r/prephysicianassistant

Hear me out. I am a late 20s mechanical engineer with 5 years of experience who had a change of heart and decided to go into medicine. I have settled on going to PA school, but acquiring enough PCE to get in is a huge hurdle for me, mainly because it would require taking a massive paycut (I make ~100k right now) and have family to support, so I can’t realistically quit my job to go make $18 an hour as an EMT

My slightly convoluted idea was to instead get either a BSN or ADN to become a registered nurse so I could still support my family while getting PCE. I would do this part time while still working my current job, and then work as a RN to get my PCE. This way I never have to have an abrupt and massive paycut.

Let me know what you all think and if this is a dumb idea.

As I am planning how many hours a week I should work on my summer breaks/winter breaks, I've had this question:

How big is the difference between a 2.3K hour applicant vs a 2.6k hour applicant?

I'm deciding between 32hr/week vs 40-45hr/week.

DO NOT give up.

I am a second time applicant, and I applied to 17 schools total — originally 15, but I added 2 more on March 1st. Ironically, the two schools I applied to later are the only ones I received interviews from.

Program A has already accepted me, but the total cost will be around $200,000. Program B would cost closer to $100,000, which is a huge difference financially. However, Program B has not yet received accreditation, so they cannot officially accept students until that process is completed. Both programs are out of state and begin in August.

For reference, my stats are:

•	GPA: 3.7 Scgpa- 3.5

•	Patient Care Experience (PCE): \~5,000 hours

•	Shadowing: \~400 hours

•	Letters of Recommendation: 5

I’m feeling stuck because Program A is already trying to move the process forward, but I do not want to invest too much money or commit fully until I hear back from Program B. At the same time, if I get accepted into Program B, I will likely lose the seat deposit for Program A which I’m not worried about because long term I would save so much and ultimately program B is my top choice because my brother lives close. Should I call program B and tell them I got accepted into program A and just tell them my situation and just ask once they get accreditation if I would be one to be accepted just so I know? Or is that rude

One of the programs I'm going to apply to has a question on CASPA asking what leadership experience I have that can apply to the PA profession. I literally have 0.. Should I just give up since they sound like they prioritize applicants with leadership experience or try to frame my words to fit in? It is only a 500-character response btw

As the subject reads - I want to get the ball rolling to become a PA.

I have a Bachelor's in Business from 2012, around a 2.6 GPA.

To my understanding, I need to satisfy prereqs before even considering applying. Do people sign up for an actual program to cover all required electives? Or just sign up for individual classes as a non-matric student?

I want to do this but curious if anyone else out there shared a similar position when they got started, and how they ended up. Really dying for something new in life and this is really sounding like something up my alley.

Side note: How is your work life balance? I am a musician and play out often, and while not a deal breaker, I'd love to keep up somewhat of a life outside of work for this.

Thanks reddit!

Hi currently freaking out a bit.

So I listed 2 planned courses that I plan to take at a community college I've never attended before. I did not request a transcript since I don't have one. I applied to a program and my application got put on hold until I can provide the transcript for these courses and now they won't look at my application because I can't get this "transcript" to them.

I have no clue what to do and I'm freaking out that all other schools will hit me with the same issue. I added these planned courses because I wanted to take them in the fall for 1 or 2 programs that require them as prereqs. What do I do?

I've been lurking for a bit, and I'm a bit confused about the conversations surrounding GPA. Specifically, I wonder how much context is considered when evaluating GPA.

More context for an example; I got my BA from UVa with a dual major. I had a lot of AP credits and a lot of study abroad credits; so I got 2 majors with only 95 total graded credits. I finished all the "easy A's" in highschool and during study abroad for transfer credit so they are not factored into my GPA.

Now that I'm taking classes at the local community college I am getting easy A's in classes that probably would have been B/B+'s at UVa. I got 3.55 GPA overall at UVa but I'm at 29 credit hours of straight A's at the local community college with so much less effort.

Is the relative different meaning of GPA taken into consideration at all? If GPA on its own is really as important as people here are acting, I'll just keep pumping mine with easy community college courses I guess.

Hey everyone, I hope you guys are having an eventful week. My university only offers separate online and lecture components and due to complications, I only had the chance to take the microbiology lab portion at my university and am looking to take a lecture (online) portion at a different ,accredited institution. I know this is very unorthodox but does anyone have any input on this? I am mainly striving to apply to schools located around California.

I'm in a dilemma regarding what/when I should include certain aspects of my life in my PS vs life experience essay. I have had a rough living situation for the past 2 years living with my brother who is schizophrenic and my grandfather who has alzheimer's. Some pretty wild shit has happened and I'd like to talk about it as it for sure has impacted my journey for applications. My dilemma is where I should include it (bc iPS>LE essay in terms of value). I feel like like my current PS has a pretty good flow and reasoning for why I want to become a PA but my living situation is much "juicier" and I guess I can turn it into my reasoning for becoming a PA, it definitely helps but it's not my main reason. What should I do?

My science GPA is hanging on to a 3.0 by a thread. Do my classes labeled HEALTH count toward my science GPA? Only one of them actually health science, the other two were more public health and health law. If the health science one counts that’d REALLY boost me. I’m also thinking of taking a class labeled kinesiology but it’s a Health and Nutrition class. Would that count? Also is a regular kinesiology class hard? Would it be a good option to boost my science gpa if it counts? (Sorry, lot of questions I know)

It just hit me that I’m about to be a senior with no clinical experience. I can’t seem to find any opportunities that would actually take me in, and I don’t know what to do. I had an interview today expecting it’ll go well, but it didn’t cause they’re looking for someone with clinical experience…

I’ve applied to so many programs and volunteering opportunities and most of them ghosted me or decline me. I even tried to volunteer at a nearby hospital and they instantly declined my offer. I don’t even know where to look for opportunities because it’s about to be summer and all the applications ended :( I know I shouldn’t let this affect me so much, but I’m just so disappointed with the interview I just had, and made me realize how screwed I am

Alright, so i requested the fee waiver on 5/1 and have yet to get a response/acceptance. I know I qualify and I confirmed multiple times that I submitted the right forms. Anyone else in this situation?

Do i still wait to submit my apps or do i just eat the cost of applications this year? Applying to 7 programs this year instead of 15 like last year but it will still cost me about $800 which will take a while for me to recover from.

CASPA fee is 120, then every school costs 65. Then supplemental fee 50-100. Then some school even asks for graduate school application which costs 50-100, on top of the supplemental fee… I have only applied 7 schools and I’m already out 800 dollars……

Okay I just want to say I am extremely grateful to even be writing this post, I was a late applicant and stalked this thread religiously. I was waitlisted and got into one school, and just recently interviewed at a school Friday, and they got back to me today, which to me is a huge blessing. I also have another school that I was waiting on, starts in August, 50/50 chance I could hear an acceptance from them, but they send updates each month saying they accept students off the waitlist. I wanted to see if anyone had insights on the choosing of the two schools. I will say, the deposit for School A is due the 25th, and School B will be due June 2nd, and I would love to only have to pay $1000 once lol. Both are well regarded schools from what im hearing. Both are based in PA. I also will be taking out private loans to cover extra costs, hopefully through a credit union.

School A: Misericordia University

- 2 hours away from me

- starts July 2026, so would have to move immediately

- smaller cohort

- lower pance rate but they only have 16-25 students in previous classes

- estimate $122,000 tuition

- would need to move now, but start sooner than School B

- elective rotation on top of regular rotations

- talked to a student there and they seem pretty happy about their choice

- attrition rates are on the higher side from previous classes

- wanted more time to save money for post grad, plan on moving to DC, if I start immediately, I would have to ration the savings I have now

- less time spent with family and friends

- cadaver lab

School B: Seton Hill University

- 4 hours away from me

- starts January 2027, more time to figure out finances, and roommates or own studio apartment

- bigger cohort, double the size of School A's cohort

- has anatomical simulation and cadaver lab

- elective rotation in Interventional radiology and orthopedic/trauma surgery, very interested in this

- $138,000 tuition

- more time to add to my savings, I plan on applying for food stamps and saving money for an apartment so won't need to take out loans for that

- more time spent with friends and family before leaving

- like i said i still want to move to DC after school, this allows me to have a substantial amount of savings when dealing with moving and graduation (goal is $16,000)

- just got accreditation back for 2025, accredited until 2034

- waiting to hear back from graduated students on their experience

-overall got a good vibe from my interview, and the professors stated when students go on rotations, they hear the best things about students that are qualified for their clinical rotations

-higher PANCE rates

Any insights or possible other things to consider would be really helpful, thank you

Pretty much the title. Would it be stupid to drop a school from my list because the start date is January 2027? All the rest of my potential programs start Summer 2027. To be frank, the thought of starting school in 8 months scares me. I’m currently in outpatient treatment right now for some mental health stuff; I’m working as hard as I can to get healthy before school, but I want to give myself time.

I do feel confident that I can succeed as a PA student (otherwise I wouldn’t be applying), but I still feel like I owe it to myself to make sure I’m in the best possible place before starting. On the other hand, I’m aware of the fact that sometimes you take what you can get with PA school, and this school is one of four that’s within a two state radius of me.

What do you all think?

I need advice:

I smoke thc vapes (1g/2g) at least once a day for the past 6 months to hep with stress & sleep. I just applied to this cycle of PA school. I haven’t gotten any acceptance/interviews yet. When do schools normally test? when is the best to stop? How long do you think this will stay in my system?

Hi everyone, I started working as an at home caregiver a couple weeks ago and so far it’s a really great gig. The agency I work for has different levels to the type of work. Currently, since I was hired with no prior caregiving experience, I am working as a Companion to the elderly folk I work for (cooking, cleaning, appointments, meds reminders, etc.). As I continue working with this agency I can move up doing more hands on care, hospice care, overnight care, after-surgery care, etc.

Does this work look good for PA school applications?

And what category would this kind of work be under?

Any advice is helpful so I can slowly strengthen my application.

Thanks everyone!