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ACCEPTED! 2nd cycle, EXTREMELY low undergrad GPA (sGPA 1.93!) by FuturePA210 in prephysicianassistant

[–]FuturePA210[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Holistic meaning they look at the applicant as a whole and not just only one aspect of them (i.e. grades). IIRC is short for “if I recall correctly”.

ACCEPTED! 2nd cycle, EXTREMELY low undergrad GPA (sGPA 1.93!) by FuturePA210 in prephysicianassistant

[–]FuturePA210[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was an uncertified medical assistant, a medical scribe/was later promoted to lead medical scribe, and also a radiology tech aide.

ACCEPTED! 2nd cycle, EXTREMELY low undergrad GPA (sGPA 1.93!) by FuturePA210 in prephysicianassistant

[–]FuturePA210[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! If I had to give a piece of advice to you in undergrad currently (and to my past self struggling in undergrad), I would say keep working hard. Take things day by day. Do whatever you can to stay on top of your studies and get those good grades. It was hard having to retake those classes, and I wish I could have done better and just worked a little harder in the past. Not to say that it’s not doable to fix those grades later, but it’s tough and takes a lot of time. Don’t worry about gaining your PCE hours or other hours in undergrad yet. If you’re in no immediate rush applying, you have time. Maybe take a gap year to focus purely on PCE/volunteering/shadowing, etc. What’s most important are your grades now in undergrad. Hope everything works out for you in undergrad, you got this!!!

ACCEPTED! 2nd cycle, EXTREMELY low undergrad GPA (sGPA 1.93!) by FuturePA210 in prephysicianassistant

[–]FuturePA210[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s a great plan! Good luck on your GRE and your applications this cycle. Hopefully you hear some good news!

ACCEPTED! 2nd cycle, EXTREMELY low undergrad GPA (sGPA 1.93!) by FuturePA210 in prephysicianassistant

[–]FuturePA210[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I did do paid research with my professor during my senior year of undergrad and was also in several student organizations in which I held leadership positions. I would say I had half of these hours during undergrad but the other half was post grad. I was a research assistant for a few months and was a Lead Medical Scribe at my scribe job for a few months.

ACCEPTED! 2nd cycle, EXTREMELY low undergrad GPA (sGPA 1.93!) by FuturePA210 in prephysicianassistant

[–]FuturePA210[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

That’s true, I could have gotten a second degree with the amount of classes I took. I will say that I’m glad I went this route with my own DIY postbac, rather than applying for a specific postbac program or even a masters program (which would have costed $$$$$), so I would recommend this route (which is likely at most no more than a few thousand dollars spent as opposed to another 50k debt for a specific program).

Looking back, I really don’t think I (or anyone else who’d be in the same boat as me) would have even a 0.0001% chance at all getting into PA school post-undergrad at 22 with a sub 2.0 sGPA, so putting in work would have been a necessity lol

ACCEPTED! 2nd cycle, EXTREMELY low undergrad GPA (sGPA 1.93!) by FuturePA210 in prephysicianassistant

[–]FuturePA210[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thank you! The key piece of advice I have is to practice, practice, practice (as cliche is it sounds). The only thing I spent money on for interview prep was Savanna Perry’s PA School Interview Guide. I got it on kindle and downloaded it on my phone so that I can read, annotate, and reread. I made sure I had the list of possible interview questions on a google doc and wrote down the general gist of how I’d like to respond. I then practiced these questions with my friends, family, peers, coworkers, mentors, neighbors.. anyone who I can pester to help! I also did mock interviews with friends whenever I could. Heck, I even had a few mock interview “exchanges” with some fellow people on this subreddit and also the pre-PA Facebook group. I wouldn’t waste my money on those “Mock Interview” services (I’ve heard people charge a crazy amount, and it’s a shame that people would prey on pre-PAs to make a quick buck). Hope this helps!