Undeniably, getting into a PA program is a dream for many medical students.
All those late nights of studying, revisions, months of unrelenting hard work, didn’t qualify you to meet the program requirements. This low moment can affect your mental health and leave you feeling despondent like your promising medical career is on its death throes. It may lead you to fear applying to a program the next time around.
However, it is always wise to remember that it's not just you that didn't get in. Not many people qualify for PA school on their first application cycle.
Here we look at what you can do to get yourself and your application back on track to avoid losing hope altogether.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU DIDN’T GET IN THE FIRST TIME
There are several things pre PA students need to do and steps to take to get back on track if they don't get in the first time. You may not have gotten into PA school if the physician assistant school interview experience didn't go well. If that was the case, you need to prep for your interview to strengthen your interviewing skills.
TAKE SOME TIME
First, it's always best to take some time. Failure and rejection are not pleasant experiences, these situations can leave you feeling unfulfilled and panicked.
Before you decide on what comes next, it is crucial to accept and deal with the rejection. Understand that failing is part of life, and sometimes it might be a blessing in disguise. Work on your negative emotions first, and remove yourself from the decision for a while; accept the outcome, heal, and then take the next steps.
REASSESS YOUR MOTIVATION
When you’ve had time to decompress, the next best step is to ask yourself if getting into PA school is still your goal, because perseverance is very important in getting into PA school.
Reassess your motivation to make sure PA school is still what you want. If your motivation has changed, a little honesty will set you on another possibly successful path, saving you tons of time and money.
However, if you still really want to get into PA school after reflection, it’s time to reapply your efforts. You want to be ready for the application cycle next time around.
REASSESS YOUR APPLICATION
This step involves taking an honest look at your rejected application and analyzing where you went wrong as a PA school applicant. Was your application essay stale and boring? If it was, you can check out some of the best PA personal statement examples we’ve seen so you can get more inspiration.
As a pre Physician assistant student, you want to make sure you're adding the proper information to your PA school applications like care experience or patient care experience, clinical hours, personal statement, and any other health care experience you may have. Your application should also include your personal statement. Again, if you need help with your personal statement be sure to check out the link above. The personal statement is one of the toughest parts of the application and PA program process. Your application is essentially a sales pitch about you, your PA school sees your academic experience as well as your health care experience and patient care experience. Another very important factor is when you apply during the application cycle. You want to make sure you apply to the earliest application cycle possible, this means the first cycle is your best bet.
Talk to family and friends and ask for their opinion on where you can improve in your application. Also, ask for a meeting with a school's physician assistant admissions officer for their feedback.
RESIST THE URGE TO PERSONALIZE IT
At times, self-blame can plague your mind when you receive that rejection letter or email.
You might interpret it as proof that you are indeed a failure or reject. Sometimes, you may feel like you are suitable for nothing, which tends to bring out your worst tendencies. Even though you have received a rejection, this does not mean that you will amount to nothing.
That rejection was a conclusion made by a person who doesn’t know you or a program administrator that has never met you. They can't tell anything about your past or future and had to make an on-the-spot decision given the best information they had about you. The information the program administrator gets comes from your application, so if only part of your experience is shared in the application that's all they'll see.
So, never take a rejection personally. Remember, you're not the first person nor the last to experience rejection. Success is a combination of many failed attempts.
SO HOW CAN YOU GET INTO PA SCHOOL IN YOUR SECOND ATTEMPT?
Lets quickly review the best tips for getting into PA school. Applying to PA school is daunting even if you've done it before. It never hurts to review, you may find something that you missed and you can use the time you have before the next application cycle to improve.
Get involved in extracurricular activities
There are several activities you can get involved in but here are popular options for your consideration. Get involved in your college’s pre PA organization, start your own pre PA organization, or even better become an officer.
Choose undergrad courses wisely
Pre PA students should take a medical terminology course even if it's not a requirement! In PA school, a few of the science courses you'll experience the first year are human anatomy, pathophysiology, and pharmacology. If you can, try to take the undergraduate equivalent of each of these courses. Science courses build upon each other and tend to become more difficult as you go.
Work in the summer
Most PA school programs have summer research programs for undergraduates. For the research programs, you really want to apply as soon as possible because they have early deadlines. Research experience will impress any type of PA school and its admissions committees whether you're applying for the first time or second time around.
Consider medical mission trips, during these trips, you will be involved in volunteer medical services to patients who typically do not have access to healthcare. This gives you experience in interacting with patients and you are able to see how medicine is practiced in other countries.
Be an ER or Medical Scribe, working as an ER or medical scribe is one of the best options for physician assistant students. It can really prepare you for what you will experience in PA school. A big part of the job is medical interviewing and medical charting. This makes you familiar with medical terminology, writing patient history, and physicals, which looks great on your PA school application. It offers health care experience and patient care experience, it is also a great topic for your personal statement.
Find mentors
Mentors are huge. They can open doors for you throughout your career. Some examples of who you can have as mentors include a professor, faculty advisor, summer research investigator, an officer of a student organization, etc. If no one is interested, that's okay. Keep trying!
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WHAT PERCENTAGE OF APPLICANTS GET INTO PA SCHOOL?
You may be wondering, how hard is it to get into PA school? Your percentage chance varies depending on how many PA programs you apply to. If you apply to one PA program you have about a 25% chance of getting in. If you apply to twelve programs or more you have about a 49% chance of getting in. The average number of PA programs people apply to is eight. When applying to PA schools you want to make sure you prioritize your top choice. Most people apply in the first cycle, so make sure you apply for the next year as quickly as you can.
WHAT GPA DO YOU HAVE TO HAVE TO GET INTO PA SCHOOL?
The average PA student has a GPA of 3.5 to 3.6. Many top schools require a GPA that ranges from 3.0 to 4.0. There are other factors that come into play, but almost all school programs have a GPA minimum. You want to keep your GPA as high as you can. GPA requirements do vary depending on the school/program, your top choice may have a higher GPA requirement compared to other PA programs. Just keep that in mind.
CAN I GET INTO A PA PROGRAM WITH A LOW GPA?
GPA is the best predictor of how you will perform in PA programs. Many schools apply a lot of weight to your GPA. You may not feel your GPA accurately reflects your academic potential, you're not alone in that. Many people feel the same way. If you have a lower GPA it doesn't automatically mean you won't get into a program. There are things you can do to improve your chances.
RETAKE COURSES
Retaking courses can be beneficial for some. It is recommended you take upper-level science courses to boost your GPA rather than re-taking old courses. However, if you failed courses or have a GPA that didn't reach 3.0, then it's a good idea to retake the courses you've struggled in.
MAKE YOUR EXPERIENCE STAND OUT IN INTERVIEWS
There are other factors that are just as important as your GPA, patient care experience (PCE) and healthcare experience (HCE) are heavily considered as well. Work to gain as much PCE experience as possible where you can show off your clinical skills but also show you can work well with a healthcare team, the same goes for HCE experience. HCE is considered indirect patient care. You can find more HCE and PCE information below.
PREPARE FOR YOUR PA SCHOOL INTERVIEW
The interview is another one of the most difficult parts of the PA school process. Use this time leading up to your interview to get prepared. You want to be sure that you'll impress your future PA school administrators! When completing your PA school interview you want to make sure that you keep a level head and share personal points and experiences. You want to make sure you practice, something you may want to consider doing is mock interviews. A mock interview is an emulation of an interview for training purposes, get a friend or family member to help! They are a great way to prepare for the interview process and gain experience. Lastly, you want to make sure you're prepared for the interview at all times. Top schools don't give much notice for interviews, and interview dates are almost always non-negotiable.
KEEP UP YOUR HCE/PCE HOURS
Keeping up your HCE/PCE hours serves to enhance your next application and also reignites your passion for PA school.
Continue to network and look for future opportunities. Gather valuable recommendation letters, which may make the difference between success and failure at your next application.
MAKE A PLAN
You can consider eliciting assistance from your trusted friends or family to better understand your application strengths and weaknesses.
For instance, if your application's primary cause of getting rejected was poor interview skills, you should concentrate on improving them. Concentrate on improving your application, and if you need to retake the GRE, then schedule a retest.
Give each step in your plan a deadline and stick to them. If you feel your next application needs more time, plan for it in the long-term, and do not be tempted to hurry it through.
STUDY MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY
Most PA schools require students to have Medical Terminology as a prerequisite, while others offer the course during the first semester.
However, it doesn’t matter which type of school you are applying to; studying Medical Terminology will benefit you by giving you a head start and set you up for success when PA school begins.
You’ll also have a better understanding of patient encounters and ask more pertinent and questions to your lecturers.
GET HELP FROM A PA RESOURCE
For some people, it is easy to get through rejection without requiring much assistance. However, some people need professional assistance to deal with rejections.
Consider getting an expert's opinion to enhance your opportunities of getting through on your next attempt. A PA admissions coach or trusted advisor has experience in these programs and can identify your application's weak links.
They will also give you invaluable advice and a unique perspective of how a PA admissions committee makes decisions on applications.
These advisers have experience and can direct you toward the best PA program or programs to apply to, where you are likely to qualify, and even help you with the psychological and emotional issues surrounding the application process to overcome your weaknesses.
You may have had a hard time applying the first time but now you're even more prepared for what PA programs and interviews have to throw at you. Good luck!
