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7 minutes ago, PAsoonski said:

Anyone have any idea how many are on the waitlist?

They interview like 300-350 and accept 97. That means there’s like 200 of us that either got waitlisted or rejected so they probably have the same amount as they accept in case as back up but who really knows because they don’t disclose how many are waitlisted/rejected after interviews (I do know that they reject after interviews too because I know someone that did before but idk if that’s changed and they only waitlist. I was waitlisted last year and was never called off it so honestly if we’re not in the top ten of that list I feel like is more unlikely to get called off. Depends on the accepted students and if they have other programs they prefer to attend over MUSC. 

Edited by Pa2021a
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3 minutes ago, Pa2021a said:

For everyone who was accepted, can y’all give stats and honest advice on how to prepare for a interview or maybe what you think set you apart to get the acceptance/acceptances? I know it’s a big accomplishment to get an interview but I’m just assuming that my interview skills aren’t good enough/needs work since I continue to get waitlisted to programs instead of accepted. Having to think about a third cycle is hard especially after all the work I’ve put in the past three years after undergrad and during so I’m trying to increase my chances this cycle for any interviews I may receive in the next couple months. Definitely trying to stay positive but honestly feeling hopeless. I have a tremendous love for healthcare and it’s sad to think maybe I need to look into other paths.

This is my first cycle applying and second waitlist. A lot (almost all) of my friends have gotten into at least one school. I’m sort of in the same boat. I see the stats online but then ppl seem to get in left and right around me. So feeling hopeless as well! 

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3 minutes ago, FuturePA4557 said:

This is my first cycle applying and second waitlist. A lot (almost all) of my friends have gotten into at least one school. I’m sort of in the same boat. I see the stats online but then ppl seem to get in left and right around me. So feeling hopeless as well! 

Yeah that’s why I assumed it really came down to my interview. It’s just discouraging though to see all my friends graduating from PA, NP,MD, etc getting their career and starting families now and I haven’t even been accepted into a program and it’s been 3 years since I graduated. I know not to compare and everyone’s path is their own etc but personally for me I want to have a family soon, get married etc but it seems like Ill be pushing that off until I get to my career which seems like will be nonexistent for the next couple of years. 

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7 minutes ago, Pa2021a said:

Yeah that’s why I assumed it really came down to my interview. It’s just discouraging though to see all my friends graduating from PA, NP,MD, etc getting their career and starting families now and I haven’t even been accepted into a program and it’s been 3 years since I graduated. I know not to compare and everyone’s path is their own etc but personally for me I want to have a family soon, get married etc but it seems like Ill be pushing that off until I get to my career which seems like will be nonexistent for the next couple of years. 

I feel like they combine interview and stats. I felt like despite the difficult questions asked that I did pretty well on the spot! But I was nervous so i’m sure that showed. They get so many great applicants i’m sure it’s a difficult decision and somewhat a luck one.

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4 minutes ago, FuturePA4557 said:

I feel like they combine interview and stats. I felt like despite the difficult questions asked that I did pretty well on the spot! But I was nervous so i’m sure that showed. They get so many great applicants i’m sure it’s a difficult decision and somewhat a luck one.

Yeah you’re right, I remember them talking about being a total of score like caspa and interview scores. It truly is competitive and I am proud that I was able to get this far. They actually told me they had a 5% acceptance rate this year. They accept 97 out of 2000 or so applicants. I would honestly email and ask what you can improve on. I did that last year and knew that I needed to work on gpa/interview. You got this though! We will be okay and there are more important things in life so don’t be so hard on yourself. Our time will come someday! 

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44 minutes ago, Pa2021a said:

For everyone who was accepted, can y’all give stats and honest advice on how to prepare for an interview or maybe what you think set you apart to get the acceptance/acceptances? I know it’s a big accomplishment to get an interview but I’m just assuming my interview skills aren’t good enough/needs work since I continue to get waitlisted to programs. Having to think about a third cycle is hard especially after all the work I put in the past three years after undergrad and during so I’m trying to increase my chances this cycle for any interviews I may receive in the next couple of months. Definitely trying to stay positive but feeling hopeless. I have a tremendous love for healthcare and it’s sad to think I maybe need to look into other paths. 

I was waitlisted last cycle & got in this cycle, and I can say that I felt 100x better about this interview than the first one. My biggest piece of advice is to back every single response up with a story, whether it be personal or work related. Most interview questions were situational/ethical, so with every answer to what I’d do in a situation, I backed it up with a story about a similar experience I’d had or witnessed, & how that experience will help me be a great PA. I also felt like I got really personal with my answers and dropped in bits of information about myself in my responses that would make me more memorable & helped the conversation flow as well. I know it’s really frustrating, but keep your head up, practice responding with friends, record yourself responding to questions. Your hard work will pay off! Good luck to you!

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On 11/20/2022 at 9:54 AM, user5674836 said:

I was waitlisted last cycle & got in this cycle, and I can say that I felt 100x better about this interview than the first one. My biggest piece of advice is to back every single response up with a story, whether it be personal or work related. Most interview questions were situational/ethical, so with every answer to what I’d do in a situation, I backed it up with a story about a similar experience I’d had or witnessed, & how that experience will help me be a great PA. I also felt like I got really personal with my answers and dropped in bits of information about myself in my responses that would make me more memorable & helped the conversation flow as well. I know it’s really frustrating, but keep your head up, practice responding with friends, record yourself responding to questions. Your hard work will pay off! Good luck to you!

This advice is spot on to anyone having difficulty with interviews. I read savannah perry's book on interview prep and one of the KEYS to doing well is to have little experiences and stories that you've thought about in advance that could molded to apply to various questions. And many questions are the same just worded differently. Besides that your # 1 focus should just be TO BE LIKEABLE. I feel like once you're at the interview step everybody is on an even playing field and they wanna know can they deal with you for the next two years? are you mature? can you articulate your thoughts well?do you have some personality? Anyway, that's my 2cents, this is my first cycle and I was able to gain acceptance by following these tips. I hope you guys get to where you need to be and don't give up, there's room at the table for everyone 🙏

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I want to start by saying that you should be so proud of yourself for securing those interview spots! Your application must be strong because it is getting your foot in the door. Have you looked into doing mock interviews with a professional service? I did one with a practicing PA and it gave me so much insight and confidence. I felt that my answers focused on being very honest and even vulnerable more than sounding “smart” because I really wanted them to get to know me. 

On 11/20/2022 at 9:09 AM, Pa2021a said:

For everyone who was accepted, can y’all give stats and honest advice on how to prepare for an interview or maybe what you think set you apart to get the acceptance/acceptances? I know it’s a big accomplishment to get an interview but I’m just assuming my interview skills aren’t good enough/needs work since I continue to get waitlisted to programs. Having to think about a third cycle is hard especially after all the work I put in the past three years after undergrad and during so I’m trying to increase my chances this cycle for any interviews I may receive in the next couple of months. Definitely trying to stay positive but feeling hopeless. I have a tremendous love for healthcare and it’s sad to think I maybe need to look into other paths. 

 

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18 hours ago, AJprePA said:

I want to start by saying that you should be so proud of yourself for securing those interview spots! Your application must be strong because it is getting your foot in the door. Have you looked into doing mock interviews with a professional service? I did one with a practicing PA and it gave me so much insight and confidence. I felt that my answers focused on being very honest and even vulnerable more than sounding “smart” because I really wanted them to get to know me. 

 

Thanks! I didn’t seek professional help but I work in the hospital so I asked  PAs, crna, nurses, managers etc I work with to help me out so I could improve my interview since I knew that was one of the things I needed to work on from last cycles interview with MUSC. I also asked a PA friend of mines to help me and did a semi mock interview with her but she gave me different advice, when I was trying to pull from my experiences for each question we went through, she told me I didn’t need an experience for each question so I feel like what messed me up was having too many advices so when it came down to my interview I felt like my nerves got to me and I wasn’t as cohesive from when I practiced. My gpa is also on the lower side so probably when my score is totaled up, it was probably on the bottom of that list. I’m trying to stay positive and for future interviews if I get them, I’ll make sure to get more personal and pull from my experiences more. I definitely went through a lot as a tech working through covid in the hospital but by the time the interview hit I felt like I went a little blank and didn’t pull from enough of it. I can’t thank all y’all enough for the advice and support! 

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