Is it Recommended That I Include My MCAT Score if I Apply to PA School??? Any Advice Appreciated!!!

[oldpremed38]

Hello everyone. I am in the midst of applying to PA school (I hope sending my application out on June 10 is not too late) and was wondering if I should include my MCAT score (I got a 504 on the MCAT). I did not take the GRE. Any advice from anyone on whether it is a wise idea to include my MCAT score would be greatly appreciated!!!!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Means]

Including it makes you run the risk of looking like you are applying to both PA and MD/DO, but If you can demonstrate that you are determined to be a PA, I doubt it will hurt you in any way. Most schools will not even take it into consideration when reviewing your app.

 

[Mad Jack]

Most schools won't even take it, it's certainly not necessary and they often won't know what the numbers mean

 

[oldpremed38]

Including it makes you run the risk of looking like you are applying to both PA and MD/DO, but If you can demonstrate that you are determined to be a PA, I doubt it will hurt you in any way. Most schools will not even take it into consideration when reviewing your app.

Thank you for your reply. My numbers are not too bad, however, I have not done anything to show that I am interested in being a physician assistant as I have been pursuing medicine for many years and was unable to get into medical school during last cycle (2020-2021). Do you feel that it is best not apply to physician assistant school this cycle since I have not shadowed a physician assistant (I did shadow a physician)?

Here is a summation of my stats/extracurriculars:

Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, December 2009
Large State School
Overall GPA: 3.86
Science GPA: 4.0
MCAT: 504

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Volunteer at local hospital Same Day Surgery Department - 955 hours
Research Assistant at University Health Center Genetics Lab - 213 hours
Research Assistant for Poeciliine Gonopodium Length and Size Dependence of Mating Strategies Research Project - 1 semester
Research Assistant for Multi-Component Evaluation to Minimize the Spread of Aquatic Invasive Research Project - 2 summers
Research Assistant for The Asian red seaweed Grateloupia turuturu Research Project - 1 summer
Biology Tutor - 1 semester
Member of Premedical Society - 2 year
Volunteer at local Soup Kitchen - 2 years
Physician Shadowing - 20 hours

ACCOLADES/ACHIEVEMENTS
Capital Scholarship winner
Dean's List - 7 occasions
Honor's Note - Economics
New England Scholar - 3 occasions
National Merit Scholar Honor Club Member
Golden Key Honor Club Member
Phi Kappa Phi Honor Club Member
Excellence in Biology Award - 2007
CNA Nightingale Award
CNA Top Average Award

EMPLOYMENT
12/19-present Certified Nursing Assistant

Is it a foolish idea to apply to physician assistant school with my history and given that I would be so late in the cycle? Any input from anybody would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[deleted6669]

Thank you for your reply. My numbers are not too bad, however, I have not done anything to show that I am interested in being a physician assistant as I have been pursuing medicine for many years

Becoming a Physician Associate is still pursuing medicine, just through a different route. Our licenses say XYZ, PA has been granted this license to practice medicine. To your original question, I would not submit MCAT scores. You can either apply to programs which do not require the GRE or take it. (FWIW I have been on 3 PA program admissions committees over the years. Still on one). Your stats and accomplishments look great. You should apply for DO programs if MD programs have not worked out. They tend to appreciate life experience, older applicants, etc moreso than MD programs. There is nothing an MD can do in 2021 that a DO cannot. Give it a look.

 

[oldpremed38]

Becoming a Physician Associate is still pursuing medicine, just through a different route. Our licenses say XYZ, PA has been granted this license to practice medicine. To your original question, I would not submit MCAT scores. You can either apply to programs which do not require the GRE or take it. (FWIW I have been on 3 PA program admissions committees over the years. Still on one). Your stats and accomplishments look great. You should apply for DO programs if MD programs have not worked out. They tend to appreciate life experience, older applicants, etc moreso than MD programs. There is nothing an MD can do in 2021 that a DO cannot. Give it a look.

Thank you very much for your reply. Actually, I applied to almost exclusively DO schools (22 of the 24 schools I applied to were DO schools). I received 8 interviews but was unable to gain entrance into a school (5 rejections and 3 wait lists). Do you think it may be too late to apply to physician assistant schools? I have completed the application but it seems that each school requires a number of essays (questions ask about specific experiences with PAs, which I do not have) which will take me time to write. I think I may be too late for this cycle and I do not know what to do because I am devastated that I did not get into medical school and am extremely old. Do you believe doing an MS program will help me get into physician assistant school?

 

[deleted6669]

Don't do an MS. It is too late for this cycle. I would take one more try at DO and also apply PA at the same time next year. Wait list placement means you ARE good enough, they just don't have enough seats. Your stats are solid. 38 is not too old. Avg entering age in my PA school class was 35. Do shadow a PA and be ready to answer questions about why PA and not RN, RT, CRNA, etc
I am in my 50s and still consider going back to get my DO at LECOM via the bridge program. Don't let age change your plans. You will be a year older next year no matter what you do.

 

[Splenda88]

Worth giving DO a try again IMO.

 

[pamac]

Do not apply for PA school. That’s a terrible substitute for what you worked hard for. Your stats are just fine to land a seat in a medical school. Whatever kept you from getting picked up had to do with your presentation at interviews, not your background. All that is fixable. If you get interviews, that means you are acceptable to a program, but how you presented didn’t help you. Getting on waitlists is even closer to the mark, because it means you did ok in the interview, and they would be fine with you coming onboard. So you are close enough to the mark. To make it worth your effort.

 

[sylvanthus]

Im gonna go against the grain and say go PA. Med school is no longer worth it. Its only a matter of time before PAs legislate their way to total independent practice rights with far less of the training.

Noone really cares about physicians extra training and expertise, it is all about saving money atm. Youd enter the physician market likely at the height of the downfall of medicine as a career path saddled with a ton of debt while salaries are plummeting. In addition with everyone labeled a “provider” and no longer even acknowledged as a physician.

Dont do med school. Terrible idea imo.

 

[Splenda88]

Im gonna go against the grain and say go PA. Med school is no longer worth it. Its only a matter of time before PAs legislate their way to total independent practice rights with far less of the training.

Noone really cares about physicians extra training and expertise, it is all about saving money atm. Youd enter the physician market likely at the height of the downfall of medicine as a career path saddled with a ton of debt while salaries are plummeting. In addition with everyone labeled a “provider” and no longer even acknowledged as a physician.

Dont do med school. Terrible idea imo.

I am only for MD/DO because of the flexibility, and also certain specialties (eg., Radiology, Psych, Neurology and even FM) are still ok.

 

[sylvanthus]

No field is safe, my hospital hired a bunch of NP “hospitalists”. Psych NPs abound as well.

I wouldnt do it again knowing what is going on. PA path is far far more flexible. Just bounce to whatever specialty sucks least at the time. Once your a DO/MD and board certified in a subspecialty, where are you gonna bounce to when the fields goes to hell?

 

[Splenda88]

No field is safe, my hospital hired a bunch of NP “hospitalists”. Psych NPs abound as well.

I wouldnt do it again knowing what is going on. PA path is far far more flexible. Just bounce to whatever specialty sucks least at the time. Once your a DO/MD and board certified in a subspecialty, where are you gonna bounce to when the fields goes to hell?

I dont know, but I was in OP situation and chose to do MD and I am glad I did. Few job offers have been great; maybe I am biased.

Also, midlevel market will be saturated in a few years because of NP schools pumping out thousands of NP every year.

 

[sylvanthus]

Were prob both biased and the truth likely lies in the middle. Problem is the middle from “medicine is ok” and “medicine is in complete shambles” is still medicine is getting worse and less and less worth it.