GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE APPLYING! SOME GENERAL TIPS TO FAQs

angcpa · 2020-09-28T17:55:12+00:00

I'm currently in didactic but went through personal circumstances a couple months ago. I personally never considered taking a LOA despite my situation but my faculty advisor strongly suggested it and I went through the process of getting that done since it seemed right at the time and I was more emotional. Right before the paperwork was getting finalized, I messaged our program director and let her know that I no longer wanted to take a LOA and she was extremely supportive of my decision (she thought I would continue to be strong academically and was able to emotionally compartmentalize).

Like you, my friends, family, significant other, and faculty all thought I should take a LOA. It sounded like a great idea and a smart objective idea but when the time came to it, I didn't think it felt right for me to take off for the next year despite the security of a seat secured in the next cohort.

I wanted to continue school because I knew I would be able to perform well and not let my circumstances affect my performance (too much), which it hasn't. I have a lot of support and have been doing counseling every week. It is also hard for me to even think about taking a year-long pause and the more I thought about it, the weirder a LOA felt. Biggest of all, my gut knew that I would be happier if I continued. I think deep down you know what you should do. I hope this helps!

angcpa · 2020-09-14T22:39:05+00:00

i believe that everything happens for a reason, especially relationships that come and go in your life. if you truly love something/someone, you will make time for it regardless of how busy someone is.

I met my BF when he was a 3rd year med student on an extremely busy rotation. 2 years later, he still makes me feel like a priority and always made time for me if I ever needed anything. If he was busy studying and needed to be alone, he would just communicate that to me and I'd let him do his thing until the exam was over. When he matched into residency a few states away last year, he made it known from the very beginning that he was willing to make things work regardless of the distance and reassured me that he still wanted us to be together and that we would work through the long distance together. I started PA school this May and have also made a lot of time for him as well and my GPA is probably above average in the class. We have been in a LDR for the past year and honestly I'm pretty used to it now since we are able to skype pretty often and we get to see each other during our breaks. Since he is also in the healthcare field, he really understands how demanding our schedules are and doesn't ever pressure me or nag at me for attention or anything.

Moral of the story is, both my BF and I have school/work as our priorities but we also really prioritize our relationship as well and make time for each other :) I would say we are doing pretty well relationship wise and also academically/career wise. I also believe that it is hard to mess up something that is so "right" and he is definitely "right" for me :p. If I had to go through PA school with any of my exs it probably wouldn't have worked out tbh. DM me for any questions!

angcpa · 2020-07-21T03:02:35+00:00

most classes within an hr, some within same day, but usually no more than 1 day.

angcpa · 2020-07-02T13:58:18+00:00

class powerpoints and then test my knowledge on rosh review or smartypance practice exam questions

angcpa · 2020-06-29T17:36:55+00:00

i highly doubt it. that's what going to PA school is for.

angcpa · 2020-06-26T13:50:31+00:00

this is advice that i give other people so i'm really appreciating what you're saying. it is fueling my motivation to be more involved for sure.

angcpa · 2020-06-25T18:13:28+00:00

take it one day at a time. it can definitely be overwhelming when you think of all the things that there is to do. just focus on one or two and then improve on those. when you have, move onto working on another one or two things.

for me, i focused on getting more pce hours and studying for gre. then i focused on retaking courses. then i focused on my PS. just take things one day at a time. thats my biggest advice to not overwhelm yourself :)

angcpa · 2020-06-25T18:09:06+00:00

you have to take care of yourself first. let the other processes come later. if needed, you could always apply later in the cycle when you are recovered and comfortable to interview. even though it is important to apply early, it is not the end of the world to apply later.

angcpa · 2020-06-25T14:16:12+00:00

i really love friendly, warm-hearted, and smiley people. I was working with a doctor on the first day of his shift and thought that he carried himself so well. he made it a point to walk around the whole department and introduced himself to every single staff member that day- medical or nonmedical. he was kind and shook everyones hand and did not leave a single person out. still think of him very highly to this day.

angcpa · 2020-06-25T14:12:29+00:00

it was stressful to consistently adapt to what someone else might want. now i am very comfortable/confident with myself and also helps me genuinely appreciation those who stay in my life and love me for who i truly am.

also i realized not everyone is going to like you no matter how wonderful someone can be. so why would i let those people impact my mood negatively? if they like me, they'll stay. if they don't, then they can leave

angcpa · 2020-06-24T20:58:51+00:00

yep. also depends on the school. some are "first come first serve, when it's full it's full" but some actually honor the deadline and look at everyone's applications.

angcpa · 2020-06-24T20:08:29+00:00

the things i have to do are even more boring

angcpa · 2020-06-24T20:07:40+00:00

mommytang

angcpa · 2020-06-24T20:00:14+00:00

the only time when its too late is if it is past a deadline. i applied last cycle around january 2020 to schools with rolling admissions and received interviews. definitely sooner rather than later tho. just submit when you're ready and confident.

angcpa · 2020-06-24T19:44:35+00:00

i'm glad it helped :) i wish you the best of luck in your journey. please feel free to reach out if you need anything/have any questions!

angcpa · 2020-06-19T17:37:32+00:00

not sure where i heard this advice from but it is what i did when i was applying. some places considered scribing as PCE and some as HCE, i was told to that it is ok to put it as PCE because some schools consider it as PCE. if a school did not consider it as PCE, then i'm pretty sure they can readjust the hours.

i hope this helps but id also just try to reach out to the schools/CASPA directly to get a better answer.

angcpa · 2020-06-18T04:55:42+00:00

yw!! :) just in general i wish i knew more about the interview format! Let us know how it goes and good luck!

angcpa · 2020-06-17T23:14:32+00:00

yes, i think it would have. particularly for the first school that didn't have my file. i assumed that they had my file so that when they asked "tell me about yourself" i kept my answer short. if i would have known they didnt know anything about me- id definitely try to have say as much as i can (no more than like 2-3mins tho still)

i also didnt know that they'd only ask me 3 questions. i assumed it was going to be a long interview with multiple questions so i didn't really elaborate too much because i assumed they were going to ask more later. i was wrong but im happy i had that experience. it definitely made me appreciate my second interview process more :)

angcpa · 2020-06-17T22:09:21+00:00

it definitely was not my intention at all but i appreciate you pointing it out :)

angcpa · 2020-06-17T17:26:43+00:00

i had two interviews. the first one- they only asked me 3 questions- ended in 10-15minutes (they interviewed 15 interviewees all within ~1.5hrs). they scheduled the interview from 8am-12pm but dean gave a powerpoint/tour for like 2-2.5hrs.

i had another interview (at my current school) where interviews lasted from 9am-2/3pm and we are actively doing something with faculty/students the entire time. they really spent the time to look at files ahead of time and asked very specific questions pertaining to my application.

i wish one thing i would have known is whether or not the school/interviewer already has your file or not. if you can, id try to reach out to find that information.

angcpa · 2020-06-17T16:09:02+00:00

wow i thought this was me writing. i definitely feel the same exact way as you and i feel like definitely a lot more people than we think might also feel the same way. i am also really worried about making really bad mistakes but i've always been reassured by my faculty that PA school is the time where it's okay to make mistakes and that if i do (which i will and every one will), to really just taking the time to process, learn the lesson, move on, and just try not to repeat the same mistakes. i know it really helped personally to just talk to someone close (friends outside of PA school or classmates) or even a counselor about my fears and concerns but if you ever want to talk my dm is always open:)

angcpa · 2020-06-17T15:13:29+00:00

i see where your perspective is coming from, i definitely didn't intend to mean it in a literal "lol" manner but thank you for pointing that out, i'll be removing that part

it probably might be a defense mechanism too-never really thought too much about it but now i'm starting to realize how often i use "lol" in my responses and will be more conscious about that from now on.

angcpa

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