PA school- is my GPA too low ?

[gke9323]

I recently obtained my undergraduate degree in Exercise Science with a concentration in Exercise Physiology. My goal is to apply to PA programs when CASPA opens in April 2017. My main problem is that I'm worried my GPA will be too low. I graduated with an Overall GPA of 2.876 and my Science GPA is 2.79. On the other hand, I have had around 400 hours of hands on patient care and 40 hours with a PA, and since I'm planning to apply in the spring, these numbers will increase by then. I also have 3 great letters of recommendation set up, and my GRE scores were Verbal: 151, Quantitative: 146, and Analytical Writing: 4.0.

I'm currently taking a 500 level biochemistry, and plan on re-taking a general bio and gen chemistry that I received C's in. Do you think that this will be enough to boost my GPA and give me chance at any of the schools for the April 2017 - March 2018 CASPA application process? Is there anything else I could be doing? Open to any guidance or suggestions!I know 3.0 is usually the minimum, so just wondering if you think I can make it to that/ make my application competitive!

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[pamac]

You should set up a spreadsheet and figure out how many credits of "A" grades you'd have to get to boost your GPA above the 3.0 threshold for both science and cumulative GPA, because as of 6 years ago when I applied, that was the generally accepted minimum needed to keep an application from going directly into the trash upon receipt to most PA programs. My best guesse is that now days it's more competitive, but since schools make a significant amount of money from fees for secondary applications, (you'll get a letter from a school saying "send $80 more to process a more in depth application questionnaire) they will probably still string low GPA'ers along to get their cash. But I'd have a hard time imagining they would spend more than a moment looking at your application even if it made it through whatever filters they have in place.

I won't beat around the bush because I think it's important to be realistic so you know what you are up against: GPAs like that, especially in exercise science, will be a non-starter. To change that will require a very significant amount of time, effort, money, and focus. I was cleaning out some old papers and found a rejection letter from a school that had 2000 applicants for I think 60 spots, and they came out and told me that. Granted, I've mostly seen schools with 600 or so for, say, 50-60 spots, but imagine the kind of students you would be up against. In that scenario, if you are applying, your only hope is that 90% of the applicants have lower GPAs than you.... among all those high achievers applying . That should be very sobering. And also keep in mind that when you retake a course, that new grade will AVERAGE with the grade you got previously when the GPAs are calculated.

You've got a future to plan out. You've spent time and money so far, and if you really wannt to be a PA lie you think, you have several years of work to do just to have an average chance of getting into PA school. Another career might give you more benefit for what you will put into this.
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[gke9323]

You should set up a spreadsheet and figure out how many credits of "A" grades you'd have to get to boost your GPA above the 3.0 threshold for both science and cumulative GPA, because as of 6 years ago when I applied, that was the generally accepted minimum needed to keep an application from going directly into the trash upon receipt to most PA programs. My best guesse is that now days it's more competitive, but since schools make a significant amount of money from fees for secondary applications, (you'll get a letter from a school saying "send $80 more to process a more in depth application questionnaire) they will probably still string low GPA'ers along to get their cash. But I'd have a hard time imagining they would spend more than a moment looking at your application even if it made it through whatever filters they have in place.

I won't beat around the bush because I think it's important to be realistic so you know what you are up against: GPAs like that, especially in exercise science, will be a non-starter. To change that will require a very significant amount of time, effort, money, and focus. I was cleaning out some old papers and found a rejection letter from a school that had 2000 applicants for I think 60 spots, and they came out and told me that. Granted, I've mostly seen schools with 600 or so for, say, 50-60 spots, but imagine the kind of students you would be up against. In that scenario, if you are applying, your only hope is that 90% of the applicants have lower GPAs than you.... among all those high achievers applying . That should be very sobering. And also keep in mind that when you retake a course, that new grade will AVERAGE with the grade you got previously when the GPAs are calculated.

You've got a future to plan out. You've spent time and money so far, and if you really wannt to be a PA lie you think, you have several years of work to do just to have an average chance of getting into PA school. Another career might give you more benefit for what you will put into this.
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thanks for your response. In your opinion, would getting a masters in exercise physiology, getting a post-bacc degree, or just applying to an accelerated nursing program or a direct entry NP program help my chances?

 

[pamac]

If I were you I would want some guarantees at this stage of the game as far as what I would put my money into. Certainly you could go and get a post doc, and have it not make the impact you are hoping for. I really wouldn't chase the PA dream if it involved going to get another degree to get there. Nursing is a good stepwise process. Find a program among the huge numbers of them out there that would be obtainable for you, and then go to the next step... NP school. Programs evaluate you on different criteria. Some wont look at overall gpa, but only gpa from the prereqs that they tell you. That could be as little as a mere handful. One near me wants you to have 5 prereqs (but you pretty much need a 4.0 in those). My mind just doesn't like to take risks, and an extra degree involves a huge risk, because what do you do if life happens while you are getting your extra degree and have problems finishing it. So in order to become what you want to become, you have to get through another degree, and hope you get into PA school, and then once you get in, you have to hope you get through it. It becomes like a Rube Goldberg machine where everything has to go down without a hitch. Certainly explore nursing and NP, direct entry or just by working your way through from RN to NP. At least there are guarantees you'll be working and making decent money once you get that RN. Then when you are ready, go get your NP. PA really is becoming less of an option for those seeking academic redemption.

 

[gke9323]

Thanks for your advice. One last question, does it look worse to schools when you withdrawal from a class and have a W? Or when you receive a C/D.

 

[pamac]

W's are better because they don't calculate into the gpa. Its not ideal to have a bunch of those scattered around on your transcript, because then they tell their own story about your academic skill, but sometimes they can be explained away (and done so a lot easier than explaining C's, D's, and F's). And W's only hit you in the gut once: when your evaluator looks over your individual classes. Bad marks hit you twice.... once in the GPA (most damaging), and then they look gross when the evaluators look over your individual classes.

If you see a train wreck coming during a semester and can take a W instead of a C, I'd do it in a heartbeat. If you are having a bad semester and need to drop out, then yeah, shoot for W's. But if you do that all the time, like in one class per semester, or for a couple semesters, you look bad. And getting bad marks retroactively changed is next to impossible.