towards your own liking (school mission, tuition, location, etc).

I applied to Seton Hall, Monmouth, University of Saint Joseph, University of Charleston, and University of Bridgeport.

Again, do a quick google search into programs near you, look into those programs, and apply accordingly!

Best of luck!

 

[mattjmartin28]

5 hours ago, PACrankset said:

Are you planning on applying this cycle? If so Oct/Nov is very very late. I would say wait until the 19-20 cycle. Study hard for the GRE, aim for over 150 in verbal and Quant. Also might not be a bad idea to retake Chem and Orgo if you think you can get an A now. That would bump you slightly and it would look better to admissions instead of two glaringly obvious C’s

Hey there, no I don't plan on applying this cycle, like you said it would be too late in the process, and I just don't really have the PCE hours yet or GRE. Ill probably start applying when January comes around! And sadly I don't really have time to retake them at the moment. But say I don't get in the first time around, then I'll make some time to retake them.

Thanks for the advice though!  Much appreciated.

[mattjmartin28]

4 hours ago, PrePA94 said:

I would say, why not apply and see? Im also applying, and I have gpa's (science and cumulative) similar to yours. I applied back in May, and Im still waiting to hear back. I would also say, APPLY SMART. I only applied to schools that evaluate candidates holistically, are rolling admission, and have incoming class gpa's similar to mine (or only a bit** higher). Also, apply to newer programs, as their requirements tend to be more forgiving. STUDY HARD for the GRE. I did, and barely got a 300.

 

Wish you the best of luck, and just stay optimistic.

Awesome, thank you very much! I've looked into the schools I plan on applying to and I think are are a good fit. Good luck and i hope you get in some where!

[whitecoatrosegold]

19 hours ago, mattjmartin28 said:

Hey there, no I don't plan on applying this cycle, like you said it would be too late in the process, and I just don't really have the PCE hours yet or GRE. Ill probably start applying when January comes around! And sadly I don't really have time to retake them at the moment. But say I don't get in the first time around, then I'll make some time to retake them.

Thanks for the advice though!  Much appreciated.

This current cycle is still open in January 2019 (aka that would be a very late application for rolling programs). The reason applications can be considered later is because a large amount of PA programs still use rolling admissions, which means they review applications as they receive them before the deadline and don't necessarily wait to get everyone's applications to review you against the total amount of people who applied. The upside to applying earlier in the cycle for rolling schools is, theoretically, your application is compared to a far fewer amount of applicants than if you applied later when the school had theoretically already offered seats and is being more selective as the seats diminish. Thats why less-than-ideal applicants in some way are told to apply earlier to stand a better chance.

The way CASPA works is the year before you hope to enter PA school you apply. So anyone who applies April 26, 2018 (when this cycle opened) up until March 1, 2019 applied for programs starting anywhere from January 2019 to some that start all the way in January 2020. Programs all start around different times, and the vast majority are January 2019, or sometime in summer/fall 2019. I did see one or two that are interviewing now for their start of January 2020, but the vast majority are for the following year.

With that being said, if you are hoping to enter PA school next Fall, you would need to apply now. Which is not impossible. My GPA is comparable to yours and I've received interviews this cycle. I did apply in May, however, and have more PCE. I really think the only part of your application that is slightly lacking is PCE hours (anywhere from 1-2K is the average now) and your lower GPAs. You seem to have good LORs, decent HCE which can help, volunteer, and shadowing which is important. If you want to apply, go for it. Make sure you have a killer personal statement because that can help offset other parts of your application if it is well-written. And even though PCE is low, there are still programs that make a point to require 0 hours of PCE and stay true to this with accepting students with little to no PCE. If you have any questions feel free to DM me! Best of luck to you!!