Is PA school going to be possible with this GPA so late in my academic career?

[biogirl236]

My GPA is currently a 2.473. I am a junior I dealt with some mental health issues and have no longer been getting straight C's. (Bio 1 & 2: C, D) (Gen Chem- BC, C). However, taking organic chemistry this semester has begun to convince me that I may end up with a sub-3.0 GPA in the long run (Around 2.7 or so). Essentially I am worried I will end up with a B or C in this class for the next two semesters.
I have taken 53/120 credits and there is only so much more I can do to reach at least a 3.0. What are my options if I am considering PA school? I know I am capable of much better grades. If I am not able to get above a 2.7-2.9 at the end of undergrad, what are my options to be competitive for PA school? Would a post-bacc or masters degree increase my chances? I will need to take time to get clinical experience as well. What are your opinions?

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[pamac]

Many setbacks can be overcome given enough time and effort. The question is if the cure is worth the cost. For you, the answer to that will help you uncover why PA school really appeals to you. There is a reason you want to apply to PA school vs medical school, and it might be because you imagine it to be more obtainable with your GPA. But what if I told you that it will take you as much effort at this point to get accepted to PA school as it would for you to be accepted to a medical program? In essence, getting in is probably going to require everything from you for several years or more. That's not unreasonable, because it takes an unencumbered decent student roughly 3 years of effort to get to the point of being able to apply and be successful. Another thing to visualize is what kind of student do you think you would want to recruit if you were in charge of a PA program? Basically, for such precious few seats you have, you would want students that you know would have the best chance of performing well and not flunking out. Even then, a few of those good students will fail out.

The good news is that instead of using your precious time to improve your resume and grades, you could change focus and find a degree or line of study that will end up being more lucrative than being a PA. But yeah, life challenges aside, programs really don't like to gamble because for them, seats are precious. Don't loose heart, but just realize that PA school is very tough.

 

[lee9786]

I don't know. To be honest from what I've seen anything less than a 3.0 won't be really considered. There are some pretty high median GPAs for these schools. I just talked to Desales Univeristy and the admissions person told me they had 1000 applications under review.

Now 1000 applications is a LOT of applications..

 

[biogirl236]

Many setbacks can be overcome given enough time and effort. The question is if the cure is worth the cost. For you, the answer to that will help you uncover why PA school really appeals to you. There is a reason you want to apply to PA school vs medical school, and it might be because you imagine it to be more obtainable with your GPA. But what if I told you that it will take you as much effort at this point to get accepted to PA school as it would for you to be accepted to a medical program? In essence, getting in is probably going to require everything from you for several years or more. That's not unreasonable, because it takes an unencumbered decent student roughly 3 years of effort to get to the point of being able to apply and be successful. Another thing to visualize is what kind of student do you think you would want to recruit if you were in charge of a PA program? Basically, for such precious few seats you have, you would want students that you know would have the best chance of performing well and not flunking out. Even then, a few of those good students will fail out.

The good news is that instead of using your precious time to improve your resume and grades, you could change focus and find a degree or line of study that will end up being more lucrative than being a PA. But yeah, life challenges aside, programs really don't like to gamble because for them, seats are precious. Don't loose heart, but just realize that PA school is very tough.

Thank you so much for your honesty and insight. It is tough to give up on your dreams but I will need to re-evaluate to see what is best for me.

 

[pamac]

You could go to nursing school and get an NP. In your situation, since it would take so long to improve your academics to get into PA school, you may want to look into going that route, even though it can be long. To me, its a better path because there are some guaranteed avenues for you to take to get where you want.

 

[biogirl236]

I would but I can't draw blood! That part scares me. I am willing to go through the extra schooling, however long that maybe, for PA school.

 

[pamac]

Good luck to you. You have a hard hill to climb.