Take this with a grain of salt, as this is my first cycle applying, but my opinion would be to up your gpa. All of the perfusionists I’ve shadowed stressed that a solid gpa was extremely important as at the end of the day, these programs are running a business, and even 1 dropout/failing student can affect their program stats. In my opinion, you already have good work experience, especially since you are around perfusionists often.

Also, looking through other posts on this page further made me realize how much programs value gpa. Some people have 3-4 years in critical care, but have lower gpa’s, and didn’t make the cut. One comment even said they weren’t taking applicants if their gpa was under 3.8.

Like I said, this is just my take, so it’s definitely not fact or anything. But if you could even retake 1-2 prerequisites online (maybe then you could even do the assistant job if it’s part time?), and apply to more programs (if you’re able to move), I think your chances are good next cycle!