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8 hours ago, hustleforthePAC said:

you can register to take the pa cat now, registration comes with a free practice exam should be a review for you.
yale and the university of n dakota offer online programs. those are two other programs you may qualify for (yale online no longer requires the gre) pa schools love academically strong and experienced candidates ! good luck you’re going to do great!


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I encourage no one to take this "PA CAT" test as it's clearly another attempt to get money and require testing which will be absolutely useless. The MCAT has never predicted success in medical school and is simply a ridiculous barrier and prevents otherwise exceptional would-be physicians from matriculating into medical school in lieu of someone who could memorize diels alder reactions slightly better.

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9 hours ago, hustleforthePAC said:

you can register to take the pa cat now, registration comes with a free practice exam should be a review for you.
yale and the university of n dakota offer online programs. those are two other programs you may qualify for (yale online no longer requires the gre) pa schools love academically strong and experienced candidates ! good luck you’re going to do great!


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Is it true that Yale was on probation a few years ago? 

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2 hours ago, MedicinePower said:

I encourage no one to take this "PA CAT" test as it's clearly another attempt to get money and require testing which will be absolutely useless. The MCAT has never predicted success in medical school and is simply a ridiculous barrier and prevents otherwise exceptional would-be physicians from matriculating into medical school in lieu of someone who could memorize diels alder reactions slightly better.

i took the abbreviated version of the pa cat and i honestly think people would be happier taking the pa cat  over the gre... (who uses those huge vocabulary words in person?!) 

 while the pa cat exam is more expensive to take than the gre, it is more clinically relevant than the gre... there aren’t any ridiculous math questions like there are on the gre with the exception of some basic chemistry calculations ... 

my significant other has scored in the top 5% on the MCAT i’ve looked through a lot of the sample questions and one thing I can promise you is that the PACAT isn’t anywhere as difficult as the MCAT 

https://www.pa-cat.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Sample-Questions-and-Exam-Blueprint_Nov2019.pdf

 

As a lifelong low income pa-s student  that has had all the factors of low social  economic status  I understand that the pa cat is another barrier to PA school but it in my opinion it’s a way better alternative than the GRE because of the relevant science knowledge.

its more anatomy/physio heavy ... every test in pa school is like another board exam .  PA school acceptance requires a lot of experience and academic strength like the op has and the PA CAT could also help those with non traditional academic backgrounds /low gpas from ten years ago show academic strength. with the pa applicant pool in the thousands nowadays it could help a strong applicant shine.

Edited by hustleforthePAC
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1 hour ago, VictorOfHungerGames said:

Is it true that Yale was on probation a few years ago? 

I am not sure- but most programs that go on probation with the exception of a few usually have a year to fix the issue until the next review and they usually get back on their feet. Yale shouldn’t have a problem, they have a lot of resources and Yale online is looking to expand their class in 5 years from 48 to possibly 350. It may work in your favor to apply broadly since many schools have matriculation yields to protect. PA school acceptance nowadays is pretty random and all about fit from my experience. I’ve received invitations to interview and accepted  at several “top” programs but rejected without interview from other programs. 

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51 minutes ago, hustleforthePAC said:

i took the abbreviated version of the pa cat and i honestly think people would be happier taking the pa cat  over the gre... (who uses those huge vocabulary words in person?!) 

 while the pa cat exam is more expensive to take than the gre, it is more clinically relevant than the gre... there aren’t any ridiculous math questions like there are on the gre with the exception of some basic chemistry calculations ... 

my significant other has scored in the top 5% on the MCAT i’ve looked through a lot of the sample questions and one thing I can promise you is that the PACAT isn’t anywhere as difficult as the MCAT 

https://www.pa-cat.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Sample-Questions-and-Exam-Blueprint_Nov2019.pdf

 

As a lifelong low income pa-s student  that has had all the factors of low social  economic status  I understand that the pa cat is another barrier to PA school but it in my opinion it’s a way better alternative than the GRE because of the relevant science knowledge.

its more anatomy/physio heavy ... every test in pa school is like another board exam .  PA school acceptance requires a lot of experience and academic strength like the op has and the PA CAT could also help those with non traditional academic backgrounds /low gpas from ten years ago show academic strength. with the pa applicant pool in the thousands nowadays it could help a strong applicant shine.

Those sample questions are appropriate for actual PA students, not pre-PAs who are trying to get into PA school. Again, no test of this type has ever been shown to predict success in the professional program and it is simply another attempt to squeeze money out of people. More and more medical schools are either outright eliminating MCAT requirements or placing less emphasis on them instead of more. Please just ignore the "PA CAT" and hope it goes away quickly.

Sincerely,

An actual PA

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1 hour ago, hustleforthePAC said:

I am not sure- but most programs that go on probation with the exception of a few usually have a year to fix the issue until the next review and they usually get back on their feet. Yale shouldn’t have a problem, they have a lot of resources and Yale online is looking to expand their class in 5 years from 48 to possibly 350. It may work in your favor to apply broadly since many schools have matriculation yields to protect. PA school acceptance nowadays is pretty random and all about fit from my experience. I’ve received invitations to interview and accepted  at several “top” programs but rejected without interview from other programs. 

Cool. Yale program seems to fit my situation pretty well at the moment. i'm just hoping that online courses just as effective as on site ones. But then again, I never went to class during pharmacy school anyways lol most of lectures were recorded and available online.  

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Any recommendations on GRE? 
 

Just found out that all my prereqs will be accepted by the program that i am interested in so just need to take GRE. 
 

How hard do I want to prepare for this? Im thinking I can take the princeton review course for a couple of months. 
 

How much of GRE score is looked at in PA programs? This program does not have a minimum score requirement. 

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Any recommendations on GRE? 
 
Just found out that all my prereqs will be accepted by the program that i am interested in so just need to take GRE. 
 
How hard do I want to prepare for this? Im thinking I can take the princeton review course for a couple of months. 



I used free YouTube videos (over the course of about 3 months) to study for the math and vocab subsets of GRE and landed in 80th-90th percentiles. From your perspective it's probably good to land in the 70th+ percentile on 2 of the 3 subsets. You can probably achieve that without the princeton course, but if you wanted a study plan all laid out for you and ready to charge, a course would be a reasonable choice.

I would reiterate what others said-- with your past experience, #1 goal is show you're not getting pushed out of the pharmacy world due to various forms of doucheboatery. You're plenty smart and experienced, you'll be a great PA :)


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magoosh- two weeks free trial. (you could check the prepa groups on facebook to see if anyone has some remaining time left on their subscription and is willing to sell to you) magoosh essay questions are pretty similar to the writing portion. manhattan 5 lb book. princeton review power vocab for an extra 10 point boost- practice tests from the exam makers ETS4453c26f0bdeb148a992d7b4f5065356.jpg


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2 hours ago, hustleforthePAC said:

magoosh- two weeks free trial. (you could check the prepa groups on facebook to see if anyone has some remaining time left on their subscription and is willing to sell to you) magoosh essay questions are pretty similar to the writing portion. manhattan 5 lb book. princeton review power vocab for an extra 10 point boost- practice tests from the exam makers ETS4453c26f0bdeb148a992d7b4f5065356.jpg


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If I want to spend about a month or two to prepare for gre, which is better between Magoosh vs Princeton? Seems like the price difference is pretty significant yet magoosh is rated higher in some review sites  

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Just found out that one of the programs I was looking at will no longer require GRE. They replaced that with CASPer which looks like a personality test of some sort. Anyone have any in-depth information on it? 

Good thing is that I don't have to spend time studying for GRE and will now be able to apply as soon as CASPA opens on 4/30 but I don't know how this will affect the application process. As in, how would the weight of GRE be distributed? does CASPer actually have any real implication or consequence on determining how good of a candidate you are? 

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35 minutes ago, VeryOldPA said:

CASPA is the application for admission most PA programs use.  CASPA = Central Application Service For PAs

Right. The exam I am asking about is CASPer which stands for Computer-Based Assessment for Sampling Personal Characteristics test.

 

Apparently, some meds schools are requiring this as well and the program I am applying to is only requiring this test. Not GRE anymore. 

Edited by VictorOfHungerGames
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  • 9 months later...
On 3/9/2020 at 3:28 PM, Reality Check 2 said:

At the VA you can practice as a PharmD, prescribe and have your own clinic comanaging diseases with PCPs such as CHF, COPD, DM and HTN. We are always in need of PharmDs at my location. 

This might give you the fulfillment you need without more school.

Just a thought.

I do think you would have great advantage in selection with your history. And you sound motivated!

In my area (northeast) it is almost impossible to get a pharmacy job in the VA. It’s also hard to get a residency especially in ambulatory care which I assume is what you would need. In what region do you work that they are still looking for pharmacists and if you don’t mind me asking about how much is the pay. I’m almost done with pharmacy school and strongly regretting it. I was forced to go into pharmacy school by my family and now that they pay in my area is not even close to 6 figures anymore I am trying to explore my options.

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On 4/6/2020 at 11:04 AM, LT_Oneal_PAC said:

Most likely used to help decide between 2 equal candidates. I'm sure completely bombing it with the outcome of "psychopath" would hurt you, but I bet an average score they'll mostly ignore it. 

OK...I laughed...

Made me wonder if all the current PAs took it......

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