Elijah's undergrad transcript was rough. He got in on his first try anyway.

That combination almost never happens by accident, so I wanted to know exactly what he did.

He did a master's program and performed. That gave admissions recent, graduate-level evidence that he can handle the coursework, which is the whole thing they're worried about with a low GPA. He also stacked up varied patient care experience instead of grinding out hours in one place.

What that builds is an upward trajectory, and that's the phrase to hold onto. Committees aren't only looking at where you started. They're looking at the direction you're moving.

He also didn't hide from his record. He owned it, explained it, and let the newer work speak. That's a much stronger position than hoping nobody notices.

If your GPA is the thing keeping you up at night, listen to this one.

What we cover:

• What his early academic record actually looked like
• Using a master's program to prove current academic ability
• Building varied patient care experience on purpose
• Showing an upward trend instead of explaining away a number
• Addressing a weak GPA in essays and interviews
• Getting in on the first try with a rough transcript

Resources:

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

Free Resume Download: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/free-resume-download

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

Pre-PA Academy: https://prepaclub.thepaplatform.com/landing/academy

Mentioned in this episode:

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We get so many questions about GPA and what to do if you have a low gpa.

So today on the podcast we're talking to someone who was successfully accepted as a first time applicant with a very low GPA and what they did to make themselves competitive for PA school applications.

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.

Foreign if you've been around a little while, you've heard me talk about Pikmonic and they are our sponsor of the Pre PA Club Podcast this week.

As I have been personally going through my 10 year Panry recertification, I completely feel you with having to study all of this information that we learn in PA school.

In it is a lot and Picmonic is such a great way to study that almost feels like a break if that makes sense.

Instead of just staring at a textbook or a PowerPoint for hours and hours, it is a resource that incorporates videos and stories to help you actually understand the material and remember it and recall it.

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And it just makes it so much easier when you're trying to recall all of this information.

So I like to watch the Picmonic.

Videos, take notes, I'm a note taker and then go back and do some of the review multiple choice quizzes to apply and make sure that I understand the information.

Big fan of qbanx.

I think they are extremely helpful and so you're really getting everything with Picmonic.

So if you're trying to figure out.

What resources are going to work best for you, I say give it a shot and we'll put the link in the description so that you can find out more information and sign up for Picmonic and give it a shot to see if it is going to be a good fit for you in your PA education.

Use the code the PA platform for 20% off at checkout.

Hey guys, welcome to the Prepa Club Podcast.

I'm so glad you're here with me today.

For today's interview we're going to hear from Elijah.

This is just such a great story of how perseverance and setting goals and sticking to them and doing things that make you sacrifice throughout this process will be so worth it and will certainly pay off in the end.

So we'll get to his story just for a little background about him.

He is a non traditional student.

He had a child during undergrad so we talk about that and being a parent and applying to PA school.

He got his bachelor's degree from UCLA and then went in to do a master's program to help with his gpa.

And now he was living in Arizona but got into PA school in New Jersey.

So he packed up to move to attend PA school and complete his goal and his dream of becoming a pa.

So I really hope that this interview gives you some hope.

And that was Elijah's goal too, was just for other people in similar situations to hear about his experience.

Experience and kind of put some some realistic light around what it may take if you're on the lower end of your GPA to get where you need to be to get into PA school.

So we'll get to that in just a second.

A few things to note if you are listening live.

We do have some stuff coming up for you.

We just had a webinar where we debuted a free tool that you need to know about and we'll be sharing more about that on the podcast.

But in the meantime we have created if you've heard of chat, GPT and AI stuff, we have created a pre PA AI so you can go to this link and you can ask any questions that you need to ask about Prepa stuff.

You can say, should I write a thank you note after interviews?

What should I say in my thank you note?

What kind of interview questions can I expect?

What should be my personal statement?

Whatever you want to ask it.

We've tested it.

If it can't answer your question, you let us know.

But it's pulling from all of our resources, the books, the website, videos, podcasts to try to make your life easier.

That link is in the description and we'll be sharing it on social media.

If you're on our email list, we'll send out some emails about it too.

But we just really wanted there to be an awesome free tool for you to get your questions answered.

I know a lot of y' all come to me with those questions and I can't always get to every message as quickly as I would like.

So this is a good way to do that.

So we're very excited about the Prepa AI and that is powered by Mapped.

I've talked about Mapped a little bit, but it is a free application tracker and you can put in your experience, your it's got the best GPA calculator and we'll be sharing more on that as well, but this is really exciting,.

So I hope you all love it.

And let me know if you have any feedback.

I would love to see what answers it's giving you.

If you want to post on social media and tag me, I can't wait to see them.

And it's so great.

So another announcement in a little over a month is when we'll be in Baltimore for mappedcon and I would love to meet you there.

The hotel block is ends in about two weeks, so you do want to get signed up for that to make sure you have a hotel room, you're getting lunch, getting T shirts, that kind of stuff by signing up in time.

And please just share with anyone who you know who may be interested in attending.

We want to have as many pre pas there as possible and I have some really great presentations for you guys and I can't wait to meet y'.

All.

I'm just very excited about that part.

All right, let's get into hearing from Elijah.

Thanks for listening.

Sorry for the long intro.

I just am chatty today apparently.

But I will see y' all on the next episode.

And we're just talking about interview stuff.

So many good interviews and different things coming up.

But if you need anything, feel free to reach out.

So I am a, I guess admitted PA student now.

I'm going to attend Rutgers this August.

I guess my journey started off in my undergrad.

I went to UCLA for my undergrad.

That's where I met my wife.

Girlfriend at the time, but my wife now.

During our sophomore year we had a kiddo.

We were really young.

I think I was 19, I was around 19 years old when I found out I was going to be a dad.

So it was a big like life changer for me.

And I just thought feeling in the moment, I felt like my life was going down the drain.

But now that I look back on it, it was a blessing.

And you know, I wouldn't be who I am today without my little kiddo.

So had a kid during college.

I still kept up with all my leadership, all my extracurriculars.

I was still involved in my community, but my grades suffered.

Trying to juggle all of that, all those leadership and extracurriculars and school and learning how to be a full time dad.

It really took a toll on me and my wife and so our grades didn't really do that well.

I think just straight out of the university, if I were to calculate my SGPA with probably have been like a 2.1 or something like that, I think at one point it Dipped below to, like a 1.9.

I'm not sure.

I don't know the details of it, but it was.

It was pretty bad.

Just the rigor of that university alone was hard.

And learning how to navigate that while being a young parent was.

Oh, it was.

It was so tough.

But afterwards, you know, I knew I had a buckle down.

I knew.

I knew I wanted to do something in medicine.

I wasn't sure if I was truly pre med yet or pre pa.

I kind of knew about both.

I was kind of leaning towards pre med until I started learning more about what pas did.

But so.

So I buckled down.

I did a master's.

Me and my wife are actually classmates for undergrad and for our masters, so we are kind of doing the same path right now.

Except I did the PA route and she did the.

She's doing the med school route right now.

Cool.

That's awesome.

Yeah, so I'm.

We just graduated Last.

Okay.

Last year was a big year for us.

We finished our master's, got finally got married.

I started applying to PA school, she started applying to med school, and here we are now.

I got accepted.

I finally learned what it means to be a good student, a good parent.

I learned how to be a son in law this year.

It was amazing.

It was a big year for both of us.

It's just this past year, so finding out that I got off the wait list was.

Oh, my goodness.

And I didn't have to apply for the next cycle.

It was amazing.

That's a lot of.

That's a lot of changes, like, big changes all at once.

But that's interesting.

So I want to hear a little bit more about.

So you said you were kind of like pre med, pre pac.

Was that going into college?

You kind of were already on that track.

Like, what was your major?

My major was going into college.

It was physiology.

Okay.

But I didn't keep a GPA high enough to stay within.

Stay with that degree.

So I was like, oh, my goodness, what do I do?

Do I have to become, like, an arts.

Do I have to get an arts degree now?

Like, I thought I needed a science degree for medicine, so I. I looked into biology, just general biology, and I. I guess I met the requirements for that.

So even though I was doing classes that I didn't really like to do, like, zoology, and it probably contributed as to, like, part of my failure during my undergraduate careers, because I was really not interested in learning about, like, animal bones and.

And like, the Latin names for what an elephant Is like, I still don't remember what it is.

I don't think I'll ever use it in my life.

But, yeah, so I graduated with biology.

Okay.

I think there was.

Just for transparency, there was two semesters where I was subject to dismissal or, I think, academic probation.

I forget the difference between the two.

It was so long ago, years ago, but it was.

It was really scary because I.

That was my dream university that I got into.

And, yeah, to be told that I might be subject to dismissal was.

Was really scary.

And then just seeing what my future in medicine would be like, I. I didn't even know the process of applying to school or med school.

Like, I just went through college with the notion that Cs get degrees because that's what everyone tells me, and it's completely not true.

You need a.

You need to be a star student.

And, I mean, you don't need straight A's, but, you know, a couple Cs and, like, won't hurt.

But I definitely had a different mindset in college compared to what I have now.

Yeah.

Did you have an advisor or anybody who was kind of supporting you or not?

Any guidance there?

No, I. Gosh.

And this was partially my fault.

I kind of put everything on the back burner because of raising my son.

My wife had such a tough pregnancy, too.

So I was.

I felt like I was trying to learn to be more of a partner and a parent during college than prioritizing school, which was.

Yeah, you know, it contributed to who I am today, but it definitely took a toll on other aspects of my life, and I wasn't able to find that balance until I did this master's program and was really able to prove to myself academically that I had the potential to, you know, to succeed in higher education.

Tell us more about your master's program.

What was that in?

I get a lot of questions about, like, should I do a master's?

Should I do a postbac?

What did you look for in a program and kind of.

What did that consist of?

What did it actually look like?

My wife was the one that actually told me to do this, so we kind of knew about postbacs and master's program, smps, whatever you want to call it.

We wanted to have something to our name at the end of it.

Having a master's degree to our name sounded nice versus doing a postbac.

I don't think there's a right or wrong answer for anyone, but we decided to do a master's, and we were classmates in that as well, we got it in medical nutrition.

I kind of just followed my wife's lead.

Yeah.

To be honest.

But after like taking some class, some of the classes in, in that degree and getting that master's, it really opened my eyes as to the holistic aspect of, you know, practicing medicine with regards to nutrition and the fact that not many physicians and providers utilize nutrition and, and diet into their healthcare plan.

And I just thought, oh, wow, this is something I could probably use not only for myself, but for my patients down the line.

So at the end of the day, I was really glad that I stuck with nutrition.

But if you're considering any type of SMP or master's, anything like physiology or anatomy or any of those sciences, it should work for you.

Just make sure that you guys really push through, get those A's.

Because every A matters when you're in your postbac or Master's.

Like, like I had the mindset where I couldn't even afford a B or an A minus.

I got one A minus, which is pretty upset about.

But just, you have to really just push through because if you had a GP like mine in your undergrad, you really have to show adcoms that without a doubt that you're worthy, that you're, you have the potential to succeed in their program.

Yeah, that, no, that's, I mean, great advice.

If you're gonna do it, do it and do well in it for sure.

And it sounds like you did.

Was that a full time program?

Like, were you in class all day or was it similar to like.

It was.

I was very fortunate.

It was actually online and I don't know if ADCOMs really took that into account.

I didn't mention it at all if it was online or not, but I think the recommended like curriculum for that program was to be, to finish it in two years.

But I was like, no, I'm gonna apply.

I want to apply to preschool now.

So I did it in one year.

I was working full time.

I was doing master's full time.

I was taking A and P and microbiome and retaking all my like chem series because I was doing a lot these past years.

I had no life.

There's gonna be sacrifice.

There's gonna be.

Yeah, yeah.

So I, I was doing a lot at the time and I was still a parent.

I'm still too on top of that.

Yeah.

So yeah, I did all that.

Yeah, it was, it was tough.

So instead of two years, typically most SMPs or master's programs are two years, but I opted to just accelerate everything to one year, just do it really fast, get out the way so I can apply.

Yeah.

So I think the way you did it is very, you know, made sense for what you were doing, but is, is definitely tough and like you said, kind of a full time thing.

Like you're not going to have much time for anything else, unfortunately.

But so when you kind of answered one of my questions, did your master's have some of your prereqs in it that you needed to retake or that you needed, or did you have to kind of do those all separate?

I mean, I think I had one, one course there which was like statistics.

Okay.

But most, most.

There's a lot of PA programs that don't really require that.

It just happened to be in my curriculum for my nutrition degree.

My nutrition degree was mainly, my master's was mainly to show outcomes that I could handle graduate level courses and that I can succeed with regards to prereqs.

That's something I had to do on the side, which was another stress in it of itself.

Yeah, it was a lot.

That is a lot.

How much did doing that master's program and doing those prereqs help your GPAs?

Oh, I, I thought I did awesome.

I, I took about 60 units at the end of everything.

I just finished biochem right now because even though I got accepted, they wanted me to finish that class.

So to be honest, with the amount of credits that I had for my undergrad, it, I felt like it barely touched it.

So I think my SGP at the beginning of all this was like a 2.1.

Okay.

At the time of application when my Master's was like three quarters done, my cheap, my SGPA was like a 2.3.

So that's like, it barely touched it.

Even with all the prereqs I was taking also on the side because I got A's in those as well.

I think my, my master's GPA was a 3.98.

My last 60 units at the time of application was like a 3.87.

So it was, it was up there.

I, I didn't, I left barely any room for mistakes, probably like 1Aminus.

That hurt me, but it barely touched my gpa and I was, I was really bummed out.

I was like, wow.

Like I, I'm putting on all this work these past like two years and for a 0.2 raise in my SGPA.

It was, it was kind of disheartening.

And it was even more disheartening when I was Getting those rejections.

And I was like, what do I do?

Because I just feel like I did everything I could.

Well, that's what's so interesting about GPA that I try to tell people when they are asking like, you know, we have that pressure to do all the things all like, all at the same time.

It's like you start at the top and you can really only go down.

Like you're never going to get back to a 4.0 no matter what you do if it drops.

And so it's like you just, it's like a losing battle, unfortunately.

And then once you have a bunch of credits, it makes it even harder to get it to come up, even just a little bit.

Where was your overall gpa?

Kind of through all this at the time of application?

Casper Calculate.

And I sent you the.

I sent you like my little GPA thing.

I don't know if you saw.

Oh, I don't know if I thought.

Yeah, I'll have to look.

Yeah.

Just.

Yeah.

Just to show you that.

Yeah, yeah.

That I wasn't lying.

Like, it's true.

Like, I had a really bad gpa.

Yeah.

I think at the time of application it was like a 2.5, 2.53.

But I had it recalculated through at still Central coast because they did grade recalculations throughout the cycle.

Okay.

They said it was like a.

It was like at the 3.0 cusp.

Which I don't know how much to believe that because I was like, okay, how come my SGP didn't barely move but my CGPA is like, went from a 2.5 all the way to a 3.

I didn't.

Yeah, I just didn't understand that part.

It may just be how they calculate.

I mean some.

When they start doing their own calculations and dropping or looking at stuff, it.

It gets all kinds of wonky.

Okay.

So you decided, you know, you were in this masters working through stuff, decided to apply to PA school, which I wouldn't understand.

Like what it went into your decision making process of what you were looking for in schools and then also kind of knowing like, hey, my GPA may not be where I want it to be, but I'm still going to go for it.

And like how'd you figure out which schools you felt like would be a good fit based on that?

Because I don't know if you're in our Facebook group or anything, but all the time of like, where, where should I apply if my GPA is lower?

How should.

Yeah, how do I approach this I'm guilty of, that.

I was one of those.

Yeah.

But it's like, it's so hard because it's, it's just.

And I.

This is what I tell.

Like, it's such a gray, gray area because there's so much to it.

Like, it's just not only about gpa, but that is an important part of the cycle and part of the application.

So it's, it's so hard to say, like, if somebody just says, oh, these are my stats.

What.

What should I do?

Where should I apply?

Because I've seen people with a 3.98 not get in.

And so you can't go just off of that.

So what was your mindset like?

How did you go about that process?

Oh, man.

I mean, by no means, I, I don't think I'm an expert at all in all things application cycle, because this was my first and only cycle and I only had one interview, so I wouldn't take my word, you know, as gospel.

But I'll.

I will tell you with what I did was I, I had to really apply strategically.

And I know a lot of people say that, but you have to really read all the nuances of what these schools have on their website, whether or not, you know, they will consider your GPA whether or not they have a minimum or not.

Because the school I got into, Rutgers, they had a 3.2 minimum.

Right.

And if you just look at that at face value, oh, 3.2, I can't apply.

But if you read into their application and their website, it's.

They have a supplemental question that says, you know, if you had any extenuating circumstances, let us know and then we'll, you know, if you don't meet our minimum gpa, we'll, We'll.

We'll look into it, you know.

Yeah.

So I, I think that's the only reason I got this interview.

I was surprised they were the only ones offering me an interview.

And it was like, really fast, actually, with how fast they sent that interview and the way things are rolling.

But my advice with regards to researching schools is make sure you meet all the minimums, because there are definitely, like, two schools that I applied to where I didn't meet the minimum and I didn't do enough research.

So that's like, what, like a hundred, two hundred dollars wasted right there.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So with my case, with regards to how I approach things, I had to look at schools with no minimum.

Either no minimum GPAs, or they'll consider your last 30 or 60 units you know, schools like that, and there are actually quite a lot of schools out there.

I reached out to a lot of people, actually, on premier, Facebook, Savannah, and I connected with a lot of people that were able to guide me in the right direction.

Yeah.

And I looked into those schools, and some of those schools now for this cycle have changed their requirements.

Like, you have to really make sure that you're not referencing an old list that someone has made.

Yeah.

Because I've definitely done that.

And then I looked at the website, and it was completely changed from just one cycle.

Yeah.

So you just really have to do your research.

Just make sure you look into schools that will even look at you.

Yeah.

Interesting.

On your application, this is a.

A controversial question that comes up sometimes.

On your application, did you talk about being a parent and being a dad?

Oh, yeah.

I mean, it's such a big part as to.

Not just who I am, but as to what my.

My motivation was to succeed.

I. I mentioned.

I mentioned it a lot, especially in my supplementals.

But in my personal statement is where I really, you know, I didn't go too much into detail.

I. I still talked about why I wanted to be a pa.

I didn't want my whole Persona to be, oh, I'm a dad and I'm young.

You know, I just kind of mentioned it at the end.

I said something along the lines of, oh, lastly.

And my.

My biggest reason for wanting to become a PA is to show my.

Is to be a good example for my son, to show him that.

That despite the hardships in life, that you can still achieve your dream career.

So that, I mean, I kind of touched upon my situation.

Yeah.

But I think I mainly focused on schools with, really, supplementals that will look into your backstory, because that's where I really allowed.

Allowed myself to explain my whole situation.

Just like what Rutgers did.

Yeah, no, that's.

That's.

I'm with you.

I feel like anything.

Anything that is a big part of your life is worth talking about.

And, you know, I would.

My.

My approach was I wouldn't want to go to a school that didn't want me because of that.

Like, because of something I cared about.

And, you know, so anyway.

But no, I think.

I think that's great, great advice.

And clearly, you know, you had.

You had taken steps to prove that you could handle a master's and, you know, like you said, doing other stuff, taking classes, working full time.

What was your patient care experience?

So I'm a big.

I'm a big proponent of upward trend in the Application.

So I kind of took that with me, not only in my grades, but with my patient care experience, which is another thing I recommend to your listeners is that you have to show them that without a doubt in all aspects of your life that you, you are on the upward trend.

So I started off with scribing, which was basically like, no, no hands on patient care experience, but you kind of delve into medicine.

So I started off as a family medicine and ER scribe, which from there I eventually understood that I needed something more hands on.

So got my emt, started working on the ambulance.

This was around the time of COVID so transporting COVID patients.

And that was super scary.

Yeah, um, well, at the time, because we didn't understand too much about it.

But yes, I did the ambulance thing during COVID I did the COVID screening, like the vaccination sites did all that.

And then I eventually landed a job at a holistic clinic, which was kind of odd because I was doing my master's in medical nutrition and they really implement nutrition and holistic medicine.

I don't know how I got to that side of medicine.

They just, yeah, they just, they just needed an emt.

So I was like, oh, like, you know, you guys pay well, so I'll, I'll work for you.

So I found myself on the holistic side of medicine and actually had one of my naturopathic doctors that I worked with one of my letters of rec.

So I, I guess that doesn't matter.

And then I finally landed my job, my present day job at emergency room as an ed tech.

And that job has so many hands on skills.

I just feel like I've, I've reached the peak as to what an EMT can do in my state in Arizona.

And we got to do so many things.

Like I went from being a scribe to just writing HPIs and physical exams and RLSs to being a tech in the ED, where I'm throwing in Foleys, I'm doing IVs, I'm splinting, I'm doing CPR at a level one trauma center.

So it was really, really busy.

So I get a lot of exposure with regards to hands on patient care.

So just all in all, just having that upward trend, even in your patient care hours is something I feel like help me a lot too.

Because it's not just one aspect of your application you need to.

It's not just the red flags or the weak part of your application.

You got to make yourself stand out in like your whole holistic aspect of.

Your application that's That's a really great point.

I think people get comfortable and it's easy to get in a position where you like what you're doing and you know the people and it's good and all these things.

But at some point, if you're not getting the results you want, like you said, like, looking at something where you're going to have more responsibility, learn new skills, those things can be really beneficial and stand out, too.

But.

Okay, so you are moving for PA school.

Yeah.

It sounds like a pretty big move for.

It is.

What are you doing or have you done anything to kind of prepare, to kind of get yourself ready or to get to know your classmates?

What has kind of.

So it did come as a shock getting that acceptance because I was already.

It was a month out from the cycle opening, and I was.

I was already letting my letters of work know, like, hey, I'm going to reapply.

And my wife kind of knew, like, okay, we're going to be in Arizona another year.

That's fine.

But prior to applying, we kind of talked about, like, where I would be applying.

And she knew the situation because she's in the same exact academic situation as I am.

So we couldn't be picky as the location.

We couldn't apply to any of the Arizona schools.

So we kind of already had an idea that we would be somewhere out of state.

So even when I interviewed with Jersey, my wife was already looking into things and she was saying, like, oh, like, let's manifest it by doing research and stuff.

So we already kind of had an idea as to how we would approach our move to Jersey.

It's just that it came at such a.

An unsuspecting time that it kind of caught us off guard.

So, yeah, right now I think I'm still personally trying to, like, take it all in and just, like, realize, like, oh, my gosh, like, I'm starting pace.

Cool.

I got in.

Yeah.

But we've been having.

We've been having discussions on what to do.

It's kind of expensive to move coast to coast because my school's in Jersey.

Jersey, I heard, is expensive, too.

It's expensive there.

I mean, we're kind of used to it because we did.

We lived in California for a little bit.

Yeah.

But Arizona was.

It was a lot cheaper and we kind of kind of got comfortable here.

Yeah.

With regards to the move, it's so expensive.

It's like we looked into it.

We saw quotes going up to, like, five grand for movers, and we were like, oh, goodness, we Might as well just, just start new out there.

Well, I just talked to somebody and that's what they're doing.

I forgot where she was moving from to or from, but she was doing like a big move and that's what she was like.

It was cheaper for me to just sell all my furniture and do like furnished finder or something for a year.

And I was like, that's so interesting.

But yeah, it's just, it adds up very, very quickly.

It's really fortunate too, because the, we're doing housing through the campus and we kind of, we're doing something called family housing, which is something we did back at ucla.

And I recommend that to all families that are listening to this that got into school and are moving their families to the campus.

Because family housing, at least at Rutgers, is awesome.

Not only is the rent lower than surrounding apartments, but it's fully furnished.

Great location.

Yeah, great location.

It's safe, it's within the university.

We have no WI FI bills.

Like everything is covered in the cost and it's still a lot cheaper than, you know, other options.

That's awesome.

Yeah, that's a great plan.

I think, you know, it's hard to prepare for PA school.

I think we talk about it and talk about what to expect, but until you're really there, it's, it's a little tough.

But is there anything that you feel like after doing your masters and doing working full time and doing all that at the same time, do you feel ready for PA school or is there anything you're kind of nervous about?

I feel like, I feel like PA school is a different piece because, gosh, I watch a lot of podcasts and I look at a lot of these Facebook posts and a lot of people say it's a different, it's different.

Like you just don't know until you're in.

And I'm not going to go in thinking, oh yeah, I got a 4.0 in my graduate, in my graduate program and I'm going to do well.

Like, I, I always believe that first and foremost for students throughout our whole lives.

Like, I'm just going to take it humbly because I know I'm going to have to adapt to the study methods and how the, how fast paced school is.

That's kind of my mindset going into things.

I always try to go in humble because I feel like if I go into proud, I, I put things off and I procrastinate.

I'm just like, oh, I'll be fine, I'll be fine.

Because that's what I did in my undergrad.

I'm like, yeah, I got into ucla.

Like, I'm fine, I'll be fine next, you know, I graduate with a 2.0 like UK and I'm like, what did I do?

Oops.

Whoops.

So looking back, like, so if you had advice to give to someone who was either struggling through undergrad or is in that kind of low GPA position, what would be your advice to them?

Don't look at the past anymore.

It's done.

The damage is done.

As of right now, today, you need to, if you have a B in that class, strive for that A.

If you have a C, strive for that B.

You know, because you need to start making changes now because you can't just apply with nothing to show.

You have to show these outcomes that you are without a doubt a worthy applicant, that they'll even look at your application.

So doing that work now, just taking it day by day, you know, like just waking up to study, waking up to get to work.

It's a struggle.

It's, it's a daily process.

It's, it's, it's an accumulation of all these days where you're just working hard and yeah, just, just tackling, you know, the red flags of your gpa.

Like you just have to face the fact that my GPA sucks.

I have to do something about it.

Whether it's a postbac or masters or my patient care hours are low.

I need to do something about, I'm going to pick up overtime and just, you know, work, work my butt off and get all these hours.

And I'm gonna shadow on the side as well because I want to show them that I can handle this overload of work because that's how PA school essentially is.

Except it's just in the didactic portion where it's just like in the first year, that's when they overload you with a bunch of stuff and they just want to know that you'll be able to manage your stress and manage your time well.

So that's the best way you can show adcoms, you know, that, that you're worthy of a seat in their class.

And I, I love your self awareness of that because some people will realize that they do maybe need to retake classes or GPA is an issue or like you said, their experience isn't that great.

But they just, it's like you feel like you, if you pad your application, like people who like will say, oh yeah, my GPA is low, but I'm Getting more experience.

I'm like, well, you have experience.

You got to go back and do GPA now.

Like, nobody wants to.

Of course nobody wants to.

But you.

You have to be able to recognize those weaknesses and make them better if you want to see.

See the benefit.

So I think the fact that you were able to do that and actually take those actions clearly paid off.

And Rutgers, you know, appreciated that also and saw that in you too.

So, no, this was.

This is great.

Thank you so much for to sharing, and I think this will be very encouraging to a lot of prepa students who are in a very similar position.

Like you said at the beginning, it can be very disheartening to just feel like you're kind of not sure where to go or if you have options.

But I feel like if you want to be a pa, like, figure it out, you can become a pa.

It may just take a little bit longer than you thought or a little different path to get there.

Yeah, just don't listen to those naysayers on the forums, on the Facebook groups.

You have to connect with the people who have gotten in with these low GPAs, because they have.

They have the story to tell.

And I. I, by no means.

I'm not.

Like I said, I'm not an expert in the whole application process or how do you get in with, like, a low gpa?

I'm no expert.

I'm just.

This is just my story and what I did experience.

Yeah, A lot of.

A lot of other people with similar stories or, like, with Badgie Pays, they have their own stories and how they tackle it.

So I.

That's what I did.

I just kind of got in touch with others where I'm just like, hey, what did you do?

Like, did you do this?

Did you do that?

Did you keep working while doing this?

Things like that?

Yeah, I got some insight, and that's super smart.

So I'm sure you'll do wonderfully.

And we'll have to check back in once you're done with school and you tell us what.

What you're going to be doing and how it works.

I'll let you know.

Yeah, send us an update.

Awesome.

How humbling it'll be.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Hopefully not too bad.

Hopefully not too bad.

That's.

I talked to somebody who's on faculty at a California school yesterday, and we were talking about, like, why students struggle.

And I think, like, that's what we agreed on is, like, just the expectation.

Like, it's just hard to understand that you've got to be able to Adjust very quickly throughout the program.

Like it just, it's just a lot,.

A lot of adapting is what I do.

A lot of adapting.

A lot of, you know, figuring out what works and then when it doesn't work, you figure out something else and do that.

So I don't doubt I'm gonna like do.

A master's and, and read it all your prayer like you'll, you'll be fine.

I fully believe that anyone who gets into PA school can succeed in pa. Like can succeed and take boards and be fine in PA school.

I don't even think it's the material that's difficult, it's just the volume that is, that is a lot.

So if you did a two year masters in one year, I think, I think you can probably do it.

It's just a little scary because like I'm still like wanting to be there for my son.

And I know these past two years have been hard on.

Not really too hard on him, but I, I feel like I wish I was more present.

I just know that once I'm done with K school then I can be like a full time dad and just take them to all the soccer games.

And yeah, you'll find, you'll find balance and some weeks will be better than others or easier.

But I think, I think honestly we didn't have a ton of parents in my class.

There were a few in the class below me and I remember talking to one dad and he was like, I just treat this like a full time job, like from, you know, morning, tonight, like morning whatever time, eight to six, like that, like this is my job and then I'm a parent and then like I might study a little bit more at night, but just having a schedule.

And I think he also said he would like take one day off a week or at least half a day off a week on the weekend.

Like you, it's hard not to feel like you have to study all the time, but you really don't.

Like, I mean, and, and this is not to go back to C's, get degrees, but there's a difference in like you want to pass and everything.

But honestly, like you don't have to get a 4.0.

And so that was a realization that I had to have because I was like the study 247 person that was like, okay, if I, if I take a break to go get dinner with my family, is that going to be the difference in me getting like a 98 and an 85 or is that the difference in me getting like a 92 and a 93.

Like it not that significant.

And I still need to eat dinner.

I still need to, like, take a break, so.

All right.

I'm a person.

Yeah.

Like, it was just like I had this realization like, oh, I like, don't have to sit here and study by myself every hour of every day.

But it, there is a lot of pressure, it feels like that you just have to always be studying in PA school and that's not true.

You just have to kind of find, find your groove.

I just hope I find that balance.

I just need a balance.

That's it.

I'm sure.

I'm sure you will, but.

Yeah, but I'll definitely let you know when this is posting and then if I can ever help you out or anything, please let me know.

Happy to help.

And I'll check back in with you guys after my didactic.

Know it's going to be a rough one.

Yeah, you'll hear how battered I am at the end of it.

Yeah, we'll have to like, do.

Do updates on how things are going so well.

Thank you so much for having me.

Thank you for.

Thank you for listening.