31 min
Applying to PA School with a Low GPA: Admissions Directors Answer Your Questions The Physician Assistant Life - Everything Physician Assistant. A Podcast for Practicing PAs, Pre-Physician Assistants and PA
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How to Get Into PA School With a Low GPA
PA school administrators from ten top-ranking PA programs answer your questions on how to get into PA school with a low GPA.
A low GPA is probably the hardest area to improve.
This makes sense – it was years in the making, and can’t be undone without time. It can take about a year in advanced level science courses to bump a high 2.x GPA over 3.0. The lower your GPA, and the more classes you’ve taken, the longer it will take to reflect improvements in your academic record.
What is your CASPA calculated GPA?
Before you do anything it is important that you have this number in hand. You can view your CASPA GPAs once your application has been Verified. You can read about that here on the CASPA website.
When I applied to PA school I had a cumulative GPA of 2.9, a result, probably like many of you reading this, of some early misdirection. I got my act together in the second half of my undergraduate career, finishing on the Dean's list with a 3.8 GPA. But my overall GPA did not fully recover and was lower than the 3.0 minimum of the school where I was accepted.
Indeed this is not the norm, but you should not let a lower than average GPA stop you from finding a path to PA school if this is truly your passion.
Fortunately, you are not alone. Every year PA programs from across the country come together to answer questions posed by aspiring Pre-PA students like yourself. Not surprisingly, questions regarding PA school admissions and low (or lower than average) GPA topped the list.
Below are the answers to these questions.
Here is an additional table that was provided on the PA forums. Included in this are PA programs that consider the trend of last 30, 45, or 60 credit hours for admissions.
School
CGPA
SGPA
PREREQGPA
HCE
Rosalind Franklin
2.75 (Last 60 CH)
2.75
C or better
800 Hrs
South College
2.75
2.75 prereq sci
2.75
N/A
Arcadia Uni
3.0 Recommended
N/A
N/A
200 Hrs
Charles R Drew
3.0 Preferred
3.0 Preferred
3.0 Preferred
2,000 Hrs
James Madison
3.0 Preferred
N/A
N/A
1,000 Hrs
Keiser Uni
2.75
3.0
3.0
100 Hrs
MGH
N/A
3.0 preferred
B- or better
1,000 Hrs
Stephens College
2.75
3.0
3.0
500 Hrs
How to Get Into PA School With a Low GPA
PA school administrators from ten top-ranking PA programs answer your questions on how to get into PA school with a low GPA.
A low GPA is probably the hardest area to improve.
This makes sense – it was years in the making, and can’t be undone without time. It can take about a year in advanced level science courses to bump a high 2.x GPA over 3.0. The lower your GPA, and the more classes you’ve taken, the longer it will take to reflect improvements in your academic record.
What is your CASPA calculated GPA?
Before you do anything it is important that you have this number in hand. You can view your CASPA GPAs once your application has been Verified. You can read about that here on the CASPA website.
When I applied to PA school I had a cumulative GPA of 2.9, a result, probably like many of you reading this, of some early misdirection. I got my act together in the second half of my undergraduate career, finishing on the Dean's list with a 3.8 GPA. But my overall GPA did not fully recover and was lower than the 3.0 minimum of the school where I was accepted.
Indeed this is not the norm, but you should not let a lower than average GPA stop you from finding a path to PA school if this is truly your passion.
Fortunately, you are not alone. Every year PA programs from across the country come together to answer questions posed by aspiring Pre-PA students like yourself. Not surprisingly, questions regarding PA school admissions and low (or lower than average) GPA topped the list.
Below are the answers to these questions.
Here is an additional table that was provided on the PA forums. Included in this are PA programs that consider the trend of last 30, 45, or 60 credit hours for admissions.
School
CGPA
SGPA
PREREQGPA
HCE
Rosalind Franklin
2.75 (Last 60 CH)
2.75
C or better
800 Hrs
South College
2.75
2.75 prereq sci
2.75
N/A
Arcadia Uni
3.0 Recommended
N/A
N/A
200 Hrs
Charles R Drew
3.0 Preferred
3.0 Preferred
3.0 Preferred
2,000 Hrs
James Madison
3.0 Preferred
N/A
N/A
1,000 Hrs
Keiser Uni
2.75
3.0
3.0
100 Hrs
MGH
N/A
3.0 preferred
B- or better
1,000 Hrs
Stephens College
2.75
3.0
3.0
500 Hrs
31 min