Ask a PA Admissions Director

[Hope326]

Dear Pa admission director,

 

How do PA school view a withdraw from a class. I received a C+ in biochem and I plan to retake over to get a better grade during the summer at a different school since I will graduate this May. I spoke to my adviser who believes a W looks bad since PA schools will think the worst and think I failed. She suggested I should leave the C+ and not do a withdraw and retake it again. But there is also the issue of having a C+ in my GPA and bring it down. What do you think I should do? I am definitely retaking it this summer but should I leave the C+ or do a withdraw and have a W instead. Thank you

[Hope326]

Dear Pa admission director,

 

How do PA school view a withdraw from a class. I received a C+ in biochem and I plan to retake over to get a better grade during the summer at a different school since I will graduate this May. I spoke to my adviser who believes a W looks bad since PA schools will think the worst and think I failed. She suggested I should leave the C+ and not do a withdraw and retake it again. But there is also the issue of having a C+ in my GPA and bring it down. What do you think I should do? I am definitely retaking it this summer but should I leave the C+ or do a withdraw and have a W instead. Thank you

[grcia]

I have a question regarding CASPA and the GRE, I plan on taking the GRE early july, should I apply to schools now or wait until after I have taken it, will schools consider the application "incomplete" without the GRE scores? I only ask because I want to apply ASAP and i'm not sure how long it takes for the GRE to be scored after you take it. Thank you.

[grcia]

I have a question regarding CASPA and the GRE, I plan on taking the GRE early july, should I apply to schools now or wait until after I have taken it, will schools consider the application "incomplete" without the GRE scores? I only ask because I want to apply ASAP and i'm not sure how long it takes for the GRE to be scored after you take it. Thank you.

[grcia]

I have a question regarding CASPA and the GRE, I plan on taking the GRE early july, should I apply to schools now or wait until after I have taken it, will schools consider the application "incomplete" without the GRE scores? I only ask because I want to apply ASAP and i'm not sure how long it takes for the GRE to be scored after you take it. Thank you.

[paadmissions]

@themickk Thank you for your questions.

- I don't see a problem with how your hours have been split.

- In a lot of instances you can get more exposure to PAs in the hospital setting as a CNA. Some nursing homes to have PAs, but the exposure to the health team may be more at the hospital.

- Yes, a good mix of volunteering and paid experience is good. Volunteering, sometimes, may allow you to expose yourself to populations you normally don't see and show a well-rounded applicant.

- I prefer to see applicants who have exceeded our health care experience hours. It shows they're not just doing enough to get by.

 

Hope this helps!

[paadmissions]

@themickk Thank you for your questions.

- I don't see a problem with how your hours have been split.

- In a lot of instances you can get more exposure to PAs in the hospital setting as a CNA. Some nursing homes to have PAs, but the exposure to the health team may be more at the hospital.

- Yes, a good mix of volunteering and paid experience is good. Volunteering, sometimes, may allow you to expose yourself to populations you normally don't see and show a well-rounded applicant.

- I prefer to see applicants who have exceeded our health care experience hours. It shows they're not just doing enough to get by.

 

Hope this helps!

[paadmissions]

@tholy1 Thank you for your questions. It is important to calculate your prerequisite GPA to see where you stack up with the averages of the programs you're applying to. If you're unsure of how to calculate it, contact the admissions representative at those programs to see if they can give you an unofficial evaluation of your transcripts and chances of being granted an interview. Since you have moved around quite a bit and have some "dips" in your GPA, you will need to be competitive with the applicant pool at least in your prereqs. I would assume a 3.4-3.6 prereq GPA is what you need to aim for. I would use your personal statement to point out the obvious-attending several schools. I would briefly mention the relocation of your husband's job and taking care of an ill family was the reasoning behind the relocation and GPA discrepancies If you have to retake some prerequisites be sure to take them at a 4-year school to show your preparedness and ability to handle the upper level courses. I don't see any issues with your health care experience and hopefully your GRE will be on par, if not, exceeding what is required. I hope this helps!

[paadmissions]

@tholy1 Thank you for your questions. It is important to calculate your prerequisite GPA to see where you stack up with the averages of the programs you're applying to. If you're unsure of how to calculate it, contact the admissions representative at those programs to see if they can give you an unofficial evaluation of your transcripts and chances of being granted an interview. Since you have moved around quite a bit and have some "dips" in your GPA, you will need to be competitive with the applicant pool at least in your prereqs. I would assume a 3.4-3.6 prereq GPA is what you need to aim for. I would use your personal statement to point out the obvious-attending several schools. I would briefly mention the relocation of your husband's job and taking care of an ill family was the reasoning behind the relocation and GPA discrepancies If you have to retake some prerequisites be sure to take them at a 4-year school to show your preparedness and ability to handle the upper level courses. I don't see any issues with your health care experience and hopefully your GRE will be on par, if not, exceeding what is required. I hope this helps!

[paadmissions]

@epangerl Thank you for your questions. I personally don't have problems with prospective students attending an information session in advance of when they're applying. However, if you're 5 years out from applying and if you have limited mobility you may want to wait until maybe next year to attend. Next year would be far enough in advance for you to see if there are things you can do now and that may take the remaining amount of time to complete (or at least help you space things out). Admission processes and/or requirements can change some in 5 years, but I think highly of those who are at my sessions to get a feel for what programs are looking for and what they need to do to plan things out. It never hurts to attend another one maybe a year out from applying just to make sure nothing's changed and that you're on track to meet requirements. I hope this helps!

[paadmissions]

@epangerl Thank you for your questions. I personally don't have problems with prospective students attending an information session in advance of when they're applying. However, if you're 5 years out from applying and if you have limited mobility you may want to wait until maybe next year to attend. Next year would be far enough in advance for you to see if there are things you can do now and that may take the remaining amount of time to complete (or at least help you space things out). Admission processes and/or requirements can change some in 5 years, but I think highly of those who are at my sessions to get a feel for what programs are looking for and what they need to do to plan things out. It never hurts to attend another one maybe a year out from applying just to make sure nothing's changed and that you're on track to meet requirements. I hope this helps!

[paadmissions]

@asada26 Thank you for your questions. I would encourage you to submit transcripts from college X because technically you received college credit for those classes regardless if they transferred. You don't want it to be perceived that you're hiding information because it could violate CASPA's code of conduct. If you've done well at your current institution I don't think these previous courses will hurt your GPA that bad and your good performance now should show an upward trend in your academic performance. Our program would count the calculus grade of A versus the B- for precal, but that is a program specific decision.

 

I would recommend taking Genetics at the highest level possible and at a 4-year school. It can only benefit you and your application all around.

 

Hope this helps!

[paadmissions]

@asada26 Thank you for your questions. I would encourage you to submit transcripts from college X because technically you received college credit for those classes regardless if they transferred. You don't want it to be perceived that you're hiding information because it could violate CASPA's code of conduct. If you've done well at your current institution I don't think these previous courses will hurt your GPA that bad and your good performance now should show an upward trend in your academic performance. Our program would count the calculus grade of A versus the B- for precal, but that is a program specific decision.

 

I would recommend taking Genetics at the highest level possible and at a 4-year school. It can only benefit you and your application all around.

 

Hope this helps!

[paadmissions]

@sarahb Thank you for your questions. Most of the time we can figure that out because we're familiar with "that type of stuff," for lack of a better term. Just in case, you may want to have course descriptions available to provide to the programs you're applying to to show these are equivalent courses and that you're retaking them. I would provide these to the programs at the time your application is ready for review and when they've contacted you that they've received your application. Hope this helps!

[paadmissions]

@sarahb Thank you for your questions. Most of the time we can figure that out because we're familiar with "that type of stuff," for lack of a better term. Just in case, you may want to have course descriptions available to provide to the programs you're applying to to show these are equivalent courses and that you're retaking them. I would provide these to the programs at the time your application is ready for review and when they've contacted you that they've received your application. Hope this helps!

[paadmissions]

@asda26 I can see why your advisor recommended you take the C+. But I also view it as if there is a consistent trend of withdrawals (or a high number of them throughout your academic career) we start to worry a little more about the academic potential of the applicant and that you were unable to follow through with the course. I don't feel comfortable speaking for other programs about how they may view withdrawals, so I would encourage you to inquire with the programs you're applying to to see how they feel about it. Sorry I'm not much help on this one :)

[paadmissions]

@asda26 I can see why your advisor recommended you take the C+. But I also view it as if there is a consistent trend of withdrawals (or a high number of them throughout your academic career) we start to worry a little more about the academic potential of the applicant and that you were unable to follow through with the course. I don't feel comfortable speaking for other programs about how they may view withdrawals, so I would encourage you to inquire with the programs you're applying to to see how they feel about it. Sorry I'm not much help on this one :)

[paadmissions]

@grcia Thank you for your question. If you were applying to our program I would tell you to submit your application now. We would consider your application further when your scores are received, but we would still acknowledge receipt of your application and note any outstanding prerequisites. However, there may be some programs that require all components of the application to be in before they even look at your application. Inquire with your programs to see what advice they can give. I'm leaning more to thinking they would be ok with your submitting your application now knowing the GRE scores are planned....but double check behind me...Hope this helps!

[paadmissions]

@grcia Thank you for your question. If you were applying to our program I would tell you to submit your application now. We would consider your application further when your scores are received, but we would still acknowledge receipt of your application and note any outstanding prerequisites. However, there may be some programs that require all components of the application to be in before they even look at your application. Inquire with your programs to see what advice they can give. I'm leaning more to thinking they would be ok with your submitting your application now knowing the GRE scores are planned....but double check behind me...Hope this helps!

[PA2016!]

Hi PA admissions,

 

First, thank you for taking the time to reply to all the applicants on this page. It means a lot. My question is in regards to my pre-requisite course work. Here are my current stats:

 

Bio I- B

Bio II- A

Anatomy & Physiology I- A

Anatomy and Physiology II- A

Cell Bio- A

Genetics- A

Pathophysiology- A

Gen. Chem. I- B

Gen. Chem II- C

Organic Chem I - A

Alg- A

Stats- A

Psych- A

Microbiology- In progress

Biochemistry- In progress

Medical Terminology- In progress

 

All other non pre-requisit courses are A's and two B's; Abnormal and Physiological Psychology.

 

Overall GPA, 3.77

 

I am currently a EMT with one years experience, and have shadowed two PAs for approximatly 60 hours. I feel as though I am a very strong applicant and bring a lot to the table. My only concern is my C in General Chemistry II. In my defense I have always had a full time job throughout school, and just did not have the time to put into the class that semester. I did poorly on one exam and could not recover. Do you feel as though I should retake that course? and If something were to happen again and I did not make an A, how bad would this look? (The fact that I retook a class and still did not get an A)

 

Thank you so much, I look forward to your response.

[paadmissions]

@trobin58 Thank you for your questions. I don't think the C in gen. chem II is the end of the world, and does every applicant whose been accepted to our program have straight As?..No. The approach I would take first is to calculate your prerequisite GPA and see how it stacks up versus the averages of the programs that interest you. You may want to go as far as sending unofficial transcripts to these programs to see what they recommend. You may find that some say retake it, some may not. If you were applying to our program I would probably want to see how you did in Micro and especially Biochem. before I make any recommendations. If you're able to get an A in both of those courses I think you should be ok, but again, that's from our perspective. I'm not one to jump the gun on applicants who have a 3.5+ overall GPA. I think you've demonstrated your academic ability consistently throughout your undergrad career and is the reason why I'm on the fence about recommending you to retake the course.

If you retake the course and don't get an A, but a B, it's still an improvement. Some schools may take the higher grade for the prerequisite GPA and some may average those 2 grades together.

I hope this helps and best wishes!

[CatchyName]

Hi,

 

I am an electrical engineer major despite always wanting to in the medical field. My gpa freshman year was a 4.0, but as time went on it gradually decline to 2.92. It was around my sophomore year I figured out I didn't want to be an EE, but I thought it was too late to switch majors. I lost motivation for school because I didn't know what I was working towards and the material did not interested me at all. I'm going to be a senior and I have one F and a few C's. I am now certain I want to be a PA and am working towards finishing strong so I can improve my application. I haven't finished all the prereqs yet, but I have taken chem and physics which I received A's in practically all of the classes. I'm not worried about bio/physio/microbio because its all very interesting to me. I plan on becoming either an emt or cna for hands on experience. It probably wont be for another 2-3 years before I can apply to become a PA. What I was hoping you could tell me is what your thoughts would be if you saw my application, how I might fix any of the issues with what I have told you, and my chances at getting into any PA program.

 

Thank you!

[zoopeda]

Dear Admissions,

 

I earned an MS in Oriental Medicine from an accredited college. The actual clinical training ("internship") portion of the program included about 1000 hours of hands-on direct-patient exposure (conducting intakes and treatments under supervision of a health care professional: LAc, MD, or ND on each shift). Since graduating, I've maintained a part time acupuncture practice that includes (mainly): performing acu treatments, massage, nutritional and lifestyle counseling, and herbs. I realize such practice lies outside the traditional scope of mainstream medical experience, so I'd like to know if either my supervised clinical training and/or subsequent private practice as an acupuncturist count toward the Health Care Experience (1000-2000 hours) requirement. Or would this be considered, school by school, on a case basis?

 

Thank you!

[bfizzle89]

Dear Admissions,

 

I was previous enrolled in a caribbean medical school, basically i flunked out because of personal issues. However, since i came back to the states i started to work as a medical scribe/assistant/physical therapy aide (yes all 3 for one job) and i have gotten over 1100 hours of experience. Will that help my application to PA school or have i already dug a hole thats too deep?

 

Thanks!

[JL9285]

Thank you so much for this thread!

I have a question concerning LORs. This is my second time applying and am trying to get new references. I have one of my professors, a PA I have shadowed and my former employer who is a chiropractor. My problem with shadowed PAs is that I have only spent a dpfew days with each of them since they have been in different locations and different disciplines. I don't want to appear "out of line" asking someone to write me a LOT that I have spent 24 hours shadowing.

 

Also, is it appropriate to have my former (chiropractor) employer? I know that he is not an MD but I would think there is still some value in his recommendation.

 

Thank you.