Undergraduate education: Rehabilitation Science at the University of Pittsburgh
Overall GPA: 3.5
Science GPA: 3.36
GRE: 307 (156 verbal and 151 quant)
Total PCE hours: 2,000 - I did a lot of jobs: the bulk of my hours was as a patient care technician on a trauma and toxicology unit but I was also a sitter, personal care assistant for a man with quadriplegia, worked as a NA at a nursing home, and attended a medical mission trip in Honduras through Global Brigades.
Total HCE hours: 920 - volunteering in a hospital and studying comparative healthcare abroad
Shadowing hours: 70 - I shadowed 7 different specialties which gave me a lot to talk about!
Volunteer hours: 204
LORs: 1. Study Abroad Professor 2. Professor I did research with who is also a PA 3. Peds PA 4. Clinician at work
How many times did you apply?: 2
Age: 23
Gender: Female
Why PA? I think the PA profession is really valuable in its ability to help close the gap with physician shortages and provide excellent, competent care to underserved areas. Aside from that - I love the collaborative nature of the profession while still being able to remain relatively autonomous! I also love that you never have to remain in one specialty your whole life and can explore so many areas of medicine.
How many programs did you apply to? 8
How many programs did you interview with and what were the outcomes? 3- 1 immediate acceptance (University of Pittsburgh) and two waitlists that turned into acceptance (Campbell University and Milligan College)
Where will you be attending? Campbell University
Anything you found surprising about interviews? I did a lot of research about each program that I interviewed at beforehand so that I wouldn’t be overwhelming surprised by anything. The only thing was that each interviewer truly knew nothing about me or my application.
Were there any helpful resources (books, websites, apps) you used to get through prerequisite courses, the application or interview process? Physician Assistant School Interview Guide by Savannah Perry and How to Ace the Physician Assistant School Interview by Andrew Rodican
Any other advice for other pre-PA students? Don’t be afraid to bug the programs you’re interested in! Don’t over do it but it’s okay to call them/email them to give them updates. They get thousands of applications, since I didn’t have a strong GPA I still wanted them to read my application because I knew I had a lot to offer in other areas. I ended up having to pitch myself to a program over the phone and that’s how I got an interview!
