Need Help for the next step to matriculate into a PA program

[DOCRAH]

I'm a 34 year old Hospital Pharmacy Technician with 13 years of experience and 13,000+ hours in the field. African-American male, no wife or kids living in SC and the last CASPA cycle I applied for was in 2019-20. That was my 7th consecutive cycle applying to PA school. Over that 7 year time span I've had 3 interviews. First interview was 2 years ago in Boston. That one went ok. Didn't get accepted. Second interview was in 2019 at a program in North Carolina. Thought I knocked it out of the park. MMI style & a one-on-one session. Waited two weeks to get a rejection. Even spoke with the director of the program and she just flat out told me that I wasn't good enough and that there were better candidates than me. She even said to me how much money do I want to pumping into applying year after year and not get in and that maybe I should try being a pharmacist or another health care field. Last of the interviews was in Michigan earlier this year via Zoom of course. Again I felt the interview went amazing and I also ensured I send thank you emails to all those that interviewed me....same with the programs in NC & Boston respectively. Decisions were sent out earlier this past week and I wasn't selected again. My overall GPA is 2.5 and I've take about 70 credit hours post bacc coursework (science courses, psych courses, stats, A&P, Chemistry courses, etc.) and my gpa is a 3.4 and some change in those. Extremely hard to raise a LOW GPA up due to having so many credits from BS degree in Biology already. I calculated that I would have to do another entire degree and half of another to raise my GPA overall to a 3.0!!!! My GRE score is a 295 combined V & Q with 4.0 writing score. I've done 80 hours of shadowing with PA's across different disciplines (Ortho, Hospitalist, Urgent Care, Family Med, & Derm) and I have about 115 hours volunteering between a soup kitchen and at a Veterans Affairs hospital with the Volunteer services department. I've earned my BLS certification, joined my state PA chapter, and I know all of my recommendations/evaluations are good because I've had several of the interviewers comment on them. My GPA is that low because I didn't manage my time well while both my mom and grandmother had cancer during my time in college. I had to work 2 and sometimes 3 jobs to help with family expenses as I came from a single parent household as well as help with the raising of my younger sister. I'm not making excuses, it's just that I don't feel that mistakes of my past should handicap my future. I'm trying to make a better life for myself by attaining an advanced degree in a career (a calling) that I feel is tailor made for me and what I want to accomplish in healthcare with my future patients and in the community as an advocate for this wonderful profession. I feel this is evident with how many cycles I've applied just how much I want this. I didn't just wake up one day and say man I want to be a Physician Assistant. Becoming a PA-C will be the realization of a dream for me. It will be me finally being able to harvest the fruit from seeds that I planted long ago.  Obviously some programs see some potential in me because I've had the 3 interviews albeit against more than 70 rejections, that has to count for something. Just because students that matriculate have higher gpa's, GRE scores, or better health care experience than me, doesn't mean they will make a better student than me in school, be a better PA than me, or relate to patients better than I will. I just want an opportunity and all it takes is one yes. 

I'm just trying to figure out what is the next step for me? Should I take more classes? Should I do a one year special science masters (ie: biomedical sciences) to prove to adcoms I can do the work? Another hurdle here is those programs are used as academic record enhancers, but the admission requirements to get in mirror what it takes to get into professional schools if not a little less. How does one in my situation gain admittance with a roadblock like that? Should I retake the GRE? Getting a better form of healthcare (MA, EMT, Nurse, CNA, etc.) will be difficult as that requires formal training and a certification of some sort, then I'd have to amass the 2 - 4k hours in that field. Not to mention how will COVID play a factor in that as well as with the clinical and didactic portions?

 

Thanks to anyone that can provide feedback on the next step,

Sincerely,

A guy trying to realize a dream

[EMEDPA]

Looks like you are trying hard and doing all the right things. Your GPA is like an anchor around your neck unfortunately. I think your best bet is to get a Masters in a science related field and knock it out of the park. 3.8+ GPA to show adcoms that you can do the work. I am on several adcoms and if I saw that combined with reading your story I would think this is a guy who turned his life around and he deserves a shot. Best of luck!

[UGoLong]

Reading your note, I can feel your pain. It all makes sense from your perspective: a dream, long hours of experience, etc. Your experience, the diversity you represent, and your determination all make you a good candidate.

The problem is that you are competing against people with way better grades in classes they have most likely received more recently than you have. I may know what that feels like since I applied to PA school over three decades after my BS. You've just got to kill it by taking more recent, challenging classes to prove your once-capable brain hasn't turned into maple syrup.

From a school's standpoint, they want students who look like they can successfully complete a graduate degree. Schools, after all, have to publish their success rates for the students that they admit. Your grades, and to a much lesser degree, your GRE scores, aren't generally what they are looking for.

On the other hand, you did get interviews and that's a very good thing. There much be something about your story on paper that got them interested, but maybe your story in person didn't come out well enough to win the day. Fixing that may be considerably easier than improving your grades.

Only you can decide whether to dig in and do what it might take to make this work or to decide that your life would be richer if you changed your goals and went in a new direction. Without a ton of effort, changing your GPA at the end is a difficult thing. There are some programs (I don't know which ones off the top of my head) that might give emphasis to the most recent 60-ish odd credits. Perhaps that is where you should concentrate and perhaps another reader of this forum can give you some ideas as to which programs those might be.

In conclusion, what has already happened to you -- for better or worse -- has happened and there is no changing that. While it can be hard to move on from what has already happened, you really need to. My football analogy is, you might have lost yardage and it's 3rd down and 15 but don't dwell on the last play; its time to call your next one.

Good luck, whatever you decide.

 

Edited November 1, 2020 by UGoLong

[DOCRAH]

3 hours ago, EMEDPA said:

Looks like you are trying hard and doing all the right things. Your GPA is like an anchor around your neck unfortunately. I think your best bet is to get a Masters in a science related field and knock it out of the park. 3.8+ GPA to show adcoms that you can do the work. I am on several adcoms and if I saw that combined with reading your story I would think this is a guy who turned his life around and he deserves a shot. Best of luck!

Thanks. I greatly appreciate the feedback. I'll see what master's programs I can apply for.

Edited November 1, 2020 by DOCRAH

[HONEYCUT]

Hello,

Your tenacity and perseverance are noteworthy. I have observed over the years that Adcoms tend to behave like AI machines. You are by no means cognitively inferior to those parading 3.8 GPA. To keep your sanity intact, it is my considered opinion for you to look into accelerated nursing programs. With a nursing degree in hand, many doors will be opened to you and moreover you will be a member of the health team- The goal is to serve humanity. Thereafter, if you decide to pursue PA, your first love, admission will be easier. On the other hand if you chose to do a master degree in any biomedical science, please count the cost and the job prospects if at the end the PA admission failed to come to fruition. Wishing you the  very best

[EMEDPA]

1 hour ago, HONEYCUT said:

Hello,

Your tenacity and perseverance are noteworthy. I have observed over the years that Adcoms tend to behave like AI machines. You are by no means cognitively inferior to those parading 3.8 GPA. To keep your sanity intact, it is my considered opinion for you to look into accelerated nursing programs. With a nursing degree in hand, many doors will be opened to you and moreover you will be a member of the health team- The goal is to serve humanity. Thereafter, if you decide to pursue PA, your first love, admission will be easier. On the other hand if you chose to do a master degree in any biomedical science, please count the cost and the job prospects if at the end the PA admission failed to come to fruition. Wishing you the  very best

I would probably pursue a masters that could lead to a job if PA school does not pan out, like a MPH or Masters in disaster relief health care