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How many schools did you apply to ?


How many schools did you apply to?  

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  1. 1. How many schools did you apply to?



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I applied to 18 schools. This is alot but i decided to carpet bomb the pa school process rather than not get a seat and try again next year. I have a 3.7 science and overall gpa but only 337 hours as a cna. Gre scores were 151 and 152. Thats good for just over 50th percentile in both categories however my writing portion was only 3.5. With how competitive things are i want to increase my odds. I picked schools that had low attrition rates and historically high pance scores. Im willing to move

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I'm only applying to places that I'm willing to live long-term and feel meet my needs. I actually did apply to one program that I don't meet a pre-req in (where I will be a few weeks late at finishing biochem) so they may throw me out immediately but all the others I meet the pre-reqs and think the schools would be good/like me. I live in Oregon and the only school that might prefer Oregonians is OHSU because it's public, but they only had enough spots for 2% of applicants last year and I know a lot of state programs go for their residents. I would rather realize I applied to too many and wasted time and money applying than feel as if I didn't give it my best shot and have to go through the process again.

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so, a question for those applying to 10+ schools...is this done because you like 10+ schools, meet their prereqs, and want to live in those areas or more as a hail mary because of bad grades and/or low experience?

 

Yes to the first 3. Already long-distance with the SO and nothing else tying me to one area for 2 years that are likely to fly by. However, there were some regions of the country where I didn't even consider applying. Somewhat because of your last question. I remember being VERY worried that if I didn't get in anywhere another year of working as a MA, taking more upper-level classes, and continuing to volunteer should do the trick. Instead I got a bunch of interviews and got into my #1/2.

 

Edit: not that getting in was easy, I had already worked hard, but because I was worried it took 5K hours of top-notch experience or stellar GPAs. I guess a well-rounded applicant with A- grades and B quality HCE gets in these days...

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Yes, I applied to over 10 programs because my stats aren't stellar. I found programs that I qualified for and did a lot of research and narrowed it down from there. Moving to a different area of the country for 2-3 years is not that big of a deal to me. I'm 22 and not anchored down to any particular location. It took a long time, but feel like I applied to some pretty special programs. I just wanna be a PA!!!!!!! :)

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so, a question for those applying to 10+ schools...is this done because you like 10+ schools, meet their prereqs, and want to live in those areas or more as a hail mary because of bad grades and/or low experience?

as an adcom member I have seen many folks apply without even bothering to meet all the prereqs. those files go straight to the round file. I know someone who applied to 35 programs. talk about a waste of money. she later got into her first choice.

 

Mostly because I meet the pre-recs. It is also a bit of a hail Mary because I have only an ok GPA, not great. I see all these folks posting 3.8 to 4.0 GPA's and it makes my paltry 3.5 look pathetic. My GRE was just "OK" as well. The only thing I really have going is my experience, which seems to not be much of a factor with many programs these days.

 

I don't care where I live and I don't care about the cost, the goal is PA-C.

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I just submitted my CASPA application yesterday, and applied to 14 schools (13 CASPA and 1 non-affiliated)...this is my first time applying, and while I feel like I am a strong applicant, the acceptance rates have me a little freaked out. I am just trying to maximize my chances!!! The thing that is killing me are all of the supplemental applications, but I have finished all of the ones that you can do before applying through CASPA. I think that for me, I am motivated to attend every interview I get, because I think a feel of a school on campus and interacting with the students is the best indicator that you fit wtih the program. Obviously I have some top choices, mostly to do with geographical locations or rapport, but my goal is really to just get into a school that I feel good about my first time around. Thank goodness my husband has a flexible job where he can really work anywhere, so we're not specifically limited to any one area in the country. When I chose the schools I applied to, I looked for a) 24 - 28 month programs, b) a mission statement and curriculum that resonated with me, and c) excellent PANCE first-time pass rates. I honestly think that if you have the ability, apply to every school you are interested in: I think it absolutely maximizes your chances at getting accepted somewhere (hopefully!). I'll let you know how it turns out.

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I really wanted to get into a school on the first try and didnt have any geographic limitations so I applied to 10 schools on CASPA....but ended up getting into my top choice early on so I only had maybe 5 "complete" applications (as in supplemental application completed). I even remember canceling a check for a supplemental application for another school after I got in. That would have been a wasted 100 bucks!

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Well said wutthechris and ksleeve! 100 bucks for a sup app?!?!?!?! Ludacris!!!!!

 

yup, and that wasnt even the worst..... south alabama's was $110 bucks. most supplemental apps cost anywhere from 25-100 bucks (very rarely are free), usually average around $50, so you guys should keep that in mind when budgeting your application fees. Good luck!!! :-)

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also keep in mind that most folks seem to get supplemental apps. its sinking more money down the hole if you dont really have a chance at the school. thats why it pays to do research and not throw darts in the dark by applying to programs that have requirements you are lacking. for instance, if you dont have their required number of HCE hours, dont bother applying. they often have 10 applicants per seat... they will cater to the folks that meet thier requirements, and will make money off of you by cashing your supplemental checks. a program that has 1000 applicants that send in supplementals and charges 50 bucks per supp, then they are looking at 50k coming in.

 

i remember interviewing at a school that said they use a computer program to weed out applications that dont meet basic requirements (gpa, HC hours, missing GRE scores, etc) so about 1/4 (out of 1000+) applications were weeded out and not even reviewed

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i remember interviewing at a school that said they use a computer program to weed out applications that dont meet basic requirements (gpa, HC hours, missing GRE scores, etc) so about 1/4 (out of 1000+) applications were weeded out and not even reviewed

most places have volunteer pa's from the community do this.

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I applied to 18 schools. This is alot but i decided to carpet bomb the pa school process rather than not get a seat and try again next year. I have a 3.7 science and overall gpa but only 337 hours as a cna. Gre scores were 151 and 152. Thats good for just over 50th percentile in both categories however my writing portion was only 3.5. With how competitive things are i want to increase my odds. I picked schools that had low attrition rates and historically high pance scores. Im willing to move

 

Which schools were these? I'm curious

Good luck with your app! I retook the GRE today

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Yes to the first 3. Already long-distance with the SO and nothing else tying me to one area for 2 years that are likely to fly by. However, there were some regions of the country where I didn't even consider applying. Somewhat because of your last question. I remember being VERY worried that if I didn't get in anywhere another year of working as a MA, taking more upper-level classes, and continuing to volunteer should do the trick. Instead I got a bunch of interviews and got into my #1/2.

 

Edit: not that getting in was easy, I had already worked hard, but because I was worried it took 5K hours of top-notch experience or stellar GPAs. I guess a well-rounded applicant with A- grades and B quality HCE gets in these days...

 

Congrats! How much HCE did you have?

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Applied to 31 schools. Im just shy of a 3.8 gpa with excess of 200 credit hours. Went overkill on the pre req classes as I meet req and then some for every school I check out, however my work experience is seriously lacking. Currently a emt-b but just acquired cert 2 months ago. Wish me luck.

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Applied to 31 schools. Im just shy of a 3.8 gpa with excess of 200 credit hours. Went overkill on the pre req classes as I meet req and then some for every school I check out, however my work experience is seriously lacking. Currently a emt-b but just acquired cert 2 months ago. Wish me luck.

 

I'm all for applying broadly but 31 schools is overkill. Are you planning to go to all of those interviews if invited? lol

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