chunky521 Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Hello all! First time poster here. Several months ago, I thought about pursuing a career as a PA. Since then, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. I feel I can be a strong candidate in some areas but lacking in others. Brief Review: - Undergraduate: 2.75 gpa at Rutgers BS in Biology (improvements during my 4th and 5th year) - Graduate: 3.75 gpa at UMDNJ MS in Physiology - GRE 1250 - Soon to be published research paper as a first author in a peer reviewed journal. - A years worth(2x a week) of volunteering at an Environmental Science lab during undergrad. - Very little HCE. Will be more by the time I apply. - About 30 hours worth of PA shadowing in the last month. Will be more by the time I apply. I feel my undergraduate GPA is what's bringing me down the most. I've been desperately looking for any shadowing and volunteering opportunities, and HCE I can fill up in a matter of time. However, my grades will stay the same. I am looking to apply to UMDNJ, Seton Hall, and maybe Touro this May or June. 1) Is my graduate GPA high enough for them to overlook my terrible undergraduate work? 2) I'm trying to become a Clinical Information Manager(Medical scribe) because it does not require any licencing like other HCE positions do. Are there any other HCE positions I should be looking for? 3) How much weight do good recommendation letters have? I can get one from the chair of my department, and a current medical school professor. I won't give up trying to become a PA. Thanks for your time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marktheshark89 Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Chunky, Congrats on doing well in your graduate work. It definitely shows your capability to handle difficult coursework. In order to best assess your chances you should calculate what your overall GPA, science GPA, and prerequisite GPA (program specific) would be. If these turn out to be above a 3.0, you have a decent shot. Obviously, the higher the better. Also, it wouldn't hurt to retake some of the undergraduate courses that you did poorly in (C range). If you get A's in them it can improve your GPA. I would particularly focus on science courses that you wouldn't have retaken in your graduate degree (as you already showed you could succeed in those). As far as getting patient experience, some programs do and some programs don't count medical scribe as direct patient contact. You should contact the programs that you are applying to. The best thing to do would be to get your EMT-B or CNA and try to get a job in a hospital as a PCA, ER Tech, or for an ambulance. Both of these are short courses that can be completed in a few months or less, and will give you much better HCE. It's difficult to say how much weight good recommendation letters have as this probably varies by institution. However, I can say that a so-so or poor recommendation letter will be a red flag given that schools are assuming that you have asked people who will write good recommendations and whom know you well. Definitely get a letter from a PA (almost every school wants this). When I asked for recommendation letters, I would say " Professor/PA/Person, would you be willing to write me a strong letter of recommendation for PA school?". If there was any hesitation, I would turn to someone else. Also, if you plan on applying in this upcoming cycle and have little HCE and the same GPA as posted above, I would apply to at least 10 schools and also apply to schools that don't place a huge emphasis on HCE (schools can range from 0 - 2000+ hours required) so that you give yourself a decent chance of being accepted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunky521 Posted January 24, 2013 Author Share Posted January 24, 2013 Mark, Thank you so much for your detailed explanations. I do plan on applying in this upcoming cycle. However I cannot move away from NJ so I am limited in the schools I can apply to. I feel like a longshot to be accepted this year. Do you think it's worth applying? I'm worried that being rejected before would decrease my chances of getting accepted in the future. Also, is there a way to calculate my overall, science and prereq GPA to see exactly what the adcom would see? Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timon Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 I think you should take a couple classes and raise your GPA first if at all possible. Just ball parking but I'm estimating your GPA to be around a 2.92 not including if you retook courses since CASPA does not honor grade replacements. I would apply this year but I would limit it to 2 or 3 schools and select programs that require no HCE, have a min GPA requirement of below a 3.0.. Like a 2.7 and I would select a program where the avg accepted student stat is around a 3.2. I'm telling you to apply just to get the experience of applying while you are working on bettering your application for the following cycle (class of 2017). Who knows, maybe you'll get an interview, maybe you won't, but either way it'll be good to have it under your belt once you've raised your GPA to a 3.0 and got some paid direct patient contact HCE. Something to consider are EKG Tech jobs besides the CNA and EMT-B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cinntsp Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 You need to get HCE to balance out your GPA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mordechai Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 It depends on where you want to go to school. Personally I think you are more qualified than I am and I got into all 4 schools I applied to. I had no confidence that I would get into any, but the acceptances just kept coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunky521 Posted January 26, 2013 Author Share Posted January 26, 2013 Thank you all for your advice. I calculated my GPA with how I'm thinking CASPA would do it. Overall GPA came out to 2.77, and my science GPA is 2.706. This is including my graduate work. Including both undergrad and grad degrees, I've taken around 150-160 credits. I feel that taking 3 credit courses at a time to bring up my GPA would be futile. I called up a few programs today and they flat out said that the GPA would automatically disqualify me. My plan is to apply to programs with lower GPA standards. Is my GRE score above or below average? Besides being a first author on a research paper, I don't know how else I can make myself stand out. Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sijia Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 It would be very helpful if you could share your experience with us, such as your GPA of bach and/or post-bacc, graduate schools?sGPA？ HCE? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sartort Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Because graduate programs usually require B's in all courses to continue the GPAs in graduate level programs are often considered inflated compared to undergrad. Everyone I know who went to grad school got a higher GPA as a grad student than as an undergrad, and often the difference is pretty large (B- to C average students become straight A students). I'm not saying that's what happened in your case, but it's common enough that I would expect it won't help you as much as you hope. Although a program might take it into consideration, you should focus on getting your undergrad GPA up because you have limited HCE and low numbers on volunteer work along with getting the HCE. Medical scribe won't be accepted by all programs so you will want to look into whether or not it is accepted by programs you are considering. Take all the pre-requisites and retake courses you did poorly in. This is probably going to be a project for at least two years, so I think getting a higher level healthcare job along with taking courses will benefit you most. I think your GRE score is fine, but if you think you can improve a lot it could make you look a little stronger. Not where you should focus though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunky521 Posted January 27, 2013 Author Share Posted January 27, 2013 Because graduate programs usually require B's in all courses to continue the GPAs in graduate level programs are often considered inflated compared to undergrad. Everyone I know who went to grad school got a higher GPA as a grad student than as an undergrad, and often the difference is pretty large (B- to C average students become straight A students). I'm not saying that's what happened in your case, but it's common enough that I would expect it won't help you as much as you hope. Although a program might take it into consideration, you should focus on getting your undergrad GPA up because you have limited HCE and low numbers on volunteer work along with getting the HCE. Medical scribe won't be accepted by all programs so you will want to look into whether or not it is accepted by programs you are considering. Take all the pre-requisites and retake courses you did poorly in. This is probably going to be a project for at least two years, so I think getting a higher level healthcare job along with taking courses will benefit you most. I think your GRE score is fine, but if you think you can improve a lot it could make you look a little stronger. Not where you should focus though. Thank you for your words and especially for not sugar coating anything. Although it would be great to be accepted right away on a fluke, I realize that it's highly unlikely. I've already been thinking along the lines of what you mentioned about getting my undergrad GPA up but considering I have 170 credits of undergraduate work, anything further won't make much of a difference IMHO. I'm considering just trying to improve on the core pre-req courses specifically mentioned by specific programs and of course the solid HCE and volunteer work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunky521 Posted January 27, 2013 Author Share Posted January 27, 2013 It would be very helpful if you could share your experience with us, such as your GPA of bach and/or post-bacc, graduate schools?sGPA？ HCE? I feel like I mentioned all of my experiences so far in my original post and in some replies. What do you mean, specifically? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sartort Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Thank you for your words and especially for not sugar coating anything. Although it would be great to be accepted right away on a fluke, I realize that it's highly unlikely. I've already been thinking along the lines of what you mentioned about getting my undergrad GPA up but considering I have 170 credits of undergraduate work, anything further won't make much of a difference IMHO. I'm considering just trying to improve on the core pre-req courses specifically mentioned by specific programs and of course the solid HCE and volunteer work. No problem. I know it can be discouraging to think of how many hours of coursework you'll have to do to get it up, but if you can obtain 3.0 in overall GPA I think that will make a big difference. Some programs focus more on last hours of coursework so those can be good options for you. If you can take 2 courses at a time while gaining HCE full time for a year or two you will make a big impact. Consider combining an easier course with a harder science so you aren't risking getting lower than an A. I liked medical anthropology, medical ethics and psych classes because they aren't really challenging (for me at least, everyone is different) and some programs like to see those. The anthro class actually helped me answer some interview questions. Medical terminology is also an easy A and many programs recommend it. I also have found that online courses, although more expensive, are significantly less time intensive and seemed a bit easier (probably just because of the curve adjustment). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asdf Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 No problem. I know it can be discouraging to think of how many hours of coursework you'll have to do to get it up, but if you can obtain 3.0 in overall GPA I think that will make a big difference. Some programs focus more on last hours of coursework so those can be good options for you. If you can take 2 courses at a time while gaining HCE full time for a year or two you will make a big impact. Consider combining an easier course with a harder science so you aren't risking getting lower than an A. I liked medical anthropology, medical ethics and psych classes because they aren't really challenging (for me at least, everyone is different) and some programs like to see those. The anthro class actually helped me answer some interview questions. Medical terminology is also an easy A and many programs recommend it. I also have found that online courses, although more expensive, are significantly less time intensive and seemed a bit easier (probably just because of the curve adjustment). so just to clarify, psych course ( beyond lifespan development and abnormal) can be included into your science gpa? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sartort Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 No, all psych should be in non-science I believe, but getting overall GPA to a 3.0 is important for a lot of programs. The courses I listed I believe will all be considered non-science, but it would allow them to work full time while taking more than one class. If you take too many science courses along with working then grades could drop and the goal here is to improve GPA while showing dedication and ability to succeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cinntsp Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 so just to clarify, psych course ( beyond lifespan development and abnormal) can be included into your science gpa? [h=3]Q: What subjects are included in my Science GPA?[/h]A: Your Science GPA is calculated based on these courses: Biology/Zoology Inorganic Chemistry Biochemistry Organic Chemistry Other Science Physics [*][h=3]Q: What subjects are included in my Non-Science GPA?[/h]A: Your Non-Science GPA is calculated based on these courses: Math English Other Non-Science Behavioral Science Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asdf Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 Ahh yes, that is what I thought. Good advice on the overally gpa. I need to dramatically improve my science gpa though. So is it better to retake them all and get the new average, or just add new science courses? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.