Pre-PA student needs advice, Help...

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LatinGuitarrist

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My name is Ed, a 25 year old student that lives in Bakersfield, Ca. I am currently a student at CSU Bakersfield double majoring in Psychology and Health Sciences. The reason i am writing to you is because I need some advice on what path to take in order to achieve my dream, which is of becoming a PA. I was born in Mexico and moved here to the United States when i was 17 years old. I didn't know a word in English and the transition was extremely hard, a big culture clash, but I managed to survive and here I am, happier than ever. I entered high school, finished and then went off to a community college to study general education; always having in mind I wanted to do something in the medical field, yet I didn't have any type of direction or advisors who could really guide me. I took some classes, but still felt a bit lost. During this time, I also had to work full time and sometimes more hours in a dairy milking cows or in the fields. This was the only way I could go to school and work to help my family, since my dad passed away when I was 12. Time passed and too much was going on with my life, it was too much stress with working more than full time, going to school, having family problems so I had a depression episode in which I dropped courses and didnt do that good in others. Within this time, 3-4 years had passed and i was already done with my general education courses, getting ready to transfer to CSU Bakersfield, but I had a gpa of 2.9 and close to 16 Ws. No one told me about the consequence the withdrawal would have, the counselor just told me, drop the class, get a W so your GPA doesnt get more damage, so I did. Those Ws are what my depression left me with. After a year and a half living here in bakersfield, I took an EMT-1 class and am certified. I have 6 months experience working as an EMT and I have also volunteered with many school clubs such as Mecha, Puente, and other ones. I am certified as a CNA and as a Phlebotomist. So my story is this. I currently have a 2.95 gpa and still have almost 2 years left to complete my double major. My question is this: You, as an admission person, what would you recommend me? Finish my double major and then apply to the PA program? Or just take the pre-reqs and apply to the program without finishing my Bachelor's? I have close to 2000 hours of patient contact, so if I only need to take the pre-reqs, i will have 3,000, if I have to complete my bachelors, I will have more, but I will have to cut a bit on my job, too. I have shadowed PAs and this is what I want to do, I really want to do it and I know I can do it. I just had a hard time with my life after high school, but everything is back to normal, I just want to make sure I do get in when I apply. I really hope to hear back from you and please advice me in everything you can. What do you guys suggest, advice me?

Sincerely,

Ed

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My name is Ed, a 25 year old student that lives in Bakersfield, Ca. I am currently a student at CSU Bakersfield double majoring in Psychology and Health Sciences. The reason i am writing to you is because I need some advice on what path to take in order to achieve my dream, which is of becoming a PA. I was born in Mexico and moved here to the United States when i was 17 years old. I didn't know a word in English and the transition was extremely hard, a big culture clash, but I managed to survive and here I am, happier than ever. I entered high school, finished and then went off to a community college to study general education; always having in mind I wanted to do something in the medical field, yet I didn't have any type of direction or advisors who could really guide me. I took some classes, but still felt a bit lost. During this time, I also had to work full time and sometimes more hours in a dairy milking cows or in the fields. This was the only way I could go to school and work to help my family, since my dad passed away when I was 12. Time passed and too much was going on with my life, it was too much stress with working more than full time, going to school, having family problems so I had a depression episode in which I dropped courses and didnt do that good in others. Within this time, 3-4 years had passed and i was already done with my general education courses, getting ready to transfer to CSU Bakersfield, but I had a gpa of 2.9 and close to 16 Ws. No one told me about the consequence the withdrawal would have, the counselor just told me, drop the class, get a W so your GPA doesnt get more damage, so I did. Those Ws are what my depression left me with. After a year and a half living here in bakersfield, I took an EMT-1 class and am certified. I have 6 months experience working as an EMT and I have also volunteered with many school clubs such as Mecha, Puente, and other ones. I am certified as a CNA and as a Phlebotomist. So my story is this. I currently have a 2.95 gpa and still have almost 2 years left to complete my double major. My question is this: You, as an admission person, what would you recommend me? Finish my double major and then apply to the PA program? Or just take the pre-reqs and apply to the program without finishing my Bachelor's? I have close to 2000 hours of patient contact, so if I only need to take the pre-reqs, i will have 3,000, if I have to complete my bachelors, I will have more, but I will have to cut a bit on my job, too. I have shadowed PAs and this is what I want to do, I really want to do it and I know I can do it. I just had a hard time with my life after high school, but everything is back to normal, I just want to make sure I do get in when I apply. I really hope to hear back from you and please advice me in everything you can. What do you guys suggest, advice me?

Sincerely,

Ed

There are a couple of things that you need to keep in mind. First, many PA programs are going to Master's Degree level and you will need a Bachelors + a minimum of 3.0 GPA and no grade less than an C in any of the pre-reqs for these programs. Make sure that you have these requirements and if you do not, get them. They will help raise your GPA (you are close to the 3.0 anyway). Second, these Master's level PA programs are going to require the GRE (some require the MCAT too) so you need to have some good prep for that exam.

In terms of what has happened to you in the past, it is in the past. You can't do anything about the past but you can affect your future so put forth the excellence needed to affect your future. If you want to be a Physician Assistant, then start from today and do everything that you can, to get yourself competitive for these programs. Go to the national PA website and look at the pre-recs for these programs.

Since the standard for many PAs in many states is going to be a Masters degree so my advice (just looking at the requirements for many programs) is to finish your Bachelor's degree getting the best grades that you can. Explain your withdrawals and the difficulties that you have overcome (and now you are stronger) and show every bit of excellent scholarship that you can from this point out. Having overcome the difficulties of immigrating to a new country, learning a new language, make a living and academic difficulties is not something that will be dismissed. If you have loads of good academics in your later work, you will likely impress any admissions person for a PA program. Good luck and work hard from here on out.
 
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But hey, some schools are trying to 'diversify' their student pop, so you may be able to cash in on your roots. Good luck!
 
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