Late in the Cycle

[smbold]

Quick question. Is it worth applying this late in the cycle. I took a few courses over the summer to boost my sGPA and my transcripts did not finish processing until late. 
 

Should I focus my sights on programs with non-rolling admission and later deadlines? I’m also saying this because the few programs that I did apply to have not gotten back to me yet. Thank you in advance.

[PA-Candidate]

SM bold

Trying to be as transparent as possible.   It depends on the schools...

1 - Hopefully you have not missed the deadline for the schools you want

2 - look at the school forum and see when the first round of interviews are for rolling admissions.   One of my schools had a Aug deadline, however they advised to apply NLT June to get into early consideration.

3 - For schools that have two or so interview dates,  I'd contact the school.  Admissions will tell you to still apply, however talk to program director or look to see if invites have already been sent out for 1st round.

Overall - yes its late for some schools in the cycle, however some won't start interviewing until Jan (late starts).   Also weigh the cost benefit.   CAPSA $57, School supplemental $40-80, transcripts GRE $20, etc.    You already met the first CAPSA fee so its not that bad. I know it starts adding up quickly, however start thinking about how much sooner you could get into PA school if you applied now vs waiting another cycle.

Good luck and if this is what you want stay with it!   It took me 3 cycles (first time I applied I was still in undergrad and 2nd one had CAPSA update issue) however currently a PA student.

I will use the Hockey quote - you will miss 100% of the shots you don't take.

[Guest mands]

On 9/3/2020 at 1:05 AM, smbold said:

Quick question. Is it worth applying this late in the cycle. I took a few courses over the summer to boost my sGPA and my transcripts did not finish processing until late. 
 

Should I focus my sights on programs with non-rolling admission and later deadlines? I’m also saying this because the few programs that I did apply to have not gotten back to me yet. Thank you in advance.

@PA-Candidate explained it perfectly. There are some schools that don't even open their application until later in the summer though! So that could be an option for you.

To find out which ones aren't open yet, use the CASPA filters! However, I just now looked all the "pending ones' have been posted. The one for Mercer that is "to-be-posted" is for Jan 2022, which is a while away.

One school I applied to last cycle, Francis Marion Uni, does open their application late in the summer so you'd be considered "early" for them. It will be a challenge to weed out which ones recently opened their app, but I think it's worth looking into if you have your CASPA together!