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3 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Applying to PA School

3 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Applying to PA School

You know you want to apply to PA school and eventually become a PA – but are you ready? Ask yourself these 3 questions to determine if you are on the right path to curating an application that stands out among the tsunami of applications programs receive each cycle.

1. Will you have enough HIGH QUALITY patient contact hours?

Each program will have different requirements on the amount of hours needed to apply to their program. Many will even have a list of high quality versus low quality hours. For example, many programs rate phlebotomy as a low quality due to the job consisting mainly of one task, whereas a paramedic is rated high quality due to the variety of tasks and critical skills required.

The key to you standing out in terms of patient contact hours is meeting and exceeding the minimum requirement, ensuring at least some of your hours are of high quality, and having a variety of experiences. Even if you continue to have the same role as a CNA, working per diem or having the experience of working on a variety of units in a hospital, will show a wider skill set and willingness to learn!

2. How is your GPA?

The dreaded question for so many people applying. But let’s be clear, you do not need a 4.0 GPA to get into PA school. Every year people with 3.0 GPAs are accepted and go on to become fantastic PAs. You just need to know what you are up against prior to applying. To do this, check to see what the program’s minimum GPA requirement is for applying, but more importantly, the average accepted GPA of the prior cycle. This information is listed on MYPABOX under “REQUIREMENTS”. This statistic gives you a whole new idea of whether or not your GPA is considered competitive for each program.

If your GPA is below the average of the prior cycle you have a few options. Raise your GPA by taking post baccalaureate courses or retaking courses that you did not excel in previously. However, it is important to note that CASPA calculates your GPA based on all of the courses you have taken, even if your undergraduate program replaces your grade with a course you retook. But if your GPA is close to the average, and your application is well rounded, my advice is to apply anyway! An average means there were people accepted with both lower and higher GPAs, so you still stand a chance.

3. Is your application well rounded?

Now that you have already considered your patient contact hours and your GPA, it is time to dive a little deeper into your application. You need to consider the amount of hours you have spent volunteering, and whether or not you should do more. Have you had opportunities to show that you can be a leader? If not, it is time to seek those opportunities out. Are you involved with a sports team or a club?

This is important to show that you have interests outside of school and that you can balance education with personal hobbies. Have you shadowed a PA or two? This is crucial to demonstrate that you know what the profession entails.

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MYPABOX offers you all of the tools you need to see the requirements PA programs have including minimum experience hours,  PA shadowing requirements, GPA minimums, accepted GPA averages from the prior cycle, and more! Nail down your answer to these 3 questions, and determine whether or not you are ready to apply to PA school in this cycle!

Check out our article on 5 Things I Wish I Knew Before PA School

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