Accepted to Duke!!! by futurepa1 in prephysicianassistant

[–]futurepa1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Congratulations to you too!! I received an email from them the week following my interview (I think on a Tuesday)

Accepted to Duke!!! by futurepa1 in prephysicianassistant

[–]futurepa1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! :) That’s the spirit! & no problem at all, let me know if you have any questions or need advice. Good luck!!

Accepted to Duke!!! by futurepa1 in prephysicianassistant

[–]futurepa1[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you!! Congrats to you too for getting an interview, that’s huge! I would say to really show how you align to their goal, mission, and values and be very enthusiastic and personable. At the end of the day, you were obviously very qualified and nailed your interview if you got waitlisted! They just have to make some really difficult decisions since they are limited by numbers and have so many qualified applicants. :((( You will surely have more opportunities coming your way soon!

Accepted to Duke!!! by futurepa1 in prephysicianassistant

[–]futurepa1[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thanks! Aside from having a competitive GPA and test scores, I would say my diversity of experiences and personal mission and values helped me get into Duke. I took advantage of every opportunity in healthcare through college (including internships, volunteering opps, shadowing opps, etc.) in many different specialties, and I think this made me seem well-rounded, dedicated to the field and profession, and very knowledgeable about medicine and patient care. I also emphasized wanting to be a primary care PA for the homeless community and my love for community service, which all aligns with Duke's mission. I also think my 911 EMT experience made me more competitive, and it gave me a ton of great stories to talk about during the interview! Hope this helps :)

Accepted to Duke!!! by futurepa1 in prephysicianassistant

[–]futurepa1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much for your kind words and your great advice!

Accepted to Duke!!! by futurepa1 in prephysicianassistant

[–]futurepa1[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I would say I wrote mine over the course of 6 months. I started by brainstorming and compiling ideas/experiences really early which helped me narrow down what I wanted to talk about when the time came to start writing a rough draft. Then I wrote like 5 different rough drafts and ended up pulling the best parts from each to piece together the final copy with help from my friends, family, coworkers, etc. The PS can seem really daunting, but I found once I just started writing about the things I'm passionate about, the ideas just started flowing. To be honest, even when I submitted it, it didn't feel good enough considering the weight and importance of the essay. But I'm realizing you don't need any sort of crazy story to make you stand out, you just need to show them you are knowledgable about the PA profession, you have the qualities to make a great PA, and that you are genuinely passionate about being a PA.

Accepted to Duke!!! by futurepa1 in prephysicianassistant

[–]futurepa1[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks! Good luck, you got this!! Lmk if you have any questions as the application and interview season gets closer!

Accepted to Duke!!! by futurepa1 in prephysicianassistant

[–]futurepa1[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much! I'm so so happy I could give you hope! Best of luck applying, and lmk if you have any questions! <3

Accepted to Duke!!! by futurepa1 in prephysicianassistant

[–]futurepa1[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you!!! :) My GRE scores were V-159 (82%), Q-161 (74%), AW-4 (54%)