Accepted!!

[u/Living_Bird_2058]

Hi everyone! It’s finally my turn to make a sankey, and I’m so excited! I found out this morning I got accepted into my dream PA program (OHSU), and I immediately signed the offer letter! I’m very proud of the effort I put into my application; I’ve been killing myself for 6 years to cultivate a great resume and prepare myself for PA school, and it feels amazing for it to pay off. I still have to finish one more prerequisite, but no biggie.

Here are my stats:

cGPA: 3.92
sGPA: 3.89
PCE: 2100- most as a MA in family medicine, but some as an EMT.
HCE: none

Volunteer work: 110, designed free sea kayaking program for local teenagers in my community

Shadowing: 120, half in ER in my city, half in rural town. I was lucky enough to be able to stay with the PA I was shadowing, so that was a plus.

Leadership: 1000, on the board for my ultimate frisbee team in college, designed concussion prevention and reduction program for the club sport program with the athletic trainers. Lead MA at my clinic, helped redesign EHR Messaging system and created handbook for the MA team

Teaching: 1600, worked as a TA for organic chemistry department all throughout college, was an instructor for Outward Bound and did a shit ton of field work

Research: 800, published public health research paper and worked as a research assistant in organic synthesis lab

Other notable things I did that I’m really passionate about is I worked/work as a Vaccine Coordinator for the federal Vaccines for Children program. I talked a lot about that during my applications.

To be honest, if I were to apply again I would be a little more discerning about where I chose to apply. The schools I was rejected from admittedly weren’t great fits; I applied because I wanted to live there, and not because I actually cared much about the school’s mission. The only program I actually truly loved was OHSU, so I’m ecstatic that I got in.

[u/irrelevantlament]

Great work! Also thanks for a fantastic write up. You seem to really have put in the work and earned your spot. Congratulations

[u/Living_Bird_2058 → u/irrelevantlament]

Thank you very much!

[u/HazeHype]

Wow you have some huge balls declining an interview invite. But your experience / resume looks pretty specific to what PA schools want from their applicants. I'm actually surprised you were rejected from 3 outright. 

[u/Living_Bird_2058 → u/HazeHype]

Honestly my PCE experience is a little atypical- I work as a MA in a clinic with some nurse practitioners and some naturopaths, so that probably has something to do with it. My job doesn’t have anything to do with naturopathic medicine, but I think it’s something that adcoms (reasonably) get suspicious with

[u/moli-meli]

Congrats! OHSU is my top program as well- I have an interview coming up with their program actually ☺️

[u/Living_Bird_2058 → u/moli-meli]

That’s fantastic! The faculty and staff are so nice, you’ll have a lovely time

[u/moli-meli → u/Living_Bird_2058]

That’s super reassuring, thank you!

[u/AishMagaish]

Wow, you have really impressive stats and experience! I'm surprised any school would reject you. Congratulations!

[u/nagnq]

congrats 🥳

[u/d4ze2]

Congrats future PA 👏

[u/okayperformance121]

congrats!!

[u/Hefty_Cup6344]

You were an outstanding candidate. Congrats! Good luck and success moving forward.

I agree that fit is critical and lack of fit shows up in your secondary applications and during interviews. I could have saved myself some money by simply applying to programs that did their rotations at larger hospitals or regional ones. I was also looking to do more specialized rotations than the required ones. It has been my experience that those offerings are found at programs colocated with MD/DO programs. Of course that also increased the level of competition for a seat.