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@ paadmissions:

 

I have submitted my applications for this year's admissions cycle and here are some of my stats. I'm just curious what you think my chances for interviews are. I submitted applications to 11 programs.

 

Undergrad GPA: 3.43

Undergrad Science: 3.40

 

GRE: 302 and 4.5 in writing

 

HCE hours: 4,600

Shadowing: 150 hours with 4 different PA's in different areas and 1 family medicine MD

Research experience: 1,000 hours in a lab in a medical school in the area working with graduate students

Volunteer hours in the community: 3,500 hours, some of which are patient-care related

 

Thank you for your input! I appreciate you taking the time to answer this question for me.

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I have accepted an interview on October 30th. today I was emailed by another school for an interview on october 30 as well!!! What do i say to the second program to have the interview rescheduled. I don't want them to think that I am not taking their program seriously, but i also didnt know if it is kosher to tell them i am already interviewing elsewhere?

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@FMG256 Thank you for your questions and thank you for your patience. From our standpoint we look for a bachelors or Dr of Medicine degree equivalency off of your World Education Services (WES) evaluation. Our program does not count your GPA or coursework completed in another country. All of our prerequisites have to be completed in the US regardless if they are the same courses. Whether or not a program will use your medical school GPA will be up to the program you apply to. We have a few FMG apply each year and usually have 1 or 2 matriculate into our program every year. These students have demonstrated academic success in their prerequisites and their willingness to learn and accept the role of the PA. Sometimes there may be concern that because the applicant was a Dr in another country that he/she may not be teachable, and this is something we evaluate very closely through the interview process. Your PS should reflect these qualities and understanding of the role of the PA in the US. Hope this helps. 

Thanks so much for the offering us this perspective from the Admissions point of view. I am a foreign medical graduate currently undertaking my PA prerequisites, and hopefully I'll be matriculating in 2017. My predicament is that most of these schools seek for foreign academic credentials evaluations from specific organizations that seem to vary across a wide range when it comes to computing GPAs. I've had three of them throwing around GPAs from 3.18, 3.25 to 3.5 based on my medical school transcript. Really, I was mostly a B+/A student but since some of these organizations base their calculations on the ABCD scale, my GPA seems to be all over the place. My questions then become;
1. What transcript matters a lot during admissions; evaluated one or the medical school one?
2. How'd you look at a medical grad applying to PA school?
3. How do I draft a PS that doesn't make it seem like I'm applying to PA school as a plan B?
4. Have you had any Medical grads apply and get admitted into your program?

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2surgca40 Thanks for your questions and patience. More than likely that type of HCE will not count for most programs. Most programs want to see direct patient contact within a healthcare setting and working alongside the medical team of drs, PAs, etc. Hope this helps!

@paadmissions

 

I have a question regarding HCE, if you don't mind sharing your insight.

 

I’m currently a nontraditional career changing student working on my prerequisites so I can apply to PA programs.  I have been a Police Officer for the past five years and have worked in law enforcement for the past 10 years, including some time in the military.  My concern is in regards to HCE.  As of right now, I don't have any formal HCE.  I plan to try and obtain additional HCE in a hospital prior to applying; however, working full time and going to school full time, coupled with some stipulations my employer has regarding secondary employment, make it very difficult for me to get additional experience without quitting my job.  Due to some financial obligations I must take care of prior to applying and the length of time I’d be taking a large pay cut to obtain healthcare experience and graduate from PA school, I must continue to work my law enforcement job until being accepted into the program.

 

That being said, I was wondering what admissions committees thinks about my law enforcement experience as it relates to healthcare experience.  I am trained in CPR, AED, and Basic Life Support.  During my course of employment as a police officer, I’ve had numerous interactions with patients, including being the first responder to traffic collisions, general medical aids, attempted suicides, and mentally ill patients.  During my interactions with these patients, I’ve administered CPR, conducted basic life support measures, used AED’s, and evaluated and placed numerous psychological holds on mentally ill patients.  I have also spent a great deal of time in the hospital with these patients where I’ve learned about the healthcare system and the hierarchy of the hospital.  Although more qualified healthcare professions take over care upon their arrival or transportation to the hospital, I estimate about 5%-10% of my time on any given day is spent directly assisting patients in these types of situations.  In my five years of experience as a police officer, I have spent approximately 780 hours directly assisting patients as a police officer.  

 

My main question is, will admissions committees accept this as paid health care experience?  Or must I work directly in a healthcare related role?  I'm worried about my ability to obtain HCE given my current circumstances, especially with some programs requiring 2,000+ hours. If my law enforcement experience won't help me, it'll take me a long time to obtain HCE while still working full time as a police officer.

 

Thank you very much for any information and advice you can provide me, I greatly appreciate it.

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@teachtopa Thanks for your questions. I would hope the program would supply some information regarding format, but if they haven't I would email the admissions representative to see if they plan to provide any input regarding what to expect. I personally don't see anything wrong with asking but be very polite in your correspondence. Hope this helps!

Hi! I have received an interview to a school who changed their interview format this year. In the past, the interview was about 45 minutes long over Skype/Facetime, this year, it is on campus from 8-4:30. Is it okay to call the school and ask what the interview will consist of? Thank you for your input!

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@mileshenson1 Thanks for your questions. I would request feedback from the program that rejected you to see if it is due to the online degree. Typically, our program does not encourage online degrees, but there may be other factors other than where you received your degree that lead to their decision. It does not hurt to request feedback regarding your application and how to improve your competitiveness. Hope this helps!

@paadmissions

 

I have a couple of questions about my application in general and if ad-coms will even look at my application.

I graduated from an Australian program that when credentialed here in the US was three years of undergraduate work. My GPA from that program was 3.3, I then completed a US degree from SNHU in General Studies, I did very well in this program with a GPA of 3.819. My CASPA cGPA was 3.65 and sGPA was 3.6. I am planning on taking three more upper division BIO classes like Genetics, Human Biology and Immunology. I have roughly 5,600 hrs of HCE as an ER tech and pre-hospital EMT-IV. My letters of recommendation are from two ER physicians that I work with and one Trauma/Critical Care PA that I also work with. Does the online degree completely void my chances of acceptance? I was recently rejected from the one program I applied to (limited by time and the ability to move far from home), what should I do between now and April 2016 to improve my application?

​Also open to others feedback if anybody has suggestions.

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2surgca40 Thanks for your questions and patience. More than likely that type of HCE will not count for most programs. Most programs want to see direct patient contact within a healthcare setting and working alongside the medical team of drs, PAs, etc. Hope this helps!

Alright, that's a bummer, thanks for you insight.

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Hi, I had a question on what path I should take. I have a BA in Psychology and due to some unfortunate events, I came out with a cumulative GPA of 3.17. I know this isn't very competitive and I want to boost my application. If I am unsuccessful in being accepted into a program this year, I planned on taking some more classes. I thought of getting a BS in Biology since I am only 7 classes short, but then I wondered if taking graduate level courses (without working toward a degree) would have more weight. Do you have any opinion on which path I should take? Would a second undergraduate degree or a handful of graduate level courses be more competitive? Thanks for your input!

 

PS- My GRE scores are decent and I have a competitive amount of healthcare experience.

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  • 2 weeks later...

PA Admissions Director,

 

I am a first year applicant and I have received several rejection letters and no interviews at this point. I feel like my Science GPA is what is keeping me from being accepted. I am an undergraduate with a GPA of 3.5 and a science GPA of 3.0. I have around 2000 hours working as a phlebotomist. I have shadowed one PA for about 100 hours, a MD for about 50 and a Dentist for 50. I would really like to start preparing my application to be more competitive for next cycle, what suggestions do you have for me at this point?

 

Also what classes would you recommend taking to raise my Science GPA?

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  • 2 weeks later...

This was very helpful. I am currently a junior at Virginia Tech hoping to apply this summer. I have spent so much time working to get good grades that my hours are not where they should be. I have a 3.86 GPA, I have about 70 hours of shadowing experience as well as many volunteer hours at a hospital from my hometown. However, I will only have about 400 ours HCE as a CNA by the time I apply. Do you think this is enough to get me into a program? I really would love to get in right out of undergrad because this has been my dream job for so long that I just want to get started. 

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Hi,

I have a question. October 14th I emailed my admission counselor at a school that I applied to asking about my application status. She mentioned that a decision was made and I should be hearing from the university within the next week... Here we are almost 3 weeks later and I still have not heard anything. Today I called the school and asked about my application. They had mentioned a decision was made however she could not tell me what it was. She then went on and mentioned if I don't hear back by next week to contact my admissions counselor again. I went on a limb and asked if I would be receiving my decision in the mail (a rejection) or an email (wait list/ interview) she then said most likely by email. Can all staff see the decision or are they just saying they can't just to say it?

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Hello,

I just have a quick question (for now, anyway). I am currently halfway through earning my AA degree and am setting my sights on earning a pre-clinical health sciences BA. I am also considering minoring in cognitive science, but my husband and many people say that minoring is a waste of time because nobody looks at your minor. Is this true when applying to PA school? I'm interested in psychiatry PA and that is my motivation for the minor.

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Hi! I believe my science GPA isn't too competitive at about a 3.2 and overall at 3.5 but I have 1000 hours as a CNA, 5000 hours as a mentor and speech pathologist assistant for special needs children, about 200 shadowing hours and volunteered abroad in Africa for 2 weeks. I have had a 3-4 C's so do you recommend me retaking these some of these courses? If my GPA isn't too appealing, can my GRE scores and experience outweigh that? Thank you in advance! 

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Good evening,

So I just have a very simple question and because you are an admissions director I feel that you are best qualified to answer this question. So I recently obtained two interviews from PA programs. I was wondering, but how many students per seat do you normally interview for and was is the acceptance rate of the interviewed applicants. I know that more interviews obtained increases the success rate...

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Hi,

 

My undergrad (finance major) GPA is a 3.29.  I applied to Stony Brooks Post Bac program and even if I do really well (say a 3.66) my overall GPA will still be a 3.39-3.4.

 

While in college I spent a ton of my time obtaining great volunteer HCE.  I became an EMT-B and the following year went onto become a EMT-CC (in total 543 hours of classes).  While taking the EMS courses and in school/doing finance internships full time I responded to exactly 500 EMS calls in 2012, and 400 in 2013.  I also got an award for being EMT of the Year in 2012 and have a lot of great things I can talk about on an interview about my EMS experiences.

 

I attended Stony Brooks PA Informational session and they said their acceptenaces usually have a 3.5 overall GPA and a 3.6 science GPA.

 

Do you think my cumulative GPA will hurt me wherever I apply? 

 

I don't feel that I did bad in school but now I'm worried that maybe I made a mistake obtaining so much HCE (I am very passionate about it and love it) and should have focused more on school.

 

Any advice is appreciated! 

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Hello,

so as of right now I am working on my post-bachelor classes at a community college. I meet the pre-reqs for most schools that I am applying for, but I wanted to know if I should try retaking my classes I took in the past to obtain a higher gpa, or if I should take new classes? One example, I received a B+ in General Chemistry I, should I retake it at the community college, or take General Chemistry II? I know some schools evaluate your post bachelor GPA as well.

 

thank you for your time greatly appreciate it.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hello Paadmissions!

Thank you so much for this thread, it is very helpful. I plan on applying to PA school very soon and I have a couple questions. The program I am interested seems to lean towards a higher gpa rather than HCE experience (even though HCE experience is recommended/preferred). Anyways.The school that I am applying to does not require a bachelors degree, so you can apply as long as you have the pre reqs finished with 90 semester hours. I am a junior and planning on applying for the 2016 cycle. My overall GPA so far is a 3.68, Science GPA is 3.55, non-science GPA 4.00. I would say my GRE score is average or slightly above average. I have a couple hundred hours of HCE, shadowing, and volunteer each. 

 

However, during my the first semester of my sophomore year I was going through a hard time with my motivation, I had no idea what I wanted to do and I was completely burnt out. I ended up withdrawing from the whole semester. I always knew that I wanted to do something medical... but I ended up going the research route and I very much disliked it. I took that time to research what I really wanted to do. I researched each medical profession and realized that a physician assistant is something that sounds perfect and after I shadowed a few PAs I realized that it is perfect for me. Anyways , my main question is, does a withdrawal from the semester look bad? I mean it was in my early years of undergrad and I had no idea what I wanted to do. Once I figured it out I got my act together and made straight A's for three semesters after. I know that this semester withdrawal won't look good but hopefully it wont kill my chances right? As long as I explain to them that being a PA is my dream career and that I fit into the program, then that'll help me get in right? Anyways sorry for the long response. Thank you for spending time with this thread!

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Going onto a physician assistant interview would it be okay to say "we" versus "they" when we would be asked about PA associated topics. For example, what kind of stressors do you see as a physician assistant? As a physician assistant we (not they to embody the role) see many stressors such as.....

 

I just kind of like to have a personal touch on many different factors.

 

Thanks you

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello,

I was dismissed academically from a program, but only missed the mark by a small amount. I want nothing more than to be a pa. I have reapplied to different schools (there is no probation period or deceleration) and have had two interviews. One interview led to a rejection and I am still waiting on the other. In your opinion, is this going to be something that admissions will see and automatically dismiss my application? I do not want to give up, but I feel like there is a "black flag" on my application. My undergraduate stats are good (I was previously accepted into 2 programs) and in the program I was in I had all A's & B's with one C+ . I'm not sure if I should keep applying or if I should give up on my dream. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated from you! 

Thank you! 

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  • 2 weeks later...

First and foremost, Thank you @paadmissions for starting this thread and replying to the many posts; they have ALL been very helpful.

 

I, myself, have a few questions:

 

1) How much stock is put into the supplemental application? What does the supplemental represent to the admissions committee? What is the best way to tackle this without regurgitating what is in your personal statement or sounding as if you are repeating what is on the program's website about "Why our insert school here...?"

 

2) If/when reapplying, would you suggest writing an entirely new personal statement (even if it has been professionally proofed and received positive feedback)?

 

3) When and what is the most appropriate way to follow-up with a program/admissions committee regarding application status and reasons for being waitlisted or denied?

 

4) As a cumulative GPA is difficult to improve without grade replacement, what would you recommend to show strong academic performance or improvement? Also, a sort of follow-up to a question asked by Soal2006...Will adcomms look at grades for science courses beyond the prerequisite courses? Some programs only require Gen Chem whereas another will require BioChem. Say an applicant received a C in Gen Chem, but an A in BioChem or vice versa......

 

5) Online courses and community college courses: Many programs state they don't weigh where the courses were completed or the format as long as they are equivalent/meet the prerequisite requirements (say online lecture on-campus lab), but how true is this? Additionally, if an applicant takes mostly online courses and does not necessarily interact with faculty, what would you recommend in acquiring an academic reference? They may be able to say that the applicant received good grades, but not necessarily comment on performance, punctuality, etc. What is the admissions committee looking for in an academic reference (what should the instructor speak to)? Would a "clinical educator" be acceptable as an academic reference? For example, my ambulance service does a lot of critical care education; both classroom and lab. However, it is not at a school or by a "school educator," but by professionals (i.e. flight paramedics, clinical directors, MDs, etc.).  There are no tests or grades per se, but there is a way to gauge academic performance through simulations and participation.Though, I read your particular institution requires an academic reference, for those that don't, would you still recommend acquiring one?

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@ssherard28 Thank you for your questions! To answer your questions

1. Where you plan to take your courses will depend on the program you're applying to. For example, our program prefers to see prerequisite courses to be taken at the university level (especially Biology and Chemistry requirements). 

2. Non-traditional students are common applicants to PA schools. I always tell prospective students who worry about returning to school that the time out of school or age are not the main focus for admissions committees. I was a non-traditional student who returned to school to get a master's degree (not PA), but I know that the drive from non-traditional students can sometimes be harder and more intense than your younger classmates. I'm not putting every non-traditional student in this category because there are two ends of the spectrum with non-trad students (we've seen both in our program), but what we look for are applicants who are willing to work with classmates, gel with classmates, not act as if "they know everything," be willing to take direction and advice from faculty and preceptors, and be someone who has demonstrated they will be a compassionate provider. If you are this type of person and can demonstrate this through the interview process you will be in a good spot. 

3. Having a master's degree is always a good thing even if it's in a different field. However, programs have requirements for a reason so, in our opinion, regardless if a student has a master's degree, performance in these requirements is very important. It helps us evaluate/predict your mastery of certain courses and concepts that are relevant to PA school. 

 

I hope this helps!

 

 

@paadmissions- "be willing to take direction and advice from faculty and preceptors, and be someone who has demonstrated they will be a compassionate provider. If you are this type of person and can demonstrate this through the interview process you will be in a good spot."   

 

How can one demonstrate this prior to the interview? Any keywords to put into the personal statement (which is so limiting as it is, is it really important to sneak this in-I thought we were trying to demonstrate that we have a certain level of knowledge and skills)?

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