CASPA opens April 27, and if you're applying this cycle, this is your roadmap.

I walked through the whole application in this webinar - every section, what goes where, and the parts that trip people up every single year. CASPA isn't hard, it's just long. The people who struggle are the ones who open it in June and try to figure it out on the fly.

Start early. Request your transcripts now. Give your evaluators plenty of notice. Then you can spend your time on the parts that actually matter, like your personal statement and your experience descriptions.

What I cover:

• When CASPA opens and why submitting early matters
• A walkthrough of each section of the application
• Entering your coursework without making mistakes
• Listing healthcare and patient care experience the right way
• Requesting letters of recommendation and transcripts
• Common CASPA errors that delay your application

Resources:

Free application timeline: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/free-application-timeline

CASPA GPA calculator: https://www.thepaplatform.com/pa-school-caspa-gpa-calculator

PA Program Map: https://www.thepaplatform.com/pa-platform-map

Pre-PA counseling: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/pre-pa-counseling

Today, in episode 44 of the Pre Pa Club podcast, we're breaking down Caspa and talking about everything you need to know to apply to PA School.

Welcome to the Pre PA Club Podcast.

If you want to learn how to become a physician assistant, you're in the right place.

I'm your host, Savannah Perry.

Let's get to it.

Hey, guys, my name is Savannah.

I am the host of the Prepa Club Podcast.

Thank you so much for joining me on episode 40.

So we made it this far.

And if you aren't already subscribed to the podcast, if you want to get episodes downloaded straight to your phone, you can subscribe on itunes.

They also upload each week to the PA platform, so make sure you don't miss that.

And if you've enjoyed the podcast, go ahead, give us a review on itunes.

It helps more people find it, but I'm really excited for what we have coming up for the next few weeks.

If you're just tuning in, then I should inform you that I am very pregnant.

If you've been following me on Instagram, you have probably seen that.

But in the next few weeks, I.

I will be having a baby girl.

And going on maternity leave.

But I don't want to leave you.

Guys hanging because you guys need information.

And luckily, I have some really cool stuff for you.

So for the next few weeks, as I am preparing for this baby, I am going to share some content with you that I've actually created over the last year.

I did some webinars on YouTube and they're still there.

The links will be in the descriptions for each of these, but.

And if you've listened to other ones, you can probably jump ahead a little bit.

But I've done different topics ranging from pre PA stuff, talking about PA school, talking about being a dermatology pa, and there's some really good Q and A's at the end and just great information.

So I wanted to integrate that into the podcast.

So for these next few weeks, you're going to hear those webinars, and if you'd rather watch them on YouTube, you can do that.

Like I said, it's in the description.

But they're a little bit long.

They're longer than normal episodes.

They're about an hour.

I say that, but a lot of my interviews are an hour or two.

But anyway, I try to keep it at 30 minutes.

I know that doesn't really happen.

If y' all need me to do.

Better, let me know.

But if you need to break it up, just know they are a Little bit longer.

And.

Yeah.

So I just wanted to share these with you, and I felt like it was a good time to introduce them since I'm going to be a little preoccupied, but I hope you enjoy and we'll just jump right in and then I'll still hopefully be around on social media and reachable by email and those types of things.

So if you need me, I'm there.

And I hope that y' all get a lot out of these webinar episodes.

And then we'll be back with interviews and all kinds of stuff.

Really actually fun stuff this summer.

So I'm excited, but let's jump in and we will get started with our April webinar.

I'm really excited.

So CASPA opens very soon.

I think eight days.

What's today?

It's the 19th.

So, yeah, eight days until Caspa is open.

Can everyone hear me?

If you can't hear me, somebody please comment.

And so Erin just asked if there's gonna be a transcript or if it's a good idea to take notes so there will be a replay so you can watch it again afterwards.

And I'm gonna go through a PowerPoint with all my T and tricks and all of that.

So if you want to take notes, I think that's a great way to help you pay attention.

But if you want to just watch it afterwards.

And then a lot of this information is available on my website, which I should introduce myself.

I'm Savannah Perry.

I'm a physician assistant.

I work in dermatology, and I'm also the founder of the website the PA Platform.

So I just want to jump right in to going over everything.

Caspa all about applying to PA School.

I would love to know in the chat box if you're applying this year and any questions you have throughout the presentation, go ahead and comment in the chat and then I'll go back afterwards and answer whatever questions you guys have.

I also put my email in there, and you can always comment on Instagram if you're having trouble with the chat.

And the last time there was a little bit of trouble, you can find me at the PA platform, and I'll be checking that my phone here.

So if I get any messages through there, I'll be happy to answer questions.

But let's jump in.

I'm gonna go through logistics and then we're gonna talk about how to make sure your application is as good as it can be when it is time to apply.

So give me just a second here.

Okay, so all about applying.

And again, if you can't see it.

Just send me an email so I can see it on my phone.

How to make your application ready for CASPA so that you can be accepted to PA school.

This is so important.

So let's go first.

What is caspa?

I cannot tell you what that stands for.

I should know that.

But this is the universal application for PA school that most programs use.

Not every single program.

And so what that means is you're able to put all of your information into one place and send it out to multiple schools.

Most likely you're not applying to only one program.

And so that makes it a little bit easier on you so that you're not having to go to a million websites and enter all this information in over and over because it is a very time consuming process.

I've listed out the website there and I'll show you what it looks like in a couple minutes.

And like I said, this is used by most programs.

The one that I went to actually did not use caspa.

But even if programs don't use it, their requirements and the information they're looking for is essentially the same.

It just is more time consuming because you have to enter it separately.

One good resource, and I'll show you all this at the end, is the Applicant's Manual of Physician Assistant Programs.

That's a book that has every program listed and it will tell you whether or not they use caspa.

You can also find that on their website.

Sometimes it's a little difficult to find, but make sure you look into that before you apply so you know if you need to do something separately.

Caspa opens April 27.

There is a chance that CASPA could also crash that day.

So be prepared and if you're having any issues with it, just hang tight.

They'll get it fixed.

It happens almost every year when there are just thousands and thousands of people trying to sign on and get their applications in.

So be prepared for that.

And if you have questions, there is a number you can call or if you're having issues with the site once it opens to ask your questions and get help if needed.

But their phone lines are probably going to be really busy that day.

Let's talk about the cost of applying to PA school.

So one program through CASPA cost $175 unless they change it this year.

Hopefully they don't raise it.

And then it's $45 for any additional program after that.

That can add up very quickly.

And this doesn't include any supplemental fees that programs may require for supplemental essays and other Parts of the application, they want that those, I mean, I've seen anywhere from $50 to $150.

It just depends.

This also doesn't include having your transcript sent, which sometimes schools charge for.

Having your GRE score sent if necessary, so the cost can add up quickly.

There is a waiver program, but this is somewhat limited.

So if you're interested in getting that $175 waived, you can apply for this.

You have to submit some financial information to show that you actually need the waiver to go through.

And then you, once you are granted a waiver and there's a limited number, you must submit your CASPA application within two weeks.

So if you're not going to be Ready to submit April 27, don't apply for a waiver that day because it does expire and you don't want to waste that.

So that's another incentive to get your application complete and submitted as soon as possible.

And I will be talking about that later on.

But that is an option that you should know about because the cost can be a limiting factor for sure.

If you go to Casper right now, this is what it looks like.

Basically, it's telling you that the application cycle is closed for now.

CASP is open virtually all year, but during March at some point it does close until that April reopening date.

So if you go to Casper right now, you cannot make a new account.

If you're applying this year and you haven't already made an account, you won't be able to do that until April 27th.

If you already have an account.

If you've applied before or you just made an account last year to check it out, you can sign in, but you cannot edit or submit anything.

I actually got a question on Instagram a couple days ago about why isn't CASPA letting me send send out my letter of recommendation emails?

Because it's not really open.

And so right now all you can do is look at it.

And if you aren't applying this year, that is an option you have is to make an account and just familiarize yourself with the website, see what information is going to be necessary when it is time for you to apply so that it's not quite as overwhelming once you're able to get in there.

Okay, these are the sections that CASPA will ask you to fill out.

So personal information, academic history, supporting information, and then program materials.

And we'll go through these more in depth and say I'll show you what's in there and then also give you tips for each Section, alright, personal information.

It's exactly what it sounds like.

This is your biographical information, your name, any names you've ever had, where you live, where you're from, just kind of your background.

And they ask a ton of questions.

You have to fill it all in.

Contact information.

This is a very important section.

This is how programs will contact you if they want to give you an interview, which you're hoping that they do.

And so the way this works, you can put in your email, your address.

One tip that I recommend is creating a separate email for applying to PA school.

I did not do this, but I wish I did.

And this is something my husband did when he was applying to residencies and it was so nice because everything was in one place.

So make a separate email so that you're getting those notifications right away.

So citizenship information, again, they want to know where you're from, ethnicity and race.

And these questions may be optional.

I think this just helps them with statistics and knowing more about you.

And then family information.

I'm not exactly sure why CASPA asks these things, but ask things about your family, if you live with them, what their occupations are.

So you do have to put in things just about your parents.

Then we get to academic history.

And obviously this is important because the schools want to know what classes you've taken, how well you did, and then what classes you may still be taking.

So the first thing that you want to enter is your high schools.

And this you don't have to enter too much, you just kind of list them.

Then you get to colleges, and this is much more important.

You have to list any college that you've attended, any college that you've taken, an online class at that one summer lab you did.

All of them have to be listed and then you have to enter your transcripts.

So it's nice to have an unofficial transcript with you to do this.

This is something that you can pay for, but it's really not that difficult.

And they check over your application anyway.

So if there's any discrepancies, they will correct those.

And schools are looking at it too.

But you basically have to enter in the name of the course, what type of course it was, how many hours you received, and then the grade you received.

All of that has to be entered.

There is an option to put in planned or in progress coursework.

So let's say that you are currently a senior in college.

You can enter in the coursework that you're working on this semester that you don't have a grade for yet, or let's say that you are working and you have, you still have to take chemistry.

You can put that you plan to take chemistry in the fall so that the programs know that that's something that you're going to do.

Standardized test GRE is the main one.

Some schools, if you have English as a Second Language, you'll need to take.

I call this the toefl.

I don't know if that's right.

Or some schools are starting to accept the mcat.

Not usually required.

But if you took that, you may have to submit those scores.

You enter them in yourself as unofficial scores and then CASPA gets that official score report from the testing people and then they confirm what you entered.

Supporting information I would say this is the most important section on your CASPA application and we'll go more in depth in these different areas.

Evaluations, that's basically your letters of recommendation, achievements.

This is any awards you've been given any recognition.

So Dean's list, honor roll, any awards, scholarships that you received.

And basically you just have to list them.

You don't have to supply a ton of information about that.

Certifications.

Now this is important.

You only want to list certifications that are active.

So emt, cna, medical assistant, if they've expired, don't list them.

This is also where you can list BLS and CPR certification, which isn't a bad thing to have because most schools will require that you have this before you start.

A lot of schools will also provide it when you start as well.

But it doesn't hurt to go ahead and have that on your application, your essay or your personal statement.

We'll talk about that a little bit more and then all of your experiences.

And this is what's going to show a program that you've got what it takes and show them all the hard work that you've done to get to where you're at so you have patient care and healthcare experience.

And this is something I'm actually going to go more in depth on in my May webinar.

I'm going to do a whole webinar about different types of health care and patient care experience.

But patient care is basically when you are hands on, involved with the patient.

Nursing assistant, emt, medical assistant, nursing.

You are involved in their career.

Healthcare experience is when you are working in a medical field but not particularly contributing to patient care.

So transporting patients, working at the front desk, working and billing, doing more administrative things that are helping you learn about the field as a whole, but not necessarily you hands on with a patient scribing is going to be kind of middle ground.

Some schools count scribing as patient care, some count it as health care.

But you can only put it in one section so you can check with the schools you're interested in.

It's not gonna hurt to just put it in patient care.

If a school considers it healthcare experience, they'll just look at that and in their own little way move it to that section.

So don't stress out over putting it in the wrong section.

Just make sure you're explaining what you did and we'll talk about that more in detail.

Shadowing experiences Work experiences.

When it comes to putting in your work experience, only list things that are relevant or show something about you.

So if you worked at a restaurant all four years of college, that's significant.

I didn't work during college because it was too hard, but that's amazing.

And working in a restaurant is great customer service.

So write that on there.

If you worked at a gas station for one month in the summer between senior year in college, don't put that.

That's not really relevant.

It doesn't show much about your skills or it just doesn't really matter.

So if you list every single little job you held for one or two weeks, your application just can get overwhelming with too much stuff on it.

Any volunteer experiences?

So if your volunteer work is health care based, that's going to go under health care or patient care.

So if you go on a medical mission trip, that's gonna be healthcare or patient care.

If you volunteer at a clinic, that's healthcare or patient care.

This is volunteer stuff that's not related to healthcare.

This is working at the soup kitchen, this is relay for life.

Doing other types of volunteer activity and then research.

Research isn't the biggest factor for PA school, but if you've got research, put it on there, talk about it.

It's gonna be more meaningful if it's clear.

Research, that's kind of the opposite of medical school where research is very, very important.

But you can, there is a section to put that on there.

And if you don't have one of these things, don't worry about it.

Some people are like, oh my gosh, I don't have research.

It's okay, just don't put anything in that section.

Alright?

These are the things that are important for you to have listed when you go to do your application.

And I have some worksheets on my website that I'll show you at the end that can help you to put all this information in.

But you need to list your role.

So let's say I was a certified nursing assistant.

The location or the facility I worked at a rehab hospital.

Who your supervisor was and then all their contact information and whether or not the school can contact them.

Are they going to contact all of your supervisors?

Most likely not.

They're probably only going to contact someone if there's a question about what your role was or the hours or something like that.

The hours you worked per week and then how many total hours you worked and then the dates that you worked.

And if you are currently still in the job, you can put to current.

You're still getting hours, still working there, and then your experience details.

And this is a very important part.

For each section, you can put 200 characters.

And this is a really great way to add to your application.

You're kind of limited in your personal statement, but you can use these boxes to not just list what you've done, but to show what you've learned.

Make the most of that space.

Some people like to do bullets, some people like to write it out.

However you prefer is fine.

Just make sure that you're not just saying, took vitals, gave people meals, bathed patients.

Like, put what you learned from those experiences so that you're able to add a little bit more information and show a little bit more about your experience.

Keep a record of everything.

If you're just now applying and you haven't done this, you may be stressing out a little bit.

But if you aren't applying this cycle and it's something you're working towards, maybe make sure you keep a good record.

You don't want to be scrounging for your supervisor's phone number two days before your application opens, which definitely happens because sometimes we just don't think about it.

But do your best to just take note.

Okay?

Evaluations are also letters of recommendation.

On caspa, you're able to enter three to five of these.

You'll need to check each school's requirements to see what they want.

The more personal, the better.

The more that someone knows you, the better letter they're going to write and the more weight it's going to carry as part of your application.

I've listed down here the people that you want to try to shoot to get a PA that you've either worked with or shadowed.

A supervisor in a health care role.

So boss someone who's Kind of above you, someone you answer to, a physician that you've worked with or has seen you in a healthcare medical capacity, and then a professor.

So these can be a little difficult.

I know for me, I went to the University of Georgia and pretty much all my science classes were 300 plus students.

So getting a professor was difficult.

I ended up just rolling the dice and asking somebody.

And I know it was not a personal letter, but one of the schools I applied to required that it's going to be much better if they know you in that regard.

You do want to avoid family or friends or anyone who is not who you don't have a professional relationship with this be someone who knows you on a professional level.

Well, to get back to that.

So if your school requires a certain combination of these, you can't necessarily specify like they'll all just go to each school that you apply to, but the schools will look through and kind of see find the ones they're looking for.

So don't be too concerned with that.

Program materials so this is a different section and this has information specific to each program.

You may not actually have to do much in this section it's going to list the mission statement of the program and the contact information and their prerequisites.

Some programs are having you kind of match prerequisites or match up the classes you want to count for each one.

So you'll say like this Gen Chem counts for this chemistry requirement.

And sometimes they are starting to incorporate supplementals.

And so you may have to be part of your supplemental within CASPA instead of having a separate application afterwards.

Personal statement this is so important.

This is what I talked about last month, so I'm not gonna talk about it too much.

The main thing is the prompt is basically why do you want to be a PA?

And then you have 5,000 characters to discuss that.

Once you submit this, it cannot be edited.

So just keep that in mind.

And that's true of your whole application.

Once you click Submit, it cannot be edited.

You can go back and add things, but you cannot change them.

That is very important.

You don't want to make the mistake of submitting too early, thinking you can go back and make changes.

And if you want to know more about personal statements, check out my webinar from last month.

I also have some posts on my website when to submit.

This is very important.

As early as possible.

So you want to do that, but you also don't want to make mistakes.

So once you have everything submitted, you want to make sure that you Review your application in full.

Check for grammar, check for spelling.

You don't want any mistakes in your application.

They're very distracting and it can just kind of take away from the good things that you have to offer.

That being said earlier is better.

A lot of schools practice something called rolling admissions and that means that as soon as your application is complete, they look at it.

Sometimes they'll just have kind of a checklist of the minimum requirements and they'll check, check if you meet those.

They look at your personal statement and look at everything in a little bit more detail.

As long as all of that is good and they like what they see, they want you to come interview.

The sooner you interview, the better your chances of gaining a spot at those rolling admission schools.

Verification can take four to six weeks per caspa.

That's what they say like on their website general statement.

So if it's a heavy traffic time, it could take a little bit longer.

But just know it could take a while for CASPA to get everything verified.

The things that can slow down your application submission is your letters recommendation.

You go ahead and start asking those people, tell them, hey, I'm going to be applying to PA school in the next couple weeks.

I'm going to be sending you an email.

I should have kind of said how they do that.

Basically you put in the person's email and it's sends them a link that they can go and upload your letter to.

So say I'm going to be doing this.

Please be on top of it and follow up on that because you do not want your application delayed because of someone's missing letter.

Let's see, early to me is, I would say June to July, even, even early August is okay, but if you can shoot for June to July, you're doing, you're doing really well.

There are schools now, they're starting to interview in July and so the sooner the better.

But don't stress yourself out too much trying to get it in by April 28 and then after submission, that's the worst part, right?

So this is the waiting period.

You probably won't get much information from the schools.

They may say, hey, I have we got your application and that's it.

And you'll get really excited because you got an email from them and then it doesn't tell you anything.

That is just real life.

There's a lot of waiting.

I found the physician assistant forum that was the only website available about PA stuff when I applied and it's still going strong today, but that's a great resource to find out information on who's getting interviews, where, what programs are starting their interviews, sending out updates.

If there are any technical difficulties, you can actually go on there, find the schools that you're interested in and follow along with other members.

The one thing I'll say about the PA forum is don't get discouraged by other people's stats.

There are people who post crazy good stats on there and then so just don't be discouraged.

And like I said, you can update CASPA by adding new information, but you cannot edit already entered information.

You can always prepare for interviews, so I'm happy to help you with that.

There's lots of resources on my website, but it's not too early to start thinking about that.

I know there was somebody in my interview which was on a Monday that got the call on a Friday.

That does not give you a lot of time to prepare.

So just be ready at any point to go do an interview.

The average age was 25.

Average undergraduate GPA 3.52 Undergraduate science GPA 3.46 Non science is a little higher 3.59.

The mean amount of patient care hours was around 4,600.

The mean amount of healthcare hours was 2,200.

Shadowing 141 hours GRE 305.

I say shoot for 300 and you're probably fine.

Most they applied to an average of six programs.

The people who were accepted and started and there were almost 20,000 applications and 6,000 people started PA school.

Those numbers have probably changed a little bit but the data hasn't been released recently.

So those are just some things to give you ideas.

Keep in mind these are averages and means they are means there's things that are lower, things that are higher.

So don't let that get you discouraged.

But these are some kind of goals to shoot for some tips to make the process easier and I've already said some of these but we'll go through them again and then I'll answer yalls questions turn on email notifications.

So I already said make a new email but you want to know right away if you've got an interview invite.

So one way to do that I found the gmail app is really good for email notifications.

That's what I use my PA platform email on.

So that as soon as I get an email from you guys, I can look at it and respond quickly.

Have your list of schools ready and I'll talk about how you can do that with the applicants manual of physician assistant programs.

I'll do another video later about choosing schools.

But you want to have that list ready.

You don't want to be researching schools when your application is ready to go.

Only apply to schools you're qualified for.

You don't want to waste your money or your time applying to schools that you don't even meet the requirements for.

Unless it's school you just really want to go to and you feel strongly that you want to get an application there.

Okay, maybe as a reapplicant that will help you out, but try to stick to schools that you've met the qualifications for.

Always be honest on your application.

Don't try to hide anything.

Don't.

If they ask about prior run ins with the law or academic issues, talk about them.

Be honest because you don't want to be accepted.

And then a school find out about something and that's just going to be a huge issue.

So just be honest.

If you list a course as in progress or plan, you need to actually take it.

I've had a couple people who were actually accepted and then said, hey, did you ever take that microbiology class?

We just need your transcript from that and you're good to start in January.

And they never started the course and so then they couldn't go to PA school, which is crazy.

So if you list it on there, you gotta do it and then don't double dip on hours.

Let's say that you work in a medical practice and half the time you're a medical assistant in the back and half the time you're answering phones.

You can't list it under patient care experience and healthcare experience.

Nothing in your experiences should be copy and pasted in different sections.

It's very confusing.

So you need to split up your hours and put the part that you're a receptionist in healthcare experience and describe it and the part that you're a medical assistant in patient care experience and describe it.

And you can put in that description like I work part time in the front, part time in the back.

But just don't list things twice.

Looks like you're trying to show you have extra hours when you don't.

All right, here's my contact info.

That's my email.

Feel free to contact me at any Point.

I'm pretty quick at getting back to emails, usually, and then my instagram @the PA platform.

And so I'm pretty good about there, too.

All right, I want to get out of this.

Y' all hang in there, okay?

We got some questions.

We'll go.

We'll go those in a second.

Let me show you guys some stuff that's not where I want to be.

Here we go.

So this is my PA School Healthcare Experience log.

This is something I've made.

You can download it on my website.

I'll put a link in the description on the video, but you can also make this yourself on Excel.

But this is basically what CASPA is looking for.

When you're doing all that stuff, make sure you see that.

Yeah, okay, there's that.

And then this is the.

What I was talking about, the Applicant's Manual of Physician Assistant Programs.

I actually have one here.

I'll show it to you guys.

You can buy it on Amazon with prime shipping.

And then I also offer it on my website at Services.

And then here at the bottom, you can purchase that and I will mail it to you with free shipping.

That is a great resource for just figuring out the programs you're interested in.

It's got some worksheets in here to help make it easier for you to get all that information in.

All right, I'm going to stop screen sharing and come back to you guys.

All right.

Okay.

I hope that was informative.

Y' all let me know if it wasn't, but I'm gonna answer some questions here.

Let's see.

One question that I had sitting on Instagram was, when is the best time to apply?

And I've kind of answered that.

Early.

As early as possible.

Just start working on it, but when you can, and then try to get everything submitted by June to July.

I've showed you all that for.

Let's see.

Judy's planning to apply this summer.

Good luck.

I'm sure you'll do great.

It's a lot of work.

Somebody asked me how long it took me to fill out the application, and I honestly can't remember.

I know that I worked on it for, I think, a solid, like, two days and just got as much in as possible.

And I think I did have to hound one of my letters for a little bit.

I don't know.

Okay.

I think I got a question on there.

Should volunteer activity from high school be included, or should we keep it mostly to experiences in college?

It's gonna be mostly college unless you have a very significant, meaningful high school Experience.

So if you're involved with something for years and years and years, that's worth mentioning, especially if it continued into college or if you did something medical based in high school, I would say that counts.

But if you're just talking about going and adopting a mile of the highway or something, that's not really significant.

How far in advance are interview invitations typically sent out ahead of the interview date?

I'm applying to out of state school, so I'll be flying.

Oh, man, it depends.

So when it comes to interviews, schools want to fill the spots.

Let's say that they interview 12 people, they want those spots filled.

So at the last minute someone cancels, they're gonna try to fill the spot.

So you could have a last minute invite.

There are some schools that will let you know two months in advance, one month in advance.

But there are occasions where it may be really short notice.

And that's something that you need to be prepared for financially and also time wise, like work, it's hard for it to be flexible.

If you've got to get off work and then flying, traveling, it can add up quickly.

I went through, I only applied to more local schools than I did PA school.

But when my husband applied to residency, he was flying all over the place and it was, it was out of control, but it was, it was fine.

Worked out.

So, yeah, it can be, it can be tough.

Let's see.

Paige says, I think my application is very strong, but I'm still in college and the amount of patient care hours that I have is around a thousand.

Are my chances of acceptance much lower because of the low hours?

I will tell you that I had 250 hours when I applied and I was accepted at both of the programs I interviewed at because they didn't have one only required 100 hours and one required, didn't have a requirement.

So as long as you meet the minimums of the program and you have a strong personal statement, there's not necessarily a reason that you shouldn't be getting interviews.

I applied in between junior and senior year because I knew I wanted ideally to start school right after I graduated.

And so if you have programs that you're interested in that you meet the minimums and you have done everything they've asked of you, I say go for it.

Are there going to be people who have more hours than you?

Yes, there will always be people who have more hours than you, but that doesn't mean that you don't have things to offer that they don't have.

Let's see next Question.

Is there an average number of schools one is recommended to apply to?

For example, would 20 be too many or five be too few?

Only apply to programs that you're interested in is one of my big tips.

There was.

There's a video by Laura, the PA that she recently did where she said she wishes that she didn't apply to some of the programs that some she got an interview invite was like, why did I even apply there?

So my recommendation would be I usually say 10 to 12 with maybe a couple that are just kind of dream schools and then more, more so schools that you fit the minimums.

You feel like you'd be a good fit, you'd be happy there.

But you can add in a couple reaches there.

But I think 10 to 12 is a good number.

Did you apply right out of undergrad?

I did.

I had my CNA license.

And so I mean I was planning that if I wasn't accepted I would maybe have to work for a while.

So that's why I got that certification and I was able to use it for a little bit.

But no, I went straight in.

So it was good.

How does Casper do letters?

Recommendation is an email sent out for the people to submit their letter.

Yes.

So Casper, basically you put in the person's email and then they once you submit, send out or I think you actually do it before you submit.

You push a button to send it out to that person and then they upload the document and CASPA gets it and send it to the school.

So it's pretty easy.

You just have to have their email and they need to know that they'll be getting an email about it.

Recruiter for a specific program came to speak at our school and she told us that pass grades count as a C when calculating gpa.

Is this a CASPA wide thing or program specific?

I recently did a post about how CASPA calculates GPAs and I, I mean I read all their stuff and I don't remember seeing anything about this, but does calculate including all of your grades if it was just a pass?

I don't believe that they even include that in schools.

Let's say it's a prereq.

You're going to have to have a grade for a school to even consider it.

They need to know the number of hours and the grade that you actually got.

But I'll have to follow up on that and check on it.

How much time should you give someone to write a recommendation letter?

Depends on how much notice you give them ahead of time.

I would say a month is reasonable and you don't want to be annoying about it, but you want it to be someone who knows that this is important to you and you want to gently remind them, if needed, that they need to get their letter in, if possible.

Let's see.

I think I got a question here, but I don't know.

See, how would you classify stroke ambassador as a stroke survivor?

My daughter speaks at public events, educating the public on signs and symptoms of stroke and stroke education.

Is this community service or other healthcare experience?

Is it volunteer?

But in the healthcare arena, I would put that under healthcare experience.

Some programs may just consider it volunteer, but personally I would put under healthcare.

I think that's that's interesting experience and something that programs would find beneficial and really interesting, too.

And Caroline, if you're Carolyn, if you're not watching, I'll email you back.

Or if you are watching, let me know.

That looks like all of our questions for now.

Unless somebody's got something else that they want answered.

Let's see, I'm gonna pull this up here, so I want to let y' all know that my next webinar will be May 24th at 8pm and I'll be talking about healthcare experience, patient care experience, how to get that, the differences, what makes it quality experience and what schools are looking for.

If you don't already, follow me on instagram @the PA platform.

And then I'll be posting videos pretty soon.

I've got a couple in the works about PA versus md, PA school versus med school, how I made my decision, and then I'll be doing some other ones as well.

If you have any questions, email me, let me know and then I'll get back to you.

All right, have a good night, everybody.