BS in Biology but a very low GPA: what can I do?

[johnguillen68]

Background: I'm 54yrs old and I'm an EMT working in the Emergency department for over 16yrs. I have plenty of hands on experience and know the role of a PA. I started my journey to become a PA but I had no guidance whatsoever. I had to do it all on my own and just pick classes that I thought would be required. It took me well over 10yrs to finish my BS in biology and it wasn't easy. My goal was to just finish the classes and move on to the next semester. Not paying attention to my GPA until my final semester of school and realized there's nothing I can do at this point to boost it up.

I'm getting turned down by every PA school and I know its because of my GPA. What can I do at this point in my life? I still have no guidance and there are some medical people at my job that encourages me and wrote letters of recommendations but still no real help on my journey. I still want to become a PA but next spring will be 2yrs since I graduated with my BS and I'm still chasing that dream. I'm getting older and my drive is slowly fading. I need some kind of hope that I will get to my dream. So I ask, what can I do?

[VarsityMed]

Are all your pre-req classes current enough for the schools you're applying for? Some programs will only accept pre-reqs that have been completed in the last 5-10 years (it depends on the school, not all have a course expiration timeline). I'd start by looking at that since applying with outdated coursework to programs that do have a set time limit will be an automatic no. 

[ANESMCR]

It might not even be your GPA, rather, a 10 year track record of average and stagnant performance. As mentioned above, many of your classes have likely expired by at least two years. Meaning you’ll likely need to retake 2-3 semesters and do very well along the way. Certainly possible. There are people that go to PA school much older than 54 yo. My opinionated advice, stop wasting your time and go get your BSN.

Edited October 18, 2022 by ANESMCR