Do I have a chance?

[Laura25]

I’d reallylike to attend a physician’s assistant program at a school in Illinois howeverI’m left guessing if I can even get into one. I have a Bachelors degree in Criminology,Law, and Society with an overall G.P.A. of 3.5/4.0. I want to begin taking myprerecs and am very interested in applying for Midwestern University but I can’tafford to pay for these courses if they lead me nowhere. My goal was either tobecome a Nurse Practioner or a Physician’s Assistant but I prefer the Physician’sAssistant route for various reasons. Anyone know if it’s possible to get into MidwesternUniversity with my background? I also have a small child to think about andparents to take care of so I could continue going to school but not for much longer,and again don’t want to waste time in lengthy chemistry courses for nothing. Iknow Midwestern’s average incoming G.P.A. is a 3.7. I also don’t have anyexperience in a hospital or patient setting, just a year of taking care of mygrandmother who was a stroke victim which changed my mind about my careerchoice. Any advice that could help my future application?What would I need on my GRE to make up for a lower G.P.A.?

 

[Laura25]

By the way I still have many ambitions for the field of criminal justice and my ideal career would be a PA in a correctional setting.

[Moiraine57]

With a GPA that is currently at or slightly below the average for your program, and no healthcare experience, what are you bringing to the table that would make them want to admit you, KWIM?

 

For you to take the classes you need for your prereqs (assuming you've taken zero) plus get healthcare experience/shadowing, you're looking at two years of nearly full time school and at least 10-20 hours a week of work in healthcare. (Or one year of breaking your neck at school--taking o-chem, micro, and A&P in the same semester, and one year of full time work.)

 

Now, disclaimer: I'm not an admissions expert, this has just been my experience and what I have been told.

 

Edit: not trying to be negative. In fact, I think being a PA is do-able, but you will need to put in a lot of work up front and even then, nothing is guaranteed. In your situation as you described it, I'm not sure if waiting 3 years is an option for you. I'm in a somewhat similar situation--my plan is to work my hardest at making myself competitive for PA school, but have a backup plan as well.

[marktheshark89]

Yup, you will need to take the prereqs and perform well in them, and get some patient contact experience. Schools vary in their requirements for the amount of patient contact needed, but the more the better. Also, you should probably consider shadowing a PA several times. Additionally, the profession is entitled physician assistant, not physician's assistant.

[GMarie]

To answer your question about the GRE, if I recall correctly, Midwestern expects their applicants to score at the 50th percentile, minimum, for each section. I don't think there is a number set in stone that you would have to make in order to make up for a lower GPA, but I imagine you would want to exceed that 50th percentile by as much as possible.

[lumina]

I got accepted into Midwestern's PA program in IL and from my experience it felt like they cared more about GPA than experience. There was a surprisingly high amount of individuals still in school at my interview.

 

GRE: I am not strong in reading skills so I just barely made the 50th percentile in verbal (and in fact after the GRE came out with their new scale this year I didn't make the 50th percentile...) but I was still offered an interview right away (first interview of the year). This made me feel that your GRE score didn't matter as much... so as long as you get in the 50th percentile you should be fine.

 

GPA: You're GPA isn't that low; if you think about the fact that the average GPA for the class of 80+ students is a 3.7 then a 3.5 is still in the running. Personally getting some experience working with non-family patients (outside of the hospital is fine!) would really help make you competitive.