>> REQUESTING HELP!!! PA ???s + My Dilemma << (Long But Neat)

[shikamaru]

Hello all,

I am currently a 2nd year undergraduate student at UCSC and have decided to major in Neuroscience & Behavior (BS). However, my 1st year GPA was a disaster and now it just seems very hard to pull up. Luckily (or maybe not luckily), I took all but one of my GEs in freshman year, and so now I am just focusing on the classes for my major. My goal is to raise my current GPA of 3.07 to at least 3.4 by the time I graduate, and while keeping that in mind, I have also been trying to decide on exactly what to do after my undergraduate education is over.

So, after some research, I have decided that I most likely would like to give it a go at becoming a physician assistant. However, I have a major dilemma...

The options that I have for PA programs are very limited because my dad will not help with my tuition unless I get admitted to a "big name" school. I know that at age 19, I probably shouldn't still be relying on my dad so much, but to me it is very important because I'm just not the type to be able to study at school and work at the same time. Because of this, my plan is to just get all the education that I can get in one long stroke and then start working and supporting myself on my own. The problem is that this plan has so many holes I'm just stressing out about ways to patch them up.

Seeing the universities in California that offer the PA program, only Stanford University and University of Southern California are considered "big name" schools by my dad. Not even UC Davis would be "good" because my dad feels very defeated that I couldn't even get admitted into UC Irvine for undergrad, and honestly, I feel bad to have let him down. However, with this bit of guilt stuck in my head, I nonetheless feel very constricted to the limitations my dad has set that I must accept:

1) I must graduate on time - a 5th year is not an option
2) I must get into a "big name" school to pursue becoming a PA
3) I must go straight to grad school after graduating from UCSC - no breaks allowed

With this list of obstacles, is there anything I can do to still become a PA? I know that the admission requirements demand a *lot* of patient care experience, so I already don't see it being probable for me to go directly to a PA program right after getting my Bachelor's. Is there any way I can go around limitation #3 by doing some kind of training right after I graduate from college and still have my dad think that it is absolutely essential to my admissions to a PA program?

Additional information:
- I plan on volunteering at the hospital really soon. Once I start, it would be for 4 hours/week and I'd be able to go for at least 2 years straight.
- My courseload is already very heavy since I didn't start on my major until my 2nd year. I also am very weak at chemistry and physics but I am working hard.

Recap:
Limitations:
1) I must graduate on time - a 5th year is not an option
2) I must get into a "big name" school to pursue becoming a PA
3) I must go straight to grad school after graduating from UCSC - no breaks allowed

My Questions:
1) Is there any way I can go around limitation #3 by doing some kind of training right after I graduate from college and still have my dad think that it is absolutely essential to my admissions to a PA program?
2) Is improving my current GPA of 3.07 to 3.4 or up good enough to give me decent shot at Stanford University or University of Southern California? If not, what should my final GPA be?

Additional Questions:
3) Is PA considered to be under "medical school," or exactly what is it?
4) What tests do the PA program prerequisites require people to take? (IE: MCAT, GRE, etc.) I couldn't seem to find this information anywhere while researching...

I know this post was very long, but I thank you all SO much for helping me. I am seriously stressing out so much these days the only thing keeping me happy is my girlfriend... 'cept she's not really a thing I guess . Anyways, thank you all very, very much!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[lloydchristmas]

Hello all,

I am currently a 2nd year undergraduate student at UCSC and have decided to major in Neuroscience & Behavior (BS). However, my 1st year GPA was a disaster and now it just seems very hard to pull up. Luckily (or maybe not luckily), I took all but one of my GEs in freshman year, and so now I am just focusing on the classes for my major. My goal is to raise my current GPA of 3.07 to at least 3.4 by the time I graduate, and while keeping that in mind, I have also been trying to decide on exactly what to do after my undergraduate education is over.

So, after some research, I have decided that I most likely would like to give it a go at becoming a physician assistant. However, I have a major dilemma...

The options that I have for PA programs are very limited because my dad will not help with my tuition unless I get admitted to a "big name" school. I know that at age 19, I probably shouldn't still be relying on my dad so much, but to me it is very important because I'm just not the type to be able to study at school and work at the same time. Because of this, my plan is to just get all the education that I can get in one long stroke and then start working and supporting myself on my own. The problem is that this plan has so many holes I'm just stressing out about ways to patch them up.

Seeing the universities in California that offer the PA program, only Stanford University and University of Southern California are considered "big name" schools by my dad. Not even UC Davis would be "good" because my dad feels very defeated that I couldn't even get admitted into UC Irvine for undergrad, and honestly, I feel bad to have let him down. However, with this bit of guilt stuck in my head, I nonetheless feel very constricted to the limitations my dad has set that I must accept:

1) I must graduate on time - a 5th year is not an option
2) I must get into a "big name" school to pursue becoming a PA
3) I must go straight to grad school after graduating from UCSC - no breaks allowed

With this list of obstacles, is there anything I can do to still become a PA? I know that the admission requirements demand a *lot* of patient care experience, so I already don't see it being probable for me to go directly to a PA program right after getting my Bachelor's. Is there any way I can go around limitation #3 by doing some kind of training right after I graduate from college and still have my dad think that it is absolutely essential to my admissions to a PA program?

Additional information:
- I plan on volunteering at the hospital really soon. Once I start, it would be for 4 hours/week and I'd be able to go for at least 2 years straight.
- My courseload is already very heavy since I didn't start on my major until my 2nd year. I also am very weak at chemistry and physics but I am working hard.

Recap:
Limitations:
1) I must graduate on time - a 5th year is not an option
2) I must get into a "big name" school to pursue becoming a PA
3) I must go straight to grad school after graduating from UCSC - no breaks allowed

My Questions:
1) Is there any way I can go around limitation #3 by doing some kind of training right after I graduate from college and still have my dad think that it is absolutely essential to my admissions to a PA program?
2) Is improving my current GPA of 3.07 to 3.4 or up good enough to give me decent shot at Stanford University or University of Southern California? If not, what should my final GPA be?

Additional Questions:
3) Is PA considered to be under "medical school," or exactly what is it?
4) What tests do the PA program prerequisites require people to take? (IE: MCAT, GRE, etc.) I couldn't seem to find this information anywhere while researching...

I know this post was very long, but I thank you all SO much for helping me. I am seriously stressing out so much these days the only thing keeping me happy is my girlfriend... 'cept she's not really a thing I guess . Anyways, thank you all very, very much!

The PAs will have to help you with the technical questions about GPA, GRE, etc.

I (NP) will give you this advice: When it is all over, if you don't get into a big name school, and therefore have to foot the bill, don't let that destroy you (which I believe your Dad has kind of set you up for this). Continue with school and get loans and pay them off when you're out. You'll appreciate it more anyway.

And, don't count out anesthesia (CRNA or AA). It's an incredible job market. If I could do it all over and pick any (MD, DO, PA, NP, CRNA/AA, DDS, OD, etc etc) I would choose the anesthesia. I have a buddy who is a CRNA and works 25 hrs/week as an employee of a hospital, gets $140K/yr with 17 weeks of vacation. 17 weeks!!!

Good luck...

 

[DocNusum]

Well...

1. Grow up... Time to be your own Man!

2. Loans and Financial aid!

3. EMT for experience as a ER tech. (there is a 2 week EMT-B course in CA.)

4. Many PA schools on the east coast don't require experience

If you aren't "mature" enough to handle this... then you probably shouldn't be dealing with people's life and death issues!

Just a few thoughts!

DocNusum, FNP, PA-C

 

[zenman]

Join the ARMY, be a medic, and then apply to the ARMY's PA program. This way, you'll become a man, get experience and have a shot at a big name PA school!

 

[deleted6669]

Join the ARMY, be a medic, and then apply to the ARMY's PA program. This way, you'll become a man, get experience and have a shot at a big name PA school!

ZEN-
I get the sarcasm but as an aside the army pa program is incredibly competitive. there are folks who have been army medics for 10+ yrs who don't get in.....

 

[shikamaru]

I just read all your comments. Thank you all so much for helping. I feel less stressed now after reading a bunch about the path to becoming a PA over the past few days. Thanks again!

 

[zenman]

ZEN-
I get the sarcasm but as an aside the army pa program is incredibly competitive. there are folks who have been army medics for 10+ yrs who don't get in.....

No sarcasm meant. I took that route, except for PA school. While it might be nice for a dad to pay your way through school, deciding on which school you go to is pushing the limits.

 

[Weebils-Wobble]

ZEN-
I get the sarcasm but as an aside the army pa program is incredibly competitive. there are folks who have been army medics for 10+ yrs who don't get in.....

I have completed 3 years in the Army National Guard and never even got into the school for medic. If I had never enlisted(re) I would be done with undergrad by now. There are no true guarentees, even when holding paper that says there are.

Afghanistan,Romania, Katrina, Rita and intollerably slow paperwork have cost me dearly in terms of slowing my academic progress. It is to be expected that National Guard status would mean some interruption but medic school will cost you at least a year in the Guard since they break it up in phases. If you go active duty Army, you will go from bootcamp staight to 4 months of medic school, then most likely, where you are needed. You KNOW where that is.

Tuition Assistance is pretty iffy in the Guard, at least at my unit. I have not put in for tuition help because of the horror stories from my unit alone. I know of 2 soldiers that were told they coudn't register this semester because tuition wasn't paid from other semesters. One owes $8,000 and the other $3,000, even though they got the paperwork showing it would be paid. Now they must rely on the same papertrail that got them into the mess to fix it.

Bottom line here.

Suck it up. Take the civillian loans and grants and go wherever the hell you want. Thing is, you know you will need to reach your ultimate goal of PA-C to pay that off. I think that's what's bugging you.

Good luck pal, whatever you decide.

 

[preludexl]

You should prob read up on the armed forces PA program. I'd join the navy personally. As far as getting into a name school. I am an alumni of uci. The Standford program and UCD programs are better than the USC program. UC Davis medical school is harder to get into than USC. Why stop there, apply to Duke's PA program. I should think a 3.4 is more than enough to get into any PA school. Heck with that puppy and a great MCAT you can go into med school if you want to do the long route. Personally, I think they are a bunch of stuck up and bitter fools for having endured so long an education and then having to work long hours with billing stress all the time. No thanks.

As far as transferring, a lot of my friends transferred from JCs, so I'm sure you can transfer into UCI from UCSC. Go ask. Go ask and go ask. Dont just take people's advice from a bulletin board. Most are going to mock you anyway. Your GPA isnt beyond repair. I had 2 UC Berkeley friends who screwed up their GPAs royally...took grad classes to boost their GPA and did killer on their MCATS and went into med school.

You can always get loans. Its great that your dad can pay for it. It's not the end of the world. My inlaws have all their educations from undergad to med school paid for by their dad. He works hard to provide for his family. I respect that. You might be a good kid, who knows. Most people are bitter if they have to work for everything and some others are handed everything to them. I had to work for everything and use my brains to get them too but I'm not bitter about having to do it. You must be asian if he demands you go to a "name" school. It's PA school for God's sake not med school or even DO school. We are glorified nurses. Ohhhh here come the flamers, but that's how most doctors see us anyway no matter how you dress it.

Go to Duke, that's the birthplace of the PA program. You are hella young still I think doing the Navy PA would be great. They pay for everything plus you'll be treated way better than others since you are in the med program. You'll get to travel and meet ton of people.