Leslie Mean is a 23-year-old single white female who presents to the PA school admissions committee on her second attempt to get into PA school.
She has a 3.68 overall GPA and a 3.61 science GPA. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in biology. She never sat for the GRE, because most PA programs stopped requiring it.
She has two years of hands-on clinical experience working as a CNA and a long history of volunteer work, which exemplifies her desire to help her community.
She is kind and considerate and has reference letters that demonstrate her maturity and strong interpersonal skills.
She was accepted into PA school on her second attempt.
Who is Leslie, and why did she get into PA School?
When asking the question: What do I need to do to get into PA school? You would be smart to talk to Leslie.
Leslie is a hypothetical PA school applicant who went on to become a PA school student, an entirely average PA school student.
She also embodies what PA schools across the country are looking for at this very moment.
How do I know this?
Because PAEA publishes the numbers, and I went and got them. 35,280 people applied to PA school in the 2025–2026 cycle — the most ever. In the cycle before that, 34,625 applied and 13,195 matriculated. Those figures, and the profile of the students who got in, come straight out of PAEA's CASPA applicant and matriculation data files.
So when I tell you what the average admitted student looks like, I am not describing a stereotype. I am describing 13,195 real people who started PA school in the most recent class PAEA has counted.
As much as I like to talk about not being average and differentiating yourself from the pack, it's nice to know what average is. Average provides a baseline by which you can measure your progress, set goals, and develop an application timeline.
Does this mean you have to be just like Leslie to get into PA school?
Absolutely not, first, factors such as race, age, ethnicity, etc., are of no importance, and you certainly don't have to be female to get into PA school (I am living proof).
But it is safe to assume that most schools are looking to keep their graduation and certifying exam pass rates high. They have an incentive to take fewer risks, and because of this, anything below average is considered a risk.
Thus, take a good look at Leslie and focus on factors that you can control to differentiate yourself, like your academic standing, your experience, your volunteer activities, your references, and your essay.
If you set the bar at Leslie and end up being a Mother Theresa, I am fairly sure you will be accepted into PA school, although I have no data on religious preference and PA school acceptance rates. 🙂
What are your chances of getting into PA school?
- 35,280 people applied to PA school in the 2025–2026 cycle — up from 30,049 four cycles earlier. The applicant pool has grown every single year.
- In the last cycle with complete numbers on both sides, 34,625 applied and 13,195 started PA school — 38.1%. Careful with that figure: it is matriculants divided by applicants, not an acceptance rate, and PAEA does not publish it as one. I am doing that arithmetic for you.
- From a program's side of the desk it looks nothing like 38%. Applicants apply to an average of 8.45 programs each — roughly 292,000 applications chasing about 13,200 seats, or 22 applications for every single seat.
- Both pictures are true, and confusing them is the most common mistake I see pre-PAs make. You are not applying once. You are applying eight times. That is the whole reason your personal odds look so much better than any one program's.
- Matriculating students applied to a median of 8 programs and finished the cycle with a median of 1 acceptance. One yes is all you need.
- 29% of this year's applicants were re-applicants, up from 24% four cycles ago. Nearly three in ten people in the pool got told no before and came back anyway. If that is you this year, read that sentence twice.
So, what does an average PA school applicant who is admitted to PA school (i.e., student) look like?
Let's take a look:
In studies, the five most influential noncognitive factors known to have an effect on PA school admissions are faculty interactions, career motivation, knowledge of the PA profession, maturity, and professionalism. - Journal of Physician Assistant EducationClick To Tweet→ The average PA school student is 23 — and getting younger
- The median age of a matriculating PA student is 23, and the average is 23.71.
- 82.9% of matriculants are between 20 and 25. The single biggest misconception about PA school is that it is full of second-career thirty-somethings. It is not.
- But the range runs from 18 to 68. Read that again if you are a career-changer convinced you have aged out. Somebody started PA school at 68.
- The class is getting younger, fast. The average matriculant age has dropped from 25.67 to 23.71 in four cycles — nearly two full years. Pre-PAs are figuring this out earlier and applying sooner.
| Age at matriculation | Matriculants | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 19 | 43 | 0.3% |
| 20–25 | 10,932 | 82.9% |
| 26–30 | 1,517 | 11.5% |
| 31–35 | 378 | 2.9% |
| 36–40 | 150 | 1.1% |
| 41–45 | 68 | 0.5% |
| 46 and older | 38 | 0.3% |
| Did not report | 69 | 0.5% |
Median 23 · average 23.71 · range 18 to 68. Source: PAEA CASPA matriculation data, 2024–2025 cycle (n = 13,195).
→ Four out of five PA students are women
The PA profession skews heavily female, and the gap is widening. 81.45% of matriculating students are women, up from 77.27% four cycles ago.
- Female: 81.45% (10,747 students)
- Male: 18.48% (2,439 students)
- Declined to state: 0.07%
| Cycle | Female | Male |
|---|---|---|
| 2024–2025 | 81.45% | 18.48% |
| 2023–2024 | 80.33% | 19.56% |
| 2022–2023 | 78.52% | 21.39% |
| 2021–2022 | 78.30% | 21.39% |
| 2020–2021 | 77.27% | 22.52% |
Source: PAEA CASPA matriculation data (n = 13,195 in the most recent cycle).
So yes — the majority of your future classmates will be women, and more so every year. That mirrors healthcare broadly, where women make up most of the workforce.
I want to be careful here, because this is a place where people love to speculate. The data reports who matriculates. It does not report why. I have seen it claimed that women are "more likely to be accepted" than men — there is nothing behind that, so I am not repeating it.
If you are a man reading this and wondering whether you belong in a class that is four-fifths women: you do. I am living proof, and so are 2,439 of the students who started last year.
→ Two out of three admitted students hold a Bachelor of Science
Almost everyone who starts PA school already holds a bachelor's degree, and it is usually a BS. A small but real slice arrives with a master's already finished.
| Degree held at matriculation | Matriculants | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Bachelor of Science | 8,730 | 66.2% |
| Bachelor of Arts | 1,629 | 12.3% |
| Master of Science | 323 | 2.4% |
| Other bachelor’s | 131 | 1.0% |
| Bachelor of Arts and Science | 86 | 0.7% |
| Master of Public Health | 69 | 0.5% |
| Bachelor of Science in Education | 50 | 0.4% |
| Master of Arts | 46 | 0.3% |
| Bachelor of Applied Science | 35 | 0.3% |
| Bachelor of Science in Nursing | 33 | 0.3% |
Source: PAEA CASPA matriculation data, 2024–2025 cycle. Top 10 degrees only, so this does not account for every degree held by all 13,195 matriculants.
→ What do admitted PA students major in?
Biology dominates, but not as completely as people assume. Here are the ten most common majors among students who actually got a seat.
| Undergraduate major | Matriculants | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Biology | 3,602 | 27.3% |
| Health science | 1,503 | 11.4% |
| Psychology | 936 | 7.1% |
| Biological sciences | 762 | 5.8% |
| Biomedical science | 750 | 5.7% |
| Exercise science | 722 | 5.5% |
| Kinesiology | 604 | 4.6% |
| Neuroscience | 538 | 4.1% |
| Public health | 502 | 3.8% |
| Human biology | 378 | 2.9% |
Source: PAEA CASPA matriculation data, 2024–2025 cycle (n = 13,195). Top 10 majors only, so this does not capture every major.
Group the biology-flavored majors together — biology, biological sciences, biomedical science, human biology — and they account for about 42% of the entering class. That makes sense, because a bio degree quietly knocks out most of your prerequisites along the way.
But look at the rest of that list. Psychology is the third most common major in the country. Exercise science, kinesiology, public health, neuroscience. There is no such thing as a "PA major." Programs care that you finished the prerequisites and did well in them. They do not care what your diploma says.
I have said this for twenty years and I will keep saying it: major in something you will actually work hard at. A 3.8 in a subject you love beats a 3.1 in biology you slogged through, every time.
Here are some tips on how to choose the best undergraduate major for PA school.
→ Matriculating PA students had a median of 3,200 patient contact hours
PA school applicants come to the table with a variety of medical experiences, especially if they are strong applicants.
This is the single most misunderstood number in PA admissions, so slow down here. The hours a program requires and the hours the people who actually get in have are two completely different numbers.
| The two numbers people confuse | Hours |
|---|---|
| What programs require — median minimum direct patient care | 500 hours |
| What matriculants actually had — median direct patient contact | 3,200 hours |
Requirement: PAEA Curriculum Report 6 (2021–22); 67.4% of programs required direct patient care, median minimum 500 hours, range 80–2,500. Matriculant hours: PAEA Student Report 6, Table 53.
Meeting the minimum makes you eligible. It does not make you competitive. If a program says 500 and you show up with 500, you are bringing about a sixth of what the median admitted student brought. Aim for 2,000 hours as a floor, and 3,000+ if you can get them.
Experience in one of the following areas is common:
- Nursing
- Registered Nurse (RN)
- Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN)
- Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA)
- Allied Health
- Physical Therapist
- Occupational Therapist
- Registered Radiologic Technologist
- Athletic Trainer
- Emergency Services
- Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)
- Paramedic
- Emergency Room Technician
- Miscellaneous
-
- Phlebotomist (that was me!)
- Medical Researcher
- Medical Volunteer
-
Medical Experience Statistics for PA School Applicants
96.1% of admitted students had been employed in a healthcare field before PA school. The most commonly reported roles were medical assistant (34.8%), nursing assistant (33.0%), scribe (21.4%), EMT/paramedic (17.8%) and home health aide (10.3%). Students could pick more than one, which is why the column below adds to well over 100% — most people did two or three of these jobs on the way in.
| Health Care Employment Prior to PA School | Percent |
| Medical assistant | 34.8% |
| Nursing assistant | 33.0% |
| Scribe | 21.4% |
| EMT/Paramedic | 17.8% |
| Home health aide | 10.3% |
| Emergency room technician | 8.8% |
| Phlebotomist | 7.8% |
| Clinical research coordinator/assistant | 7.0% |
| Physical therapy assistant | 5.5% |
| Pharmacy technician | 4.0% |
| Medical reception/records | 3.8% |
| Medical technician | 3.7% |
| Ophthalmic technician/assistant | 3.2% |
| Surgical technician/assistant | 2.8% |
| Athletic trainer | 2.7% |
| Healthcare administrator | 2.7% |
| Medical lab technician | 2.3% |
| Dental assistant/hygienist | 1.3% |
| Radiologic technologist | 1.1% |
| Health services researcher | 1.0% |
| Source: PAEA Student Report 6, Table 52 (n = 3,117). Students could select more than one role, so these do not sum to 100%. |
How many patient contact hours do PA students actually have?
Here is the full spread of direct patient contact hours among students who started PA school in 2022. Notice how enormous the range is — the top 10% arrived with nearly ten thousand hours, while the bottom 10% got in with 840.
| Direct patient contact hours | Hours |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile | 840 |
| 25th percentile | 1,750 |
| Median | 3,200 |
| 75th percentile | 5,600 |
| 90th percentile | 9,600 |
| Mean | 4,994 |
Student self-reported hours, derived from weeks worked × hours per week — which is why the mean (4,994) runs far above the median. A handful of second-career nurses and paramedics with 20,000+ hours drag the average up. The median is the number to plan against.
Admissions directors Q&A: What are some of the points that are extremely impressive to you in the application?
Commitment to community, overcoming adversity, a WELL written narrative, great letters of reference from someone that REALLY knows you, ability to juggle many responsibilities simultaneously, and activities that show a particular passion for something are what we look for in a PA school applicant - Penn State University PA ProgramClick To Tweet→ Do you still need to take the GRE for PA school?
For most applicants in 2026, no — and this is the biggest change in PA admissions since I first wrote this post.
The last time PAEA formally counted, reviewing program websites in 2021–22, 52.2% of PA programs required the GRE. Today it is a minority requirement. Our own running list of PA schools that don't require the GRE puts it at 92 of 338 programs (about 27%) as of July 2026, and an independent prerequisite tracker counted 86 of 318 (27.0%) in April 2026. Two people counting separately landed in the same place.
| Share of PA programs requiring the GRE | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 2021–22 — PAEA Curriculum Report 6 | 52.2% |
| July 2026 — program-by-program trackers | about 27%, or roughly 1 in 4 |
The 2021–22 figure is PAEA's own count. The 2026 figure comes from program-by-program trackers, not PAEA, which has not published an update — I am labeling it that way rather than dressing it up as official. Note too that "requires" and "accepts" are different things: another ~70 programs will look at a GRE score if you have one but do not ask for it.
So what does this mean for you? It means the GRE is now a targeting decision, not a rite of passage. Build your program list first, then find out whether anyone on it wants a score. Plenty of applicants never take it.
If you do need one: among the programs that published a GRE expectation in PAEA's last count, the average total was about 307 — roughly 153 verbal, 152 quantitative, and 4.1 on analytical writing. A composite around 300 is workable, and above 310 is genuinely strong.
A note on what I am not telling you. You will find tables all over the internet listing "mean GRE scores of matriculated PA students," often down to a decimal. PAEA's student survey does not ask matriculants for their GRE scores at all — the only GRE data in it is how much people spent on prep books. Any national matriculant GRE average you see, including the one that used to sit in this post, is not coming from where it claims to.
| Admission exam | Share of programs requiring it (2021–22) |
|---|---|
| TOEFL (international applicants only) | 97.0% |
| GRE | 52.2% then; about 27% in 2026 |
| CASPer | 17.2% |
| PA-CAT | 5.6% |
| MCAT | 4.9% |
Source: PAEA Curriculum Report 6 (February 2023; review of 273 accredited program websites, October 2021–February 2022, of which 268 had usable admissions data). This is the most recent national count PAEA has published.
Percentiles matter more than raw scores. Every GRE administration differs slightly in difficulty, which is exactly why the percentile exists. If your score sits above the 50th percentile, treat it as competitive and put your energy somewhere it will move the needle more — like your hours, your grades, and your personal statement.
→ What GPA do you need for PA school?
Students who got into PA school last cycle had a 3.68 cumulative undergraduate GPA and a 3.61 science GPA. Both have climbed every year for four straight cycles.
But here is the number almost nobody publishes, and it is the most useful one on this page. Compare the people who applied with the people who got in, in the same cycle:
| GPA, 2024–2025 cycle | Everyone who applied | Everyone who got in | The gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cumulative undergraduate | 3.47 | 3.68 | +0.21 |
| Science | 3.36 | 3.61 | +0.25 |
The science gap is bigger than the overall gap. That is the whole ballgame. Admissions committees are not just reading your cumulative number — they are pulling out your science coursework and reading that. A quarter of a grade point is the difference between the average applicant and the average admit.
| Cycle | Applicant GPA (cum. undergrad) | Matriculant GPA (cum. undergrad) | Matriculant science GPA |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024–2025 | 3.47 | 3.68 | 3.61 |
| 2023–2024 | 3.47 | 3.67 | 3.60 |
| 2022–2023 | 3.45 | 3.64 | 3.57 |
| 2021–2022 | 3.43 | 3.62 | 3.55 |
Source: PAEA CASPA applicant and matriculation data files. Applicant GPAs for the 2025–2026 cycle are already in: 3.48 cumulative undergraduate, 3.37 science — the pool keeps getting stronger.
| What programs set as a minimum | Value |
|---|---|
| Median minimum overall GPA (97.4% of programs state one) | 3.0 |
| Range of stated overall minimums | 2.5 – 3.5 |
| Median minimum prerequisite GPA (94.1% state one) | 3.0 |
| Range of stated prerequisite minimums | 2.0 – 3.5 |
Source: PAEA Curriculum Report 6. A 3.0 gets your file read. A 3.68 gets you admitted. If you are sitting below the median right now, the fix is an upward trend and a strong recent science block — not despair. Programs read the trajectory, not just the number.
→ What is the racial and ethnic makeup of PA students?
Most matriculating PA students are white — but that is changing faster than almost anyone realizes.
White matriculants have fallen from 66.8% to 59.1% in four cycles. Every other group grew. This is one of the fastest demographic shifts in health professions education right now, and it is happening quietly.
| Race / ethnicity | Matriculants | 2024–2025 | 2020–2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 7,801 | 59.1% | 66.8% |
| Asian | 1,998 | 15.1% | 12.3% |
| Hispanic | 1,734 | 13.1% | 11.0% |
| Black or African American | 690 | 5.2% | 4.5% |
| Two or more races | 576 | 4.4% | 3.2% |
| American Indian | 23 | 0.2% | 0.2% |
| Native Hawaiian | 8 | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| Did not report | 365 | 2.8% | 1.9% |
Source: PAEA CASPA matriculation data, 2024–2025 cycle (n = 13,195). Unlike PAEA's student survey, these categories are mutually exclusive and sum to 100%.
The direction of travel is genuinely encouraging. PAEA also reports that applicants from groups underrepresented in medicine grew by about 35% over the same stretch, rising from 21.4% to 25.5% of all applicants. That matters — patients do better when the people caring for them reflect the communities they come from.
→ How many PA programs should you apply to?
- Matriculating students applied to a median of 8 programs (mean 8.6).
- They received a median of 1 acceptance (mean 1.8). Most people who get in, get in once.
- Across the whole applicant pool the average is 8.45 programs — so eight is genuinely the national habit, not a rule of thumb somebody made up.
My honest advice: eight to twelve well-chosen programs, where "well-chosen" means you actually meet the prerequisites and the mission fits you. Firing off twenty applications to schools whose minimum coursework you have not finished is expensive and does nothing. Build your list first, then count it.
→ Pucker up, baby. Most PA students are single!
80% of matriculating students are single (including engaged), and 20% are partnered.
91.4% have no legal dependents. For the 8.6% who do, the average is two dependents, with a maximum of five. If you are applying with kids at home, you are not alone, and you are not disqualified — roughly one in twelve of your classmates is doing exactly the same thing.
| Legal dependents | Percentage of matriculants |
|---|---|
| Without dependents | 91.4% |
| With dependents | 8.6% |
→ Where do PA students grow up?
Not where you would guess. Six in ten matriculants grew up in a town or small city of fewer than 50,000 people, and only 5.6% came from a metro area of over a million. PA education has deep small-town roots, and a lot of programs are actively looking for students who intend to go back.
| Size of the community where the student spent most of their life | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Isolated rural (under 2,500) | 8.0% |
| Small town (2,500–9,999) | 22.6% |
| Large town (10,000–49,999) | 30.1% |
| Mid-size city (50,000–99,999) | 18.1% |
| Large city (100,000–1 million) | 15.6% |
| Urban (over 1 million) | 5.6% |
→ Do you need money and connections to get into PA school?
I get some version of this question constantly: everyone applying seems to come from a medical family with money, and mine doesn't. The data says otherwise, and it is not close.
CASPA asks every applicant a set of questions about disadvantaged background. Here is how the students who got in answered them.
| Among students who started PA school last year… | Matriculants | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Went to a high school where many students got free or reduced-price lunch | 4,774 | 36.2% |
| Come from a Health Professional Shortage Area or Medically Underserved Area | 2,681 | 20.3% |
| Come from a family that receives public assistance | 2,021 | 15.3% |
| Went to a high school where few seniors earned a diploma | 448 | 3.4% |
| Took part in a Health Careers Opportunity Program | 148 | 1.1% |
Source: PAEA CASPA matriculation data, 2024–2025 cycle (n = 13,195). Students could answer yes to more than one.
More than one in three admitted PA students came from a high school where hunger was common enough to be measured. One in five came from a place without enough clinicians. Those students got in. Read that again if you have been quietly wondering whether people like you get into PA school.
And here is the part I care about most: those are exactly the PAs the country needs. Students who come from underserved places are far more likely to go back and practice in them. If that is your story, it is not a weakness in your application. It is the strongest thing you bring.
Admissions directors Q&A: Who is the perfect PA school applicant?
Our program will look to utilize a holistic approach to admissions. We look at academic success, life experiences, and community activities to evaluate all candidates. There is no one mold to fit the PA profession. However, PAs need strong communication skills, leadership, grit, and a willingness to support the community - Michigan State University PA ProgramClick To Tweet Students need to be well organized, know how to manage their time and outside influences, and have a genuine desire to help and care for people. PA school is rigorous, so we recommend honest conversations with family and friends ahead of your start. - CWRU PA ProgramClick To Tweet→ PA school students don't smoke pot and are not drug dealers or part of the Italian Mafia
Assume yes to both. Every PA program I am aware of requires a criminal background check, and the large majority require drug screening before you can start clinical rotations — hospitals demand it of the program, so the program demands it of you.
I am giving you that as my read of the landscape rather than a statistic, because the percentages that used to sit here were attributed to a PAEA student report that does not measure this at all. Check the program's own admissions page — that is the only source that binds them.
If you have something in your history, disclose it early and honestly. I have watched applicants with old convictions get into PA school. I have also watched applicants get pulled from a class over something small they tried to hide. The offense is almost never the thing that ends it. The nondisclosure is.
Some Important Points
It's Not Rocket Science: It is important that a candidate demonstrates reasonable aptitude in the hard sciences such as anatomy, physiology, chemistry, and biology. It is more likely that the committee may overlook a grade of C in U.S History or Spanish I. They will be less tolerant of a marginal grade in the sciences.
Show compassion: Your GPA is stellar, and you've amassed an impressive amount of medical work experience in the little spare time you have while keeping your grades pristine, but you still get that dreaded rejection letter. Why?
You didn't do enough volunteer work. Volunteering exemplifies your desire to help your fellow man—the attribute identified by schools as one of the most integral to becoming a successful PA.
Students who have had experience in working with underserved populations, rural or diverse populations, performing volunteer service or disaster relief, or other experiences that illustrate a drive and compassion for others often stand out to the admissions committee!
The view from the top isn't that crowded
It's an easy race to the bottom, so set your sights on the top.
People deflate when they read that only about a third of applicants get in each year. I think that is exactly backwards. Being in the top third of any field is not nearly as hard as it sounds — because most of the competition is not doing the work you just did by reading this far.
You have just read the whole thing. You know what the median actually is on hours, on GPA, on how many programs to apply to — and you know which "statistics" floating around the internet are made up. That already puts you ahead of most of the people you are competing with.
If you aim high, you will be competing with a much smaller minority, and your odds of getting an acceptance letter will increase dramatically. It also helps if you apply to 12 programs. 😉
What is new for the 2026–2027 CASPA cycle
- The cycle opened April 30, 2026 and closes April 1, 2027.
- The COVID-19 impact essay is gone. In its place is a new situational question asking how future PAs should use emerging technology — AI, telemedicine, wearables — while keeping care patient-centered.
- There is now an AI attestation. You confirm the application is your own work. Write your own essay. I mean it.
- Fees are $185 for the first program and $65 for each additional one. Fee waivers are available at or below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines, cover your first two programs, are first-come first-served, and the submission window is now 21 days.
- There are 330 ARC-PA accredited PA programs as of May 2026, and eight more were granted provisional accreditation at the April 2026 meeting. The number of places to apply keeps growing.
Sources — so you can check my work:
- Applicant counts, applicant GPAs and re-applicant share: PAEA CASPA Applicant Trend Numbers, cycles 2021–2026 (posted May 2026). This is where the 35,280 applicants for 2025–2026 comes from.
- Matriculant counts, GPA, science GPA, age, gender, race, majors, degrees and disadvantaged-background data: PAEA CASPA Matriculation Data, 2020–2025 (posted March 2026), covering the 2024–2025 entering class (n = 13,195).
- Programs per applicant and URiM growth: PAEA, "PA Program Applications Show Growth, Persistence."
- Admission exams, minimum GPAs and minimum patient-care hours: PAEA Curriculum Report 6, a review of 273 accredited program websites.
- Patient contact hours, prior healthcare roles, programs applied to, marital status, dependents and where students grew up: PAEA By the Numbers: Student Report 6, PAEA's most recent national student survey. CASPA's data files do not measure these, so this is the only national source for them.
- Accredited program counts: ARC-PA, Currently Accredited Programs.
- Cycle dates, fees and application changes: PAEA 2026–2027 CASPA Applicant Guide.
Where a number is my own arithmetic on PAEA's figures rather than something PAEA publishes directly — the 38.1% matriculation rate, the 22-applications-per-seat figure — I say so in the text. Where a number simply does not exist, I say that too instead of filling the gap. Numbers on this page were last verified in July 2026.
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I am sorry for some of the capitalized words, i have no idea why it is showing like that.
Hello Stephen,
I am 37yrs old, and i am a RRT-ACCS (REGISTERED respiratory therapist-Adult critical care specialist)for over 2 years, mainly working at trauma and neuro ICUs, with a overall gpa 3.67 and so far my science gpa is 4.0 (STILL more classes to take) i
am currently starting my bachelor’s in Cardiopulmonary science, but my CONCERN is the gre exam, do you have tips regarding the GRE?
I have found a bunch that don’t require GRE, if you are afraid to take it. Search PAEA’s program tool.
Hi Stephen,
I currently work for a very big medical group in the state of California as a certified medical assistant. I have been looking into pa schools now for awhile. a lot of the physicians I work for are telling me I really need to apply to pa school. so here I am, late twenties setting out on this “adventure”.
So….my question is… they are saying that it does not matter where I get my bachelors degree from that what is more looked at is the gpa of the sciences and so on. Would getting a bachelors degree from say one of the online schools in health care management be a waste of my time? (example: University of phoenix) and doing my sciences at the junior college here (which is a very highly rated one). I have been taking pre recs at this college to transfer to a state school to get my bachelors degree, but it is taking forever, so I was looking at other options.
I don’t want to waste my time if my application to pa school with a bachelors degree from one of the online schools would be totally disregarded. what is your take on this? have you heard of people doing this? a pa I work with now suggested I do this and I have been looking into it, but a little confused if this would work or not.
hopefully you have some insight.
thanks!
Megan
I am almost 33 y.o. and SPeNt the last two years doing preRequisites while wOrking as a sCribe in the ED. I transferred to a 4 year University from a community college Two QUARTERS ago to earn upper diviSioN hard science credits which some schools state they Prefer. I gOt a B in my first term of gen chem and just Got A C in the second 🙁 My GPA was a 3.7 before these two chem courses. i worked my tail feather off and Even Hired a private tutor. General chem is not a strength of mine.
I Earned a masters degree in COUNSELING Psychology And worked A licensed PROFESSIONAL counselor for 8 Years beFore several events lead to my decision to choose hands on medicine as a pa. i have a ton of HCE (not to mention some very RicH lIfe experience and people skills) From that work as well as profCiency with medical terminokogy and Thorough Peek into EMERGENCY medicine from scribing.
I am Owning that im broke and exhausted after two years of working and putting myseLf through school. My question is: should I apply To start in 2018?
Hello,
I am a college senior with a crappy gPa. Im in my last two semesters trying to get my GPA to a 3.0 or 3.1. My plan is to finish my prerequsites in a community college and continue to get My gpa up. I really want to go to pa school but it seems like all the odds are against me after readIng this post. Im taking a clinical assistAnt class in the summer to start hours. What can you suggest to me? HOnestly. I want ti apply by age 24-25 i am curreNtly 22.
Im 24/25 myself tring to get my gpa to 3.5. I was told not to rush. Get iT as high as you can. Good luck- mm
My overall gpa so far is 3.4. I haven’t started my science classes yet. I’m worried about my few Fs,d, and c, I received when I was at my previous school. Will I be turned down because of those grades? I started over and I now have a gpa of 3.4 hopefully a 3.5 in Jr. year. I also started off a little rough with a 3.1 between freshman and sophomore year. I had decided to take things slow. Now and to graduate in 5.5 years instead of 4.
Hi stephen~
I was a science student when I was in high school. But I went to law school in my country and now BL degree. But I REALLY , Also my GPA is 4.0,. But I really want to go to PA program . Is there any chance for applicants as law background like me ? I heard something called premed study for 1 year , than I would be able to get in. But I’m not sure…….
Hello,
I graduated with a BSA in Biology in December with a 3.2 GPA at UT Austin. I got a 4.0 GPA my first year and then started to focus more on organizations and volunteering work. For two semester, I dropped 4 classes total due to a personal reason but not because the courses were difficult. Two of those classes were retaken the next semester and made As and Bs on those. My grades have dropped since freshman year but only after graduating I truly feel more motivated to become a PA, which in hindsight wish that I worked harder during the later years of college. I have been working as a traveling medical assistant/scribe for 10 months now (full time for 3 months during summer, and part time (20 – 29 hours a week during school)) at a geriatric psychiatry office. I go to different nursing homes working side by side with a CNS/APRN. I do not have much PCE but have learned a lot from interviewing patients myself in the subjective section of the SOAP notes (from constitutional questions and down i.e. dysuria, pain, energy lvl, etc) as well as giving mental state exams. I would like to apply this April but I feel like I am not prepared. I would like to work in a different field to obtain those PCE hours as a medical assistant in derm (which actually gives more PCE as a MA than other fields) or take classes to become an EMT-B. I am planning on working full time here until I find a better job and my manager will allow me to work side by side with a PA as well. I will be getting rec letters from a PA, a CNS/APRN who tried so hard to convince me to become a NP/APRN/CNS but have failed, and an MD.
As someone with a lower GPA and definite red flags with dropped classes, I am naturally keeping my options open on other careers. My questions are:
1) Would someone in my case with 4 dropped classes and a lower GPA eventually become a PA if I work on getting medical volunteer hours, more PCE, and etc?
2) Is there a job that you can recommend for me to become before PA school to get those PCE hours? I always hear about EMTs but most private companies in Texas don’t allow 911 calls, and if you do work for a private company, I hear that I would mostly do patient transports and a lot of waiting.
3) As someone who does not like desk jobs (I’m very interested in surgery and will be shadowing a neurosurgery PA soon), is there any certain specialty you can recommend to me? If I decide to change my career plan but would like to stay in the medical field, are there any medical professions you can recommend to me?
Thank you so much for your time and any input will be appreciated
Hello Sir. I have a quick question for you. I am a 23 year old junior at the University of Texas majoring in exercise science. my current resume would like like this
-4.0 GPA “i have taken ALL of the current prerequisites except for Genetics as now Texas PA schools added it in for 2018.
-Member of the Golden Key International Honors Society
-Student instructor employed by the University for Anatomy and Physiology II. [ I excel at A&P and love teaching it]
-Elite Medical Scribe at a major hospital in Dallas Texas. [currently have only 300hrs but by the time i apply to PA school next year i will have over 1600]
-Former National Bodybuilder and personal trainer [Back when i didn’t go to college but took 2 year off]
– I have some amazing personal relationships with about 3 of the ER docs i scribe for who are going to write recommendations for me when its time. They all already joke with me saying “i will write recommendations for you to go to medical school and not PA school because you are to smart and ambitious to be a PA. You need to be a Dr.” NO offense to PA’s, they are only kidding.
My concern is that VOLUNTEER hours are lacking. I have almost none. I still have the next 1.5 years to get some, but it is hard. I am grinding through Ochem trying to keep a 4.0 “as well as other undergrad classes’, tutoring kids on campus and trying to find time to work my scribe hours which is already hard as i work the night shifts 9pm-7am. I was booked for a medical missions trips this summer because i truly wanted to go, but i cant now due to a summer class i have to take. any advice?
Am i looking like a good candidate for PA school ?
I am 23 year old white male.
Hi Stephen,
I don’t even know where to begin. I’m a 30 year old single white female with a crappy cGPA from my early twenties when I first attended a 4-year university (2.02, to be exact). Long story short, I wasn’t focused at that age and went to school for all the wrong reasons but I didn’t graduate. I am going back to college after basically a 7 year hiatus (I went to community college for approximately a year and a half between 2014-2016 where I earned a 4.0 gpa, but besides that…) to pursue a Bachelor of Applied Health Science. The good news is, my school offers an Academic Forgiveness program which wipes any previous grades clean from your transcript (aka resets your gpa) while retaining all credits earned from classes wherein a grade of C- or higher was achieved. That being said, I have a chance to essentially “start over,” and with that chance, I am hoping to kick @$$ and get into PA school (I’m actually a pretty good student when I apply myself). My father had relatively uncontrolled diabetes all my life and my mother suffered from Münchausen’s Syndrome so, needless to say, I’ve been hearing medical terminology since I was in diapers. I’ve taken my father to medical appointments at VA hospitals and clinics, I was administering insulin injections when I was a teenager, my mother had a colostomy bag, etc. I have a leg-up in the health care department.
Given the above information, do you think I stand a chance of getting accepted into PA school if I am able to earn above a 3.5 gpa in the rest of my undergraduate classes? I don’t know how CASPA would calculate my cumulative grade point average with the Academic Forgiveness policy on my transcript.
Secondly, I currently work as a Residential Assistant for adults with developmental disabilities and one of my job duties is administering medications. Does this count as PCE/HCE/either/both?
To be honest, any and all information to help me out is greatly appreciated. I’m a first generation college student from a poor, very uneducated family and even though I still have another 2+ years until I receive my Bachelors degree, if I stand even the slightest chance at a possible PA program acceptance, I want to work toward it. Thank you in advance and I’m very grateful you’ve created this website. I just stumbled upon it this evening so I have yet to read your blog posts and biography but I will. 🙂
I also want to mention that the University of Washington in Seattle is my dream school! <3 😀
Hello! I am thinking about getting certified as a medical assistant – would that count towards medical experience?
Thanks!
Hi Noelle,
The certification won’t but the work you do as a certified medical assistant definately will 🙂
Stephen
Hello Stephen,
My name is Rachelle. I am hoping to apply to programs this semester. Do you think I will get into programs with my stats? My worry is in my PCE hrs. I just don’t think I have enough. I want to add more but with 2 jobs, and 3 classes, I don’t think I can fit any more in. I would really like your opinion. Thank you!
Stats
DeAnza JC cGPA 3.21
SJSU cGPA 3.34 BS in Athletic Training, Minor in Nutrition.
Mission JC cGPA 4.0- Post bac
Pre -reqs= All done
Shadowing =
-8 hrs MD
-18 hrs PA
Volunteer=
-80 hrs Thailand (non medical)
-6 hrs Dr.’s office
-5 hrs rock and roll marathon
PCE =
-100 sport clinic
-365 Arthritis & ortho clinic
-740 (currently) Physical Therapy trainer
HCE=
-7,000+ At Residential Care home (duties include: assisting in ADL, administering medication, transportation, etc. )
Hi Rachelle,
Looks great to me! Of course there is never a “maximum” value to healthcare experience so the more the merrier. On paper everyone starts to look the same so look for ways to differentiate yourself and make your application stand out… This requires some creativity (especially now in the days of CASPA) but focus on the places where you can say hay look at me – i.e letter of reference and your personal statement. Look at the PA school mission statement and know it by heart, find the ones that resonate with your personal goals.
Stephen
Hello Stephen,
My name is Rachelle. I am hoping to apply to programs this semester. Do you think I will get into programs with my stats? My worry is in my PCE hrs. I just don’t think I have enough. I want to add more but with 2 jobs, and 3 classes, I don’t think I can fit any more in. I would really like your opinion. Thank you!
Stats
DeAnza JC cGPA 3.21
SJSU cGPA 3.34 BS in Athletic Training, Minor in Nutrition.
Mission JC cGPA 4.0- Post bac
Pre -reqs= All done
Shadowing =
-8 hrs MD
-18 hrs PA
Volunteer=
-80 hrs Thailand (non medical)
-6 hrs Dr.’s office
-5 hrs rock and roll marathon
PCE =
-100 sport clinic
-365 Arthritis & ortho clinic
-740 (currently) Physical Therapy trainer
HCE=
-7,000+ At Residential Care home (duties include: assisting in ADL, administering medication, transportation, etc. )
hi Stephen
I want to study in PA school but my age makes me worried
I will graduate at age 45 . do you think I have any chances to find a job at 45?
Hi Yasi,
I attended PA school with two students in their 50’s, three in their 40’s and several in their 30’s and now they are very happily employed… So the answer is yes 🙂
Stephen
Hi Stephen,
Do PA schools ever look at conduct records from undergrad? And how heavily is that taken into account?
Hi Jake,
Not that I have ever seen, but then again I guess anything is fair game in love, war and PA school admissions.
Stephen
Hey my question is regarding GPA requirements for PA program
My degree is in Liberal Arts recently graduated with 2.70 GPA. I have taken all the required courses to get into a PA program.
Where do I go from here. My GPA is very low for PA programs.
Thanks
Hi Stephen,
I am currently in my undergrad and I am wanting to get a head start on my hours. I do not really know how to go about this, do you have any advice on where to look for a job and how to get it along with what my job options would be?
Thank you!
Hi Ray,
Here is a post I wrote on the topic a while back https://www.thepalife.com/hce-paschool/
There are a lot of options, I worked for 3 years in the campus health clinic in various roles which was wonderful experience. I recommend combining this with volunteer opportunities with also abound.
There is no right or wrong answer here. It is simply about getting your hands “dirty” and finding all (and any) experience you can!
Stephen
Hello all,
I’ve frequented this page fairly often over the last few years and it has been a great for guidance along my journey in preparing for PA school. I am 27 years old I graduated from college 6 years ago with a BS in psychology with a concentration in biological psychology. My undergraduate GPA was 3.38. I wasn’t quite as focused or ambitious as a 20 year old college student. Since graduating I’ve been trying to figure out what I want to do with my life by working along several different career paths. I began working as a child mentor for children with behavioral issues right out of college. This work was only part time and it was hard to make a living off of even though I enjoyed it. I later worked full time as a microbiology lab technician for 3 years in a food testing lab. I realized that I missed being able to help people in a direct care setting so I became a CNA an now work full time in a county nursing home. My job is challenging but I love it more than anything I’ve done before. I became interested in becoming a PA after talking to a family friend about the career. I really enjoyed the level of autonomy and ability to switch specialities. I have been taking prerequistues required for most programs for the last 2 years and have earned a 3.7 gpa in those courses. I am finishing up a general chemistry 2 requirement this semester and had planned to begin applying this application cycle. I am discouraged because of my undergraduate GPA. I have about 1,000 hours as a CNA currently and will have about 2,000 by the time I finalize my applications. Part of me wants to wait another year and rack up more HCE before applying to make me stand out as a better candidate without wasting the time and money of applying but part of me also thinks that this is just fear holding me back and that I should apply this cycle. Any input from anyone would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Meghann
Hi Meghann,
There is a saying by Frederick Buchner it goes like this “search for the place where deep gladness and the worlds deep hunger meet”. It sounds to me like you have found that place… and I am pretty sure you are on the right career path.
As far as “when is the right time”, there is a lot of truth in the saying that it is never the right time. It is cliche’ but my wife pointed this out when we were trying to decide when to start a family. I was always making excuses – We need more money, we need more stability, we need a bigger house… etc. etc. but a lot of this was that I was just afraid. 9 months later we had our daughter and I am so glad I didn’t wait any longer. Both of our kids are growing up and and had I kept making excuses I would be a 60 year old with a newborn :-).
There really is never a “perfect” time and there are advantages of just applying. Personal growth happens when we take chances or try new things. If you don’t get in you will have gained valuable insight into the application process. If you do get in… well YEAHHHH!!
As long as you have crossed that 3.0 hurdle you have the GPA necessary to apply to most schools. I didn’t even have that when I applied and look… Like I have said on the blog I was about ready to throw my application in the trash when I decided to rewrite my essay and just send it anyway. Six months later I was in my first PA school lecture.
Life has a plan for you, my advice is to go for it this year and see what happens.
Stephen
I agree, and unnecessary.
Question:
What is your reason for switching? I am working towards going to PA school but I work as a medical assistant/scribe side by side with a CNS, so I was just wondering what your case is. Thank you for any input.
Not trying to be rude at all but do you think the way you spell your name is a factor? I’ve never met a Meghann, this type of spelling would make me question your parents/cousins IQ!
That was incredibly rude and unnecessary.
Truly rude and ignorant. Meghann is a Welsh name…and a character in the classic book “The Thorn Birds.” The minute you think you know everything, that’s all you will ever know.