<p>As a regular student, you have to pick a major and graduate. Then you have to take the GRE, get health care experience, and then apply to grad schools. It takes at least 2 years longer to become a PA if you go that route.</p>
<p>so would i still have to choose my major as physician assistant? also, is it a bad idea to apply for a pa major in some schools and a nursing major in others?</p>
<p>It sounds like you’re really unsure. Don’t apply to the direct-entry PA program. Leave those for kids that are pretty sure they want to become PAs.</p>
<p>Off topic, but why does it seem like every senior in high school asking for advice on this board says that he/she is a “rising senior”.</p>
<p>I’d always thought that one isn’t a senior until class starts, but it seems like that attitude is changing. My son thinks he’s a senior this summer.</p>
<p>Bill - It’s not bragging, it’s just terminology. ALL kids that were juniors, and will be seniors are known as “rising seniors”. </p>
<p>Doesn’t make sense to me either…</p>
<p>Wouldn’t it make sense to put ‘rising senior’ if you were a junior and turning a senior the following school year?</p>
<p>And yeah i really am unsure. I want to become either a pa or nurse but looking at the stats of many other future pa’s and nurses, i feel as if i lack a lot of things.</p>
<p>this is an older post so im not sure if your still wondering but i went to desales’ and duquesne’s open houses and they both said that the admission into that particular program is MUCH more competitive. duquesne gave actual numbers and said their avg gpa for class of 2012 is 3.9 and sat score of abt 1300 (cr/m)</p>
<p>So which program did you like, malditoalcohol? Duquesne may say that’s their average, but I’d apply anyway. The key to most of these programs is to apply early.</p>
<p>I fell in love with Duquesne (which is bad because we can’t afford it unless we get financial aid) but DeSales looked really great too. I think for me it had to do with the location, desales is literally in the middle of nowhere. they tend to be very generous with merit money though so we’ll see how it goes! i’d be happy at either one</p>
<p>My son fell in love with Duquesne, too, but was one point short on his ACT. He’s in his final year at another university. FWIW, he thinks DeSales may have one of the best programs out there. They win the Quiz Bowl every year.</p>
<p>haha thanks for replying guys. i think i’m gonna go into nursing… i feel like it’s less competitive and not only that, but also i like the hands on work and the patient interactions</p>
<p>good for you, nursing’s awesome! aww that stinks did they tell you that it was his act?</p>
<p>Yes, they told us it was his ACT score and encouraged him to take it again. He did, and got one point higher, but the class was already filled. He managed to get on another school’s waiting list and got in shortly thereafter. That’s why I encourage people to apply early.</p>
<p>UNC Wilmington</p>
<p>Oh no that’s terrible! Would you mind me asking what the act score was? I heard that at duquesne they start look at all of the applications on Dec 1 no matter how early you applied, did you apply after this? I may be thinking of a different school…</p>
<p>My son is a terrible standardized test-taker. He only scored a 23 and Duquesne’s web site said you need a 24. That was a big reason for wanting a direct admit program. If he didn’t score well on the GRE, he wouldn’t be able to become a P.A. His GPA was much higher than the minimum of 3.0, and now, after 4 years in his P.A program, he has the highest GPA in his class. He turned in all his applications by Nov. 1st and had answers from everyone by mid December.</p>
<p>I’m glad it all worked out for him! Did he have to interview for most of the schools? If so, how were they?</p>
<p>No, he didn’t have any interviews. That has changed, as I believe most school now interview. Interviews are good, in his opinion. He is amazed at how shy some of his classmates are. Role playing is painful…and you will do a lot of role playing.</p>