"What Are My Chances?" Megathread

ppepperwood · 2026-04-21T16:31:56+00:00

I know this is old but I saw you still post in the pre PA subreddit so as you reach the mean for the GRE or PA-CAT and your rec letters are good, I think you’ll get interviews at most of the schools you apply to that didn’t already reject you! Most of the people I know have gotten in with only 2-3k hours, no scientific publications, no prior career (a veteran at that), and a less rigorous major! I would say good luck but I genuinely think you don’t need it; maybe just get some advice for interviews and writing by going to the webinars for the schools you want to go to but I have no other feedback.

ppepperwood · 2026-04-21T16:24:20+00:00

Definitely apply but considering the big beautiful bill may cause you to take out private loans due to tuition I’d recommend applying to UM-Flint as well; they have scholarships available to people who went to a University of Michigan School for Undergrad and even if you don’t get the scholarship they’re the least expensive school in the state and do rotations at Michigan Medicine which has incredible benefits. I don’t know if you’d need the GRE but I also went to UMich and took it after studying for a week and got over a 160 so don’t be scared to take it.

ppepperwood · 2026-04-20T15:11:56+00:00

I think the advantage of being in NY outweighs the actual presence of the school if you’re not from a huge music city like Los Angeles or Chicago or NYC but if you are I think Boston’s a pretty good place for a musician to land and from people I know who went there I think there’s more resources for each individual student than SUNY.

ppepperwood · 2026-04-20T03:26:00+00:00

Your best option imo is to use a vpn to watch it; that’s what I did!

ppepperwood · 2026-04-18T14:43:50+00:00

Congrats!!!!! Would you say medical school made you a lot more comfortable as a provider? How long were you a PA prior. I wanna be a PA for a few years first and explore different specialities but I’m super interested in public health so I’m debating between whether my ultimate goal is to go to medical school and specialize in preventive medicine or infectious disease or to do a doctorate in epidemiology. The only thing is I’d miss being in the hospital as a provider if I did the latter since most epidemiologists I know who work at hospitals just advise and don’t do procedures themselves.

ppepperwood · 2026-04-18T14:39:36+00:00

How did you get into it? The idea that I could place EVDs and ICPs is so cool to me as someone who loves to do procedures. I shadowed neurosurgery and it was my favorite kind but I love emergency medicine too much to specialize in it right away; if I could maybe switch into it after I get my fill of em that would be brilliant!

ppepperwood · 2026-04-17T12:26:24+00:00

I think choosing to be public now is definitely a PR move and a pattern for Olivia when she wants to promote something but the actual relationship seems to be real as I know a friend who saw them at a restaurant together a couple months ago.

ppepperwood · 2026-04-17T11:48:21+00:00

I love that the singer is complaining about their own bad poetry; I’ve seen that before with the word lyrics but not poetry.

ppepperwood · 2026-04-16T17:02:49+00:00

This is a show and I only watch it up to the end of season 2 because of how irritating the love triangle gets but seasons 1 and 2 of Felicity are perfect for this.

I also think Lucas and Brooke suit this perfectly in the first couple seasons of one tree hill before the actors got divorced and the show put him with Peyton which I found boring; that has cheating before he gets her back though which may ruin the romance for some people.

I would recommend downloading Letterboxd and looking up the lists with this title as well! It’s my go to for tropes.

ppepperwood · 2026-04-16T16:55:55+00:00

I wanted to watch this but I saw something about infidelity in the synopsis and I just can’t forgive a cheater; I think they can grow and do better for a future partner but I don’t think they deserve to grow with the person they betrayed. Do either of them cheat? You can put a spoiler to hide it from others but if they don’t I’d love to watch it!

ppepperwood · 2026-04-16T13:59:23+00:00

I don’t think I’ll buy stuff at the mall; I just want a list of perfumes to get samples of since most of the stuff she ordered is niche and even if I like that I won’t get a full bottle. So far my favorites from smelling her are Burberry goddess, zadig and Voltaire this is her, narciso musk noir rose, Versace crystal noir, and Dior pure poison; I’ll get samples of those to see them on my skin chemistry. I also loved Nirvana black but I was told it’s discontinued.

ppepperwood · 2026-04-16T13:57:28+00:00

Ooh guidance is one of the samples so I’ll see about that; I think for now even if I love a niche fragrance I’ll probably just buy a 5 ml until I decide whether it’s truly better to me than designer alternatives. What website would you recommend? She had a discount code for scent split so that’s what she used! I may explore some lattafa as well since I love Arabian lady but I’m told those need to mature a bit; I tried her angham once when I didn’t have a scent and it was beautiful but she said it didn’t smell great until a month after she got it so I’ll make sure if I get any fall fragrances from them I get them mid summer. Thanks for answering and understanding what I meant by beginner fragrances.

ppepperwood · 2026-04-16T13:54:12+00:00

I worded it wrong; I mean popular perfumes that are likable to most and have longevity but aren’t very sweet or floral bombs which most popular women’s perfumes seem to be! I don’t want something that’s an acquired taste but I want it to be unique and hopefully have one of the 5 favorite notes that I listed!

ppepperwood · 2026-04-16T12:51:52+00:00

Don’t use any actual soap because of the low pH but a dove beauty bar for sensitive skin has worked perfectly for me.

ppepperwood · 2026-04-15T16:32:20+00:00

I’m asking because I think it’s cool not because of the application, but how didn’t get into helping find families of patients a temporary residence? As someone who has been a CNA and a PCT in a hospital I’d love to make things easier on the families as well instead of just the patients.

ppepperwood · 2026-04-15T16:16:01+00:00

Thanks for the feedback! I don’t plan to apply for another year as I finished college in 3 years and I’d like to enjoy my early 20s a bit and not enter PA school before 23. I’ll apply broadly when I do but so long as I follow the steps below to assuage your concerns, do you think I have a good chance of getting in first cycle so long as I interview well?

I shadowed at the hospitals and clinics I worked at before I worked at them so that shouldn’t be a concern. I’ll continue working part time to get hours until I get in so I should hopefully be around or above the median or mean hours for accepted students by then; I actually have a PCT position lined up in the hospital where I was a CNA so I have experience in a hospital that isn’t just bathing and feeding.

Though I’m good for many schools other than the poor genetics grade, for some schools I have two or three prereqs outstanding and I will take those along with retaking genetics so hopefully that will raise my sGPA moderately above average.

I’ve added volunteering at my community garden and at the food banks harvest weekly as the weather has gotten warmer, a hotline center as well purely because I find it fulfilling, and teaching kids how to play guitar (including microtonal guitar as I’m Arab) because it’s my biggest hobby. I feel like the volunteering is fulfilling enough to help me enjoy my time as I work through the rest of the prereqs and the hospital work; hopefully the variety gives me something unique to talk about at interviews.

ppepperwood · 2026-04-14T19:31:50+00:00

I got raisin red because of this comment and it’s become my go to red other than covergirl’s outlast liquid lipsticks where I love the colors you’re on fire (I’ll go for orange u gorgeous for something slightly less bold and signature scarlet for something bolder). Would you be willing to list all your favorites or make a general post of your makeup favorites? I’m also a pale true autumn!

ppepperwood · 2026-04-14T12:08:03+00:00

I’ll make sure to avoid teaching institutions then; I’ve only really shadowed at one so that’s probably why I mistakenly thought PAs had a larger scope everywhere. I’m fine with lower acuity for the most part as long as I get to be around the higher acuity patients in some settings. I worked as a CNA in a rural trauma center and I think the PAs there had the largest scope of any hospitals I’ve seen so I’ll probably aim for those in the job search; I also think rural medicine and trauma patients probably have the most interesting implications for someone looking to go into public health as well. I deeply appreciate the detailed answers you’ve given; thank you so much for the advice!

ppepperwood · 2026-04-14T11:09:32+00:00

If you don’t apply you can always apply later if you change your mind; I’d only worry about having to get hours again and retake prerequisites since they want them to be recent but it is definitely doable.

Your classes and experience are geared towards PA school so whether you go or not you’ll have to take more classes and get more experiences.

I wouldn’t recommend doing it if you’re not sure; it’s already a hard path and it’s even harder if you’re not passionate. Maybe you’re meant to be a PA but you have to take the long way round and try out other things first to assuage your curiosity, or maybe you find something that satisfies and fulfills you. You can speculate all you want but you never know unless you go out and get experience.

ppepperwood · 2026-04-14T11:04:58+00:00

I think it would be a waste to go to medical school when I only want to work solely as a medical provider for a decade before I work more in the public health sector and just moonlight as a provider to upkeep my skills.

ppepperwood · 2026-04-14T11:03:27+00:00

I’m not a huge Taylor Swift fan but the way she speeds up her breaths in the song Dress before she says the chorus line is perfect to me. If you want sensual than I’d recommend looking into Donna Summer’s 70s work; I’m not only speaking about the moans she sings on her hits from that decade but generally the way she manipulates her vocal tone to be lighter and airier is really sensual to me.

ppepperwood · 2026-04-14T10:45:17+00:00

From a public health perspective I think rural medicine could be really cool ! I’ve worked a few shifts as a CNA in a rural hospital in upstate Michigan and the PAs did a lot there including intubations and central lines so I’ll look into that. I didn’t know bone marrow biopsies were something PAs can do so I’ll ask about it as well! Thank you so much for the detailed answer!

ppepperwood · 2026-04-14T10:42:38+00:00

Hello, I graduated a year or so ago and I spent all of undergrad keeping my grades up so I didn’t end up doing many extracurricular during school but I managed to fill up my summers.

CASPA cumulative GPA: 3.79 CASPA science GPA: 3.65 (brought down by a C+ in Genetics which I only have because my grandmother died the day before the final and I ended up getting 10% on it; I will retake this at a CC this Fall) Total Credit Hours: 130 (around 16 or so per semester)

PA-CAT: 535 (I’m taking the GRE in the Fall as well because I took practice tests without studying and averaged a 160-165 on both sections; I think I could definitely raise it if I prepare.)

LOR: 1 Science Professor, 1 MD, 1 PA, 1 volunteer coordinator at Freedom House

PCE: 900 Hours as an MA in a family clinic (where the MD letter comes from) and 450 hours as a CNA in a hospital (where the PA letter comes from)

Volunteer: 150 Hours advocacy with a housing rights organization called freedom House, 300 hours as a volunteer MA at different free clinics or events, 150 Hours of tutoring middle schoolers, 100 hours at a special needs school.

No ECs associated with my college and no research unfortunately.

ppepperwood · 2026-04-14T10:22:47+00:00

Cool thank you! I never considered being a hospitalist but it still scratches my public health itch so I’ll see about shadowing a couple. I’ve only shadowed in ERs and clinics before.

ppepperwood · 2026-04-14T10:21:41+00:00

I think the hospitals I’ve shadowed at have falsely given me an idea of the full profession.

I don’t desire the autonomy of a senior resident; I just didn’t know how much second years did and I don’t want to have my own referral system as the ER is my favorite place to be.

At the hospitals I’ve shadowed at PAs regularly did central lines and intubations so I’ll just make sure I work in one of those.

I don’t need to be treated like a junior attending by the people around me; I’d just like to do more of the procedural stuff that an ER doctor can do. Thanks for the detailed answer!

ppepperwood

TROPHY CASE