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Chances of Getting in PA school


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Hello All!

I have seen a few of these posts on here and on Reddit. This is my first time applying and I am curious how I look as an applicant. Just looking for a few general opinions, I know that it will vary from applicant to applicant 

Graduated from Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN. Applied to 12 different schools in New England . Did not take GRE, applying to schools that do not require it 

GPA:

Overall GPA 3.56; BCP total 3.19; Overall science GPA 3.21; Non science GPA 3.92 

PCE:

Medical Assistant 1200 hours; EMT 240 hours; Medical mission trips to Peru and Mexico 64 hours; Caregiver for dementia patients 48 hours

Research:

320 hours over a semester doing research in two different classes

Shadowing 

ER M.D. -14 hours ; Oncologist M.D 4 hours; Shadowing animal surgery 20 hours; Chiropractor 4 hours; family nurse practitioner 4 hours 

Volunteer:

Cancer Hope Lodge 12 hours; Running mentorship for school kids 8 hours; Cooking and feeding for the homeless 40 hours; animal shelter 8 hours 

 

Big downfall is that i do not have any PA shadowing hours. I have wanted to get those this year but have been unable to due to COVID. I will be getting those at an Orthopedic as soon as possible 

 

Edited by mabowen1
adding volunteer hours
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As someone who already went through a professional school, I am a pharmacist, there is no way to tell if anything you listed will get you in or not. 

I have a BS in biology, MS in neuroscience, 4 years of clinical research experience, 2 publications both of them second authors, and 5 years of experience as a pharmacist. Do my gpas even matter at this point? lol Im going to say some schools will think I am over qualified or some schools may not even look at my application due to low under grad gpa, 3.2, and think I am not a good candidate even though my post grad pre-req pga is 4.0. Who knows. 

Good luck! 

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Hi! I saw your post and just wanted to say I think you have a great shot at getting in-- but the only thing is I would definitely try to get PA shadowing hours. Even if it's 8 hours, I think committees would be worried that you wouldn't know what the role of a PA is if you havent seen them in action. OTHERWISE, keep the faith alive, you'll be great 🙂 

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I would say you are an average applicant in terms of stats, which is not a bad thing but it also means you really wanna shine with your personal statement, letters of recommendations, and during interviews.

I would additionally recommend applying to a good number of programs, maybe around 8-12, and make sure that you seem to be a good fit overall for those programs. Always contact your programs with questions if you don't fully understand a requirement or need more information.

Also, there is an essay where you can mention parts of your application that were cancelled due to COVID-19, so I would definitely mention your planned shadowing experiences there. 

Best of luck! 🙂 

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