kuassmaul Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Hi every one, This past summer I made the decision to change my career path right after I achieved my bachelors. After doing a little research on the internet and talking to a few people, I find it more suitable to obtain a certificate as opposed to completing the classes at community college. So my question is, what is the percentage, or likelihood, that a PA school will accept a student with/without a post bacc certificate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timon Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 If you have the bachelors degree all you need is the prerequisite courses. No certificate needed. Remember to gain healthcare experience with direct patient contact that is paid, have some community service, and shadow some PAs (try to get a letter of recommendation from a PA too) and you should be ready to roll. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pliskin Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 If you have the bachelors degree all you need is the prerequisite courses. No certificate needed. Remember to gain healthcare experience with direct patient contact that is paid, have some community service, and shadow some PAs (try to get a letter of recommendation from a PA too) and you should be ready to roll. What he said. Don't waste the cash on a post bacc. The admissions peeps care first and foremost about those pre req grades. I took the path you are considering. Got a degree in a completely unrelated field. Signed up for classes at my local uni. Didn't get a cert or a second degree, just lots of pre reqs. I've had my share of interview offers and acceptances this cycle cause of it. GL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 No....you don't need any certificate. I just took a few classes at CC and had no problems getting accepted. They just want to see how well you do in pre-requisites, not how well you handle extra bs classes you might need for the certificate. Take only what you need... then some "recommended" classes if you think they might help you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GingersHuman Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 Definitely just go with the community college classes. I already had a bachelors (in spanish, however), and needed to take 24 credit hours of pre-reqs. I received a lot of mixed advice about CC vs university, but the bottom line for me was that both money and time were limited (money in a serious way, time b/c I couldn't stand the thought of waiting another cycle to apply!). I took them all at the CC level, except for biochemistry b/c the CCs in my state combine biochem with orgo which isn't accepted - they want standalone biochem. I spent $66.50 per credit hour at the CC level, and $1300 for the one 3-hour biochem course. LOL! I went against the advice of all the pre-med postbacc folks that I know, but I had no problem getting interviews, and have been accepted. I figure that if a school doesn't want me solely due to a reason like that, well, I don't want them anyway. ;) Granted I had good GRE & postbacc so I demonstrated, er, aptitude? heh. Oh, that brings me to the biggest issue - CC or university level - you MUST do well in these classes, especially the re-takes! :) Good luck to you!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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