Post Bacc Ponderings

[mvalland 2]

Hello! Would love some advice from other prospective PA students. It is November, and I am still waiting to hear from six schools. I have been rejected from four. No interviews yet.

Overall GPA: 3.0

Science: 2.9

HCE/PCE: >1000 Medical Scribe hours in ER and outpatient urology

Volunteer: 900 hours with mission trip to Romania orphanage, soup kitchen, youth camp, community cleanup, etc. Also have 150 shadowing NP, Dr, and PA in different specialties

And thousands of hours with extracurriculars: dance, college clubs (medical and science), tutoring, and was a TA for anatomy, biology, and chemistry

 

OK here is what I am wondering. I know my application is not competitive... should I retake upper level science courses at a community college or apply for a post bacc program? As you can see, it will take a significant number of courses to raise my 2.9 science GPA. I will do whatever it takes to become a PA. I am thinking I should just bite the bullet and apply for post bacc program such as Hofstra or Marymount Manhattan. Any insight at all would be extremely helpful.

[TheColorBlue 34]

Hey there! I have VERY similar GPAs to yours, and I got in this round after 2 unsuccessful rounds. I also wanted to get into PA school at any cost, so I made sure to apply to programs that had lower GPA thresholds and focused on my personal statement/supplemental essays. I also took (and retook) the GRE since a lot of the schools I wanted to apply to required them, but some don’t.

I did have to retake prereqs because the ones I already took were expired, and I did a good chunk of them through the pre-health post-bacc program at Manhattanville College. It was expensive (private school, go figure) but I felt like I had more support and overall better education than when I was on my own taking classes a la carte. My partner was the one who helped research pre-health post-bacc programs so I can’t speak on Hofstra or Marymount, but your story felt so similar to mine that I had to chime in! I hope this helps, and sending positive vibes that the remaining schools shoot you an interview!