Guest Victor Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 I am applying to PA school for the upcoming 2019-2020 CASPA cycle that is about to open. I got accepted into PA program, however the cost of tuition is around 130k and the cost of living is WAY above average. I am probably going to reject or ask to defer(unlikely) my acceptance. My loan would be around 180k for 30 months probably. I am going to apply to more schools next year. My cSgpa is 3.4 while my overall is 3.6. I have over 4,000 hours of HCE as a head physical therapy aide and 2,000 hours as a medical assistant for a urgent care clinic. My GRE scores was not great. I got a 145 on the quant, 150 on the verbal, and 3.5 on the writing. Three questions. Do you think it would be a good idea to apply again next year to a program that is less expensive? Also, should I retake my GRE to get it at least to the 50th percentile? Also, what do you think my chances are for getting into the cycle as my application stands as is? Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hustleforthePAC Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 I had a friend that got accepted the first time she /he applied to a pa school that is $190k. Mph/mpa dual degree. It built a lot of confidence as a first time applicant so she /he declined the offer. 3 years and several waitlists later she /he still didn't get in... Finally on her /his 4th cycle she /he finally got back in. They could've worked as a pa a lot sooner. With pa school acceptance it takes intelligence and a bit of luck. I'd highly recommend you claim your pa seat because your time is now. That 1 Pa acceptance letter isn't guaranteed take it while you can Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted January 20, 2019 Moderator Share Posted January 20, 2019 Agree with Christine, above. You should not ever apply to a program that you would not attend if accepted... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MT2PA Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 Let's do some math. How many programs did you apply to this year and DIDN'T get in? I imagine there are a few. Probably means you didn't have a great success rate this year. As above, no guarantee you'd have any better luck next year. Unless you have some in-state programs you can apply to next time and realistically get in, your tuition likely won't be much better. Average salary for a new grad PA is, let's say 100k. Unless you think somewhere you could get in next cycle would be <80k in loans for you (about 100k less than your estimated loan for the program you got into), the cost of lost wages by delaying being a practicing PA actually would put you BEHIND financially. If you absolutely must reapply next year, don't bother deferring the program you got into. Most won't let you defer for cost reasons and in fact tuition will probably go UP. You need to do everything a second time applicant needs to do when reapplying: retake GRE, improve GPA, more and better PCE, better LORs, better personal statements, and if you get interviews, more practice interviewing. Few, if any, folks around here will recommend throwing away an acceptance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Victor Posted January 21, 2019 Share Posted January 21, 2019 16 hours ago, MT2PA said: Let's do some math. How many programs did you apply to this year and DIDN'T get in? I imagine there are a few. Probably means you didn't have a great success rate this year. As above, no guarantee you'd have any better luck next year. Unless you have some in-state programs you can apply to next time and realistically get in, your tuition likely won't be much better. Average salary for a new grad PA is, let's say 100k. Unless you think somewhere you could get in next cycle would be <80k in loans for you (about 100k less than your estimated loan for the program you got into), the cost of lost wages by delaying being a practicing PA actually would put you BEHIND financially. If you absolutely must reapply next year, don't bother deferring the program you got into. Most won't let you defer for cost reasons and in fact tuition will probably go UP. You need to do everything a second time applicant needs to do when reapplying: retake GRE, improve GPA, more and better PCE, better LORs, better personal statements, and if you get interviews, more practice interviewing. Few, if any, folks around here will recommend throwing away an acceptance. Hey there. SOOOO funny story that is not so funny. I applied to about 6 programs and only got interviewed and accepted into one. However, on my CASPA application, I messed up on my HCE and only listed myself as having 300 hours of HCE. It was a major mistake and I misread the total hours for hours weekly. So I am a little more hopeful that if I wait for a cycle I feel like I would get a better chance of going to a school that I would want to attend and that is way more affordable. For that a loan of about 180k at the 6-7 percent interest rate, that difference for one year now, I feel like could result in a couple years of financial freedom. Its just because I will edit my CASPA this cycle with the correct listed of HCE I feel like my odds will be way better and I will improve my GRE score. Sigh. ALSO, thanks everyone for your response. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Victor Posted January 21, 2019 Share Posted January 21, 2019 17 hours ago, ChristineQLe said: I had a friend that got accepted the first time she /he applied to a pa school that is $190k. Mph/mpa dual degree. It built a lot of confidence as a first time applicant so she /he declined the offer. 3 years and several waitlists later she /he still didn't get in... Finally on her /his 4th cycle she /he finally got back in. They could've worked as a pa a lot sooner. With pa school acceptance it takes intelligence and a bit of luck. I'd highly recommend you claim your pa seat because your time is now. That 1 Pa acceptance letter isn't guaranteed take it while you can I understand... Not only should I have not applied if I did not plan on going to the program, but should have done more research prior. It is a gamble but if you read what I responded to MT2PA you can see why I might have more confidence in the upcoming cycle. I made an error on my application and am surprised I still got in. That being said nothing is guaranteed but a 200k-ish loan is a hard pill to swallow. Thank you for your response! It is much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SrTaM Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 It sounds rather like you’ve already made up your mind to defer/reapply. But I completely agree with previous comments, never apply to a program you wouldn’t want to attend. Student loans suck no matter how much you’re borrowing, and if you attend the program you’ve already been accepted at, you’ll be paying off those loans that much sooner. Waiting/reapplying is no guarantee (even with your application hours mishap). I would personally go with the program you’ve been accepted at now, but to each his/her own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD2012 Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 The application pool only gets more competitive each cycle, and on top of it schools can change their pre-reqs randomly requiring more which happens all the time. The program I attend just did for this past cycle. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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