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How strict are most of the schools requiring pre-req deadline?


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It's not a way of unnecessarily weeding people out, nor is it ridiculous. It is a way of ensuring that you have taken, AND have performed well in classes that (mostly at least) show the committee that you are ready for a PA school curriculum and for schools to attract the type of applicant that they are looking for. Even schools that allow you to have courses in progress and offer acceptances before those courses are completed have contingencies in their offers stating that you must complete the course with X grade or they can withdraw their offer. With good planning, and researching of school prereqs before the date with which you wish to apply, you can usually avoid the situation of not having a prereq completed for a school you are interested in.

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It's not a way of unnecessarily weeding people out, nor is it ridiculous. It is a way of ensuring that you have taken, AND have performed well in classes that (mostly at least) show the committee that you are ready for a PA school curriculum and for schools to attract the type of applicant that they are looking for. Even schools that allow you to have courses in progress and offer acceptances before those courses are completed have contingencies in their offers stating that you must complete the course with X grade or they can withdraw their offer. With good planning, and researching of school prereqs before the date with which you wish to apply, you can usually avoid the situation of not having a prereq completed for a school you are interested in.

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A contingency is fine, but an outright not going to consider you because a pre-req is not done a year before you even enter is BS.

Ensuring you do well in it?? What about someone who just graduated and may need to take 3 remaining pre-reqs and has a year to do it - someone who has taken all upper-lvl bio courses etc , it's not about doing well..

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A contingency is fine, but an outright not going to consider you because a pre-req is not done a year before you even enter is BS.

Ensuring you do well in it?? What about someone who just graduated and may need to take 3 remaining pre-reqs and has a year to do it - someone who has taken all upper-lvl bio courses etc , it's not about doing well..

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What is worse is one school requires one thing and another program requires some off the wall class that other programs dont even recommend. It would be nice if PA programs could get together and coordinate one group of acceptable pre-reqs instead of each making up a list of individual preferances of the program directors. If medical schools can come up with a standard requirement for applications why can't the PA programs nationwide or I would even settle for just the same ones in each state? I understand having to jump through hoops to get where and what you want but its a sign of disorganized incompetance from my current profession standards. Every PA school is going in a different direction not sure why?

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What is worse is one school requires one thing and another program requires some off the wall class that other programs dont even recommend. It would be nice if PA programs could get together and coordinate one group of acceptable pre-reqs instead of each making up a list of individual preferances of the program directors. If medical schools can come up with a standard requirement for applications why can't the PA programs nationwide or I would even settle for just the same ones in each state? I understand having to jump through hoops to get where and what you want but its a sign of disorganized incompetance from my current profession standards. Every PA school is going in a different direction not sure why?

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The harsh reality is PA programs do not need to amend their application requirements when most programs are seeing 1000+ applicants applying for 30 or so seats. Many before you have jumped through the very same hoops you're being asked to; many will do so after you.

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The harsh reality is PA programs do not need to amend their application requirements when most programs are seeing 1000+ applicants applying for 30 or so seats. Many before you have jumped through the very same hoops you're being asked to; many will do so after you.

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the above 2 posts are dead on. they don't need any particular applicant so they can describe the ones they do want and make folks become that person. it is not unreasonable to say you must have all coursework done by the time you apply. if someone does not pass a course they would have to go off a wait list which is a pain for everyone involved.

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the above 2 posts are dead on. they don't need any particular applicant so they can describe the ones they do want and make folks become that person. it is not unreasonable to say you must have all coursework done by the time you apply. if someone does not pass a course they would have to go off a wait list which is a pain for everyone involved.

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A contingency is fine, but an outright not going to consider you because a pre-req is not done a year before you even enter is BS.

Ensuring you do well in it?? What about someone who just graduated and may need to take 3 remaining pre-reqs and has a year to do it - someone who has taken all upper-lvl bio courses etc , it's not about doing well..

 

I'm not sure I understand your question about someone who has to take 3 prereqs and has a year to do it. Seems doable to me. It is in fact about making sure that you do well in those courses for many programs. I know this from personal experiences in talking with admissions people before I applied to certain places. They want to make sure that you do well in all of the prerequisite courses, hence requiring that you complete them before you apply, or having contingency plans in case you bomb one. Your opinion may be that its not about doing well, but from several programs I have spoken to it is about doing well, and that's not debatable. As beattie said, thousands of people have done these courses and jumped through the hoops to be competitive and get accepted, and there will be thousands more after you who do it. As with many things, you don't have to agree with the process, but if you want to be a PA, you'll have to deal with it the same as anyone else. Time to stop complaining IMO.

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A contingency is fine, but an outright not going to consider you because a pre-req is not done a year before you even enter is BS.

Ensuring you do well in it?? What about someone who just graduated and may need to take 3 remaining pre-reqs and has a year to do it - someone who has taken all upper-lvl bio courses etc , it's not about doing well..

 

I'm not sure I understand your question about someone who has to take 3 prereqs and has a year to do it. Seems doable to me. It is in fact about making sure that you do well in those courses for many programs. I know this from personal experiences in talking with admissions people before I applied to certain places. They want to make sure that you do well in all of the prerequisite courses, hence requiring that you complete them before you apply, or having contingency plans in case you bomb one. Your opinion may be that its not about doing well, but from several programs I have spoken to it is about doing well, and that's not debatable. As beattie said, thousands of people have done these courses and jumped through the hoops to be competitive and get accepted, and there will be thousands more after you who do it. As with many things, you don't have to agree with the process, but if you want to be a PA, you'll have to deal with it the same as anyone else. Time to stop complaining IMO.

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Pre-reqs among programs vary greatly but might reflect local necessity of PAs and medical service (or underservice). A college that has a PA program might have lesser pre-reqs if they are in a more rural area and are medically underserved, but then you find the opposite at PA programs in areas that do not suffer the same lack of medical service.

 

I know many NP students who were admitted contingent upon an acceptable grade in one or two pre-reqs. That always confused me as some of those pre-reqs were courses like microbiology and A&P 2 which are fundamental knowledge. All they had to do was get a C in the courses and they simply began the NP program. That didn't seem academically appropriate or professional, but this is how they operate.

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Pre-reqs among programs vary greatly but might reflect local necessity of PAs and medical service (or underservice). A college that has a PA program might have lesser pre-reqs if they are in a more rural area and are medically underserved, but then you find the opposite at PA programs in areas that do not suffer the same lack of medical service.

 

I know many NP students who were admitted contingent upon an acceptable grade in one or two pre-reqs. That always confused me as some of those pre-reqs were courses like microbiology and A&P 2 which are fundamental knowledge. All they had to do was get a C in the courses and they simply began the NP program. That didn't seem academically appropriate or professional, but this is how they operate.

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prereqs exist for a reason. folks complaining about them is like me saying I should be able to go to medschool and not take the mcat. while one could make a case that a particular prereq is not really needed it just the way things are and it's a put up or shut up kind of thing. could I do medschool without the mcat? very likely. is it going to happen? very unlikely...

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prereqs exist for a reason. folks complaining about them is like me saying I should be able to go to medschool and not take the mcat. while one could make a case that a particular prereq is not really needed it just the way things are and it's a put up or shut up kind of thing. could I do medschool without the mcat? very likely. is it going to happen? very unlikely...

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How come pre-reqs are not standardized by the ARC-PA for all programs accredited? It makes too much sense haha! Not really a concern for me. No hoop is big enough to get in my way. Just another issue needing improving IMHO to stay a legitimate profession in the future. MCAT predicts you are minimally prepared to succeed in medical school. I think it works? GRE isn't even looked at but is a requirement for many schools. Why? It is supposed to be a predictor of your success in Grad school. But not used for anything by PA programs but an extra hoop. The ARC-PA should standardize everything it would not be difficult. I think this is a conversation that does good. If someone thinks the process doesn't need improvement that speaks volume about where the profession is going. Even the Medical world is smart enough to realize when they need improving with the new format of the MCAT coming soon. Maybe the ARC-PA will change things too someday?

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How come pre-reqs are not standardized by the ARC-PA for all programs accredited? It makes too much sense haha! Not really a concern for me. No hoop is big enough to get in my way. Just another issue needing improving IMHO to stay a legitimate profession in the future. MCAT predicts you are minimally prepared to succeed in medical school. I think it works? GRE isn't even looked at but is a requirement for many schools. Why? It is supposed to be a predictor of your success in Grad school. But not used for anything by PA programs but an extra hoop. The ARC-PA should standardize everything it would not be difficult. I think this is a conversation that does good. If someone thinks the process doesn't need improvement that speaks volume about where the profession is going. Even the Medical world is smart enough to realize when they need improving with the new format of the MCAT coming soon. Maybe the ARC-PA will change things too someday?

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Seriously--- you are complaining about doing PREREQS!!!

I guess one way they could make it more consistent is to require a BS biology degree that would already cover the courses in question... would that be more satisfactory for you?

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