r/prepa

I’m feeling stuck since I currently have a cGPA of 2.90 and a sGPA of 2.34. I have almost 4000 of PCE as an EMT and I still have to take Gen Chem 2, micro bio, o chem and biochemistry. PA has been my dream for so long but now that I actually calculated my gpa and seeing how low it is, I just feel so discouraged. Has anyone been in my shoes before ?

I applied to 10 schools this year, the main thing limiting me to 10 schools is that I had two prereqs in progress (many schools only allow 1 in progress) and that some of my prereqs are 7-10 years old.

I have received 4 rejections and no interviews. I don’t think I’m a perfect applicant but not a bad one either.

cGPA: 3.5
sGPA: 3.4
shadowing: 150 PA, 50 MD
Volunteering: 300
PCE: 2,000 performing ECGs, vitals, collecting medical histories, consenting patients as a clinical research coordinator.
HCE: 6,000 hours as a clinical laboratory scientist
4 LOR’s: 1 PA, 2 physicians, 1 supervisor

What do I need to improve for next year? Should I start retaking my older coursework, take a lower paying job like a PCT, any other advice? I do worry that schools may over look my patient facing work as a research coordinator since it’s a little non traditional, which is unfortunate because I work closely with patients on a daily basis.

Hi guys! I graduated high school this past May and will be attending UT Austin in spring 2027. I’ve just began to sit down and look at things I can do to give myself the best chance at getting into PA school… and to say the least, I am overwhelmed. I will be studying Kinesiology at UT. I am also planning on getting a CCMA certification during this gap semester so that I can start my PCE hours ASAP. I’ve already found some health organizations I plan on joining when I get to UT. The dream would be to attend the PA school at UT San Antonio. Anyways, I was just hoping I could get some advice on other things I can do to boost my chances.

Also, if anyone has some CCMA programs (preferably on the affordable side) they recommend in the Austin area, please send them my way!

I’d also like to add that I hope to be specialized in cardiology or cardio thoracic surgery…

I am a freshman and I want to become PA ofc. I was wondering:

Is becoming a physical therapist aide is a good idea?
What is considered a good science gpa?
What classes usually hurt someone’s science gpa the most?

Thank you so much!

Hello, I am 25m and am considering starting down the path to become a PA, would love some guidance from those who’s been there done that.

I will be graduating this December with a bahclors in history (3.4 gpa) and will be starting a radiology technologist program in July (2 years A.S. Degree) . I am a veteran and will be using my Education benefits for this, which will cover all of it and plus I’ll be receiving a stipend while I attend class. I will have enough remaining to cover the PA program as well.

I am doing this to ensure a good career if I decide later on PA isn’t for me. The program will cover 2 prerequisites, and I am planning on taking on on an extra class every semester towards prerequisites. I have already completed two prerequisites with As in both.

Once I graduate the Program I will have roughly one more year left of prereqs which I will do part time as I work as a x ray Tec, if working full time will be too much I am willing to do part time work. And in a year working as a x ray Tec I should get over 1k PCE.

There are 5 PA programs near me (Tampa bay) and I have checked all of their admissions requirements.

Please let me know what I am missing or if something may not go as smoothly as I think.

My question is in the title itself: I did not do well throughout undergrad due to unaddressed mental health issues which led me to lose motivation very frequently. I'll be graduating spring of 2027, and at the moment my cGPA is a 2.5, and my sGPA is a 2.1. The PA career has been my goal since high school....I know I have to retake courses, but even then, I'll barely make it over the minimum requirement regarding GPA. I do have real-world experience, such as 3 years of being an ophthalmic technician, and I'm currently working as a TMS technician. I don't know what else I'd do if not PA...

Hello, I am 25m and am considering starting down the path to become a PA, would love some guidance from those who’s been there done that.

I will be graduating this December with a bahclors in history (3.4 gpa) and will be starting a radiology technologist program in July (2 years A.S. Degree) . I am a veteran and will be using my Education benefits for this, which will cover all of it and plus I’ll be receiving a stipend while I attend class. I will have enough remaining to cover the PA program as well.

I am doing this to ensure a good career if I decide later on PA isn’t for me. The program will cover 2 prerequisites, and I am planning on taking on on an extra class every semester towards prerequisites. I have already completed two prerequisites with As in both.

Once I graduate the Program I will have roughly one more year left of prereqs which I will do part time as I work as a x ray Tec, if working full time will be too much I am willing to do part time work. And in a year working as a x ray Tec I should get over 1k PCE.

There are 5 PA programs near me (Tampa bay) and I have checked all of their admissions requirements.

Please let me know what I am missing or if something may not go as smoothly as I think.

I graduated at 21 back in May with my bachelors in Management Information Systems. I changed my major a lot, had to withdraw from a class due to taking too many hours/overworked myself one semester, and pre pa-- applying to PA schools rn (I majored in MIS because I enjoyed the content and did not want to major in something like biology).

Since I did not know what I wanted to do my first 2 years, switching my interests a lot caused me to overload my schedule during my junior and senior years to graduate on time while taking pre-requisites for PA school (ex. taking classes like databases, C# coding class, microbio, and physiology at the same time).

Although I have graduated and physically have my MIS Diploma, I need to finish up about 2 pre-requisites and plan on retaking 1 class for a higher grade.

Basically, this is a long winded way of asking is it weird or like embarrassing?? To have to finish classes after graduating. Especially 3 classes? Idk I just feel self-conscious about it. Also because my parents are not from the US and don't fully understand the process of applying to PA school, so their comments make me feel like I'm doing something wrong at times.

Just wondering if anyone had to do anything similar

hi everyone i’m on the pre-pa path and i got ap bio credit that covered bild 1-3. i was wondering if i would still need to take these courses if im planning to apply to pa school or would they accept the ap credit? can anyone let me know? thank you!!

I’m from California and I want to stay here for PA school. I am specifically interested in Davis, Chapman, CBU, Loma Linda, Touro, Marshall B Ketchum, and Keck’s program right now. But any insight into any CA school would be much appreciated (gpa, pce, volunteer, where you went to undergrad, classes you took et,.).

He's an ER tech, researches ER medicine, and is an EMT for a 911 service. He's premed as well and has told me a lot of times he wants to be an ER doctor. His eyes light up when he talks to me about EM. I can genuinely tell he loves it.

However, outside of the ER when he's not on a shift and is not scheduled elsewhere, I can visibly see him down and upset. He kinda drags his feet everywhere, is in bed a lot, and says "I really wanted to have a shift today and help someone."

I'm an aspiring pediatrics PA so I get some of it, but when I'm medical assisting at a peds clinic, it kind of feels like a normal job. Clock in, clock out, celebrate the days you're off. He's flipped - celebrate the days he's in, mope when he's out.

I care a lot about him and his wellbeing.

tl;dr bf is unhealthily attached to job

I’m currently in undergrad going into my senior year I’m a CJ major almost done! Yay but I want to either go into nursing or PA school. I regret not sticking with it from the get go but i chose CJ to maybe become a lawyer but found out I def don’t wanna do that after shadowing and speaking to many lawyers. Now im not sure what to do I def either want to go into nursing or go to PA school. However the PA route would take another whole year of pre reqs after I’m done w my senior year and it’s competitive but im willing to do it just feel regret for not starting sooner 😔 or I could go into nursing and finish that pretty fast by doing an accelerated nursing route…. Help what do I do im def not a strong applicant for PA currently or Nursing but willing to do the pre reqs and stuff but I wanna know honest thoughts how should I proceed

I still haven’t submitted any caspa application, I had a family emergency this summer and I’m still working on getting my transcripts submitted so realistically speaking am I doomed ? I keep thinking I’m really late for rolling admissions and it’s making me extremely anxious.

For Refrence I really want to go to Rosalind Franklin PA school and KECK pa program.

are there any negative implications to withdrawing from a PA school after starting (only 1 week in) to go to a different PA program (got off waitlist)?

pros:
going from probation to continued accreditation

closer to family (can live at home)

2025 pance first time scores: 69% to 100%

2026 pance first time scores: pending to 98%

clinical affiliations with major hospital I see myself working in

will be in city I want to work in

mental health would be better (near any therapist with insurance coverage)

cons:

will not get full tuition reimbursement

working on breaking lease, finding roommate, etc

unsure of how my mental health would be

Have been planning to go to PA school after getting my bachelors. Currently an EMT going into paramedic school.

My biggest issue is PA school from what I’ve read doesn’t let you work while enrolled. Seems my fate is sealed to do an NP program for the flexibility in working. Not that it’s a big issue but the flexibility in specialties has me wanting PA more than NP. Surgery is not an intrest to me.

Anyone out there manage to work during PA school? Anyone have any advice?

As the title suggests. Very excited and nervous. How have you all been preparing for interviews? Any tips?

TIA

I recently graduated with my bachelors in biology and upon review of my transcript noticed I have earned a C in some of my larger prerequisite classes (anatomy/phys/gen chem) for PA school. I plan on retaking a few of these classes this fall as a non-declared graduate student and applying via CASPA in the spring. Is this worth my time and money? For context I work as an MA and have thousands of clinical hours, but so far 0 shadowing hours and no letters of recommendation as of yet. Any advice is appreciated :)

I am an incoming junior at Cal Poly SLO. I am really concerned because i was planning on taking my schools Fundamentals and Application of Organic Chemistry over next summer as well as Fundamentals and Application of Biochemistry. My counselors said that many students on the Pre-PA Track take these courses, but I am worried these are considered “introductory” courses.

I go to Cal Poly and we’re changing from quarter to semester system which is messing up my timeline. I need to take an ochem class in the summer to graduate in time but only the fundamentals ochem is offered in the summer. What I could do is rather than take an upper division bio genetics course spring 27 i could sub it for the regular ochem 1 and take genetics at a cc and then push my gen bio course to fall 28, but I do not want to overload myself. I also emailed UC Davis’ PA program and they said they technically could accept my Fundamentals Ochem course, but it wouldn’t be as competitive as regular Ochem 1. But my BioChem course would be taken and competitive.

I am also worried that if I take my genetics course at a CC i would not have any upper division bio courses. If I could get advice that would be great.

Alright so I decided to apply to PA school recently and I’m finishing up my pre-reqs. The only 2 classes I have left to take are organic chemistry and biochemistry for my top program.

My undergrad school does not offer biochemistry in the spring semester so they are allowing me to take it in the fall with Organic Chemistry. if I don’t take it this year I’ll have to delay my application another cycle.

I’m worried it would be too hard and I won’t be able to secure As. I’m applying with a 3.4 sgpa but I’ve made As in maybe 80% of my pre-reqs so far. I don’t want to mess up my recent grades or cause my science gpa to go down any further.

For those of you who have taken the classes, do y’all think it’s a bad idea? Would it be too much to handle? Those 2 would be the only classes I’m taking along with organic chemistry lab. Im also going down to working 20 hours a week.

Is this a realistic goal?? Thank you for any advice!!