I wouldn't retake any courses unless you know you can get an A in them. DO NOT retake them at a CC, especially if you don't get an A because it could really hurt you. A few things: your GPA is relatively low at this point. I would recommend a post-bac program before retaking any classes to boost your GPA. Make sure your science GPA is close to your actual GPA, I would try and get close to that 3.5 area. Also, a PT aide probably isn't going to be considered HCE to most schools. Not having HCE at all really hurts you. You have a few options. I would either do the post-bac and apply to schools that don't require HCE (most require 500-1000, some 2000, MEDEX in Washington requires 4000). Otherwise I would probably take an EMT or phlebotomy class and work for a year while taking a few classes, the former being better of the two. Either way your stats are way to low to be applying late in the cycle, the deck is heavily stacked against you this year. I would wait until at least the 2014-15 cycle to apply.
Just to give you an idea (and trust me I'm not tooting my own horn here) but my stats are: 3.68cgpa/3.55sgpa, ~2000 hours HCE, ~750 hours volunteering, ~200 hours research, plus around 50 hours shadowing, plus another 5500 hours as a personal trainer (doesn't mean jack but it shows solid work experience). Even with what I have I still feel a little behind the 8 ball on GPA and I am nervous about getting interviews at my top schools. That may have a little do with being a non-trad, being married, and having a daughter. Either way your goal should be to nail all of this the first time around. Waiting an entire year because of a poor application doesn't help you the second time around.
I'm not trying to piss in your cheerios but I think you could do a lot to improve your application and you should probably consider doing it, or consider another field.
I would retake classes and get A's, but wouldn't bother with retaking the ochem, (and not care if they were retaken at a community college... But yes, get As or don't bother). Your cgpa will be extremely hard to budge at this point, so the suggestion that you try to move heaven and earth to do so is misguided, especially given that your cumulative is decent enough to keep your app safe from most schools cutoffs. Your science GPA certainly isnt poor either, and fortunately it is higher than your cumulative, which is more appealing than the converse.
Most schools requiring hce? Hardly. PT aide will be enough for many of them that insist on less than 1500 hours, which is most schools out there. The very good schools that require real hce like Medex won't be swayed by entry level hce very much anyway, so token EMT or phlebotomy won't make you a compelling candidate for them. Additionally, at the schools that require token hce, you won't compel them to take you by sheer force of hce hours. They are looking for kids with great grades that have had a simple taste of healthcare. They've already geared their programs towards throwing massive amounts of info at smart students that have academics that prove they can swallow it. Hce might be helpful in standing out, but if your hce is something that takes most folks a matter of weeks to obtain, the chances are it won't compel anyone. But I honestly think both of you have decent enough gpa's to go many places... Certainly enough to get you looked at, which is the first big battle, and the mountain so many unsuccessful applicants die on. The reason I think that stage is so critical is that you can have so much going for you, but if you don't get your gpa to a certain threshold, everything else is for naught. But like I say, you guys are in decent territory. Now the next phase is where you'll wish you had some polish on your app, and that's where volunteer work, hce, and personal statement get you an interview. There's different ways to leverage your strengths, so you'll have to crack the code for each of the programs you hope may pick you up. A post back is overkill, and I think it's for folks who are pretty sure they don't have much if a chance as they currently stand. It's a lot of money, and can be a lot of commitment. Don't take that path unless you feel your back is against the wall. >3.3 cgpa and 3.5 sgpa doesn't put you there. You dont need to remodel the house to sell it, just work on the curb appeal. If you don't get into school, the more likely reason is it is any of the other parts of your application or interview that brought you down. By comparison, my gpa stats were weaker than yours, and programs wanted to interview me. But I had >4000 hours of hce. My guesse is that if my exact same stats were coupled with 2 months of EMT school, and 1500 hours of EMT employment, they would have avoided me. But that gpa you have is certainly no deal breaker for most places.
It's true that applying as early as possible is a helpful advantage that you won't have if you are just now throwing this all together. The whole process of compiling letters, transcrtipts, and doing legwork to get your stuff in takes time, and you want to be in that first group, especially if your stats put you middle of the pack, which yours seem to be. Personally, I'd still apply this year to at least have a dry run behind me.... It really does help to learn from the process. I applied a few years back with that in mind and to my surprise got interviews, one of them at MEDEX. The response from schools provides valuable feedback... Besides, what have you got to lose? CASPA keeps the lion share of your info on file for the next year you apply anyway, so it's that much less you have to do to get your app in ASAP next cycle.
