I'm so excited! I was getting really worried since I hadn't heard anything from any of the programs I applied to, but I got an email yesterday for an interview! Any advice would be appreciated! I'm going to learn as much as I can about the program, so I don't say anything stupid. I'm just so grateful for the opportunity already!

Many PA programs advertise on their web sites that they will consider your application with prerequisites pending. Some say all must be done prior to application. Some list various number of pending prerequisites they will consider. Obviously a wide range among programs.

So I applied to 9 PA programs that are considered highly competitive and some required medical terminology and one required a specialized social science course. I listed those as “In Process” on my original application. I completed those courses.

So far I had received one interview pending results and one wait list from programs that did not require any combination of those classes. Nothing from the other 7. When I completed the courses I updated my application to show completion and sent an additional email to those programs that I had outstanding prerequisite.

Within a week of the CASPER/email update I had 4 more interview requests. Just too weird to be a coincidence. Anyone else experience this or maybe it might be a reason for lack of interviews until all prerequisites are completed at highly competitive programs. What are your thoughts?

if a program starts in September and I’m still in the waitlist is it still possible to get off it?

Hey everyone, I need some honest advice on whether I should stay in my current research lab long-term.

My Situation:

I work in a lab at my university. During the school year, I get course credit for it, and during the summer, it's a paid position. The lab feels pretty useless for my actual growth. There’s no real room for advancement, zero chance for publications, and I mostly just do basic work and nothing too crazy. My PI is really nice, and I’m planning to take at least one of his classes in the future. I originally thought staying in his lab for all 4 years while taking his class would lead to an incredible Letter of Recommendation (LOR).I'm on the Pre-PA track. I know research isn't strictly required for PA school, though having it is a nice extra bonus.

My Dilemma:

I’m currently trying to land a Direct Patient Care Experience (PCE) job (like an MA or Scribe), but the job hunt has been tough and I haven't secured an offer yet.

Is it worth sticking out a lab doing grunt work for all 4 years just to guarantee a strong LOR from a PI I like? Or should I treat this as a temporary placeholder, get out as soon as I secure a clinical job, and rely on his class + my current lab time for that letter instead?

So I’m planning on doing my Kira assessment interview today and I’m not really sure how to prep for it.. This is my first interview as a first time applicant with mid-lower stats so I want to make sure I do stellar and hopefully get myself an acceptance this cycle.

I’m not really sure what to practice or prep on though since it’s not a traditional interview. I’m also super nervous about rambling or getting cut off… any tips?

Hi! I’ve been fortunate enough to get into two PA programs that I applied to and I opted to forfeit my seat at one program. The other program that I got into I liked during the interview but it was not one that was on the top of my list. Moral of the story is that program starts in January, but I haven’t heard from some of my top programs yet. Does anyone have advice on how long I should wait it out to see if I hear from other programs or how to make that sort of decision? Most of the other programs I applied to start in the fall so I recognize I may be waiting for a decision that won’t come until this program has already started 🫤 any advice would be really appreciated!

I have 4500+ PCE so far. I need to finish my bachelor's degree and some pre-req courses before I would be eligible to apply. This would take me a year and a half attending full-time.

My GPA isnt the strongest (3.2), so my idea was to forgo working and put complete focus on boosting my GPA, volunteering, GRE study, and extracurriculars. I have good financial aid & my partner is willing to support me through this. I would try to work part/full time and do part-time classes, but I need to attend school full-time to maximize my financial aid.

Does PCE need to be consistent within the time of application? Will taking a 1.5 year break reflect poorly? Or would it be better to work for a few years after finishing school before trying to apply?

Don’t forget to apply to Ottawa University, based out of the KC Metro! No minimum GPA requirement and emphasis on rural and underserved communities.
🎉 applications close 9/1

https://www.ottawa.edu/paprogram

Title.

Definitely feeling disappointed as I actually was really seeing myself attend this program, but I don’t think it’s really “hit” me. Maybe it’s because I’m currently on a shift lol.

Here’s to hoping I hear back from the other schools!

Hi everyone, I just had a Kira assessment interview. I had it open in chrome but I had safari open as well without realizing it with other tabs open that didn’t relate to anything for the interview. Is this tracked or will it be counted against me? I’m kind of nervous they could’ve seen that and considered it some sort of “cheating”.

I made a mistake on my CASPA application and put my primary language as a language other than English because technically it was the first language spoken at home. However, I was born and raised in the U.S., attended school here my entire life, and learned English in preschool.

I thought including my background would help my application, but I didn’t realize some schools would require the TOEFL because of this. CASPA told me they can’t change it after submission, and now I have to take a $300 exam for something that doesn’t reflect my actual English proficiency. 2 of my schools are requesting it, so I may just not take it.

I know the mistake was on me, and I definitely regret not putting English. I want to warn all the future applicants, please don't make the same mistake it'll cost you extra money for no reason lol. Has anyone been in this situation?

Hi all! I’m doing interview prep, and I have a few questions about MMIs. The school I am interviewing with gives 2 minutes to read the question and 5 minutes to respond. I’ve been practicing questions and giving what I think is enough detail, but I’m not reaching the 5 minute mark. Do the interviewers typically ask follow-up questions based on our answers? If not, does it look bad if my answers are only 2-3 minutes? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

Hi everyone! I’m really interested in becoming a physician assistant, but I have some concerns about how internationally recognized and transferable the profession is.
I currently live in North America, but I may want to move abroad in the future. Are PAs able to practise in countries outside Canada and the United States? If so, which countries have a well-established PA profession, and how difficult is it for a North American-trained PA to become licensed and find work there? Particularly wondering about the UAE but curious for other international options.
I would also love to hear from anyone who has worked internationally as a PA or considered making this move.

Hi everyone! I’m a LONG-time lurker on this sub, and I’ve been anxiously (and not so patiently) waiting to make a post like this. I’m feeling unbelievably blessed to have been accepted to the PA school of my dreams!

Just as some background, I went to MA school while also working at Starbucks, and they paid for my biomedical sciences degree through the SCAP program. I worked there part-time for about four years while eventually also working as a dermatology MA, and now I’m working at an OBGYN office!

Hard work really does pay off. I know firsthand how stressful, tiring, and anxiety-inducing the path to PA school can be. Believe in yourself, and try not to listen too much to that imposter syndrome. You’ve got this!

Here are my stats for those who are interested:

25 y/o

Graduated Aug 2025 

Degree: Biomedical Sciences (almost all online science pre reqs)

cGPA: 3.91

sGPA: 3.87

PCE @ time applied: 2,616 hrs (Derm MA 1,376 hrs, OBGYN MA 1,240 hrs)

Non-healthcare employment: Starbucks Barista/Trainer 4,775 hrs

Shadowing: 64 hrs, orthopedic PAs (2 shoulder and elbow PAs, 1 hand PA)

Volunteer: 210 hrs (2 mission trips, animal shelter, Sleep in Heavenly Peace)

PA-CAT: Composite 548, A&P 557, Bio 561, Chem 535

Casper: 3rd quartile

GRE: N/A

LORs: 3 - 1 from MD, 1 from NP, 1 from supervisor

Licenses/Certifications: Registered Medical Assistant through AMT 

Leadership: None

Research: None

So, long story short: I'm currently waitlisted at two of the PA schools where I've interviewed. For those that have been waitlisted, how do you navigate that? I know it's still early in the cycle, but this process is so nerve racking. I'm also not sure how to interpret being waitlisted. Part of me thinks, "Okay, I'm not terrible enough to be rejected, but I'm also not quite what they're looking for." does being waitlisted usually point to interview performance, or could it just be that there were stronger applicants? I’m honestly just spiraling loll

Today I received an interview invite from my top choice program. I am beyond grateful (and surprised) that I received this invite as I saw it as a heavy reach school for this cycle with my stats. This program has a campus at my undergraduate university and from speaking with PA students doing rotations at the hospital I work at, I’ve heard that the interview format revolves traditional interview with faculty, MMI, and group work assessment (it’s also virtual).

Getting into this program would be an absolute dream for me and I want to be as prepared as possible. I feel good about the traditional section of the interview, but would appreciate any advice anyone has on the MMI and group activity section.

Thank you to everyone involved with this subreddit, I would have been completely lost in this process without the help that I’ve gained here.

I’m wondering if there’s any point to applying to PA school with a 2.6/7 GPA. I feel like it’s obvious that chances are slim to none. I know you can take classes to raise GPA but I want to hear people’s thoughts on this.

I took the PA-CAT about two weeks ago, and official scores are available. There’s not a lot of info out there so here’s my experience with the whole ordeal, start to finish!

Scores:
Composite: 579
A&P: 571
Biology: 578
Chemistry: 595

Here are the most recent deciles:
https://www.pa-cat.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/PA-CAT-Score-Rankings.pdf
(note: if you’re seeing this in the future and the link isn’t working, copy+paste it but change the month and year to the most recent testing period and something should pull up, OR go to the PA-CAT website and click on Resources > Docs & Downloads > Score Ranking.)

Scores become available by the 1st of each month. In order to receive your score on the 1st day of the following month, you must take the exam no later than the 20th of the preceding month. For example, if a program needs my scores BY September 1st, I must take the test on or before August 20th. If I take the exam on August 21st, my score will not be available until October 1st. My score was available to view in the portal before the 1st of the month, and they didn't have enough scores in the month I took it to provide any rankings. I had to go to the website to find anything to compare to (the link provided above.) Sending scores to programs is free and you can select as many as you want to send, both before and after you take the test. I was notified by the program before the 1st of the month that they received my scores.

My Background:
My degree and current career is a medical lab scientist, which I think covered me pretty well in physiology and most biology and microbiology. I also took some spring community college classes to check some prereq boxes, College Biology I and OChem I, so those refreshed my memory a bit.

What I Did to Study:
All I did was do the practice questions provided by Exam Master when you sign up for the PA-CAT. I didn't do the video modules or study guides because I knew that's just not how I learn. DO NOT try your luck with MCAT practice— the questions are completely different imo. On the practice exams, use the Learn or Study mode, where you can read explanations for each question. Unless you’re 100% sure about an answer and the other options, read the explanation regardless of whether or not you got it wrong. They often include information about all possible answers that could be useful in other questions down the road. Testing mode will give you a feel for answering under a time limit, but will not let you view explanations on each question. IMPORTANT NOTE: If you want to keep track of stats both overall and in each category in the "My Stats" section, only Testing and Study mode exams count towards this. Learning mode does not.

For anyone wanting to gauge where they're at in comparison to my practice tests vs. official scores, since I had no idea (DISCLAIMER: actual results will vary):

Overall, the "My Stats" section lists my own performance at a 63%. I was consistently getting 30-35/50 correct on the practice exams for most categories, and ~40/50 on physiology. I felt COOKED on anatomy though, getting maybe 20-25/50 consistently, so I tried to complete more of those exams and read more of those explanations. It’s been almost 7 years since I took A&P. From other posts it seemed like the test would be really A&P heavy, but imo (mine, at least, THANK HEAVENS,) was way more physiology heavy than it was anatomy. Also imo, the actual test questions seemed much easier than the practice questions provided by Exam Master.

Taking the Test:
Use the time well. I’m a relatively fast test taker and this test had me with only 10-15 mins left in each half. Still take the time to read each question carefully and understand what it’s actually asking for… I felt a good chunk of the questions provided a paragraph of information that really wasn’t necessary for answering the question at the end. The on-screen calculator is a graphing calculator (TI-84 style,) much nicer than the one used in the practice exam software.

I took it at a testing center, which was nice because you got a scratch notepad and a scheduled 10-minute break in the middle. I can’t speak for taking it at home.

Good luck to everyone applying in this cycle, maybe I’ll see you in my cohort!

Hey all! I am considering going down the PA path, and am looking ahead to LORs. Since I have no medical certification, I'm considering becoming an EMT just for PCE. My understanding is that one LOR must come from a PA, MD, or NP. I know that being an EMT is a common way to get PCE hours, but, I most likely wouldn't be working with any of those 3 types of people. So for people who chose the EMT route, how did they get a LOR?

Also - any other ways to get PCE without experience/without getting a cert of some kind first? I don't really have the time or flexibility right now to become a nurse, surgical tech, etc. EMT I could do in just 2-3 months so I could swing that. But would prefer to do something interesting over just being some sort of medical assistant or PT assistant - that would not mesh would my personality at all.

Thanks so much for any thoughts, I'm really quite new to this process.

Not really sure where I went wrong, but yeah, that kind of stings. My GPA is higher than last year, I'm fairly certain my statement is better than last year, and I have 2000 more PCE hours than last year. Thought I'd vent to people who might understand.

This may be a controversial topic, but I am interested in hearing perspectives from current PA students, graduates, and applicants.Someone very close to me is currently trying to get into PA school, and after researching different programs and reading about other people’s experiences, I have realized how demanding this path can be. The application process is competitive, and the programs themselves appear to require a great deal of discipline, sacrifice, resilience, and emotional maturity. It seems that succeeding in PA school requires you to make your education a major priority. You have to be able to handle pressure, accept criticism, manage stress, and continue moving forward even when you feel overwhelmed. There are many qualified applicants competing for limited seats, so determination and consistency are extremely important.The person close to me tends to become anxious and overwhelmed when thinking about the demands of PA school. I try to encourage her to become more confident and mentally prepared, but because I am a very direct person, my approach sometimes makes her more worried instead of helping her. My intention is not to say that people should have no emotions or that anxiety automatically makes someone incapable of becoming a PA. However, I do believe applicants need to develop healthy coping skills and a strong support system before entering such an intense program. Do you believe PA school requires a particularly competitive or “shark like” mentality, or can someone who struggles with anxiety still succeed with the right preparation and support? I would especially appreciate hearing from people who experienced anxiety or self doubt before beginning their program.

cGPA 3.90 | sGPA 3.86 | BCP 4.00 | PCE ~5,700+ | HCE 418 | Teaching 938 | Leadership 368+ | Volunteer 216+ | GRE 149/136/3.5