10 Criteria That Make a PA School Application Competitive

Whether you are just now thinking of going to PA school or you’ve been through the application process already, everyone needs to know what makes a PA school application competitive. I started thinking about why I care about what the admission committees are considering in a candidate. It’s not going to change anything, right? So often, I know looking at what we need to be doing to succeed can cause anxiety when we start comparing our statistics to everyone else.

But the thing is, it is IMPORTANT to be informed so we can then put the work in to strengthen other areas of our application when we fall short in one. Do you have a low GPA? Weave into your personal statement the story of why it was low and how you worked so hard to make it trend upwards. Did you only shadow one PA in undergrad for 10 hours? Maybe you should take a few weeks and find another healthcare provider or two to shadow to gain more quality experience. 

In case you’re still thinking there’s nothing you can or need to improve, I want to share with you the 10 criteria I believe makes a PA school application competitive. But first…

MY TOP 3 TIPS FOR WRITING YOUR PERSONAL STATEMENT:

If I can grant you any wisdom for your personal statement today, it’s these three things…

1. EXPLAIN ANY LOW POINTS OF YOUR APPLICATION

As I mentioned above, if you have a low GPA (due to a good reason) weave the story of how hard you worked to make sure it trended upwards into your personal statement. For instance, I was hospitalized TWICE during my fall and spring semesters freshman year. You can bet it negatively affected my GPA, but I worked hard to make up for it and I explained that in my essay. Now, don’t be confused. You do not want to make your personal statement all about your low GPA, but if you can include it in a small way it can give some insight to the admissions committee as to why your GPA is low. So, if it comes down to them deciding between you and someone else with a similar GPA then they’ll already understand there is a good reason why your GPA isn’t necessarily up to par and you would be granted the interview.

RELATED: How to Get into PA School with a Low GPA

2. TALK ABOUT SOMETHING UNRELATED TO HEALTHCARE

Admission committees love when candidates are passionate about something else besides medicine. Do you play an instrument or are you an artist in another way? That’s great. Maybe play with the idea of writing about how your passion for drawing detailed scenes makes you more observant than others. You really have a keen eye for detail. Think about how details in a patient’s history sometimes lead to clues to their illnesses that others may miss if they are only trying to look at the big picture.

3. TELL A STORY

Let’s be honest. These people reading personal statement essays have to read HUNDREDS if not thousands of applications. A great storyteller will stand out from the masses. Do you have a really good story that always seems to draw attention in real life when you share it with someone? That would be a good indicator that the admissions committee would also find the story interesting. Tie in some lessons you learned and how they can make you a fantastic PA and voila! You have a personal statement.

10 Criteria That Make a PA School Application Competitive

Let’s get into the 10 things I believe make up a competitive applicant. Save this post in a spot to easily access when it comes time to review your application before you hit submit so you can make sure everything is accounted for.

1. A high cumulative GPA and high science GPA
2. Good grades in upper-level science courses
3. A GRE score above the minimum required
4. Quality direct patient-care hours more than the minimum required
5. Meaningful volunteer work to positively impact your community
6. Amazing references from reliable sources (PAs, physicians, university professors)
7. Shadowing PAs in multiple specialties including primary care
8. A killer personal statement
9. Thought out supplemental essays specific to the program you are applying to
10. Involvement in extra-curricular activities completely unrelated to medicine

Whether it’s your GRE score that needs improvement or finding an additional person to be a reference, there is almost always some way to improve your application and make you more competitive. Will your application ever be completely perfect? No! That is normal and okay. People are not perfect and admission committees know that. If you are early in the process or maybe haven’t even graduated yet then you have time to strengthen each of these 10 things to put you in the best position possible before applying. If you have already been through the application process before then focus on 3 out of 10 of these items and put all your energy into bettering them before applying again. You got this! I believe in you.