LOW GPA CHANCES HELP!!!

[sarad]

I'm currently a senior majoring in biology with a minor in public health. I'm in my 2nd to last semester right now and my current gpa is 3.33, which is pretty low. I have about 3200 PCE, most being from being a medical assistant at an urgent care, the rest from being a clinical tech at a hospital, and a pharm tech. I know some places don't accept pharm tech as PCE. I'm not sure what GPA I'll be ending up with when i graduate as i still have 2 semesters left. but by the looks of it, it seems like ill end off my fall semester pretty good and hopefully that'll be the same for spring semester.

 

So with a:

- 3.33 GPA (cumulative)

- Bio major/ Public health minor

- ~3200+ PCE

- 100 hours of volunteering (Restore, Red cross)

- no shadowing

 

As a bio major I have all the pre reqs and all the upper levels courses such as biochem and physics as well. My dream PA school is the school I'm currently going to for undergrad, will this be beneficial at all? to apply to the same school for grad as an alumni from the school or does it not matter. I also have taken 3 courses at community college which i transferred over to my school, does this play any part or make it a negative thing. I have 2 withdrawals on my transcript as well. I just recently got diagnosed with ADHD and got meds, so my entire time before this, I've been struggling with coursework. Is this something I'm supposed to explain or not?

 

what are my chances? I'm trying to find more volunteer opportunities and hopefully try to shadow a MD or PA. I've been working part-time my entire time in college and am still employed. I'm a first gen student and come from low-income family. I'm middle eastern which I'm not sure helps at all. But I've been super stressed out. With working part-time and going to school full-time, it hards to find time for anything else.

 

My dream would to be to get into a dual PA/MPH program, especially because I'm minoring in public health. Does this make it harder? Or is it about the same? or should i just apply for PA

[KalebPAS]

Your GPA is not as low as you think. Plenty of people, including myself, had a GPA lower than yours with more than a handful of acceptances. Your GPA might not give you much of a chance at a school like Penn State, but you will have schools that will give you a look.

I would highly recommend getting some shadowing hours; I am sure some of the PAs that you work with would be willing to let you shadow them. You need every advantage you can get, and shadowing hours are an easy one that open up doors for you to apply to more programs and explain in interviews and in your PS/secondary essays how you'v verified this is the profession you want to pursue. 

• Community college is not a negative unless you got a D in a science course and went to a CC to get an "easy A". 
• Being an alumni helps. I would recommend starting to contact the admissions director, going on a tour, or talking with a pre-med or pre-pa advisor as most of the time they are clueless, but they will probably know more for your program than others. 
• You are under no obligation to explain your medical history. If you believe it is an important part of your story to PA school, then go for it. Most of the time it is not necessary to discuss unless it was a life-altering condition. This is something easily explained in an interview, but there are better uses for your characters in your PS than to discuss your ADHD. 
• Working part-time and having all that PCE will help you tremendously
• Start working on your PS, if you need assistance please let me know.