Applications
Content
Applications Before Applying • Keep a folder of all your PA school application related papers, documents, brochures, business cards, etc. • Keep track of all your volunteer activities, extracurricular events, shadowing, organizations, awards, scholarships, certifications • Write down what your duties/responsibilities were and what you learned from them (this will help you with your narrative and interviews), • Know the dates when it occurred and the hours/week and number of weeks. • Do you have the prerequisites for the school you want to apply to? Will you have completed all the prerequisites by the appropriate timeline? Getting Started • Create an account at portal.caspaonline.org • Contact info, personal data, additional info are self explanatory Health Related Training • Add certificates earned (ex: CPR training, phlebotomy), military coursework, training courses. Narrative/Personal Statement • Describe your motivation towards becoming a PA • 2970 character limit, about 495 • Don’t waste time with fancy fluff, be to the point because it’s not a lot of room to work with. • Be sincere because if you don’t believe in what you are writing neither will the schools • Never gear your narrative towards a specific school, one essay is sent to all schools you apply to on CASPA • Starting to write is the hardest part, just get something down on paper, write down points you want to make and it’ll flow from there. • Revise, edit, revise, edit. Use all writing resources to perfect your narrative. There’s the undergraduate writing center, the health professions office, professors, family, PAs, etc. • Spell physician assistant correctly • Absolutely no typos
Work and Volunteer Experience • List your patient contact, health care, shadowing, research, community service and work experience here. • Don’t leave anything out, even if it was only a day • Under patient contact, only list hours where you had direct patient contact i.e. touching patients. • List your position, supervisor, number of weeks, number of hours, duties, start/end month/year (keep this in mind for recording your activities before applying) • Don’t repeat anything in multiple sections • You may divide up hours Institutions Attended • List all the schools you have attended since high school: universities, community college, etc. • Indicate your major and minor, degrees earned Coursework • The most tedious part, get out your transcripts and list EVERY class you’ve taken, if it’s on your transcript you must report it (includes credit by exam, AP, CLEP, pass/fail, etc) • Must be listed exactly as it appears on your transcript • Even though you listed your classes here you must also send transcripts to every school that you apply to. • Completed and planned/in progress Reference Forms • Three references are required even if two are needed by any school • May be submitted electronically or by paper • Once a letter has been received by CASPA and is completed it cannot be changed or deleted. If it’s still in progress or new then you can change your reference. • Ask your letter writer nicely if she/he can write you a STRONG letter, don’t get screwed by someone who will only say bad things about you. Believe me those people exist.
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CASPA keeps you updated on the status of your letter, but it is solely your responsibility to make sure that the letters are submitted on time. Make sure your letter writers know what a PA is and how to spell it and has a good sense of who you are and how wonderful you are as well I chose a professor, research educator and volunteer coordinator. Choose people to show your well roundedness and who can elaborate on various aspects of you. Write them thank you letters and keep them up to date
My Programs • Select all programs you want to apply to • Apply early because it’s cheaper before a certain date • Each school becomes cheaper as you add more schools to apply to Extra Information • CASPA keeps you updated on the status of your transcripts and letters and it calculates your GPA for science, non-science and total coursework. • START EARLY, APPLY EARLY, BE ACCEPTED EARLY • Take the GRE early so that if you want you have time to retake it and send in your scores • After you submit CASPA, supplemental applications will become available to you. Sometimes it’s just residency information, sometimes it’s another essay that is more specific to the school Ex: why are you a good fit for their school? What can you offer? Texas Tech makes you re-enter all your prerequisite coursework in their app. These apps will include another application fee. *** Don’t be afraid to call/email CASPA with any questions*** Interviews • • Buy a suit, I hear pant suits look more professional but if you wear a skirt make sure you don’t flash anyone when you sit down. If you get an interview it means they already like you and want you. They don’t want to make you squirm, they want to get to know you in person. This is your chance to tell them what you couldn’t say on an application
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ASK QUESTIONS, this shows interest and knowledge about their school, always have questions prepared before you get there. Get a padfolio, you can keep your questions in this and take notes about the day Be friendly and sit up straight Get there the night before and get a hotel and arrive early. To prepare for the questions, think about all the experiences you’ve had and what you’ve learned from them and how they apply to healthcare. I recommend looking at physicianassistantforum.com or checking out Getting Into the PA School of your Choice by Andrew Rodican, or doing searches online for interview tips and commonly asked questions. Schedule mock interviews at the health professions office Don’t ramble, have a beginning, middle and end to you point. Sample questions: Tell me about yourself? Why do you want to be a PA? Why not a doctor, nurse? What is the difference between and PA and a doctor? What did you learn from your volunteer/work/shadowing experience? Why did you choose our school? What are you strengths/weaknesses? What will you do if you don’t get in? What are your hobbies? What was the most difficult course and why? Describe a mistake you’ve made. What skills have you developed during your undergraduate studies? Why did you choose your major? Describe a satisfying accomplishment. What would you do if you saw an injured child alone on the street? Why choose healthcare? Give an example of a policy you disagreed with but still conformed to. Describe a major problem you’ve had and how you dealt with it. What kind of medicine are you looking into? Can you describe when, where, why the first PA school was established?
Can find more questions like these online For issues on healthcare I recommend watching meeting of the minds future of healthcare on CNBC.com or other sites like this. I heard Voice of the Uninsured is good too by American Medical Assoc. ASK QUESTIONS Write thank you letters to all your interviewers and other staff that helped the day of the interview. It’s a good idea to ask for the business cards to do this.
Work and Volunteer Experience • List your patient contact, health care, shadowing, research, community service and work experience here. • Don’t leave anything out, even if it was only a day • Under patient contact, only list hours where you had direct patient contact i.e. touching patients. • List your position, supervisor, number of weeks, number of hours, duties, start/end month/year (keep this in mind for recording your activities before applying) • Don’t repeat anything in multiple sections • You may divide up hours Institutions Attended • List all the schools you have attended since high school: universities, community college, etc. • Indicate your major and minor, degrees earned Coursework • The most tedious part, get out your transcripts and list EVERY class you’ve taken, if it’s on your transcript you must report it (includes credit by exam, AP, CLEP, pass/fail, etc) • Must be listed exactly as it appears on your transcript • Even though you listed your classes here you must also send transcripts to every school that you apply to. • Completed and planned/in progress Reference Forms • Three references are required even if two are needed by any school • May be submitted electronically or by paper • Once a letter has been received by CASPA and is completed it cannot be changed or deleted. If it’s still in progress or new then you can change your reference. • Ask your letter writer nicely if she/he can write you a STRONG letter, don’t get screwed by someone who will only say bad things about you. Believe me those people exist.
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CASPA keeps you updated on the status of your letter, but it is solely your responsibility to make sure that the letters are submitted on time. Make sure your letter writers know what a PA is and how to spell it and has a good sense of who you are and how wonderful you are as well I chose a professor, research educator and volunteer coordinator. Choose people to show your well roundedness and who can elaborate on various aspects of you. Write them thank you letters and keep them up to date
My Programs • Select all programs you want to apply to • Apply early because it’s cheaper before a certain date • Each school becomes cheaper as you add more schools to apply to Extra Information • CASPA keeps you updated on the status of your transcripts and letters and it calculates your GPA for science, non-science and total coursework. • START EARLY, APPLY EARLY, BE ACCEPTED EARLY • Take the GRE early so that if you want you have time to retake it and send in your scores • After you submit CASPA, supplemental applications will become available to you. Sometimes it’s just residency information, sometimes it’s another essay that is more specific to the school Ex: why are you a good fit for their school? What can you offer? Texas Tech makes you re-enter all your prerequisite coursework in their app. These apps will include another application fee. *** Don’t be afraid to call/email CASPA with any questions*** Interviews • • Buy a suit, I hear pant suits look more professional but if you wear a skirt make sure you don’t flash anyone when you sit down. If you get an interview it means they already like you and want you. They don’t want to make you squirm, they want to get to know you in person. This is your chance to tell them what you couldn’t say on an application
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ASK QUESTIONS, this shows interest and knowledge about their school, always have questions prepared before you get there. Get a padfolio, you can keep your questions in this and take notes about the day Be friendly and sit up straight Get there the night before and get a hotel and arrive early. To prepare for the questions, think about all the experiences you’ve had and what you’ve learned from them and how they apply to healthcare. I recommend looking at physicianassistantforum.com or checking out Getting Into the PA School of your Choice by Andrew Rodican, or doing searches online for interview tips and commonly asked questions. Schedule mock interviews at the health professions office Don’t ramble, have a beginning, middle and end to you point. Sample questions: Tell me about yourself? Why do you want to be a PA? Why not a doctor, nurse? What is the difference between and PA and a doctor? What did you learn from your volunteer/work/shadowing experience? Why did you choose our school? What are you strengths/weaknesses? What will you do if you don’t get in? What are your hobbies? What was the most difficult course and why? Describe a mistake you’ve made. What skills have you developed during your undergraduate studies? Why did you choose your major? Describe a satisfying accomplishment. What would you do if you saw an injured child alone on the street? Why choose healthcare? Give an example of a policy you disagreed with but still conformed to. Describe a major problem you’ve had and how you dealt with it. What kind of medicine are you looking into? Can you describe when, where, why the first PA school was established?
Can find more questions like these online For issues on healthcare I recommend watching meeting of the minds future of healthcare on CNBC.com or other sites like this. I heard Voice of the Uninsured is good too by American Medical Assoc. ASK QUESTIONS Write thank you letters to all your interviewers and other staff that helped the day of the interview. It’s a good idea to ask for the business cards to do this.
