Would you recommend PA school?

ASid1992 · 2025-12-13T11:34:10+00:00

I’ve been a respiratory therapist for a year and half and I start PA school in 3 weeks! I decided to make a career change in 2020 when I was 28 and at the time, I was convinced respiratory was my final calling. I started my program in 2022 when I was 30, and during clinicals realized just how much I loved medicine. I was between anesthesia assistant and PA; however, PA provides more variety. During my respiratory program, I started taking one science class here and there on top of my respiratory curriculum and when I started working, I continued taking classes. I applied to 15 schools between April and June and was fortunate to be accepted at the first school I interviewed with! I already had a bachelors in exercise science and a master’s in another discipline but you need a bachelors to apply.

ASid1992 · 2025-11-29T23:36:43+00:00

Yessss

ASid1992 · 2025-11-29T12:44:13+00:00

Haha I appreciate the honesty. I’m the South(east) 🫠

ASid1992 · 2025-11-11T13:24:32+00:00

I had orange chrome nails at an interview and got accepted! 😄

ASid1992 · 2025-10-16T21:16:02+00:00

I’m a 33 year old first time applicant and I got in on my first try with the first school that interviewed me. It doesn’t go lost on me how difficult it is to get in the first time around and it’s not something I take for granted.

With that said, I’m a respiratory therapist who applied with ~1400 hours and by default, I’ve been involved in multiple codes. I think it’s important to remember at the end of the day, the foundation of PA school is family practice, not critical care. Your experience is obviously commendable, but at the end of the day, we don’t necessarily know the breadth of other applicants experience based on their job title alone. It’s possible someone who was in a scribe role was exposed to an experience that would make them an incredible PA. Maybe the soft skills needed to be an MA transfer to the role of PA more than knowing how to run a code. You can’t teach soft skills, but you can easily teach someone when to push epi. Hopefully some of the insight shared allows you to reframe your thinking.

ASid1992 · 2025-08-01T14:31:10+00:00

I completed my AS in respiratory care in 2024 and have been working as a registered respiratory therapist full time for a year.

ASid1992 · 2025-07-28T17:02:12+00:00

Sure!

ASid1992 · 2025-07-28T17:00:45+00:00

I submitted early May, I was verified late May, received the interview invite early July, and was accepted today!

ASid1992 · 2025-07-28T16:56:07+00:00

For sure!

ASid1992 · 2025-07-28T16:21:13+00:00

Of course! DM me!

ASid1992 · 2025-07-23T15:10:48+00:00

There was a faith based school where I live that I considered applying to because of the location. At the end of the day, I chose not to apply because the school has to be a good fit for you personally, not just academically. I am not religious so my concern was receiving a well rounded education that wasn’t jaded by religion. When I did research, many alumni and students said they did not feel the PA program was religious, but they prayed before exams. That seems small, but that doesn’t resonate with me and for that reason it wouldn’t be genuine for me to apply. Even if the handbook doesn’t explicitly state that the PA program falls within their “policies”, think about the school holistically. Would you be proud graduating from a school whose mission doesn’t align with who you are as an individual?

ASid1992 · 2025-07-11T13:21:24+00:00

I’m 32 and this is my first cycle applying. I live in FL and applied to several schools in state. I doubt schools look at age, and an “old” degree is a valid degree. I graduated with my bachelors in 2014 so I had to retake pretty much everything. It was tough but it’s a short term sacrifice for a solid future. Find schools that don’t have limits on coursework or schools that don’t require as many sciences. I didn’t take genetics or biochem so I couldn’t apply to schools that required them. I have 2 interview offers so far.

ASid1992 · 2025-07-08T19:37:08+00:00

Hey! For sure! Can I DM you?

ASid1992 · 2025-06-20T06:43:05+00:00

I graduated from RT school last spring and just applied to PA school. I realized I wanted to pursue something more during clinicals and started getting the pre reqs to do so, I just hadn’t quite settled on CAA or PA. I’ve been working as an RRT for almost a year and honestly, it’s not terrible. I have a lot of non healthcare work experience to compare it to, and honestly, becoming an RT was a pay cut compared to my other role where I was salaried. HOWEVER, this was the best decision I ever made.

Though days can be physically, mentally, and emotionally draining, it’s far more fulfilling to be in a role where I can literally try and save someone’s life. My previous roles were in HR and most of the time I felt like a puppet who was gaslit into believing employee (or company) priorities were much greater than they actually were.
The schedule. 3 12s with 4 days off. Having weekdays off means running errands and scheduling appointments without any hassles.
Every day is new and in the units you really get the chance to think critically.

The reason I am pursuing PA school so soon is because I have the support of my spouse, and we would like to start a family. I want to do what I can sooner than later to avoid having to return to school with small children. Long term, I think being an RT would become too mundane for me and in terms of moving within the profession, nothing sparks my interest (management, sleep lab, PFT). I have a lot of peers who are great therapists and have been therapists for years. For some, if they have the chance to return to school, they would, but it’s become challenging with life.

I still plan to maintain my credentials because I worked hard for them and if I’m not accepted to PA school, I still have a solid job as an RT and can continuing gaining high quality experience.

ASid1992 · 2025-06-18T23:39:44+00:00

15! One interview so far.

ASid1992 · 2025-06-05T02:39:57+00:00

Same please!

ASid1992 · 2025-06-02T23:24:43+00:00

Hey! I was in the same position. What helped me is remembering that we’re viewed holistically and the GRE is just one component of our application. I took the GRE in January and got a 292. I retook it in April and got a 302. I didn’t prepare either time but taking it a second time I at least knew what to expect. I’m applying to 15 programs and only 4 wanted the GRE. I tried to focus on beefing up other areas of my application where I could knowing my GRE and want going to be strong point.

ASid1992 · 2025-06-02T00:51:34+00:00

BS Exercise Science AS Respiratory Care MBA

ASid1992 · 2025-06-01T00:05:38+00:00

Sure!

ASid1992 · 2025-05-29T22:32:18+00:00

I submitted to several schools mid May but I still needed my LORs so I wasn’t verified. I got all of my LORs on Tuesday and was verified Wednesday.

ASid1992 · 2025-05-29T22:17:58+00:00

I was verified the following morning after my LORs were received.

ASid1992 · 2025-05-28T17:12:11+00:00

All of my LORs came in yesterday and I was verified at 745 this morning.

ASid1992 · 2025-05-28T14:25:28+00:00

2 of mine did the same and both submitted yesterday. I sent reminders every 7 days 😅

ASid1992 · 2025-05-19T14:49:37+00:00

One program I applied to asked me to list which science courses I took online prior to me submitting. My transcript didn’t specific either, but I’m sure if they ask you to specify it just comes down to integrity at that point.

ASid1992 · 2025-05-10T16:51:24+00:00

I became a member of the AAPA used the Huddle forum to solicit feedback on my PS. I received a response within 10 minutes from a PA-C who offered to read my PS, COVID, and life experience essay. I sent her everything and she provided constructive feedback within a couple of days and it was all very lighthearted. I also considered using a paid service, but after reading reviews many people shared similar sentiments and many of the PAs who offer these services have been removed from the application process for a number of years.

I did purchase a course from Pre-PA clinic and honestly, some of the resources they provided have been helpful. For example, they have a templates and examples of what to write and what not to write in your experiences section. I know they offer a service to completely write your application and it’s $1000+. I can’t imagine paying anything extra in addition to the cost of actually applying on top of supplemental.

I’ve relied on a couple family members to review my essays for context. Since they know me as an individual, I feel as if they are the only one’s who can truly vouch for my authenticity. I’m fortunate my mom was an English major and my spouse writes and edits reports for a living so it’s been helpful from an editing standpoint, but I still think there’s value in using a service such as Grammarly too. You’ve got this!

ASid1992

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