Pretty Nervous about my stats. Do you think I can get into PA school?

[Intellectiskey]

I have a 3.2 Gpa and a 3.3 Science gpa.
I have 3000 hours of HCE at a rehabilitation facility as a CNA.
I have 100 hours of volunteer experience.
Research experience in a lab.
Letters from Md, PA, and Head of nursing at the facility I work at.
I also have a great interest and need to become a PA because I cannot imagine doing anything else. I love working with people and helping.
I want to know realistically how good my chances are and what I should do to improve.

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[BreathDeep]

Your HCE isn't strong enough to make up for a weak GPA. You should be shooting for a 3.5 at the very least. Your first priority should be to bring up both your cumulative and science GPA, then focus on getting admitted to a school after that.

 

[Intellectiskey]

Your HCE isn't strong enough to make up for a weak GPA. You should be shooting for a 3.5 at the very least. Your first priority should be to bring up both your cumulative and science GPA, then focus on getting admitted to a school after that.

What should I bring my gpa up to? And what other things can I do to improve my experience.

 

[BreathDeep]

Being the GPA up to at least 3.5 minimum. See if the schools you're interested in will accept retakes (a few don't). If they do, retake the classes and make sure you get A's. If they don't, or if you still need a boost, take other appropriate science classes to up that GPA. Again, make sure you get A's. Getting a Masters would help, although that is very time intensive and expensive.

As for HCE I wouldn't stress it, focus on GPA. CNA is good enough for enough schools, and research is always good too. The only options for "excellent" HCE are Medic/RT/RN, and those are all too time intensive and usually GPA killers anyway, not enough reward for the risk. Just keep doing the CNA + shadowing thing and you'll be fine.

 

[Intellectiskey]

Being the GPA up to at least 3.5 minimum. See if the schools you're interested in will accept retakes (a few don't). If they do, retake the classes and make sure you get A's. If they don't, or if you still need a boost, take other appropriate science classes to up that GPA. Again, make sure you get A's. Getting a Masters would help, although that is very time intensive and expensive.

As for HCE I wouldn't stress it, focus on GPA. CNA is good enough for enough schools, and research is always good too. The only options for "excellent" HCE are Medic/RT/RN, and those are all too time intensive and usually GPA killers anyway, not enough reward for the risk. Just keep doing the CNA + shadowing thing and you'll be fine.

I can get the A's I had a few hard life experiences that caused my grades to slip some but now I'm back on track and killing every class I take. Do you think they look at the retakes as negatives? Like if I did bad once and then retook and all of a sudden get an A?

 

[BSN2014]

I can get the A's I had a few hard life experiences that caused my grades to slip some but now I'm back on track and killing every class I take. Do you think they look at the retakes as negatives? Like if I did bad once and then retook and all of a sudden get an A?

They shouldn't look at them as negatives. It's just that some PA schools accept retakes and others don't. It's helpful to know whether or not you should be spending your time retaking courses or directing your time and effort towards new science courses to bring up your GPA.

Look at the requirements of the PA school(s) you're interested in. If the info isn't listed on their website, email or call them to inquire.

 

[FlaPac]

I agree that you should retake the courses that you didn't do so well in especially the sciences. It may take a little longer but would be worth it in the long run. Unfortunately pa school is so competitive that you cant really afford to be lacking in any area. Good luck