Undergraduate education: Health and Wellness Promotion B.S.
Overall GPA: 3.86
Science GPA: 3.81
GRE: 308
Total HCE hours: 2,000
Shadowing hours: 44
Other volunteer hours: 100
LORs: 3 (science professor/advisor, current employer MD, other MD)
How many times did you apply?: 1
Age: 23
Gender: Female
Why PA? When I was starting looking into careers in the health care field, I shadowed MD’s, NP’s, nurses, EMT’s, PT’s, OT’s, SLP’s and of course PA’s. What stuck with me about the PA career was the the lateral mobility aspect and the ability for PAs to adapt to the ever changing healthcare environment. My primary care provider was also a PA and that spurred my interest in becoming a PA.
How many programs did you apply to? 16
How many programs did you interview with and what were the outcomes? I had 8 interview offers, ended up going to 4 interviews, 1 waitlist and 2 acceptances.
Where will you be attending? Wake Forest University
Anything you found surprising about interviews? Two things surprised me when interviewing:
1) How fast the interview day goes despite being a half or all day endeavor.
2) How amazingly qualified, interesting and kind all the other candidates were. The undergrad pre-health environment and the application process tends to be and feel very competitive but at the interviews everyone was just so stoked (and nervous!). I was in awe as others shared stories and backgrounds. I met people who ran rural EMT outposts, spoke 4 languages, started volunteer organizations, problem solved broken gene sequencers, found a interest in medicine after being on ski patrol for years etc.. There were so many amazing people out there who were way cooler, interesting and qualified than me. So when you go to interviews you are gonna meet some neat folks, embrace it and take time to listen. 🙂
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 Savanna Perry , PA forum (website) and AAPA (website). But the best resource was talking to a friend who had gotten into a PA school a few years ahead of me who gave me all kinds of advice and answered my millions of questions. Also my friends mom worked on the admissions committee for a DPT school and just having her input on admissions committees in general was super helpful.
Any other advice for other pre-PA students? Its a process. Its just the way it is, so take it one step at a time.
Where can we find you? gracie_nm (instagram, although I’ll warn you, its just a ton of videos of whitewater kayaking and mtn biking.). Feel free to shoot me a message if you have any questions etc.
