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Chance for PA School


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1 minute ago, GunBlood222 said:

thank you for the response. do you believe I have a chance applying as a ug this cycle? I'm definitely going to try and get more hours, and try to diversify them. I'm applying to about 14 schools 

As long as you'll have all of the prereqs completed by the time of matriculation (or sooner depending on some schools' requirements, then yes, you have a chance. 

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You definitley need to get more hours and better one, at that. The volunteer hours wouldn’t even count towards PCE so that would leave you with average 350 (most schools don’t count a pharmacy teach either as PCE) from your scribe job. That’s like, 2 months of working full time. You could definitley try applying this cycle since you’re gpa is stellar, but remember schools look into more of the application as a whole than just your gpa 

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Guest HopeToBePAC

I'd say your chances are great for PA school if you apply to the right schools. Your GPA is well above the average for accepted PA school applicants, so academically you will have no problem impressing schools.

Now, moving on to PCE, since you only have 300-400s of actual scribing as your PCE, you're gonna wanna apply to schools that accept scribing for sure and you meet their minimum. Additionally, the pharmacy technician will fall under HCE. Volunteering does not apply to PCE either.

Focus on schools that will accept very low PCE (focus on academics more) AND accept scribing and you should be able to get a few interviews. I'm not familiar with the schools on your list as I don't live in the tri-state area so I can't speak on that but it seems like you have a solid list. 

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As far as your school list, Arcadia is a great choice that really values GPA. Their interview day was disappointing though - there were 50 interviewees on my day and they spent about 5-7 minutes interviewing us. You should also know their website is out of date - of note, they replaced their cadaver lab with an Anatomage table and are now affiliated with UPenn.

If you're looking to add more PA options,  Jefferson and Temple would be good options for you. (Jefferson especially prefers high GPA.) I was an undergrad at Temple and accepted to the PA program, and I also worked at TJU's Center City hospital, so let me know if you'd like specifics on either of those! 

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On 1/25/2019 at 5:51 PM, nichole96 said:

As far as your school list, Arcadia is a great choice that really values GPA. Their interview day was disappointing though - there were 50 interviewees on my day and they spent about 5-7 minutes interviewing us. You should also know their website is out of date - of note, they replaced their cadaver lab with an Anatomage table and are now affiliated with UPenn.

If you're looking to add more PA options,  Jefferson and Temple would be good options for you. (Jefferson especially prefers high GPA.) I was an undergrad at Temple and accepted to the PA program, and I also worked at TJU's Center City hospital, so let me know if you'd like specifics on either of those! 

id love specifics on those, thank you

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PMd!

Also, make sure to check out the accepted student stats as you're finalizing your school list. For example, Arcadia's "matriculated students had a median GPA of 3.62 and 2,133 hours of clinical experience." Obviously those hours can be skewed by a single applicant with 20 years of experience, but keep that in mind as you apply! 

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Agree with the sentiments above that you have a good chance if you apply to schools that favor GPA and have low PCE requirements. Especially if their matriculating classes have low PCE averages. 

However, not to be negative, and maybe you've thought of this already, but with what you've stated above, I do not see that you would have the experience to back up a convincing personal statement. What I mean by that is, as a reviewer, why would I really believe you that you KNOW you want to be a PA and have the passion for it when the bulk of your experience is in a pharmacy, temple, and lab? 

My advice to counter that would be, as you are considering options to strengthen your PCE, think about the setting you see yourself in as a PA at the end of all this. Perhaps you're considering being a PA in a private dermatology office. If that's the case, then try to get a job as a medical assistant in a derm office so you can spend time with a PA that has your dream gig and see if it's really for you. Maybe you already know with certainty, and this hypothetical MA position doesn't do anything for you that you didn't already know. Even if that's the case, I still think it would be more convincing to reviewers.

Now, I know that with this critique I'm making assumptions (you don't have the experience) that might be wrong (maybe you have spent lots of time with PAs in a professional setting). But if you're looking for new ways to beef up your PCE why not kill two birds with one stone?

P.S. Biochem kicked my butt - good on you for that killer GPA with that as your major too!!!

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