sciencegal7 Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 Hello everyone! Feeling a little discouraged after this app cycle and wanted to seek some advice of improvements on my application for next cycle. Really bummed I wasn't accepted and feedback from the schools was not very helpful. I applied to 3 schools with interviews at each and was rejected from my state school and a private college nearby and waitlisted at another. cGPA: 3.97 sGPA: 3.96 GRE: 306 PCE: 900 as a CNA (I'm at 1400 and counting right now) HCE: 220 as a hospital volunteer Shadowing: 38 hours Research: 500 with a publication and presented at 2 conferences LORs: PA, research PI, Lead RN at work Feeling like it's my interviewing that needs work so if anyone recommends any material to improve, it would be appreciated! Thank you!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pa98173jd Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 I'd suggest more shadowing and applying to way more programs because these past programs might have seen a personality/mission misfit during your interview. Maybe search for programs that weigh GPA heavily. Lastly, most importantly, you have to volunteer in the community (nonmedical volunteering counts) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia5827 Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 Yes definitely more schools next round maybe like 7-8 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bersabeh Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 (edited) 3 hours ago, Patricia5827 said: Yes definitely more schools next round maybe like 7-8 how does more school guarantee increased chances of acceptance?? Edited February 12, 2020 by bersabeh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia5827 Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 9 hours ago, bersabeh said: how does more school guarantee increased chances of acceptance?? Its like entries in a contest, the more entries you put in the better chance you have of winning. So maybe those 3 schools you just did not fit into their mission or their student profile, and maybe you apply to two more the next round and you fit perfectly into their mission and their "type" of applicant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bersabeh Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, Patricia5827 said: Its like entries in a contest, the more entries you put in the better chance you have of winning. So maybe those 3 schools you just did not fit into their mission or their student profile, and maybe you apply to two more the next round and you fit perfectly into their mission and their "type" of applicant well, the statistic actually work's against the applicant, its like marginal probability I know personally a resident who applied to 40 schools in one application and got rejection from all with good gpa's and activities. so, number is not the answer to getting acceptance, its just we need to figure out what actually work's. Edited February 12, 2020 by bersabeh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allegro Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 If you got interviews at all three, I wouldn't worry too much about your stats, although improvement is always good. Your stats get you in the interview, your interview gets you an offer, so I'd focus a lot on your interview skills and taking a honest, harsh view of your performance the last round. As far as applying more broadly, statistically there is a tipping point (I think its 10? 11? ) where your chances of acceptance increase, after that point it levels out and no longer makes you more likely to get in. On average, CASPA apps apply to 6-7 programs each cycle. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sciencegal7 Posted February 12, 2020 Author Share Posted February 12, 2020 (edited) Thank you everyone!! I forgot to put that I had around 300 hours of non-medical volunteering but one of the schools that rejected me definitely wants applicants that have thousands of hours from like mission trips I later learned. So far I have a list of 10 to apply to next cycle and will get some more shadowing in! I will for sure be reading some interview material and do more mock interviewing, as well. I'm thinking I came off too analytical in the interviews and didn't show my true compassion for patients and convince them I REALLY wanted to be a PA. Edited February 12, 2020 by sciencegal7 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pa98173jd Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 1 hour ago, sciencegal7 said: Thank you everyone!! I forgot to put that I had around 300 hours of non-medical volunteering but one of the schools that rejected me definitely wants applicants that have thousands of hours from like mission trips I later learned. So far I have a list of 10 to apply to next cycle and will get some more shadowing in! I will for sure be reading some interview material and do more mock interviewing, as well. I'm thinking I came off too analytical in the interviews and didn't show my true compassion for patients and convince them I REALLY wanted to be a PA. That's the spirit and that's a great plan. Good luck in the next cycle. Also, the statistical tipping point for an acceptance is 12 applications but honestly, anything between 10-15 is good enough imo. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UGoLong Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 I suspect it’s your interviewing skills that need work, just as you suspected. As to what specifically, someone who knows you can help.Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia5827 Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 23 hours ago, bersabeh said: well, the statistic actually work's against the applicant, its like marginal probability I know personally a resident who applied to 40 schools in one application and got rejection from all with good gpa's and activities. so, number is not the answer to getting acceptance, its just we need to figure out what actually work's. Im not saying its solely numbers of schools you apply to get you in, Im saying that it one thing they can change the next cycle to increase their chances. I bet if they do that alongside working on their interview skills they will definitely get into a school next round they apply to 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirScottric Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 I would agree with some of the other posters that you need to improve your interviewing skills. I'm of the mindset that if a program has offered you an interview, at that point it is your job to sell them on why they should have you as student and it is your seat in the program to lose. Personally, I looked up common PA school interview questions. For the month before my interview, I would hand the list of questions to family/friends/co-workers on a daily basis and have them randomly ask me questions from the list. After each question and response, the person working with me would give me feedback on how to better my answer or make myself sound more confident. With the above strategy, I figured I may not get asked those exact questions but I did get asked questions that were similar enough that I could tailor the script in my head to the question asked during my interview. It helped me not feel like I was Johnny-on-the-spot making up answers during my interview so that it sounded more natural and I felt more confident in myself. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UGoLong Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 The interviewer has a few basic objectives: - Ask some open-ended questions to see "who" you are, beyond the dry facts in the application. Other interests you have, do you have a sense of humor, a sense of balance, etc - See what motivated you to apply and what your plans for the future might be -See how well you work with others (it is a people job you'd be training for, after all) -See if the applicant is going to be a "problem child" if he/she gets admitted. From my interviewing experience, I see really good students come across as very stiff and inflexible. When an applicant is asked what is the worst thing they've overcome, it better not be the A- they got in an organic quiz! In a clinical setting, you've got a minute at most to establish communications with a stranger and, if you can't do that with the interviewer, it often doesn't look good. Someone with a 3.9/3.9 set of grades doesn't have to prove that they are smart, but they likely will have to prove that they are personable and multidimensional team players. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator rev ronin Posted February 16, 2020 Administrator Share Posted February 16, 2020 On 2/11/2020 at 10:27 PM, bersabeh said: how does more school guarantee increased chances of acceptance?? It doesn't. It's not truly random, and if you have an Achilles' heel in your application, you can get rejected by every. single. program. no matter to how many you've chosen to apply. It's not a coin toss, or a card draw, it's a series of teams of PA professionals evaluating substantively the same package in slightly different ways. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bersabeh Posted February 16, 2020 Share Posted February 16, 2020 15 hours ago, rev ronin said: It doesn't. It's not truly random, and if you have an Achilles' heel in your application, you can get rejected by every. single. program. no matter to how many you've chosen to apply. It's not a coin toss, or a card draw, it's a series of teams of PA professionals evaluating substantively the same package in slightly different ways. that's exactly what I meant when I post that question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia5827 Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 On 2/15/2020 at 10:58 PM, rev ronin said: It doesn't. It's not truly random, and if you have an Achilles' heel in your application, you can get rejected by every. single. program. no matter to how many you've chosen to apply. It's not a coin toss, or a card draw, it's a series of teams of PA professionals evaluating substantively the same package in slightly different ways. Thank you for your answer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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