Physician Assistant programs are graduate school programs, so you would need to get your Undergrad degree first and then apply to PA School.
List of PA programs in California: http://capanet.org/pa-students/california-pa-programs/
You can major in anything as long as you take the PA school requirements. Usually a science or health related major will cover the required courses but you are not limited to those majors.
Here is some general information about PA programs which are highly competitive:
The majority of PA programs have the following prerequisites:
Chemistry
Physiology
Anatomy
Microbiology
Biology
Many PA programs also require prior healthcare experience with hands-on patient care.
You can get healthcare experience by being a (not an exhaustive list):
Medical assistant
Emergency medical technician (EMT)
Paramedic
Medic or medical corpsman
Peace Corps volunteer
Lab assistant/phlebotomist
Registered nurse
Emergency room technician
Surgical tech
Certified nursing assistant (CNA)
Most students have a bachelor’s degree and about three years of healthcare experience before entering a program.
What is the difference between a Major and a Minor?
For a Bachelor Degree, a major is a primary focus of study and a minor is a secondary focus of study. For example, you could major in Business and minor in Spanish. Majors are typically chosen to compliment a student’s career goal, and a minor may be chosen to enhance the major. Both majors and minors are awarded by four-year institutions.
Are there careers similar to physicians (in salary and overall primary focus of health) for a shorter amount of schooling? And what sciences should I take senior year? I think ap bio would be a good idea. If I i decide to take the (optional) ap test, and pass, does that mean I don’t have to repeat that course in college?What if I don’t pass the options ap test? Is it just a good idea to have a course in high school similar to what I would take in a university ?
There are many healthcare related fields but most will probably require a graduate degree and can give you a good income (probably not all comparable to an MD).
https://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/rankings/best-healthcare-jobs
What sciences have you taken? If you plan to pursue a science related degree, then Chemistry/Physics and Biology are usually the recommended HS courses. Having exposure to these 3 courses will help you in college courses.
AP Credit for Biology and any other AP class will depend upon each universities AP policy. The Cal States tend to be more generous with AP credit than UC’s and private schools may have more restrictions such as requiring a score of 4 or 5 to receive that credit. You would need to check each schools website.
I took biology freshen year, chemistry sophomore year, and next year I’ll be taking AP Enviornmental science. And I plan on taking like ap bio senior year. What would my next math class be after algebra 2 junior year? Most people at my school are taking it also. But we have no idea what math (if any) to take senior year. I’am not that good at math but if it mean raising my chances at college I’ll do it.
Usually the sequence is Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, Pre-Calculus then Calculus. You should take Pre-Calculus Senior year. If you plan to go into a science related major/field, you will have Calculus in college especially if you attend a CSU or UC and Pre-Calc will help you prepare.
For a physician’s assistent, and my undergrad program, do I major in health, medicine or science? And would any of those actually be my minor instead? Basically, if I am doing an undergrad for wanting to be a future PA ( physicians assistant) what would I major and minor in? And I’am I getting annoying ?
You do not need to major in any science or health-related subject. You just need to take the required courses to apply to PA school but these type of majors will cover the required courses. You can major in Business, Psychology, History etc… but you would have to fit in the needed science courses. You should major in a subject that will give you a good backup career since PA school can be as competitive as Medical school. A minor is not necessary unless you have another area of interest.
Earlier you stated that Cal states don’t count EC’s like clubs. What do you mean by this? Do you mean they completely disregard whether or not you do ec’s such as clubs or sports? And they just don’t care? Also what are the differences between all four years of an undergrad degree? What are the first two year For? What are the last two for?
All of the CSUs except CP SLO use a simple formula that combines your CSUGPA and SAT or ACT to rank applicants. Completing the a-g course matrix and those items are the only things considered. read about it here:
https://www2.calstate.edu/apply/eligibility-index
CPSLO also uses a formula but, it is much more complex. It does assign some weight to jobs and ecs - but not a lot.
For the Cal State application (other than Cal Poly SLO), your EC’s such as clubs, sports etc… are not reported. EC’s are not used for admission purposes. As stated above by @NCalRent, all the CSU’s use an eligibility index to rank applicants by major and accept from the highest down until all spots are filled. Cal Poly SLO uses an MCA score point system instead of the eligbility index and let me know if you want me to post the calculation.
An Undergrad degree either a BA or BS usually takes 4 years to complete depending upon how many unit credits are needed for each major and if you have any AP/IB or Dual Enrollment credit.
Usually the first 2 years, you will take classes to complete the schools General Education (GE) requirements along with pre-requisite courses needed for your major (lower division courses). The last 2 years you will spend taking mostly upper division courses specific to your major. Most schools will post a 4 year plan to help you plan your classes.
If you want to save money, do not get into your choice UC/CSU or need more time figuring out what you want to study, you can attend a community college for 2 years and take the GE, pre-req major courses there and then transfer into a 4 year university to complete your Bachelor’s degree either BA or BS. The California CC’s have articulation agreements for the Cal States and UC’s which makes transferring pretty straightforward.
Since you are looking at PA schools, you are looking at 4 years for Undergrad, a couple of years of clinical/practical healthcare experience and then 4 years of PA school.
My recommendation for a possible Healthcare field would be looking into getting a BSN Nursing degree and then work a few years and go back for your NP Nurse Practitioner which is a Master program but usually only 2 additional years. They can perform many of the same tasks like a PA.
https://nurse.org/resources/nurse-practitioner/
In addition and an FYI: Based on your postings indicating some issues with your grades, Nursing programs are highly competitive in California. There are only a few direct admit Nursing programs in California and you are looking at around a 5% acceptance rate for these programs. Think a CSU/UC GPA of 4.0+, SAT around 1350+ and ACT around 32+. SDSU and CSU Fullerton offer a direct admit nursing program for in-coming Freshman. Also UC Irvine, UCLA, University of San Francisco, Dominican University and Azusa Pacific University.
If Nursing looks like a possible career you want to pursue, then you can apply to Pre-Nursing programs at many of the Cal States (again competitive) where you would need to maintain a specific GPA and take the Nursing pre-req courses so you can apply to Nursing school after 2nd year.
Third option is to take Nursing pre-req’s and required courses at your local community college and then apply for transfer into a Nursing school program.
Many options and many ways to get to your goal.
I recently got back my ap score for ‘Ap European History’ and received a grade of 2. On a scale from the College Board website, it said I could ‘possibly qualify’. I’m not interested in a career involving this type of course, but I still wanted to know what are my chances at getting credit for this class? Since this is optional to take the ap test I know it won’t affect my chances at getting into the actual college but will I at least not have to take this course in college? Again, not interested in a historical career but rather one involving medicine. Or will I not even have to take this course depending on my major? Will Cal states or UC’s want me??!
A UC or CSU will not accept a score of 2 in place of the class. At my CSU (lower tier) the minimum was 3 for credit.
I am not sure which GE (for CSU) or breadth (UC) area that would satisfy but you most likely have more options should you retake. At my CSU, you have the choice of taking history up to 1500 or from 1500-present so it’s not a complete retake of APEuro.
I know for most CSUs they have the 50-unit GE pattern that almost everyone must take. My CSU had a very strong nursing program though it was not direct admit. I am fairly certain they had to complete this GE pattern as well. I don’t know how it works at every UC, but I think every major must complete breadth courses…though fewer in number compared to CSUs.
**I don’t know how CPSLO/CPP handle GEs.
@“Classiest2002@me” : UC’s and CSU’s only give credit for scores of 3 and above. You still might have to take a History course to fulfill a General education requirement but you will many options to choose from in college. Only UCB considers AP scores in their application review and your grade in that class is far more important the exam score.
I want to add that you self-report your AP scores on the UC and CSU applications so I would not report any score below a 3 especially since you will not get credit. You only need to send your official AP score report to the school you end up attending so none of the schools will see your scores unless you self-report.
I bad score will not hurt your chances. UC’s and CSU’s are more interested in your GPA and test scores than your AP scores.