Rejected

[ColoMom]

Hi All,

I was recently rejected from the one school I applied to. I got all the way to interviews and felt “ok” about my interview, but not super great. I truly think it had to do with1) being nervous and 2) they way they asked the questions. I was prepared for the expected questions, but they asked them in a less direct way than I was expecting. In the moment I didn’t recognize that these were I fact what I had spent so much time preparing for. So, in the end I was unable to fully express myself in a well articulated way. 
 

Anyway, I plan to apply again. My question is, do I need a completely new personal statement and supplemental essay question answers? Truthfully, I feel good about my PS. It does convey who I am, why I want to be a PA and my goals as a healthcare provider. But since it is going to the same school does it need to be all new? 
 

any feedback is appreciated! 

 

[nldeitz105]

You don’t have to change your PS but it might be good idea to change it up a little bit. Where I am going with this is it is always good idea to continue to improve and try other things until next time you apply. I didn’t make first time around so I shadowed more PA’s and tried volunteering at other places and added those experiences to my new PS. 
 

I have had those difficult interviews before they are tough I am better at writing then I am at speaking it is a challenge for me to convey what I truly feel when I am nervous so I would suggest to start writing down questions and practice speaking from the heart to yourself or someone in your family or an employer or PA you are shadowing. If you aren’t great at speaking like me practicing speaking or getting together with life coach might help. I was lucky my interviewer was laid back and did most of the talking but I was lucky for sure I was very nervous. 

Definitely apply to more schools next time you will have more of a chance and it’s tough to just put all your eggs in one basket. That school might not be the right fit for you you never know. I choose my school because of the interview process and how comfortable I felt and how comfortable they made it and knew it was right fit for me. 

[Christine616]

Is there a reason you only plan to apply to one school? and a school under development at that? 

It's hard to say what you can improve on since it's only one experience but based on the fact that you are set on this school and got all the way to interviews I would say that your application had to be good otherwise they would not have picked you for interview. Most likely it was the interview. 

I would definitely look into other Colorado/Utah schools if you can especially those that are accrediation-continued.  When I first applied I didn't think it would matter but now that I've heard horror stories of some PA programs shutting down midway through, and the disorganization of some provisional programs I definitely think accrediation-continued if you had the choice is a safe bet.