Apologies in advance: I’m sure that this info can be found somewhere in one of the forums, but the new site design makes it much harder to unearth than previously, imo. My daughter is a senior in HS and wants to go to PA school after undergraduate. What’s the better route to get her there? She has a decent shot of being admitted to a highly selective college (Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, Penn) if she applies ED1. But she has some very strong scholarship offers for several state schools she’s interested in (University of Arizona, Mississippi State, Texas Tech). Her stem GPA would no doubt be higher at the state schools. But there’s more prestige and potentially superior instruction at the highly selective schools. Could anyone share some guidance? Thank you!
Do the ED choices offer pre-PA prep opportunities?
There is often a concern about being able to get high grades at the more competitive unis. There is a risk of paying alot for a selective uni and not qualifying for a PA masters.
Has she considered direct admit programs?
There is a thread from a few years ago.
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1473508-list-of-direct-admit-pa-programs.html
What do the state universities offer in comparison?
Try a spread sheet with pros and cons.
Neither the ED nor the state schools have a direct admit. The pre-PA prep is also limited, as best I know. At the ED schools she’d most likely major in Bio. At the state schools, she’s looking at Nutrition, Pre-Health Professions concentration. Yes, the concern is will the grade deflation outweigh the other benefits of the highly selective college. Thanks for the previous thread.
For PA programs, your D still needs high college GPA, just like pre-med.
The 3 highly selective colleges you mentioned, Vandy is well known for its harsh science grades, Dartmouth is on quarter system which runs at faster pace (once behind, very hard to catch up) and UPenn is not great in grading either but coupled with stiff cut-throat competition. Among the 3, Dartmouth seems to be the better choice.
Brown is actually more pre-med/pre-PA friendly with happier students and open curriculum (although its Orgo is no joke either). Ask your D to look into what open curriculum means (for achieving high GPA). The opposite is the core curriculum at Columbia which some parents here on CC can tell you what that means to GPA.
https://www.thepalife.com/direct-entry-and-dual-degree-bsms-physician-assistant-programs/
Union, Drexel, Marquette are a few schools that directly address PA grad school entry and cut the undergrad years so that the student can get done with a uh degree and the PA within 5 years.
Here is what I have found with PAs, something that I’ve been researching and looking for real life examples for the last few years:
Kids who go to these top schools with rigorous premed curriculums tend to apply to medical school. Vanderbilt, Dartmouth and Penn are not set up to prepare students. to get into PA school. PA school cuts zero slack on grades for going to these rigorous schools and taking difficult sciences above and beyond what is required for their programs. You are better off going to a community college and a directional state school, getting top grades and taking those courses outlined as prequisites for PA school if you can Ace the courses. Hopkins or Vandy O-Chem can kill your prospects for PA school as well as for med school. Those grades are very important, crucial. PA programs are absolutely NOT consolation prizes for those who don’t make the med school cut. I know over a dozen young health sciences aspirants who went to highly selective colleges, took brutally difficult science and lab courses, who didn’t make the med school committee picks , finding themselves out of a lot of health care masters and doctorate programs as well, increasingly PA programs.
I suggest looking at the programs in the list I’ve linked. There is much flexibility at some of those schools to move into research or pre med or other health science area even with a direct path for a PA grad school set up. With stats high enough to get into the most selective colleges, it is possible some merit money will come into play.
Thank you all. That’s extremely helpful. Thanks very much for your time and insight!
There are more recommendations in this thread for PA programs:
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/careers-medicine/2117747-5-years-bs-ms-physician-assistant-programs.html
If you are not admitted to the direct admit PA program from the UG (usually a 5-year program), you need a lot of hands-on clinical experiences and a decent GPA in UG, plus GRE to be admitted to a PA program at the graduate level. PA programs are competitive, not as much as MD/DO programs.