How can I improve my chances ?

[Jsad1995]

Sorry for the length of the post in advance. I applied to 8 schools and was rejected without interview from all of them. Stats are pretty good. My last 100 credits including all pre-reqs was a 3.93. That said my overall cumulative for over 250 credits is a 3.25, science is a 3.6. I have 3000 clinical hours as an ER scribe as well as 300 hours of shadowing in multiple specialties including surgery. My PS was professionally edited and reviewed by the previous NYSSPA President. I have 3 fantastic letters of recommendation as well. As of now the only thing I don’t have is volunteer work which I am doing currently as well as getting certified as an EMT for more. In order to raise my GPA to even a 3.5 I would need almost another 100 credits which is impossible at this point. Does anyone have a recommendations for how I can improve my chances? I feel like I’m doing everything right but still failing 

[UGoLong]

I am guessing that you are 28-29 years old (from your handle) and may have more than one college degree for 250 credits. Your last 100 credits were fantastic (some schools look at your last 60 or so). You applied to 8 schools and didn't get even one interview. Volunteer hours are fine but I don't think that would keep 8 schools from not being willing to talk with you. What have you been doing these last 10 years?

While the 3.25 cum is on the lower side, I suspect your personal statement and/or LORs may not be helping as much as you thought. Take another look. Try not to edit the PS so much that it stops telling people who you are and starts telling them who you think they want you to be.

Good luck.

 

Edited January 6 by UGoLong

[rev ronin]

11 hours ago, Jsad1995 said:

 My PS was professionally edited and reviewed by the previous NYSSPA President.

The immediate past NYSSPA president? PM me if you want my opinion on that choice, but it's moot if the AdComs didn't know she was involved.

In addition to the sound advice you got above:

- Scribing is not considered high-quality HCE by many programs. Make sure you're applying to programs that like scribes.  I was skeptical of scribes' previous experience... until I precepted a former scribe PA student and saw how easy documentation came to him in comparison to others. Getting EMT experience is probably the fastest, best way forward to mitigate this.

- 3.5 isn't necessary; the higher cumulative GPA the better, but you've got the important bit: having science higher than cumulative GPA. You don't mention which classes those are, but I'm hoping there are a lot of lab courses and more than just the minimum to meet admission criteria. It's kind of late to get much more done by next CASPA season, but consider if there are any courses that 1) you can find and fit into your schedule, that 2) make your application shine.

- At this point, I'm not sure I would knock yourself out with volunteer work. AdComs can see perfunctory/performative volunteering vs. volunteering that is part of your DNA. There's really no way to fake the latter without a time machine. Paradoxically, sincere volunteering is often something that's either intimately related to something on your PS (e.g., for a rare childhood disease that felled your sibling or child), or completely unrelated to the medical field (Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Habitat for Humanity, etc.).

- Have you traveled outside the United States in a way that would put you in contact with other medical systems? If you MUST try and make up the volunteer deficit, consider some type of short term international medical or humanitarian mission. I had no idea when I applied to PA school how much this helped me get in to the program that eventually accepted me.

[biopsyd]

Sometimes, it's not that there's anything wrong with your application, but there's too many highly qualified applicants and not enough seats. Even applicants with 4.0 gpa get rejected. 

I think the type of PCE could be the issue since it's not as "hands on" as say EMT or MA. Did you apply to programs that specifically accept scribing? Knowing documentation is helpful, but you also learn/pick that up in PA school and on rotations. Plus, you may not even use the same EHR system so you will have to learn it all over again (currently doing this at my new job). 

Is your application well rounded? I know you mentioned no volunteer experience but what about leadership? teaching? research? I had experiences in all categories since I did a bit of everything during undergrad and gap years. 

I think you should definitely finish your EMT cert and work 911 for a couple years. Not even just for your application, but it's valuable experience that will help you prepare to be a provider. Remember, the point of the PCE is to prepare you to care for patients and not just to say hey I have my 1,000 hours. If I could do it again, I would have got my paramedic and done that a few years and then PA school. You'll want to be as prepared as you can....

[EMEDPA]

BioPsyd nailed it above!

Many places consider a scribe to be a mobile transcriptionist and put it in the lowest tier of experience because for the most part you watch other people work, don't actually talk to or touch patients, and are not responsible for anything except typos. 

tier 1 paramedic/rn/resp therapy/military medic

tier 2 MA, EMT, LPN, various clinical assistants, monitor techs, sleep lab, etc 

tier 3 scribe, research, receptionist at medical office

[Jsad1995]

Thank you for all your responses! As for classes I took genetics, microbiology, orgo all with labs and A- or higher. The past president was not the immediate one he was previous PA Mark Zender. I have been trying to get involved in a medical mission trip but so far have been unsuccessful. As far as EMT goes I want to get experience but I don’t want to wait many more years to start my life. I am 29 and while that’s still young I am in a committed relationship and would like to have a child in the next few years and it’s not fair to keep making her wait to start our lives. I want to be a PA but it’s become so saturated that I’ve been considering going the RN route to First assist NP. I will probably try for 2 more cycles work EMT as much as possible and see what happens from there. 

[UGoLong]

What have you been doing for the last 5-10 years?

[Jsad1995]

So I left school in 2015 after joining a frat leading to horrible grades hence the 3.25GPA (not in any science courses). Worked professionally for 4 years as the regional sales manager for a wholesale diamond company, then went back to school and essentially redid an entire bachelors degree plus science pre reqs for PA school and worked as a scribe and ward clerk at a hospital

Edited January 9 by Jsad1995

[rev ronin]

5 hours ago, Jsad1995 said:

... and worked as a scribe and ward clerk at a hospital

Yeah, that continues to be my guess as to why you're not getting hits: ward clerks are essential... but they're not entry level medical practitioners like CNAs are.

[UGoLong]

On 1/9/2024 at 3:01 PM, Jsad1995 said:

So I left school in 2015 after joining a frat leading to horrible grades hence the 3.25GPA (not in any science courses). Worked professionally for 4 years as the regional sales manager for a wholesale diamond company, then went back to school and essentially redid an entire bachelors degree plus science pre reqs for PA school and worked as a scribe and ward clerk at a hospital

I would either apply only to schools known to accept scribes (I know that some do) or get a hands-on job as an MA, etc. I became an EMT at 40 so that certainly can be done but that was a good 10-12 years before I even decided to apply to PA school. But, depending on the system in which you would work as an EMT, your patient contact per working year could be limited.

I would go for the maximum patient care experience in a short period of time; I wouldn't sweat the volunteer thing or try to pull up a 3.25 to 3.5 with another 50 credits. To me, your goal is to be hands-on and see if you can deal with patients well on what is seldom their best day.