Requesting feedback: how much priority do PA schools place on the GRE?

[LEE ADAMA WILLIAMS]

I apologize if this is in the incorrect thread, but I dont understand why the GRE is a requirement for PA school, I am trying to understand how much emphasis PA schools place on GRE scores.

Given that being a Physician requires one to have at least somewhat of a foundation in biology, chemistry, and physics ie the main components of the MCAT, Pharmacists the PCAT, Dentisists the DAT, and etc.

It seems odd to me that being a physician assistant requires the GRE an exam that consist of absolutely no chemistry, biology or physics but instead: precalculus, reading and writing.

I want to know my chances of getting into PA school:

My stats; Science GPA: 3.6

Healthcare experience: worked in Diagnostics lab and as an EMT in a correctional facility and in EMS.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[PikminOC]

I apologize if this is in the incorrect thread, but I dont understand why the GRE is a requirement for PA school, I am trying to understand how much emphasis PA schools place on GRE scores.

Given that being a Physician requires one to have at least somewhat of a foundation in biology, chemistry, and physics ie the main components of the MCAT, Pharmacists the PCAT, Dentisists the DAT, and etc.

It seems odd to me that being a physician assistant requires the GRE an exam that consist of absolutely no chemistry, biology or physics but instead: precalculus, reading and writing.

I want to know my chances of getting into PA school:

My stats; Science GPA: 3.6

Healthcare experience: worked in Diagnostics lab and as an EMT in a correctional facility and in EMS.

Exactly right. Take mcat and apply to medical school

 

[LEE ADAMA WILLIAMS]

I would do poorly on the MCAT and my GPA is not competitive enough, Id also have to retake alot of pre reqs because they "expired" ie 7 years old (thats right the ideal gas law has changed over the past decade)

I also just dont know if I am okay with that much school: PA seems like a great gig, but the GRE seems totally out of place.

 

[Apollo1]

You're not the first person to question the GRE's applicability to PA school, and there's no definitive answer as to why they use it.

There are plenty of PA's out there who want the entrance exam to be a version of the MCAT. However, that would probably reduce the applicant pool and the application fees that come with them.

 

[pamac]

Not a fan of the GRE, but It’s always seemed to me that the notion behind it was to have an entrance test for graduate school that is a generalized measure of the ability to synthesize new information, and do it in a way that isn’t particularly biased against any particular background. So an art major and a biology major can apply to a masters program, and they both have to go buy the prep material, figure out how the questions are worded and play out, and not have either of them be more apt to have an unfair advantage due to their background. I could guess at why that would be a good route to go for various graduate programs to use for evaluating applicants, but it wouldn’t make the test seem any less frustrating and silly to me personally. But grad schools seem content to use it as a filter, so here we are. It’s a barrier for entry at most places, so if that’s the hill to climb, then it will pay to gear up and take it.

I’ve seen people cling to the hope that bad grades could be countered by a really good GRE, but I actually think good grades and a mediocre GRE would put folks on better ground overall. For many places, it seems like a formality, as long as you don’t completely bomb the thing. Lots of PA programs seem to broadcast what their minimum GRE requirements are to be competitive, and the ones that do don’t seem to demand really high percentiles. Often you’ll see them want above like a 50th percentile (or whatever) in two sections, or something along those lines.

 

[Ho0v-man]

I would do poorly on the MCAT and my GPA is not competitive enough, Id also have to retake alot of pre reqs because they "expired" ie 7 years old (thats right the ideal gas law has changed over the past decade)

I also just dont know if I am okay with that much school: PA seems like a great gig, but the GRE seems totally out of place.

My courses were also expired and by the time I retook the expired ones, the unexpired ones would be expired. DO school didn’t care as much about that and is an option in that circumstance.

I was going to go PA before I switched to med school and iirc GRE scores were not crazy anywhere I looked. Most were just looking for 50th percentile. Likely that high isn’t even necessary.

Good luck!

 

[VictorOfHungerGames]

Any thoughts on a pharmacist applying to PA schools? My prereqs gpa is probably in mid 3s. Its been awhile haha with my pharmd, would schools actually care how well i do on my gre?