I am about to be a junior this Fall and my GPA is currently 2.6. I was in college thinking a lot about my major and I was undecided with what I wanted to do but I recently decided that I was interested in PA school and becoming a physical assistant My current major is in Accounting and I am interested in knowing if I have a chance. I know that I have to take the prerequisites and to possibly change majors. did not get to take any pre requisite classes yet and I don't have any volunteer hours because I was thinking about this career just recently. I also have about 5 W grades so I had to withdraw from 5 classes due to some personal issues and mistakes. If I calculated the highest GPA that I can get by graduation, it will be around 3.3. Is it possible for me to get accepted anywhere? What should I do to stand out?? I had to withdraw from Calculus 1 twice due to bad professors but I am thinking about trying to pass all of the prerequisites and to succeed. I am mostly scared about the W grades, which will hinder me a lot in applying to anywhere. Is it a chance to get in or am I just wasting my time?
Is it possible to get into PA school with a low undergraduate GPA?? Be honest...
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If this is a new dream for you, you might want to consider doing something else. You aren't out anything by bailing now. Becoming a PA isn't something that is easy to be successful at on a whim. Your GPA and lack of exposure to the healthcare field demonstrates that it is really a whim for you. Stick with accounting. Nobody will really care much what your grades are. For PA school, grades are EVERYTHING. Redemption from poor marks is difficult to obtain. I think its possible that you are looking at the prereqs and thinking that its pretty straightforward, and that there are just a handful of classes to take to get into a program. Thats not the case. Those are just the minimum prereqs. Successful candidates have a lot more than just the 6 or so prereqs that most noobs see when they go online to PA program's homepages. Here's a stat that should put this into perspective for you. Most PA programs have at least 5 applicants for every seat in the program. It wouldn't surprise me if there were an average of 8 applicants for every seat nationwide. I've seen programs that have well over 10 applicants for every seat. If even 1/6 of the applicants have better stats than you do, you are still light years away from having a shot. I would be surprised if half of the total applicant pool nationwide were folks that were applying on a whim with poor marks.
So are you just saying that this is a huge waste of time? I do have about two years left of undergrad education. What if I did a post bacc or a master's program? If PA is not good, what other health profession that is decent can I do instead of PA?
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Here’s the realistic takedown of how things got to this point, and where things are likely to go from here:
You’ve looked at prereqs and thought “there’s only 6 classes! Sweet, I’ll take those and ace them! After I’m done with PA school, I get a stethoscope and a six figure income.”
You’ll take the prereqs and get average grades in a field that rewards only students who are well above average. Then you’ll sink more money into a post bach. Then you’ll post to message boards asking what token volunteer health care experience helps you stand out, and what programs will take folks with your kind of background (grades that aren’t high enough, and health care experience that isn’t compelling). Then you’ll go through several application cycles with no success. If you do eventually get in, you’ll graduate just in time to see PA wages crater (which they already are doing). Ask yourself this… would you do the job if you didn’t hear about wages that were in the $140k or above zone? I know a new grad PA that took a job for $77k. They have over $130k of debt. Houses where I’m at go for $400k for starter homes… and there aren’t any of them around because builders are building $600k homes that they now expect people to buy instead. I know new grad physicians buying cheaply built houses for $700k that are a far cry from what they expected to buy for $700k once they graduated.
I’m not telling you this because I’m trying to protect the landscape from people whose hearts aren’t devoted to healthcare. I’m telling you this because all the people I’ve seen in your situation go on to end up selling insurance. They realize that the path to becoming a medical professional isn’t so much of an arduous one as much as it is annoying. If you choose to throw yourself into accounting, you’ll have a lot more options than if you take this side quest to dabble in the idea of becoming a PA for a few years before you give up and settle for the insurance industry out of career desperation (I don’t know why all the PA and dental washouts go into that, but I’ve noticed it to be the most common landing pad for those folks. A distant second is drug or medical device repping). When me and my NP friends get together, we always talk business strategy angles anyway.
There is a bit of prestige to being a medical professional. PAs and NPs are in a unique niche with some of the other professionals like physical therapists and pharmacists, where it seems more attainable for the average Joe than medicine or dental, and garners a little bit of envy from the neighbors. They imagine the path involves a little bit more work for a lot more return, vs the astronaut-like effort that they see medical school requiring. But it’s not as good of a return on the investment as one may imagine. For me, it’s better than wiping butts. But I had to wipe a lot of butt to get here. My accountant friends have normal lives, normal hours, and normal stresses.
What other healthcare professions would I suggest that would be a decent alternative? Uhhhh, getting a masters in healthcare administration and seeking to manage healthcare practitioners. Get your accounting degree and work in the business side of healthcare as a CFO. They drive nicer cars than I do, and nobody calls them in the middle of the night. They never seem to have to worry about cutbacks or layoffs, they do the cutbacks and layoffs. Also, a human resource management degree that is utilized in a healthcare setting. All of the above people probably make more money than me, and I’m quite well paid for an NP.
But no dude, if you want to end up selling insurance, go ahead and pursue becoming a PA, because that’s where I’ve seen most folks land when they haven’t had excellent grades.
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Why don't you just do your best on the pre-requisite classes and see how you end up, and where you want to go from there? If you have a substantial improvement I'm sure you can find a place that will accept you, there's more and more programs for mid-levels opening up every year.
So you are saying that there is zero chance in me becoming a PA? Not even some kind of hope? What about a PA? I have two years left of college and I have a chance to improve. If I wanted to be a PA, how realistic would it be for me to succeed? How can I try to increase my chances and what other chances/decent medical fields can I try to get into if I want to have a decent future??
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I think you have plenty of time left to improve for any field. Focus on your courses and correct where you went wrong.
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I am a firm believer that if you have ambition and drive to reach a goal, than you should absolutely move forward with it. Life is just too short to always wonder "what if". I also think that it is important to calibrate those ambitions to ensure that you are chasing after something that is obtainable and is not going to leave you with more "what if" questions if you don't make it.
Here's the hard truth. The current state of PA applications if extremely competitive, to say the least. A 2.7 GPA won't get you there, even with stellar healthcare experience. Most programs have a cutoff of 3.0 and a "silent cutoff" of 3.3. A GPA of 3.3 has some potential, but your application will need to be outstanding in other areas - excellent GRE or PA-CAT scores, post-bac classes in hard sciences, amazing and high yield healthcare experience, research, etc. PA schools are interested in many things, and very high on that list is to ensure that their students pass the multiple standardized tests, with the most importance obviously placed on the PANCE. This ensures further credentialing from the ARC-PA and allows them to attract future students with similar stats.
As a graduate of PA school 7 years ago, and as someone involved in higher science education, I can tell you that current pre-PA students fall into three competitive categories, and would ultimately be the people that you would be competing against.
1. Individuals with years of healthcare experience with a undergraduate bachelor degree of approx 3.4 or higher and ace their prerequisite classes.
2. Individuals that have had their sights of PA school since the first day of undergrad and have tailored their entire academic strategy to this goal.
3. Pre-Med students that decide their sophomore or junior years that they no longer want to pursue medical school (given length, expense, etc) but wish to still practice medicine.
If you are hoping to become a medical provider one day, but grades are an issue, it may be appropriate to consider becoming an NP since the academic barrier of entry is lower. There is no short supply of previously pre-PA students whose applications were not competitive enough for PA school, that than enter one of the many NP programs that are out there. The problem currently is that NPs have filled the market place and have saturated their field, which has led to lower wages (even less than there RN salaries in many cases) and less professional respect. Given the high amount of poor programs out there, this is not going to change soon and so many NPs I know have actually gone back to bedside since they can't find jobs.
One portion of the healthcare field that I may mention as being an alternative to the provider role is that of medical imaging. In my neck of the woods x-ray techs are in high demand and may on average between 40-60K. Those that specialize further make in CT, mammo, MRI, and US make significantly more. An US tech with our group makes 100K after over-time. Many are even cross-trained as MAs which increases their salary expectations too and makes them very valuable members of the team. The medical community is dependent on radiologist for reads of complex scans, and radiologist are dependent on the individuals that perform these studies. It is pretty secure field from what I am told by radiologists.
The medical field is a huge commitment. Many students are enticed by six figure salaries in their mid twenties and the perceived notion that PAs are living the high life. This profession has treated me very well both financially and professionally; however, it is not a simple road of taking a few prerequisite classes and making the big bucks. PA school is very challenging and once you are out on your own you are held to a high standard of professional responsibility.
It may be best to take a semester or more an enroll in classes to become an EMT-B or MA and find out if the medical field is truly what you are hoping for. In the meantime you can find a local medical scribe program and work alongside physicians and PAs and see if the role of a provider is what you ultimately want. You may find that perhaps this is not the path you want, and if that the decision that you have made, than it will have cost you little and you will have some interesting experiences to add to any resume.
Hope this helps!
Here's the hard truth. The current state of PA applications if extremely competitive, to say the least. A 2.7 GPA won't get you there, even with stellar healthcare experience. Most programs have a cutoff of 3.0 and a "silent cutoff" of 3.3. A GPA of 3.3 has some potential, but your application will need to be outstanding in other areas - excellent GRE or PA-CAT scores, post-bac classes in hard sciences, amazing and high yield healthcare experience, research, etc. PA schools are interested in many things, and very high on that list is to ensure that their students pass the multiple standardized tests, with the most importance obviously placed on the PANCE. This ensures further credentialing from the ARC-PA and allows them to attract future students with similar stats.
As a graduate of PA school 7 years ago, and as someone involved in higher science education, I can tell you that current pre-PA students fall into three competitive categories, and would ultimately be the people that you would be competing against.
1. Individuals with years of healthcare experience with a undergraduate bachelor degree of approx 3.4 or higher and ace their prerequisite classes.
2. Individuals that have had their sights of PA school since the first day of undergrad and have tailored their entire academic strategy to this goal.
3. Pre-Med students that decide their sophomore or junior years that they no longer want to pursue medical school (given length, expense, etc) but wish to still practice medicine.
If you are hoping to become a medical provider one day, but grades are an issue, it may be appropriate to consider becoming an NP since the academic barrier of entry is lower. There is no short supply of previously pre-PA students whose applications were not competitive enough for PA school, that than enter one of the many NP programs that are out there. The problem currently is that NPs have filled the market place and have saturated their field, which has led to lower wages (even less than there RN salaries in many cases) and less professional respect. Given the high amount of poor programs out there, this is not going to change soon and so many NPs I know have actually gone back to bedside since they can't find jobs.
One portion of the healthcare field that I may mention as being an alternative to the provider role is that of medical imaging. In my neck of the woods x-ray techs are in high demand and may on average between 40-60K. Those that specialize further make in CT, mammo, MRI, and US make significantly more. An US tech with our group makes 100K after over-time. Many are even cross-trained as MAs which increases their salary expectations too and makes them very valuable members of the team. The medical community is dependent on radiologist for reads of complex scans, and radiologist are dependent on the individuals that perform these studies. It is pretty secure field from what I am told by radiologists.
The medical field is a huge commitment. Many students are enticed by six figure salaries in their mid twenties and the perceived notion that PAs are living the high life. This profession has treated me very well both financially and professionally; however, it is not a simple road of taking a few prerequisite classes and making the big bucks. PA school is very challenging and once you are out on your own you are held to a high standard of professional responsibility.
It may be best to take a semester or more an enroll in classes to become an EMT-B or MA and find out if the medical field is truly what you are hoping for. In the meantime you can find a local medical scribe program and work alongside physicians and PAs and see if the role of a provider is what you ultimately want. You may find that perhaps this is not the path you want, and if that the decision that you have made, than it will have cost you little and you will have some interesting experiences to add to any resume.
Hope this helps!
The NP route appeals to folks, but there are some misconceptions, particularly among PA’s. You realize that is who you are talking to when when they act as if the NP route is the route of poor quality. There isn’t a dichotomous choice between choosing to be an NP vs a PA in the sense that you can just bail on becoming a PA due to poor grades and have NP waiting as an easier alternative. You have to become a nurse before you can become an NP. There are folks who suggest that you can breeze through nursing school and transition quickly into a poorly run NP program, but that’s nowhere near the norm. Getting into an RN program is extremely competitive. Its not typical for RN’s to immediately go on to NP school after graduation. An RN would be absolute gold standard healthcare experience for a PA program, but the trend now is for minimal healthcare experience among PA school matriculants. PA schools that require healthcare experience with high levels of responsibility are few and far between these days. In my field of psychiatry, new PA’s have almost no real exposure to dealing with patients from a position of responsibility vs most new PMHNP’s. And NP’s aren’t the only ones contributing to saturation of the market space, but also the 230 plus PA programs churning out green providers to their first “real” jobs they’ve ever had, let alone healthcare jobs with high responsibility. But most NP’s hitting the market are RN’s going back to school after spending time at bedside.
My NP friends knew how to negotiate, and could work and network while they looked for their first job. Contrast that with a new grad PA who has upward of $200k of debt that is panicking, and takes $77,000 per year jobs with crap benefits “just to get their foot in the door”. The nurses who are working for $90k to $100k at the bedside waiting for an NP job aren’t the ones killing the price point. Those nurses won’t go to work 5 days a week at a minute clinic with poor benefits as an NP for less than they were making when they were working 3 days a week for a hospital corporation that gives them PTO and great benefits.
The PA program bottleneck is partly because of people applying that have no business applying, but mostly because of simply supply and demand. There is a ready supply of folks that couldn’t get into dental or medical programs that still want to wear a stethoscope. And then you add in plenty of students with decent grades in other areas of study that see the scant prereqs, and try their hand, and plenty of those folks get in. Its just a big applicant pool, and it has been for about 15 or more years.
My NP friends knew how to negotiate, and could work and network while they looked for their first job. Contrast that with a new grad PA who has upward of $200k of debt that is panicking, and takes $77,000 per year jobs with crap benefits “just to get their foot in the door”. The nurses who are working for $90k to $100k at the bedside waiting for an NP job aren’t the ones killing the price point. Those nurses won’t go to work 5 days a week at a minute clinic with poor benefits as an NP for less than they were making when they were working 3 days a week for a hospital corporation that gives them PTO and great benefits.
The PA program bottleneck is partly because of people applying that have no business applying, but mostly because of simply supply and demand. There is a ready supply of folks that couldn’t get into dental or medical programs that still want to wear a stethoscope. And then you add in plenty of students with decent grades in other areas of study that see the scant prereqs, and try their hand, and plenty of those folks get in. Its just a big applicant pool, and it has been for about 15 or more years.
What are the requirements for that? Any other high paying jobs in the medical field?
There are many 1-yr program BSN (RN) program if you already have a BA/BS degree. RN get anywhere from 50-75k/y for new grad. Then you can do an online NP. Median salary for NP now is ~120k.
Or you become a radiology tech, which can be done at a community college (salary is 45-60k/yr), then you can do MRI (median is 85k/yr).
1 year accelerated BSN programs, like most RN programs that I've ever seen are very competitive, you won't just walk into one, even if you find a place that someone suggests exists just to take your money. Rad tech is the same. MRI programs are the same, and you apply for those after you complete a Rad Tech program. People have always been lined up to get into the medical field because you can work anywhere in the country and make a decent wage. Respiratory therapy is one of the fields that is a bit easier to get into, and there are plenty of for profit programs out there that offer it. My RN program alone had over 600 applicants will prereqs complete that were competing for 40 seats. I imagine that not everyone had stellar grades, but they only took 2 alternates, so that means there weren't a bunch of folks casting a wide net to get in. But some places have waiting lists for those who are fine waiting it out to have a seat.
NP can be a long road. I've only seen a couple people blast all the way through quickly by getting an accelerated BSN and then jumping directly to an NP program. Doesn't mean you can't do that, but there are hurdles to just getting started. Finances get in the way as well. The RN programs that are for profit and might take folks with less stellar marks also tend to be the most expensive. I know nurses who spent $120k(!) on just an RN degree.
NP can be a long road. I've only seen a couple people blast all the way through quickly by getting an accelerated BSN and then jumping directly to an NP program. Doesn't mean you can't do that, but there are hurdles to just getting started. Finances get in the way as well. The RN programs that are for profit and might take folks with less stellar marks also tend to be the most expensive. I know nurses who spent $120k(!) on just an RN degree.
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Getting into PA school at this point will be pretty rough. You’d basically have to walk on water.
You read a lot on this site that RN, rad tech are really easy to get into. And by the standards of a bunch of people who got into medical school, they are easy to get into. But for someone coming from your current position, it’d be tough too. Basically all you’d have left now is the few pre reqs needed to get into those programs to bring up your gpa which likely won’t bring you high enough to beat most cutoffs. There are plenty of programs out there that will take you if you really apply broadly. And here I’m talking about maybe being open to moving out of state for your nursing/allied health degree.
Furthermore, if you’re interested in a job where you’re directing patient care, I really doubt you want to spend the next few years getting a community college degree to break into rad tech or nursing and do back-breaking labor.
It is absolutely possible to pursue either of these paths, but they’re all a lot more work than just finishing your accountant degree and success is far from guaranteed.
You read a lot on this site that RN, rad tech are really easy to get into. And by the standards of a bunch of people who got into medical school, they are easy to get into. But for someone coming from your current position, it’d be tough too. Basically all you’d have left now is the few pre reqs needed to get into those programs to bring up your gpa which likely won’t bring you high enough to beat most cutoffs. There are plenty of programs out there that will take you if you really apply broadly. And here I’m talking about maybe being open to moving out of state for your nursing/allied health degree.
Furthermore, if you’re interested in a job where you’re directing patient care, I really doubt you want to spend the next few years getting a community college degree to break into rad tech or nursing and do back-breaking labor.
It is absolutely possible to pursue either of these paths, but they’re all a lot more work than just finishing your accountant degree and success is far from guaranteed.
I guess OP should move to south FL. I feel like there is a nursing school in every street corner there like 7-Eleven.
I guess OP should move to south FL. I feel like there is a nursing school in every street corner there like gas stations.
Can't I just do a post bacc or a DIY Post bacc to increase my overall GPA? I believe that it can help..
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Idk about a DIY because iirc most PA programs still screen by undergrad gpa. So you could literally spend years (and years of tuition) to get your undergrad gpa up to the screen.
Honestly, I didn’t even realize post bacc programs that are affiliated with a PA school were even a thing until I just looked it up. So I’d be uncomfortable commenting on their utility.
Again, you’re looking at a hard ~3 years of work to be in good shape to apply to PA school. Better make sure you have a real passion for this stuff and aren’t just being lured in by the high salaries you see online.
Honestly, I didn’t even realize post bacc programs that are affiliated with a PA school were even a thing until I just looked it up. So I’d be uncomfortable commenting on their utility.
Again, you’re looking at a hard ~3 years of work to be in good shape to apply to PA school. Better make sure you have a real passion for this stuff and aren’t just being lured in by the high salaries you see online.
so basically, am I screwed? Is it true that I have no chance in hell to become a PA and I might end up in Mcdonald's?? What about trying to get a second bachelor's degree or a master's degree to get a high GPA in there and to do extremely well??? What other high paying jobs in the medical field can I choose??
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All undergrad gpa is considered in the screenings. But masters gpa is a case by case basis to my knowledge. Reach out to your local PA program and ask what you can do to address this. Just keep in mind, they do tend to be more optimistic because they want to be polite and they make money off of you applying.
You’re not screwed. But you’ve got several years of hard work ahead of you no matter how you slice it. I and others in this thread are just pointing out that the easier, shorter, and most risk-averse thing to do is to just finish your current degree an move on.
You could very well be making $100k by the time you get into one of these programs if you stay on your current path. That again assumes you get in which, as has already been discussed, is no guarantee.
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I will say you’re starting to ask about scenarios I didn’t have direct experience with, like the whole post bacc thing. I was a competitive PA applicant and never considered these options. I just bailed on PA at the last second and went to med school instead. You might get better advice at the link below since not a lot of people on a physician forum would have struggled to matriculate into these programs. I used to read it a lot when I was a pre-pa.
www.physicianassistantforum.com
Physician Assistant Forum
Be brutally honest, How difficult would it be for me to get into any high paying job in the medical field? How much effort is it going to take? Am I really ****ed??
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I think that based on your current gpa, which is a reflection of your academic performance, I think your chances are poor. The highest gpa you can get will barely get through the screen at most programs and that assumes you have no more issues going forward. You’ll have to ace your classes AND accumulate significant healthcare experience.
But I don’t count you out yet. I’m a non trad career changer who messed up a lot too. I applied to med school with a very mediocre app and got in by the skin of my teeth. I’m a doctor now and a lot of people told me I didn’t have a chance. But I got serious and pulled myself out of the hole I dug myself into. It was absolute hell and I don’t think I could do it again.
Here’s the answer, and it was the answer for me when I was interested in becoming a PA, and had to navigate through an academic rough patch (you will have to do all of these things to get into a PA program now, because it’s even harder than when I applied):
1) take hard biological science classes and get A’s for the remainder of your undergrad. You can probably get a few B’s, but for every B you get, you lose any ground you hope to gain. C’s at this point definitely leave you in a bad spot.
2) Get into a post grad program, preferably one that leads to a job that pays. I did medical lab science because it was the shortest way to get a bunch of science credits and still have a hope of a job if I had to reapply. If you do something like biomedical science blah blah degree that programs offer as moneymakers for folks who are trying to get their GPA up for professional school, then all you are doing is pouring money into a schools coffers, and you won’t have a job when you don’t land a seat in PA school. Plan to not land a seat in a PA program your first year.
3) figure out a way to get into the top 70% on your GRE. The time is long past that a GRE score alone will pique the interest of an admissions committee. They won’t give you a pass as a diamond in the rough. So you then just have to not bomb it, which for many folks can be just as hard to do under that pressure.
4) you need to get plenty of extracurriculars to pad your resume. I wouldn’t bother much with healthcare experience. It’s not what most programs are looking for. Some token HCE is all you should aim for in that realm, just to get 500-1000 hours, but that’s about it. The HCE that helps people these days is real HCE as a paramedic or RT, or lab scientist. You won’t have time to get that kind of HcE, so for you the focus should be humanitarian stuff.
5) Put yourself in a position to get good letters of reccomendation. The kind of letters you need will require an investment of time. You need professors, bosses that are in the medical field, and leaders of service organizations you’ve been involved in.
6) Plan to not get into a program for at least a couple of cycles. You are up against headwinds. This is a 6 year plan.
If you don’t do ALL of these things, you won’t get in. All of these things are going to take a lot of time. You’ll be busier than all of your friends. And doing all of this only means you have an even chance of getting in. I had more going for me than what I listed, and it was still difficult to get interviews, and that was roughly 10 years ago.
The part that really sucks is that if you do all that, you’ll graduate just in time to see PAs taking jobs that pay $75k… in future money. What many of us see about the future of that field is based on being in it. What I’m seeing right now in my own industry of nurse practitioners is that many NPs are becoming fine with lower wages because A) they are happy to just have a job, and b) the job is easier than bedside nursing. However, I know bedside nurses that make more money than many NPs.
Ive seen the kind of folks who start out wanting to be a PA, and then lose interest and become insurance agents/salesmen. They are folks who are in undergrad and stumble across some fact sheet about PAs, or read an article. Then they get to the part that says “top ten job outlook, and top ten in pay!” They read about the 5-7 prereq classes, and how it’s two years of school. They remember that they know a PA, and that PA seems to have it together. The idea of being a physician seems right up the students alley, but not all the school. So then they jump in. I sat at a wedding reception one day listening to an undergrad lay out his plan to some poor sap in line for the drinks, and it sounded so much easier than what I was then experiencing first hand. I would bet $10,000 that kid is not a PA. I would bet $1000 that if that was the case, that he ended up either selling insurance, or drug/device repping.
The person I know with the best career plan is someone I’m treating that is going into Human Resource management. That person will make more than me, and even more than some physicians, while putting in a fraction of the time and effort. That person will become a Human Resources leader, and won’t have delays, setbacks, or gambles.
This basically means that I have no chance in hell and that I am ****ed, right?? Be brutally honest as hell. If I am, is there any other majors or master's program that I can go to that has a was for me to still make some decent money at least??
You keep mentioning “decent money”, so we need to establish what you consider decent money, and what you want to do all day at work to earn it. I mentioned several things non-PA that pull in what I consider decent money (and I probably make what you would consider very decent money as an NP). Additionally, I mentioned the things you would probably need to do to be able to become a PA.
I think you might be missing the point, or else ignoring it. You can become a PA, it just sounds like you don’t want to do what it takes to get there, and that seems to be what is distressing you. Fill me in on what you are thinking.
People are indeed being brutally honest, but nobody is going to put a death blow to your dreams. You are asking questions of people who have probably faced academic difficulty themselves (a couple people even mentioned that to you) so we know that fortune smiles upon folks who work hard. The only person that can put an end to your goal is you, but you are getting pretty good advice from people who are telling you what you are up against, and what you have to do.
Go back to the beginning of this thread and read it all again.
I think you might be missing the point, or else ignoring it. You can become a PA, it just sounds like you don’t want to do what it takes to get there, and that seems to be what is distressing you. Fill me in on what you are thinking.
People are indeed being brutally honest, but nobody is going to put a death blow to your dreams. You are asking questions of people who have probably faced academic difficulty themselves (a couple people even mentioned that to you) so we know that fortune smiles upon folks who work hard. The only person that can put an end to your goal is you, but you are getting pretty good advice from people who are telling you what you are up against, and what you have to do.
Go back to the beginning of this thread and read it all again.
There's a BSN school that accepts literally almost everyone and they have acceptances every 10 weeks or so ( which is the end of their "term"). This BSN school opened up like 2-3 locations in Southern Cali, texas and now Florida. I know those with a poor planning skills or just horrible application go towards this school and will get accepted. The downside is that they will be charged $$$$$, like if you have literally nothing done, you're looking at 120k for it. The cost gets lower if you have certain classes done already. Btw, this isnt the only one. Theres another one that's fully online and in person for clinicals, and they accept a lot of students as well. And to your comment about ABSN, there are a lot of private ABSN in southern cali as well and i see them accepting a lot of students around my age aka post-college bachelor.
Then, you also have MSN-entry level and the barrier to that is a higher, but it doesn't seem that hard. I know students who didn't make it through my general biology course in college as a bio major ended up switching majors. Then some how magically got into these programs too. Even if intro to bio isnt a pre req for MSN-E programs, the reality still holds true. Don't get me started with the NP programs. A lot of them are online and are diploma mills now a days. You can get in without any ICU, RN or any experience.
At least in California, the entry into nursing (BSN/ABSN/MSN-E) has lowered a lot since you attended. On top of that, they also take chem for nursing, bio for nursing, anatomy for nursing, etc. These are separate and water down courses of the real intro to general bio/chem, etc. They dont even take the biology or chem with other science majors.
There are exceptions out there, but that doesn’t make them the norm. Of the more than 2600 nursing programs in the US, you and I are probably thinking of the same institutions when you mention “direct entry” “online”, or “degree mill”, and “throw your money at out for profit and we will give you a BSN” type programs.
Honestly, it's pretty foolish to say that I can't get into the healthfield when I haven't finished my bachelor degree yet
No, bud, its not "foolish" to say that at all. Its foolish for you to suggest that you can become a PA without putting in a tremendous amount of effort from here forward, which seems to be what you are lashing out against more than anything else. Nobody said it is impossible, but you insist on putting words in others mouths after the provide you with the most accurate roadmap to get where you think you want to go. Then....you keep asking something akin to "so you are saying there's no way for me to get a good paying job in healthcare or as a PA? Tell me honestly and brutally!" Well, folks did tell you what it would probably take. What is really foolish is telling folks who know how all of this works that they are wrong. You have.... no.... experience with this. Several of us....do. Here are some highlights:
Again...you are putting a lot of words in other people's mouths after asking for "brutal honesty". Then, when you get brutal honesty, you tell me I'm foolish. So there you are...
And FYI, one can get a pretty good idea by the time someone is going into their junior year if they have the chops to make the grades to get into PA school. Nobody has to wait until the bachelors degree is earned. Get all A's going forward for the next 2 years in hard sciences, volunteer a ton, get letters of recommendation from decent references, do decent on your GRE, and you'll be applying alongside a lot of folks who are really smart and have good grades as well. Instead of having a 1 in 9 chance of getting in, you'll probably have a 1/5. All you have to be is smarter than all of the other 5 good students. Put the energy you would put into arguing against folks who know what they are talking about, and you'll be that much farther ahead. Channel the tenacity that you project as rage that someone suggested you have to work really hard to succeed at what you are asking about. Put it to good use. Since you seem to have all the answers on your odds of success, then you don't need anyone else's guess. Gamble on it, and pursue a "high paying job in health care".
Again...you are putting a lot of words in other people's mouths after asking for "brutal honesty". Then, when you get brutal honesty, you tell me I'm foolish. So there you are...
And FYI, one can get a pretty good idea by the time someone is going into their junior year if they have the chops to make the grades to get into PA school. Nobody has to wait until the bachelors degree is earned. Get all A's going forward for the next 2 years in hard sciences, volunteer a ton, get letters of recommendation from decent references, do decent on your GRE, and you'll be applying alongside a lot of folks who are really smart and have good grades as well. Instead of having a 1 in 9 chance of getting in, you'll probably have a 1/5. All you have to be is smarter than all of the other 5 good students. Put the energy you would put into arguing against folks who know what they are talking about, and you'll be that much farther ahead. Channel the tenacity that you project as rage that someone suggested you have to work really hard to succeed at what you are asking about. Put it to good use. Since you seem to have all the answers on your odds of success, then you don't need anyone else's guess. Gamble on it, and pursue a "high paying job in health care".
