University of Detroit Mercy PA Program: Gaby's Acceptance Story

You may remember Gaby from Episode 35 of The Pre-PA Club Podcast. She has some great insights for getting into PA school with an international background.

1 rejection, 1 interview and was accepted to that program.

I submitted my applications to each school about 4 months apart. For the first school I submitted, where I was rejected, I did not have as many shadowing hours, had no volunteer experience over the past 2 years, and was not a member of any PA organizations. Once I received the rejection I made sure address these issues so my next application was better. I became a member of MAPA, found more shadowing and volunteering opportunities, and truly believe this helped me quite a bit.

This may not necessarily be surprising, but I thought it was nice that there were 3-4 current students who the interviewees could speak with before going in to the interview with the faculty. The students were very nice and gave us a little insight as to how the actual interview is, and their perspective as current students, what they like or not about the program. Meeting the students before the interview, as well as other candidates, really helped me calm down and going in feeling more prepared.

Yes! Books: “How to write your Physician Assistant personal Statement” by Stephen Pasquini PA-C, and “How to ACE the Physician Assistant School Interview” by Andrew J. Rodican PA-C. (Amazon affiliate links) I read them cover to cover and highly recommend both! Also, several social media accounts and YouTube videos by current students and PAs. I also submitted my personal statement for review, which was helpful to figure out what to include and what not.

Research the schools you might be interested in, look at all of their pre-requisites and minimum requirements and compare what you have, also compare your stats to their current class’ stats. Then, apply to the schools you know you fully meet the requirements. The application process can be very expensive, and I personally think that it is better to apply when, and where you know you have great chances. I don’t believe in “I’ll apply this year just to test the waters”. If you don’t think or feel you are ready to apply yet, maybe wait, and make sure you do everything to better your profile as an applicant. Schools have application deadlines almost all year round, so if you get a rejection from one, then try to fix what you can so the next you submit is better. This is actually what I think helped me. I got rejected in October and submitted the second application in December – I had 3 months to do more shadowing and volunteering, and singed up for AAPA and the state chapter. I felt like I improved my application and had better chances.

Two applications, one rejection, one acceptance, all inside a single cycle. Gaby's advice is essentially to stop applying hopefully and start applying deliberately — and if you are turned down, find out what was missing and go get it.

If you’ve recently been accepted to PA school and would like to share your story and advice with other PA hopefuls, send an email to [email protected].