My PA school chances and nursing school acceptance

[kelsey0123]

So I'm conflicted and need some advice. I'm debating between PA and NP and the different routes to get to where I want to go. 

For PA school: I believe I am an average applicant. I just graduated a highly rated 4 year university with a 3.4 in Biology, 500 CNA contact hours, and I am short a LOR from a PA. I want to be accepted for this coming cycle so I am behind on hitting that first submit button and I don't want to take more than one year off. 

Nursing School: I just got accepted to a good accelerated BSN program to start this fall! I am not sure how competitive NP school is or how long they like you to work as a nurse before you can apply. I enjoy working the hospital floor! But I don't think I want to be a nurse long term. I am considering a specialty in family practice or public health.

Has anyone else gone through this struggle? Why did you pick the path you chose and which state do you live in?

 

[DiggySRNA]

Hello! 

I just replied to your other post so feel free to go back and see the price:time comparison for both. First off, congrats on both graduating and also being accepted into RN school. Two feats to be proud of. 

As far as your PA application, to be honest, your profile is not competitive (avg isn't a good position to be in). A competitive application has a 3.5+ GPA (that number has been increasing year after year), 2000+ hours of high quality PCE (combat medic, paramedic, respiratory therapy, registered nurse, LPN, radiation tech, etc), volunteering/community service hours, 100+ shadowing hours, and 300+ on the GRE. 

I'm not trying to discourage you but getting into PA school requires a lot and mental stamina. 

NP school isn't as competitive and most FNP programs do not require any time as a RN because they have direct entry BSN RN to MSN FNP tracks. Then there are competitive FNP programs at the top universities like Duke, Columbia, Vanderbilt, etc that might need a year of RN experience. 

I've gone through this path and I ended up in an ABSN program after I was rejected from 9 PA programs. Panicked and submitted to an ABSN program in December and got accepted in February....talk about a fast turn around. So far, I do not have any regrets. Can't complain and have no regrets because I'm making 75K as a brand new RN (less than a year of experience) and I only sacrificed 1 year of my life. I'm in Pennsylvania. 

[kelsey0123]

Thank you for your advice! That honestly helps so much to hear it put that way. It's just hard to move past something I was working towards for 2 years and I love the flexibility of PA! I might try to submit to my top 2-3 schools anyways while accepting nursing to see what happens.

[Sherbert]

17 hours ago, kelsey0123 said:

Thank you for your advice! That honestly helps so much to hear it put that way. It's just hard to move past something I was working towards for 2 years and I love the flexibility of PA! I might try to submit to my top 2-3 schools anyways while accepting nursing to see what happens.

attending nursing school then going for PA is always an option. Nursing school could boost your GPA and give you the hours you need to stand out. You don't have to go NP just because you went to nursing school. 

[HLL2017]

On 6/18/2019 at 9:55 PM, Diggy said:

Hello! 

I just replied to your other post so feel free to go back and see the price:time comparison for both. First off, congrats on both graduating and also being accepted into RN school. Two feats to be proud of. 

As far as your PA application, to be honest, your profile is not competitive (avg isn't a good position to be in). A competitive application has a 3.5+ GPA (that number has been increasing year after year), 2000+ hours of high quality PCE (combat medic, paramedic, respiratory therapy, registered nurse, LPN, radiation tech, etc), volunteering/community service hours, 100+ shadowing hours, and 300+ on the GRE. 

I'm not trying to discourage you but getting into PA school requires a lot and mental stamina. 

NP school isn't as competitive and most FNP programs do not require any time as a RN because they have direct entry BSN RN to MSN FNP tracks. Then there are competitive FNP programs at the top universities like Duke, Columbia, Vanderbilt, etc that might need a year of RN experience. 

I've gone through this path and I ended up in an ABSN program after I was rejected from 9 PA programs. Panicked and submitted to an ABSN program in December and got accepted in February....talk about a fast turn around. So far, I do not have any regrets. Can't complain and have no regrets because I'm making 75K as a brand new RN (less than a year of experience) and I only sacrificed 1 year of my life. I'm in Pennsylvania. 

Hi Diggy,

Your personal story is very inspiring to me. I was recently dismissed from my PA program (a little over 3 weeks ago) due to multiple failing below 70% in exams up till mid-terms on my first try of first semester. Very sad, confused and shock to accept the difficult truth. There were many things and decisions I could have done differently, but it was all the decisions and plans i made at the time. More into the story, but also some part of that I couldnt really have done any better. So, I have decided to leave the past behind and try to be  ready to look into options. 

Logically, I feel the door for PA is very much shut on me at this point. It would be my last option to reapply after being dismissed. Plus, I am too exhausted to have to try it all over again + the argument wont be strong in my side any more. Some stats: most science classes are around 5-8 years old now, and I am 37. I do love medicine, the modules that PA programs offer although I just got to know it for one semester. Yes, being able to treat diseases is very cool, but I cant feel so confident on myself just learning about medicine for that 24-27 months in such a cramping fast pace boot camp design, I didn't feel to absorb or retain  much of the knowledge, nor got to enjoy studying but felt extremely high stress, pressure, and fear all the time. So, I just hope to read some insights in here about people who had some setbacks and consider other alternatives, especially nursing tract. I would be appreciate all feedback (including negatives) because I am a bit lost.

I am considering 2 tracts in nursing simultaneously. Applying for Entry Level of Nursing MSN for Non-nursing students Spring and Summer 2020 (best option) , and RN at community college and work my way up to BSN on second year and figure it out later (backup plan) Summer 2020. It is painful and I cry every time thinking about this, but I cant just quit and trash all hard work out of window for the last 7-8 years trying. How MSN admission will look at my setback in PA school? what is your recommendation for me if any?

I like to hear more about Nursing tract. What nursing is different than PA gets to offer? Do you feel more confident and well equipped to be successful when in practice treating patients? Is the career fulfilling? are you be able to treat patients? What are the downside of being a nurse? 

Despite my messy transcript in my PA program, my GPA in Science is still above 3.66 and overall GPA is still above 3.5. Does my undergrad GPA speak for me at all if I  apply for MSN program? 

Look forward to hearing from everyone. Thanks for your time.

 

[DiggySRNA]

13 hours ago, HLL2017 said:

Hi Diggy,

Your personal story is very inspiring to me. I was recently dismissed from my PA program (a little over 3 weeks ago) due to multiple failing below 70% in exams up till mid-terms on my first try of first semester...I just hope to read some insights in here about people who had some setbacks and consider other alternatives, especially nursing tract. I would be appreciate all feedback (including negatives) because I am a bit lost.

I am considering 2 tracts in nursing simultaneously... How MSN admission will look at my setback in PA school? what is your recommendation for me if any?

I like to hear more about Nursing tract. What nursing is different than PA gets to offer? Do you feel more confident and well equipped to be successful when in practice treating patients? Is the career fulfilling? are you be able to treat patients? What are the downside of being a nurse? 

Despite my messy transcript in my PA program, my GPA in Science is still above 3.66 and overall GPA is still above 3.5. Does my undergrad GPA speak for me at all if I  apply for MSN program? 

Look forward to hearing from everyone. Thanks for your time.

 

Hi HLL2017,

Sorry to hear about the dismissal from your PA program. Well, I only gave PA school application cycle one shot and called it quits when I had no luck in getting in. So kudos to you to making it that far. As for direct entry MSN...be very careful of which one you do attend. Make sure this type of program awards a BSN and MSN upon successful completion. The politics in nursing is confusing and there are a ton of way one can become a RN...even FNP. Some direct entry MSN programs make you a Masters Prepared RN and not an FNP, whereas, some allows you to practice as a MSN prepared FNP. 

PA and NP training are vastly different. PA school is rigorous regarding medical knowledge and disease pathophysiology and pharmacology. NP school is strenuous regarding disease prevention and behavioral/lifestyle wellness. Two different forms of training...HOWEVER, once in practice, the NP's mindset completely changes which mimics that of PAs which resembles that of physicians. Pathophysiology + Meds = temporary fix.

Nursing programs may not even care that you got dismissed from PA school. If you meet the requirements and are able to afford the program...you're pretty much good to go. I went into my nursing school interview knowing that they knew about me being rejected from their PA program...and here I am, 9 months in as a nurse.

You might want to research BSN vs MSN...RN vs NP...because I noticed you're comparing MSN to PA...where in reality you can be a MSN RN but not a MSN FNP upon completion of said MSN program.

[HLL2017]

Thanks so much Diggy! I have to spend some time to study about this field before getting myself into something. But with help, I def am heading to the right directions