What are my chances? and school list?

[BTAN1]

Hello everyone! It's me again - the newbie! 

Just a little background: I had every intention to apply to medical school prior to my current job in a hospital, and found out that the Physician Assistant career exists! (Sorry, I am a little late heh). So if my background seems very pre-medish, that's the reason why. 

Academic Credentials

Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry, emphasis in Biochemistry
cGPA: 3.91
sGPA: 3.82 (only C+ is from Advanced Biochemistry II (almost died hehe) and B+ from Biomedical Physiology (a co-grad/undergrad course. surprised I got even got a B lol)

I am not too sure how to breakdown the hours but here is a running list (let me know if you know, I have included job description):

Clinical Hours (total hours: about 1300 hours)

a) Patient Care Navigator 2018-2019 (current job) - (act as a transitional care coordinator - worked with doctors and nurses to help patient throughout the discharge process, including educating patient on what happened in the hospital, and making the appropriate follow up appointment) : 1120hours
b) Patient Companion 2016(volunteer - communicate and transport patient, bring blankets/juice for Ambulatory Care Unit patients) : 96 hours
c) Tampa Bay Street Medicine 2016(volunteer - work for the underserved community, registered patients for primary care check up with supervising physician and med students; followed up with CVS pharmacy that was also on site; shadowed physician and given opportunity to diagnose patients - (actually, giving us undergrads opportunity to ask questions) : 20 hours
d) Executive Internship Program 2013-2014(this was back in senior year of high school, but it was extremely valuable - I got to rotate around the hospital units - Acted as PCT/shadow in the ED, observed a Cardiac Cath procedure (stent placement); spent a short time in medical laboratory; spent a short time in surgery (did not get to see any surgery though, just consults  ) : 320 hours 

Volunteer Hours
e) Volunteer Pianist at a local church for over 2 years(500 hours)
f) Volunteer Chemistry Tutor at university (100 hours)

Shadowing hours (98.5):

a) ENT MD : 20 hours
b) Family Medicine MD : 35 hours
c) Dermatology MD : 13.5 hours
d) Family Medicine PA : 30 hours (getting a letter of recommendation)

Undergraduate Research

Microbiology Lab: 320 hours
Virology Lab (getting a letter of recommendation from PI) for over 1 year: about 1000 hours - co-author for a paper, but not published.
 

University Collegiate Leadership:

Founded a Chemistry Club; Founding SOP for an Engineering Funding Council and Vice President Engineering Ambassador; Webmaster and Historian for AIChE.

GRE: Decided not to take it... at least for this cycle lol, we'll see. 

School List (dream school is obviously Jefferson lol) 

Jefferson University - New Jersey Campus

Drexel University

Jefferson University - Center City

Jefferson University - East Falls Campus

Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences - Boston

Northeastern University

Rutgers University

Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine

University of Bridgeport

University of New England

Slippery Rock University

University of Tampa

Southern California University of Health Sciences

New York Institute of Technology

Daeman University

University of Saint Joseph

Westfield State University

 

 

Please let me know, guys! Thank you for being super supportive! I absolutely appreciate the positive energy I get from reading your comments and posts! 

[BrittanyJ95]

If you get denied it'll be because of your clinical hours. I would suggest getting hours in a more hands-on position.. EMT, CNA, Phlebotomist.. 

Everything else looks great! Do well on the GRE (above 150 on each), have great letters of rec, a well written personal statement, and ace the interview! Its hard for ME to say what your chances are. I suggest applying to schools that require little to no PCE. I am not familiar with the schools you posted.

[MT2PA]

Most of your 'clinical hours' would be better categorized elsewhere - primarily volunteer hours (b and c) or shadowing hours (d).

Per your other posts you KNOW that you are lacking in HCE and definitely in PCE.  You also will need to articulate WHY PA.

Look up matriculating student stats for the programs you are interested in - that will give you the best idea if you have any chance. 

[nichole96]

I third the advice to increase your PCE quality. I'd ask around if your hospital will take you on as a patient care tech in float pool or in a unit you like.

As far as your school list, the Philly schools are smart choices. You may also want to add Arcadia Glenside - they're 20 min outside Philly (right near East Falls), affiliated with UPenn, and require minimum 200 hours PCE (though their accepted hours are much higher, so I'd carefully evaluate if you fit their mission before applying). I'd also check out Temple. Finally, I would remove Northeastern (strongest preference given to applicants with >1000 hours PCE, and I'm sure they get plenty of applicants who fulfill that preference). 

As a whole, I agree with MT2PA's advice - the accepted student stats for these schools will tell you what type of applicants they value.  

[Guest HopeToBePAC]

Your GPA is phenomenal so apply to schools that value high GPA - you have a great shot with your GPA. However, speaking quite honestly, your clinical hours won't count for PCE (for most schools, at least) because as others have mentioned, PCE needs to be hands on (CNA, MA, EMT, etc.) All of the things you listed are HCE, I believe. So, focus on schools with 0 PCE required hours or those that will take volunteering as PCE. Another thing I'd add is to take the GRE, it will open up so many more places for you to apply.