Should I Give Up? Backup Plan?

[cyranizzy]

The more I look into P.A. the more I feel as though I will not make the cut into most schools. I really would like to go to PA school directly after college, but if that does not happen, what jobs can you get as a psychology major fresh out of college with just a CNA certification to build up experience and apply again? Here are my stats:

Psych Major, Sophomore at a well known state university
GPA: 3.25 (had 3.9 my first semester and dropped significantly after my mom was diagnosed with cancer. I am taking 20 credits this semester and intend that I will end up with a 3.6-3.7 this semester)
I am getting my CNA certification this summer and plan on working full time to rack up my experience hours, and just became a health education promoter with the university's health clinic.

This is the main reason why I don't think I will get in:
Gen Chem 1- C
Gen Chem 1 Lab- B
Gen Chem 2- B
Gen Chem 2 Lab- B
All Gen Bio and Bio Labs- B
Organic Chemistry- C
Organic Chemistry Lab- WITHDREW
Statistics- A
Anatomy- WITHDREW but am retaking this summer
Math- A
Psychology- A

I am currently in Microbio with Lab and think I will end up with B's in both, but have almost all A's in the rest of my classes.

I am so discouraged by my pre-req grades.. I mainly did poorly because of my unforeseen circumstances with my mom.. should I switch my career goals to something else? I was considering applying to Health Admin programs after undergrad as well. I know how hard it is to get into PA school so I am trying to be practical.

ALSO, my university does not offer an in-class anatomy and physiology lab which most P.A. Schools require, so that's another reason I'm so confused because I would have to take it at the community college and I'm not even sure if theirs is in-class.

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[wutthechris]

Retake all of your pre-reqs that you made less than a B in and then begin taking more upper level science. Make all As from here on out. Put your CNA certification to work and start getting HCE. Alternatively you can kill two birds with one stone by enrolling in an allied health sciences(i.e. RT, MLS, etc) or EMT-P programs to rack up those good grades and have a viable option to both earn HCE and make a living until you get into PA school.

It may be a long road but if you want it bad enough then you can do it. ADCOMs want good grades but they are real people too and understand real world problems. You just have to take the time and effort to show them that you're capable of overcoming your past performance. Start adding As to your transcript to gain distance from the "old you."

 

[pamac]

The more I look into P.A. the more I feel as though I will not make the cut into most schools. I really would like to go to PA school directly after college, but if that does not happen, what jobs can you get as a psychology major fresh out of college with just a CNA certification to build up experience and apply again? Here are my stats:

Psych Major, Sophomore at a well known state university
GPA: 3.25 (had 3.9 my first semester and dropped significantly after my mom was diagnosed with cancer. I am taking 20 credits this semester and intend that I will end up with a 3.6-3.7 this semester)
I am getting my CNA certification this summer and plan on working full time to rack up my experience hours, and just became a health education promoter with the university's health clinic.

This is the main reason why I don't think I will get in:
Gen Chem 1- C
Gen Chem 1 Lab- B
Gen Chem 2- B
Gen Chem 2 Lab- B
All Gen Bio and Bio Labs- B
Organic Chemistry- C
Organic Chemistry Lab- WITHDREW
Statistics- A
Anatomy- WITHDREW but am retaking this summer
Math- A
Psychology- A

I am currently in Microbio with Lab and think I will end up with B's in both, but have almost all A's in the rest of my classes.

I am so discouraged by my pre-req grades.. I mainly did poorly because of my unforeseen circumstances with my mom.. should I switch my career goals to something else? I was considering applying to Health Admin programs after undergrad as well. I know how hard it is to get into PA school so I am trying to be practical.

ALSO, my university does not offer an in-class anatomy and physiology lab which most P.A. Schools require, so that's another reason I'm so confused because I would have to take it at the community college and I'm not even sure if theirs is in-class.

Having a loved one receive a diagnosis like that can be a huge setback, and my heart goes out to you.

I wouldn't worry too much about the withdrawals. I'd plan to retake them and get As, but as is, they are essentially question marks to those that see them. Evaluators don't necessarily know what to make of them, so the best bet is to plan on filling that information in for them, and the best showing you can give is to ace them. Right now they are better than Ds or Cs, but when they show up next to Bs and Cs like you have, the mind fills in the blanks automatically and assumes you dropped because you were struggling. So plan to retake and do well. If you don't do very well, the Ws tend to reinforce the meme that you struggle academically.

I'm no stranger to a healthy dose of Bs, and when I applied to PA school, I really think they hurt me. I only interviewed at places that were big on serious HCE (serious HCE being career level HCE), but the institutions that were more focused on grades seemed to ignore me. Looking at your results, it seems that for whatever reason, you struggle. Academically, you can't really demonstrate that you have a knack for excelling, and that's kind of what you need to do to make it through a program as intense as PA school. What you have isn't terrible... It just suggests you might not like chemistry, but it also says you aren't embracing biology either. The As you have in other classes are good, but programs need to see you master the sciences.

So I don't think you are in a hole you can't get out of, but I think you are right to feel like you'll struggle to get takers if you don't churn out more evidence that you are a good candidate to take a seat in a program. If you hammer out As in anat and phys, micro, and several other bio courses, you might be in the running later on. Just think of what's going on right now in the job market, and how many people are eager to go into the medical field. When you have 50 program seats and at least 800 applicants, it puts things into perspective. How do you plan to stand out (don't forget that a lot of people read the "how to get into PA school" manuals and know all the tricks). Grades might not be everything, but they do speak to a persons work ethic. Find a way to show you have that.

 

[VictorAlpha]

if you keep up with your courses from here on out maybe re-take a couple and use your CNA cert to work that will be great clinical experience. Looking at what you wrote; I really don't think you are in that bad of shape at all. Keep at it! Good Luck!

 

[shotgun]

Agree that you should retake some courses over but I think it's telling that you still managed to go take courses (assuming you didn't stop going to school while going through such a significant family crisis) while dealing with your Mom's health. Turn it into a positive in your essay/letter.

 

[deleted6669]

Agree that you should retake some courses over but I think it's telling that you still managed to go take courses (assuming you didn't stop going to school while going through such a significant family crisis) while dealing with your Mom's health. Turn it into a positive in your essay/letter.

AGREE. your gpa isn't terrible. many programs don't even require ochem.
you need to retake A+P and do well though.
check out www.physicianassistantforum.com for a better pa forum than here.