PA_hopeful Posted February 11, 2013 Report Share Posted February 11, 2013 Hi there, I'm interested in applying for the PA program at Mac, but my GPA (2.96) is below the minimum cut-off of 3.0. I realize this gives me zero chance of being admitted. I graduated from my undergrad (BScH in Biology) ten years ago and have a post-grad diploma in communications. I've been in the corporate world for the past six years, but I have always wished I had pursued a career in healthcare. I did work for a year after undergrad as an ophthalmic technician and while it wasn't the field I was interested in, I loved the daily patient interaction. Any recommendations on courses I should take to upgrade my GPA? I realize would need to do very well in four full courses (one full-time year) to bring it up to 3.0. Given that there are no prerequisite courses for the PA program at Mac, are there any courses that would be looked at more favourably by the admissions committee? Any suggestions would be very much appreciated! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pink Tulip Posted February 11, 2013 Report Share Posted February 11, 2013 I don't believe they will favour any courses that you take in terms of admissions, but it would definitely be beneficial to take courses in biology, chemistry, anatomy, physiology, statistics, organic chemistry, and maybe physics. Considering that you did a BHcS in biology, you probably have many of these courses already. PA school will be much like med school in terms of learning style and courses, and so any of the prerequisites for the Canadian medical schools would be a good start to look at. They may give you some ideas of what courses you should take. These would make it easier to progress in the program at McMaster considering you will need to learn all of this from scratch in the program if you have no background coming in (which I would highly not recommend). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docmm Posted February 12, 2013 Report Share Posted February 12, 2013 I think your best bet would be to enroll and try and complete a second degree to boost your GPA. After your first year (10 courses) you'd be more competitive for the program and incase you do not get in on the first try you would go on to actually complete the degree and try again. As of right now I think with a 3.0 GPA (after taking 4 courses) would make you most competitive for the PA program at UoT where you'd be competing with less applicants as a result of the work experience requirement. Mac, similar to their medical school, is very much a lottery and with the bare minimum requirement it would take a lot of luck to get in. There are no real prerequisites, no references required, and the written application is a fairly subjective process. You likely want your GPA to be at least around the competitive mean (3.5) for Mac. I think you could and still should apply if you could push it up to the minimum 3.0 but I think it would be beneficial to maximize your GPA as much as you can given the increasing number of people applying to the program each year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pink Tulip Posted February 12, 2013 Report Share Posted February 12, 2013 For Mac all you need is a 3.0 to get an interview if your supplementary applications are good. Many previous applicants on this forum have already made it clear they consider anyone from 3.0~3.9 GPA. But that being said, having a higher one of course gives your more of an advantage if you lack in other areas such as experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docmm Posted February 12, 2013 Report Share Posted February 12, 2013 For Mac all you need is a 3.0 to get an interview if your supplementary applications are good. Many previous applicants on this forum have already made it clear they consider anyone from 3.0~3.9 GPA. But that being said, having a higher one of course gives your more of an advantage if you lack in other areas such as experience. Yep. All I'm saying is that as the applicant pool becomes more and more competitive, GPA begins to play a larger part. Like with Mac Med, once an applicant pool is large enough and the number of "good" supplementary applications(or casper submissions) exceeds the number of interview spots the minimum GPA becomes a poor reflection of what is really needed. With that said, yes I'm sure that there are people who (still) get into the program with a 3.0 GPA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PA_hopeful Posted February 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2013 Thanks so much to both of you. I really appreciate your replies and suggestions! If only I could go back to my 20-year-old self and tell her to study a little harder I think to start, I'll enroll in two full courses (physiology and anatomy) since I'll still need to work. I agree with you, docmm, that my best bet would be to go through another undergrad, which I may need to do, albeit part-time. I'll see if I can raise my GPA to the minimum 3.0 with a the two courses first, then re-evaluate. The U of T program is also a good possibility, although I'd need some more recent clinical experience. Lots of thinking to do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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