2020 Yale Online Application Cycle

[lyudabab]

2 hours ago, Kikime06 said:

Maybe this will help... I don’t know what your situation is, but I’d look at the answer to your question of “why online learning”. The majority of us (actually almost every single one of us with the exception of one or two) that have been admitted all have very similar stats to yours but with over five years or more experience in healthcare being the average (there are some with less) and a lot of us have 8+ years. We are also older. I was told the average age they admit is 31. All of us have reasons why we can’t really attend a traditional PA school. We have kids and can’t relocate. We move every few years because we are in military families. We have extenuating family circumstances. Etc. I have also noticed that a lot of my classmates (myself included) had to fight and struggle to get where we are at. We definitely didn’t take the traditional route to get here. 

For example, I gave birth to my second child in the middle of finishing prerequisites, while my husband was deployed. I would breastfeed my baby by holding him in one arm and I’d be simultaneously scribbling down notes from my online classes with the other while my toddler ran around the room. The day I took the GRE I was on the phone with my husband when the call got dropped because his base was bombed. I didn’t know if he was alive or if my kids had a father anymore. I took the GRE with that question looming over my head and I still scored a 325. You’d better believe that I made damn sure Yale knew that. This is just one example and doesn’t even begin to hit the tip of the iceberg. I communicated everything I could to Yale.

For me, Yale was THE ONLY CHANCE I had of going to PA school. I made sure they understood why I needed to apply to their school. 

I can’t speak for admissions because I’m not affiliated with them, but if I was in their shoes, I would not be giving my spots to people who have great stats but have copious opportunities to go anywhere. I’d be giving them to people like my classmates: great stats, tons of experience, good test scores, that magical “x factor” Ivy League schools look for, and demonstrated need for online learning. In other words, people who are good enough but haven’t had the opportunity and deserve a chance. That’s just my two cents though. 

That makes total sense! I didn’t have a very good reason to choose a school that’s fully online other than just applying just in case. Hearing your story (and others’) put things into perspective for me, and makes me glad I didn’t get in! I want you guys to get into a school that works really well in terms of your needs and availability with family and all that jazz going on. I definitely would not have been nearly as grateful for an online program as you! I truly, truly wish you the best of luck!!

[Angelena092402]

Just finished my academic interview today . I don’t think it went over the top well but it didn’t go horrible either. Good luck to everyone feeling doubtful. Just remember an interview is a big deal and you’ve worked hard to get there ! 

[biopsyd]

I interviewed today as well. Good luck everyone! 

I never imagined my first PA program interview ever would be with Yale! It has been quite a journey of applying various cycles and continuous hard work.   Hoping for the best so I can be able to do my clinicals and practice in my community! 

[ScullyAMA]

19 hours ago, Ambrose said:

 

well this is terrifying

This is one of the biggest reasons why there is an unspoken "don't share stats" rule. Because it is more than just that! 

[Tiffb13]

I think it’s important to consider that there are only 72 spots and WAAAYYY more than 72 absolutely exceptionally qualified applicants. I think many people are in the position with amazing stats, the “wow” factor, an incredibly strong desire to serve those in underserved communities, and NEED an online program in order to go to PA school.

There are so many people who deserve those spots and have worked so hard for them but only 72 will be chosen for them this time. I don’t think any of us can actually predict why certain people were chosen by the admissions committee while others weren’t (not saying it’s a random choice just saying it’s impossible for anyone not on the admissions committee to define). 

I say all of that to say, if you happen to be someone who got in, I am so happy for you because I know what you have done to get there and this is not to take any bit of that achievement from you. But if on the other hand you are someone who has been placed on the waitlist or rejected please know you haven’t done anything wrong, your stats are absolutely good enough, and while the disappointment is huge please don’t let this shake your confidence! Do more of what you have been doing, do it as well as you can, and one day it will be your turn! 

Edited September 5, 2020 by Tiffb13

[Jenstroop]

14 hours ago, Tiffb13 said:

I think it’s important to consider that there are only 72 spots and WAAAYYY more than 72 absolutely exceptionally qualified applicants. I think many people are in the position with amazing stats, the “wow” factor, an incredibly strong desire to serve those in underserved communities, and NEED an online program in order to go to PA school.

There are so many people who deserve those spots and have worked so hard for them but only 72 will be chosen for them this time. I don’t think any of us can actually predict why certain people were chosen by the admissions committee while others weren’t (not saying it’s a random choice just saying it’s impossible for anyone not on the admissions committee to define). 

I say all of that to say, if you happen to be someone who got in, I am so happy for you because I know what you have done to get there and this is not to take any bit of that achievement from you. But if on the other hand you are someone who has been placed on the waitlist or rejected please know you haven’t done anything wrong, your stats are absolutely good enough, and while the disappointment is huge please don’t let this shake your confidence! Do more of what you have been doing, do it as well as you can, and one day it will be your turn! 

Yes! Agree 100%. Just because you have been rejected or waitlisted does not mean your stats are not good enough or you are not good enough for this program. I can’t imagine the number of applications they have had to pick through and how tough the admissions process can be with so many competent, exemplary people wanting in this program. I’m sure we have all worked extremely hard to get where we are!  

Edited September 5, 2020 by Jlnisbett

[jamierah]

On 9/3/2020 at 9:25 PM, asma09 said:

Got my rejection today. I wonder why tho

GPA 3.9, sGPA 4.0, PCE ~1100-1700 as an MA and Healthcare Coordinator (depending on if you count the second), Volunteer 100+, HCE 500+, teaching experience, board member of an FQHC, and I had my personal statement reviewed by myparesource. 

Any thoughts? 

To piggyback off of what @Kikime06 said. Your grades and schooling is what gets you invited to the party but it isn't what gets your crush to notice you enough to score a dance (OK enough with the bad metaphor) Most everyone who is applying has a great GPA or they wouldn't even be thinking about applying to PA schools so there isn't anything distinguishing about that in itself. While its a great personal accomplishment having a 3.9 GPA there isn't anything memorable about it. The admissions committee has been looking at hundreds of applications and doing 80ish interviews at a time you have to have something that will make you stand out in a sea of highly qualified applicants. 

I really feel that Yale is looking for the personal story that shows why you:

1) Won't quit no matter how sucky it gets.

2) Have experience with online learning (more than getting forced into it because of COVID) or are adaptable enough to do well with it. Part of this is showing you are a self-motivated learner.

3) Will do something to help your community and not just take the highest paying job that comes along.

A lot of these things come with age and experience that can't be found in the college classroom. While your stats are impressive you're competing with people who have 10+ years of PCE, and thousands of hours of volunteer experience.

My story doesn't tug at the heart strings as much as @Kikime06 does but I did all of my undergrad work while taking 12 credits a semester (mostly online), working 84 hours a week as a medic/educator/training officer/supervisor (we're not super busy so I could do a lot of schooling at work), teaching 4-6 credit hours a semester at my local community college, picking up some extra specialty certifications, running my own CPR/First Aid training business, trying to be a decent parent and spouse, volunteering with my church and local school all the while having an identity crisis and coming out as gender non-binary in a very conservative part of the country.

I made sure that Yale knew that I could take whatever their program could throw at me and I will use that to help the people in my community that I have served for the last 14 years. I said it way more eloquently in my personal essays 

I don't think my story is unique nor do I think I'm better than anyone else applying, I've just have had more time and chances to prove my abilities or insanity . Listening to some of the life stories of the people that have been accepted makes me feel inadequate and I wonder how I got in because there are some kick ass people that have gotten accepted.

TL:DR My point here for anyone that didn't get accepted is to don't just focus on grades and schooling for next application cycle. Yes, GPA is important but start living life, find a cause that you are passionate about and volunteer in that, challenge yourself and showcase personal growth by expanding your skill set, or go for that promotion at work. Most importantly start building a personal story that shows your tenacity and how you can use that plus a PA degree to make the world (or at least your little corner of it) a better place.

[biopsyd]

For those who just interviewed this round, did anyone ask when we would hear back approximately? I asked plenty of other questions but not that one. lol

[NotVeryHopefull]

Has anyone received a rejection letter yet? I have lost any hope of getting an interview, but I have also yet to receive a rejection letter from any school.

 

[human]

On 9/6/2020 at 10:20 PM, biopsyd said:

For those who just interviewed this round, did anyone ask when we would hear back approximately? I asked plenty of other questions but not that one. lol

i interviewed recently & was told roughly 6 weeks!

[Jenstroop]

Any news today on anything?

[Angelena092402]

I interviewed this cycle and didn’t ask either . Perhaps more info will be announced in the post session about acceptance /rejections . 

[Tiffb13]

10 hours ago, human said:

i interviewed recently & was told roughly 6 weeks!

Wow! That’s seems so long compared to the timeline for the previous interview rounds. I would ask in the post interview session just so you can set your expectations! 

[ajellis33]

On 9/6/2020 at 7:20 PM, biopsyd said:

For those who just interviewed this round, did anyone ask when we would hear back approximately? I asked plenty of other questions but not that one. lol

I just interviewed this morning and they said week after next or the next week at the latest (so 2-3 weeks). 
They said this round of interviews ends next week and then they meet the week after to make decisions. Hope that helps 

[ScullyAMA]

46 minutes ago, LindiooPAS said:

Not to rain on anybody’s parade but this school is not what it’s set out to be . I applied here last year got accepted and turned it down immediately after finding out what this school is really about . Jim Van Rhee the director claims that they focus on diversity but we all know that’s far from the truth. Still don’t believe me let’s take a look at some school photos from the past 5 years. All this school really cares about is your money ALMOST 30% higher in tuition than every school !!! No respect from staff or faculty it’s just a mess. I really advise Pre PAs to spend their money wisely before applying to a school that’s making well over a quarter million in application fees just so they can tell you no . Keep your head up Pre Pas there are so many great schools that will take you with your amazing stats   Also, keep in mind no matter where you get in the end result is THE SAME !!! Goodnight Y’all  

I'm curious about you going through the application and interview process only to turn it down. When did you find out about the supposed issue? I would think that you would have done some sort of research beforehand, right? There aren't 5 years of pictures to look at (from what I can find). What is a "mess" about the program itself? Super curious what you found out that others haven't been able to up until now.

Also, did you end up going somewhere else? If so, what do you like about the program you're attending? And have you guys been able to attend in person quite yet or are you Zoom U like everyone else? No offense, but I find it strange that you made an account specifically to make this post. Mind sharing about that, too?

Edited September 10, 2020 by ScullyAMA

[ScullyAMA]

15 hours ago, LindiooPAS said:

I’m sorry but you do know that people do apply to more than one school right ? Or you may not. I don’t know. This is my experience and I would like that you respect that. I fully understand your frustration but this is my experience! Let me ask you a question now how many woman of color do you see in the last 4-5 years of photos  ? 1-6 out of 50ish or so ? Maybe one black woman or not? If you haven’t figured this out yet I apologize . (I not only talking about online) I’m sorry but did you really just say “what others haven’t found out yet “? Ok obviously you even as a woman of color seem to be blind . Also, yes I have gotten accepted and I’m proudly finishing up my rotations  . You don’t have to agree and I respect that but as I stated this is my experience. SkullyAMA

Happy for you, honest. You're already finishing rotations from last year's acceptance? Wow. If that is the case, I don't envy you having to cram everything in within such a short time frame. But a one year program seems strange to me.

I believe you and am willing to have a meaningful conversation of substance. But there is no need to make inflammatory remarks for the sake of entertainment. Nor is there any need to attack me. I just found it curious that your comments came out of the blue, as well as the age of your account, as I'm sure anyone else might be. The questions I asked were to further the conversation for everyone here, especially since you offered some personal details on your 1st post. I'm not sure if you can tell or not, but this group is pretty involved and likes to talk it out. 

 

Edited September 10, 2020 by ScullyAMA
punctuation

[ajellis33]

15 minutes ago, LindiooPAS said:

I’m sorry but you do know that people do apply to more than one school right ? Or you may not. I don’t know. This is my experience and I would like that you respect that. I fully understand your frustration but this is my experience! Let me ask you a question now how many woman of color do you see in the last 4-5 years of photos  ? 1-6 out of 50ish or so ? Maybe one black woman or not? If you haven’t figured this out yet I apologize . (I not only talking about online) I’m sorry but did you really just say “what others haven’t found out yet “? Ok obviously you even as a woman of color seem to be blind . Also, yes I have gotten accepted and I’m proudly finishing up my rotations  . You don’t have to agree and I respect that but as I stated this is my experience. SkullyAMA

I would like to know as well. Is the lack of diversity your primary concern? Or are there other concerns as well? As someone who interviewed today I would like to know if there are more negative aspects to the program that I’m not aware of.
TIA

Edited September 10, 2020 by ajellis33

[WBTKPK]

Hi all, current student here. If you have specific questions about the program from someone who is going through it currently, I would be more than happy to answer them. Obviously everyone is entitled to their opinion about the school, but having been through the program for 9 months now has provided me an opportunity to give you a fair assessment of what it is like to attend. (I have nothing but positive things to say, fwiw).

[Kikime06]

12 hours ago, LindiooPAS said:

I’m sorry but you do know that people do apply to more than one school right ? Or you may not. I don’t know. This is my experience and I would like that you respect that. I fully understand your frustration but this is my experience! Let me ask you a question now how many woman of color do you see in the last 4-5 years of photos  ? 1-6 out of 50ish or so ? Maybe one black woman or not? If you haven’t figured this out yet I apologize . (I not only talking about online) I’m sorry but did you really just say “what others haven’t found out yet “? Ok obviously you even as a woman of color seem to be blind . Also, yes I have gotten accepted and I’m proudly finishing up my rotations  . You don’t have to agree and I respect that but as I stated this is my experience. SkullyAMA

Everyone, this is a fake account.

@ScullyAMA had a point when she saw that you just created your profile less than 24 hours ago and the only post you put was slamming this school. I did a reverse image search on your profile picture and found the original picture. It’s posted on blackmanmd.com and it profiles a PA student. She is VERY articulate and says she wants to be a writer. Her tone, word choice, sentence structure, and punctuation are very different from yours. I clicked the link to her blog. Her last post is in 2019. In it she says that she graduated in 2019, passed her PANCE, and has a job already. You said that you just finished rotations and are in your first year.

You can also find the picture if you google “black woman physician assistant”.

There’s a lot of anger and inflammatory language in your posts as well as obvious attention seeking behavior. Creating a fake profile with matching picture also indicates cunning, manipulation, intent to deceive, and planning ahead. That’s a lot of work to go through to post on here. As a licensed medical professional, I would suggest that you seek counseling to get to the bottom of why you’re doing this.

Best of luck to you. I hope you get the help you need. 

Edited September 10, 2020 by Kikime06

[Jim1504]

13 hours ago, LindiooPAS said:

Not to rain on anybody’s parade but this school is not what it’s set out to be . I applied here last year got accepted and turned it down immediately after finding out what this school is really about . Jim Van Rhee the director claims that they focus on diversity but we all know that’s far from the truth. Still don’t believe me let’s take a look at some school photos from the past 5 years. All this school really cares about is your money ALMOST 30% higher in tuition than every school !!! No respect from staff or faculty it’s just a mess. I really advise Pre PAs to spend their money wisely before applying to a school that’s making well over a quarter million in application fees just so they can tell you no . Keep your head up Pre Pas there are so many great schools that will take you with your amazing stats   Also, keep in mind no matter where you get in the end result is THE SAME !!! Goodnight Y’all  

Normally I don’t respond to these type of forum posts because it usually does no good.  But since you used my name (Jim Van Rhee) in the post I feel obligated. So, a few points:

1.       Diversity- so for you, diversity is based on the school photos.  Did you recognize the LGBTQ students in the photos?  Did you recognize the military veterans in the photos? Did you recognize the students from rural underserved communities in the photo?  There is more to diversity than any photo can show. 

2.       Money and Tuition- yes, the Yale tuition is $105,812. So, and I quote “ALMOST 30% higher tuition than every school!!!” To be 30% higher than every school that means all other school tuitions are around $74,069.  So, I looked at a few other programs.  A program in California tuition is $174,380.  If you say just schools in the Northeast, then a program in Massachusetts I found has a tuition of $109,039 and a program in Connecticut at $102,955.  None of these are 30% lower, some are higher. 

3.       Money again- application fees and I quote again “I really advise Pre PAs to spend their money wisely before applying to a school that’s making well over a quarter million in application fees just so they can tell you no .” Yes, the more people who apply the more admission fees are collected and yes, the more people that apply the more people are denied because we can only take a certain number of students.  I think this is the same for every PA program in the country.  Using your number of $250,000, you said over but I will use $250,000, with the application fee for the program being $50 that means 5000 applied and submitted a fee to the program.  We have not even have half of that number of completed applicants.

4.       No respect and faculty and staff a mess- this based on your online interview with us and may be some interactions with the admission team.  How dare you.  The faculty and I work incredibly hard every day, as do all PA faculty around the country, to make sure students have a great experience.  And it starts with admission.  We have an admission team that works with students through the admission process, we were doing interviews online before COVID saving students travel money, we revisited the prereqs to remove hurdles to students applying.  Once in the program we have created a Well Being program for students to help them with the stress that comes with PA school and life.  We have a Career services team to help students with CV writing, interviewing and job placement for after graduation. 

One last thing- you said last 5 years of school photos.  We have only admitted 3 classes.  Are you even talking about the right program? You said 1-6 out of 50ish or so, if you mean 50 classes then you really have the wrong program. 

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but they are not entitled to present false or misleading information or information without context. If you discover you are wrong I hope you apologize and post it to the forum. 

[jamierah]

@Kikime06 you beat me to it. I had image searched but my internet was being slow so I quit my Sherlock Holmes impersonation. 

@Jim1504 thanks for stopping by and giving the definitive scoop on the topic. 

For everyone else have a good day and don't feed the trolls. 

[lennythepa]

Hi everyone! I’m new to posting here, but have been a long time lurker of this forum. I finally made an account a few weeks ago so that I could stop exceeding the page view limit and have since dug into all 92 pages! The community here is so incredibly positive and encouraging. I felt compelled to pop in and say hi after seeing the thoughtful responses to the recent negative post – I’m so impressed by the way that this community responded with considerate and deliberate responses when it can be so easy to “feed the trolls,” as @jamierahsaid.

My application was verified and considered complete on the later end so I’m currently in the “anxiously waiting” stage (thank you to Sanjay for being so supportive and managing my neuroses during the process ). Congratulations to everyone who's already been accepted, I'd be so honored to join your cohort! 

Edited September 10, 2020 by lennythepa

[LindseyM1984]

On 9/4/2020 at 11:49 AM, Kikime06 said:

Maybe this will help... I don’t know what your situation is, but I’d look at the answer to your question of “why online learning”. The majority of us (actually almost every single one of us with the exception of one or two) that have been admitted all have very similar stats to yours but with over five years or more experience in healthcare being the average (there are some with less) and a lot of us have 8+ years. We are also older. I was told the average age they admit is 31. All of us have reasons why we can’t really attend a traditional PA school. We have kids and can’t relocate. We move every few years because we are in military families. We have extenuating family circumstances. Etc. I have also noticed that a lot of my classmates (myself included) had to fight and struggle to get where we are at. We definitely didn’t take the traditional route to get here. 

For example, I gave birth to my second child in the middle of finishing prerequisites, while my husband was deployed. I would breastfeed my baby by holding him in one arm and I’d be simultaneously scribbling down notes from my online classes with the other while my toddler ran around the room. The day I took the GRE I was on the phone with my husband when the call got dropped because his base was bombed. I didn’t know if he was alive or if my kids had a father anymore. I took the GRE with that question looming over my head and I still scored a 325. You’d better believe that I made damn sure Yale knew that. This is just one example and doesn’t even begin to hit the tip of the iceberg. I communicated everything I could to Yale.

For me, Yale was THE ONLY CHANCE I had of going to PA school. I made sure they understood why I needed to apply to their school. 

I can’t speak for admissions because I’m not affiliated with them, but if I was in their shoes, I would not be giving my spots to people who have great stats but have copious opportunities to go anywhere. I’d be giving them to people like my classmates: great stats, tons of experience, good test scores, that magical “x factor” Ivy League schools look for, and demonstrated need for online learning. In other words, people who are good enough but haven’t had the opportunity and deserve a chance. That’s just my two cents though. 

@Kikime06 Did you mention anywhere prior to the interviews that this would be the only format available to you? I have three kids. We have a mortgage, jobs, etc. I didn't mention this anywhere. I doubt it is probably the only reason that I was not offered an interview, but after seeing interviews about the program it seems like this program was intended for someone like me. I'm wondering if I somehow missed an opportunity to communicate that and if I should add this next year when I apply. 

Edited September 10, 2020 by LindseyM1984

[Kikime06]

1 minute ago, LindseyM1984 said:

@Kikime06 Did you mention anywhere prior to the interviews that this would be the only format available to you? I have three kids. We have a mortgage, jobs, etc. I didn't mention this anywhere. I doubt it is probably the only reason that I was not offered an interview, but after seeing interviews about the program it seems like this program was intended for someone like me. I'm wondering if I somehow missed an opportunity to communicate that and if I should add this next year when I apply. 

No I did not. They might have known or assumed that though because I put in my essays that I’m in a military family. Though, again, I can’t read minds so I really don’t know why they were thinking when I got an interview or if this was even a factor in my acceptance. 

[LindseyM1984]

2 minutes ago, Kikime06 said:

No I did not. They might have known or assumed that though because I put in my essays that I’m in a military family. Though, again, I can’t read minds so I really don’t know why they were thinking when I got an interview or if this was even a factor in my acceptance. 

Gotcha. Thanks for your input!