Rejected from nursing school. Now she's in MEDEX.

Sydney is headed to MEDEX at the University of Washington, and her transcript did not make that look likely. She started with a low GPA and got turned down by multiple nursing programs before she ever considered PA.

What changed things was working as a medical assistant and getting real, varied patient care experience, then being deliberate about the rest of it. She rewrote her personal statement until it actually said something. She picked schools strategically instead of applying everywhere and hoping. And she found practicing PAs who would mentor her and tell her the truth.

If your GPA is the thing keeping you up at night, this is the episode to hear.

What we cover:

• Starting with a low GPA and getting rejected from nursing programs
• Working as a medical assistant and building varied PCE
• Rewriting her personal statement into something real
• Choosing programs strategically instead of applying everywhere
• Finding PA mentors who would be honest with her
• Getting into MEDEX at the University of Washington

Resources:

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

Free Personal Statement Worksheet: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/free-personal-statement-worksheet-download

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

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

Mentioned in this episode:

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Hey guys, Today we're hearing from Sydney and I think her story may be one of the most inspiring we've had on the podcast.

Coming from a low gpa, she is a soon to be MEDX student and her story is great.

So I think you're really going to enjoy this and get a lot of confidence and hope from it.

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.

Get to it.

All right, before we.

Get to our interview, we are welcoming a new sponsor on the podcast this month and I want to introduce you to Stride Funding.

Everyone always asks about how to pay for PA School and this is a very interesting, innovative alternative to traditional student loans.

Instead of being faced with ridiculous interest rates and paying for 10, 20, 30 years, Stride funding offers income share agreements, which means you would pay a small percent of income after you graduate over a shorter time frame than a traditional student loan.

So usually you're looking at about a five year plan at around 4 to 10% of your income.

No interest, no principal amount, and a grace period that will start before, well after graduation, but before payments begin.

And then there's also flexibility around some unexpected life events.

But you can go to stridefunding.com to learn more and we will have a link in the description as well that will get you straight there so that you can check it out, see if it's something that's going to work for you and maybe save you some money in the long run.

I want to thank mypa Resource and PA School Prep for sponsoring the Prepa Club podcast.

So mypa Resource is a personal statement editing service that edits only PA school essays, only edited by PAs and most of us have admissions experience so I am one of the editors.

Definitely check them out if you need help with your content grammar flow, making sure that you are on track for turning in your application and you can use the code futurepa for a discount on any of their service options.

PA School Prep is an online course that focuses on the anatomy, physiology and med terms that you'll need for PA School to be make sure you feel confident going into that first semester and that you are able to handle what PA school throws at you.

So check that [email protected] and also use the code futurepa for a discount there.

Hey guys, thanks for tuning into the podcast.

I'm Savannah, I'm your host.

I am a dermatology PA and the creator of the Prepaclub podcast and the PA platform.com if you've never actually checked out our website, you may want to go look at it.

There are tons of free resources on there.

We have a bunch of data downloads including like a mock interview or an interview brainstorming guide, a personal statement brainstorming guide, an application timeline, a resume template, all kinds of stuff.

So definitely check that out if you haven't already.

And if you've never left a review for the podcast or subscribed, I would appreciate you doing that and even sharing on social media to your other prepa friends.

And if you tag me, I always try to reshare things so if you are listening to the podcast, tag me in it.

If you get a copy of the PA School Interview guide, post it and I will reshare.

And I'm on instagram @the PA platform, also on Tick Tock at Physician Assistant and I would love for you to follow me there.

I tend to post more skin care and derm PA stuff on TikTok, so I may be hosting more of that on Instagram soon too.

But thanks for being here.

Thanks for listening.

We do have some upcoming webinars this month.

On July 21st Stride Funding is doing a how to pay for PA school webinar.

It's completely free.

It's at noon.

The link is in the description.

On July 24th we are doing another live mock interview webinar which will be really great.

It's a $5 donation and it's at 8pm Eastern.

Go to prepaconference.com to register for that.

And then on July 25, which is a Saturday all day, the Northeastern Virtual PA program will be taking place.

I will be there.

I'll be talking about interviews and I would love to have you join me.

Alright, so check out all the links in the description for all the good stuff there as well as some discount codes and yeah, so feel free to reach out if you have any questions though.

All right, before we get into today's episode, I just want to say thank you to Sydney for sharing this.

She reached out to me wanting to just be a resource for pre pas as she felt that she had trouble finding the resources she was looking for.

She has tons of experience as a medical assistant working in different specialties.

You're going to hear about that.

She's a non traditional applicant but she was accepted as a reapplicant to the University of Washington also known as the MedX program, which is a very highly sought after program.

But her story is really great.

So I think you're going to enjoy hearing from her.

She is just the epitome of like persisting towards your goal and I'm really excited to share her story with you.

Perfect.

So my name is Sydney and I am now going to be a BA student at UW's Med X program.

And I am a RE applicant.

So it took me two.

I am considered a non traditional applicant as I have a lot of years of experience.

Let's put.

I started out as a medical assistant.

I've been a medical assistant for nine years and I currently live in Washington.

I'm originally from California though, so I don't have to go very far, which is nice.

And my undergrad was done.

My bachelor's degree was obtained from University of Washington, so I'm also an alumni of the school.

Okay, what was your bachelor's in?

Biology with a focus in Neuroscience.

Okay, cool.

Was that before you decided to go to PA school or after?

It kind of all worked together.

I thought originally I was going to do the nursing to PA route and I actually got denied from like six nursing schools.

And so I was like, okay, well let's change my degree and I'm not giving up.

So then I switched my major to biology and I got accepted into UW Bothell after going to a number of community colleges.

And I went to UW Bothell full time and I got my degree in about a year and a half.

That is strange that you didn't get into nursing school.

Why do you think that was?

It was definitely because my.

My we can jump right into red flags.

I have a.

My most of my undergrad career was not that great.

I have failed a number of classes, I have withdrawn from a few and you know, the first two or three years of my college life was not easy and I dug myself in a deep hole and so showing, you know, nursing schools only saw really that earlier time.

And then when I got my degree and was able to apply to PA school, then I had about 100 more credits to look at.

And so, you know, my cumulative GPA when applying was about a 2.8.

But my last 90 credits is a 395.

So that's impressive.

Okay, walk us through a little bit of your timeline.

How did you end up working as an MA and then.

Yeah, just kind of help us understand your.

Your journey.

Yeah.

So right out of.

Actually from the start of, when I was 15, I thought I wanted to be an obstetrician, actually.

So my goal going to Washington State University was to major in biology and actually go to medical.

And so when I got to Washington State University, I kind of did the 18 year old thing in a new college town and I partied hard and it caught up with me quick and I actually ended up getting dismissed from wsu.

And so yeah, major red flags and I came back home and I was like, what am I going to do with my life?

I had this path and what I wanted and I didn't stay true to it.

And so that's where, you know, you lose confidence and you lose like this feeling of self worth.

And so I saw those commercials for the, for the technical schools for medical assisting and I made a PowerPoint presentation for my parents because I was like, I just got kicked out of school.

Like they're not going to be like, oh yeah, go back to school, here's more money, you know.

So I stayed up until like 4 o' clock in the morning making this presentation and I went to my mom and I would go super professional and I did this 15 minute presentation and she was like, yeah, of course you can go.

That is such a PA thing to do by the way.

I always love that.

But she's just like, so she's like, of course you can go.

Like, why did you go to all this extra effort?

But it made me feel good, like it was justifying it to myself.

Like, I'm devoted to this, I'm going to make a change.

And so yeah, I went through the medical assistant program and made dean's list the whole way through, which was also reassuring and bringing that confidence back to myself.

And right after medical assisting school, I started working at an urgent care, which is also where I did my externship.

And I honestly think that was probably the most beneficial thing I could have done for myself as a new grad because I got thrown essentially in the deep end.

I was challenged and I was challenged on my skills every single day.

Like everything that I learned in MA school I had to use every single day.

And I just felt like it really let me hone in on my practice and my scope and develop some strengths as well.

Then I gradually went on to a family practice and helped this brand new clinic that just opened and I helped develop them where I got to implement a lot of policies and procedures, learn about how to manage a clinic.

I was not the manager, but just learning the ins and outs of it.

I worked really closely with the manager and then I, you know, I still had this goal in my heart to work in obstetrics and with babies.

I always wanted to do that.

So then I got on with an OB GYN group and, yeah, just flourished there.

That was probably the best, most beneficial four years of my life, was working there and built a really strong connection with the doctor that I was working with.

She took me in a number of her surgeries.

I've seen more C sections than I have vaginal deliveries.

And it's just so incredible to see, you know, what people can do in medicine.

And I made the decision.

I was like, I need to go all out.

Because during the time at the OB clinic is when I was applying to those nursing schools.

So I was still doing prerequisites during those times after MA school because I knew that I was going to.

I wanted to broaden my scope and keep going.

So the last year that I was at the OB clinic is when I got denied from all those nursing schools.

It was about a lot the last two years.

And I was like, I don't know what to do.

Like, I've worked with PAS before.

The first clinic I worked at was with pas, and I was like, like, I want to go straight to this, but I don't know how to get there now.

And so after getting denied, I was like, well, like, it can be any degree, right?

So what am I interested in?

What's going to keep me progressing?

And so that's when I chose biology, and I ended up deciding to give it my all.

So I stopped working full time and I went to school full time.

And that was probably the best thing that I could have done.

And I found out that UW MedX program, you had to have your degree by December in order to apply.

And so I was supposed to get my degree the following start spring.

So I dropped the official minor of the neuroscience.

So that's why I say focus in neuroscience.

And I took 20 credits per quarter.

Also, I could graduate on time and get my degree.

I ended up not getting in that first round.

I didn't even get an interview that first round.

And I went back to work at a fertility clinic.

But I was able to give it my all and do it again.

So did you only apply to MedX?

No.

Okay.

So first round, I applied to probably about 20 schools or so.

And I learned the hard way not to hit submit to every single school before it calculates your gpa.

And so I learned for the next year to hit submit once, wait for my Casper application and GPA to come back, and then I could see where I could take it from there.

Okay.

Do you think for the first cycle there were schools that you weren't even qualified for based on how that came back.

Yeah, there's probably about 12 of them or like 90% of them.

Yeah, that.

I mean, it.

The only way I put it is it completely sucks.

And I know that.

And people.

It happens every year.

And I always feel so bad because the casted GPA is usually a little bit different or not quite what you're expecting or.

Yeah.

How did you stay motivated?

Because I feel like if I got, like, I just.

I want other people, I guess, to understand your mindset.

Because I feel like if I got rejected from nursing school, like, I mean, I'm already hard enough on myself, I would be like, okay, obviously.

Like, I'm not good enough.

I can't do this.

I'm not smart.

Like, you know, you start kind of beating yourself up.

I feel like you did the opposite.

You're like, okay, well, I'm just gonna come, like, go straight to P.A.

You know, how did that.

Like, is that just who you are or what helped you do that?

There's a lot of times in my life that I could have been like, this is it.

I'm done.

Like, I'm not going anywhere.

Right?

Like, I was dropped out of wsu.

I was.

There's just.

I had so many roadblocks that were all mostly self inflicted.

And so I guess perseverance and resilience, you know, this was my dream and I wasn't satisfied with where I was at and, you know, my support.

Also, I've been with my partner for 11 years and, you know, having him there.

And also, I'm not gonna lie, he is a huge motivator of it.

He started as a high school dropout, and now he's about to graduate with his master's in business.

So we've kind of had this bond and influence together.

And I think having your support group is great, but ultimately you're the one doing it, and you have to push yourself to get there.

And don't give up.

Like, this is absolutely what you want to do.

Give it your all.

Don't give up.

There were a ton of tears.

I cried all the time.

And with CASPA about to open, I'm not gonna lie, I cried almost daily, working on my personal statement, you know,.

And it's stressful, I mean,.

And it's vulnerable.

Right.

I have a really deep, dark background, and I have a ton of skeletons in my closet.

And I had to get vulnerable and I had to show them not to rag on myself, but to show them the growth that I have.

And the.

The point is is to demonstrate and prove, like, what you've learned from it.

Right.

So the skills I've obtained from my life experiences, that I am personable, I understand people go through hardships, and that doesn't make you who you are.

What.

What is important is what you learn from it and how you grow from it.

Yeah, I love your attitude.

Okay, so let's go to the second application cycle and kind of tell us what that looks like.

Maybe in comparison to the first, what you did different.

I know you said you applied to one school first and then the rest, but what kind of changes did you make for that second cycle?

Since I had graduated and hadn't gotten in and wanted.

Had a whole other year to go.

Well, I guess about six months between the interviews, I started working at a fertility medicine clinic because I started gaining a lot of interest in fertility medicine from working at the OB clinic.

And I actually got assigned to work directly with the PA of the clinic, which was incredible.

And so I obtained a ton more shadowing hours.

Just really picked her brain for an entire six months of what does your life look like?

What does your day to day?

How do you function?

What does PA school look like?

What do I do?

Please help me.

Developing that relationship with her was phenomenal and probably saved a lot and helped out my application a lot.

So she wrote me a letter of recommendation.

I got more of those shadowing hours in there for my application and I again was able, even though I had been rejected the year before, I was able to continue gaining confidence that this is what I'm doing, I'm not giving up, this is what I'm going to do, this is what I want in life.

And I poured everything into my personal statement and I let people read it.

I am so insecure about my writing.

So insecure.

And get over it.

If this is what you want, you have to put yourself out there.

And it's terrifying.

It's so scary, but that's what you have to do.

So did you change your personal statement or use some of the same.

You changed it.

I changed it.

I used one of.

There's one patient that really stands out in my patient care experience.

And so I still kept her in there, but I feel like I did a lot more of the showing than telling.

And it all comes to how you phrase things.

Thankfully, I have a sister that's an English major, so she helped me a ton with using, you know, great adjectives and whatnot.

So that was fun.

That's nice.

So how many schools did you apply to the second Time I could.

So I knew this time what my GPA was.

So I could only apply to schools that look at your last 45, 30, or 90 credits just because of that history I do have.

So I applied to five this round.

Okay, that's a big difference from 20 to five.

Yeah, that's actually interesting.

And I'm just gonna throw out this stat.

The average number of schools that someone who is accepted applies to is six.

And I think you are, like, almost a perfect example of maybe someone who the first time, like, throws it out broadly.

Which is not necessarily a bad thing, except for if you don't meet the requirements, then you're wasting a lot of money and a lot of time doing that.

But then, you know, if you can tailor that list and make it not only, like, a good fit for them, a good fit for you, like, really, really look at.

Makes a big difference.

Right.

Also with that too, is I noticed that, you know, applying to 20 schools and all those supplemental applications and whatnot, you get burnt.

And so only applying to those five, I was able to really devote more time and more of myself to each one, which I think made overall, all of the applications stronger.

Nice.

Okay, so what were your outcomes?

I received two interview invites and one acceptance, and I did.

I actually canceled my interview invite for the second school just because I had already heard back on my acceptance and I wanted to give that seat to somebody else because I got my first choice, so.

Nice.

Okay, so what.

What were your overall.

What were your overall science and whatever last.

However many looked at for that school.

Or for medics, what were like.

Sorry, what?

Yeah, your overall gpa.

Sorry, overall gpa, science GPA and then whatever last credits they look at.

So.

So my overall GPA was about a 2.8.

Sorry, I'm having to pull it back up.

My science, I believe, was a 3.2, and my last 90 was a 3.95.

Okay, cool.

Did you take advantage of how MedX will do, like, a prior application review or did you just wing it?

I had no idea that they did that.

Yeah.

And so, yeah, I just went with it.

I winged it.

That's nice.

I just was wondering because I wondered if they would, like, give you any feedback or anything.

Re applicant.

I only know this because they invited me back this year as someone who was a reapplicant and accepted that they do an info session after all the interviews are done for those who didn't get accepted to come in and talk and be like, this potentially could have been why or.

And then actually at this one, the admissions director at the school is phenomenal.

And he actually hung back for a little bit and did look at people's applications and gave them tips.

So they're really there for you.

I had a good experience with this school.

So far.

I've had people who will.

I mean, I think, I guess on their website or somewhere where they.

If you send them kind of, they have a list of things like, send us your information and we will, you know, kind of take a look at it.

And the report they send back, I've seen them, are pretty good.

I mean, they, they really look at it like they're not, like, take more classes.

Like, they give you very specific things that they're looking for, which is really cool.

I think they have a group interview style.

But did grades or anything come up at all for you or did you avoid that topic when it came to interviewing?

So it is group.

You interview with two other people and you're interviewed by two people and you get like, three different cycles of it.

And in my first interview, the gentleman said, what if a genie popped out of the lamp and granted you one wish to go back and change anything you wanted, right?

And what's really funny is Aladdin is my ultimate favorite movie.

And it.

I just, like, I said that, right?

Like, I. I laughed about it and almost even forgot what the question was because I was like, oh, my God, this is for me.

Because he directed it to me.

And so that was laugh.

But I. I said, I was like, if I.

It would seem like I would go back and change my early college career.

But I won it, right?

My.

Who I am today would not be without that.

And I learned so much from that.

And while it sucked, I am thankful for that time and what it taught me.

And then in my third interview, it was actually really humbling and flattering.

One of the gentlemen interviewing us stopped in the middle and he just looked at me and he said, I just want to congratulate you for your last 90 credits because, wow.

And that just having that validation of, like, I worked my butt off was really nice.

So that, that is.

That sounds like an ideal interview scenario.

I only had two interviews, but I had completely opposite, like, experiences.

The first one was one where it was, like, very intimidating.

And the second one, I also had someone who recognized, like, she said, you know, like, I just want to let you know that, like, I realized, like, you're young, but, like, you've done a lot.

It was like, oh, you realize that, like, my heart, you see it.

And so, like, to have someone, I guess in that position of power, like I told you, I mean you're just like, oh my gosh, that like you said, validation, like makes you feel so good.

And not every interview is like that just so people know.

Like I think that might be rare, but it feels good when it, when it happens.

So.

Yeah.

So then you, how long did they make you wait to find out you got in?

We found out a week to the day.

Okay, that's not bad.

That's not bad.

Yeah, the first interview group, it was like 24 hours.

So yeah, they, they were very fast this year.

Yeah.

Well that's awesome.

Okay, so I mean you've done, done great and obviously like you'll be a great student.

And I, I mean I've only ever heard great things about MedX and I think it's a very highly desired program.

But what would, I guess, okay, so you kind of said if you'd go back and change anything, but what advice would you give yourself?

So if you were, you know, you ran into that 18 year old self studying in the coffee shop, what would you tell yourself now?

Yeah.

You know, just evaluate what's important.

Right.

Like what is going to stay with you for the next however long.

You know, because those partying days and even some of the friends I made at that time, you know, they didn't last.

That time in my life didn't last and didn't lead me to where I wanted to be.

They didn't hold true to my values.

And so you know, I wouldn't say like don't do this, don't do that but like think about what's important to you and what can you do to get you to your goals.

Yeah, I like that I have a one year old but like I already, it's funny watching her and watching her, like I can see her thinking about making decisions.

Yeah.

And it worries me for her future because she's.

But like I was telling her I'm like make good choices.

Like think about, like make good choices.

And it takes practice and experience.

Right.

Just like anything else in life, it takes practice.

You aren't born with the knowledge of what do I do in this situation, you know?

Right.

And I think also like guidance and I think that's something that probably when you were first going through this and myself too, like there wasn't a lot of it.

I mean, I mean I had a supportive family which was great, but they didn't know anything about PA stuff and my advisor didn't know anything about it.

My friends didn't know anything about it was a biology major but nobody else really.

Everybody else was pre med.

And so I mean sometimes I think being pre PA like you feel like you're kind of on this lonely island where you're all alone.

You're constantly having to defend yourself or explain things and it, it is hard to find that group of people to kind of.

But I think social media has changed that some, thankfully a little bit.

That's like a good thing about social media.

But yeah, no, it was tough and I think it still is a little bit tough at times.

Yeah, absolutely.

I think that's a huge difference between my first cycle and my second cycle was.

You're absolutely right.

There weren't any resources.

You know, we didn't even have a pre PA at my undergrad.

We.

So I actually was one of the founders of the biology club and then I went, I stay in contact with the school and the bio club right now and I'm like give out my email.

Like utilize me as a resource because I understand how difficult it was navigating through this process with no resources, not.

Not having anybody to ask questions to.

And so, you know, that's why I appreciate you having me come on this as well because I want people to know to utilize your resources.

You know, I use the PA platform, I utilize the mock interviews with the PA platform.

So thank you.

And it's useful, it's helpful.

Use your tools because they.

This is what they're created for.

Yeah.

Well, I definitely appreciate you sharing your story because I think these are more of the.

The hopeful success stories I would like to be.

I mean all of our stories are good but like I really like your attitude about things and I think that's something a lot of people need to hear.

So where do you think you'll end up?

You think back in OB stuff or.

Actually the running joke with us.

So I want to start out by giving back.

I am Native American and so my tribe is actually helping me pay for school and I absolutely, regardless of that, want to give back to my tribe.

I mean they've been a huge part of my life and an influence and they're actually native to Washington.

So I want to work for the Indian Health Services for a little bit and probably community health and then funny, I actually want to try and dive into trauma and emergency medicine.

I did get my EMT certification just as extra knowledge and education.

But I had to do a 12 hour shift at Harborview Trauma Level 1 Trauma center here in.

I fell in love.

So at least try and take a stab at it, but ultimately, I'll probably end up back in women's health.

Yeah.

Find where your heart is usually.

Well, I know you said you made an Instagram so people could follow you, but where can we kind of find you and follow along?

Yeah, absolutely.

So My Instagram is pnw,_pa_s.

And yeah, go follow me.

And I don't have much on there yet.

A bunch of my friends were followed on the.

On UW for the COVID times and stuff, so I just kind of shared that National Geographic had them on there, and Oprah had a picture of a video of them.

So, you know, just with everything going on right now, just supporting our people.

Yeah, there's a lot going on.

But will that affect you starting school at all, or.

No, we actually just found out.

Yeah.

Two days ago, that our whole first quarter and orientation will be online.

So it's gonna be an adjustment and just reminding everybody we're in this together.

And, you know, we're flexible.

Right.

PAs are like the PA school model.

Before all this happened, you still had to be flexible.

But I have no doubt she'll do great.

But I'll link to all of that.

But thank you so much for your time.

Absolutely.

Thanks for having me on here.