u/Rayd1oactive

I really hate myself for being so unmotivated during college and I feel like I’m wasting my 20s. My GPA sucks; I have almost 0 PCE hours I’m already taking one gap year and I almost definitely need another to even be remotely competitive. And who knows if I’ll even get in after all that.

My parents are hounding me for not choosing nursing or going to med school since I’m taking so many gap years. It sucks seeing others having high paying jobs or getting into PA programs with 1 or even 0 gap years. I know everyone on this sub says it’s normal to have a few but it just feels really bad to be working a very low paying PCE job that I don’t even need my bachelors for.

My advisor during college didn’t know anything and frankly I don’t think I know enough either. I know I need LORs, minimum 2000 PCE hours, and a good GPA, shadowing, GRE, but it just feels so overwhelming and unobtainable.

Any words of encouragement or advice? What can I even do with a Biology degree for work if I can’t do PA?

I want to take a class for the fall semester as a non-degree student. Is it too late to apply?

I’ve recently finished university and am currently working part time as a scribe (couldn’t find full time work.) I’ve been told that scribing doesn’t count as PCE or that it’s very low quality PCE. Is this true?

I’m planning to switch to EMS once get my certification. How long should I scribe for if I want a recommendation letter from the physician I work for?

I also want to take post-bacc classes because my GPA sucks. I’ll most likely get my certification mid September and am currently planning to swap then, but the fall semester will have started for most universities. Should I wait for the spring semester or just hope whatever EMS schedule I get lines up with my class schedules?

Side note: I didn’t do get any PCE during college. Is anyone in the same boat and still had success? I feel like I’m falling even more behind than I already am.

I recently graduated from college and am starting full time work for PCE but I also need to retake some pre-req courses to increase my GPA.
How do people rack up thousands of hours of PCE over years when pre-req expire at most programs after a few years?
And on a side note, is there anything else I can do during my gap years to become a better applicant besides PCE and GPA?
Thanks for all the help.