Reddit reviews The Ultimate Guide to Getting into Physician Assistant School

Volunteer work is not always accepted as health care experience, and even if they do, the kind of volunteer work you can do without any licensing (like EMT) is generally not accepted as it does not require real medical knowledge or responsibility. You will need to got to CNA school or EMT school at a minimum. Your GPA is not very competitive for a person without experience. The average accepted GPA is around 3.4, and average experience is about 4500 Hours. You can get in with less than both of those, but not with no experience and bottom end GPA.

I have read several of your posts here and you don't seem to really understand what you are getting into. That is OK, as it sounds like you just decided this might be a good path for you. Take some time to learn about the profession, and try to find a PA to shadow to see what the job really entails. Lots of people think "Hey! 6 figures after 2 years of school? Count me in!." Nothing wrong with that either as long as that is not the only reason. If it IS the only reason, then you will be VERY unhappy in PA school and in practice.

Also, don't expect to get into PA school in your hometown. Most applicants apply to 10 (or even more) schools and with your lower GPA you will need to be pretty open minded. Keep in mind most schools get 1000-2000 applications for 24-80 spots.

So, with this in mind, if you really are willing to pursue this you most certainly can achieve it!

1. You need to get a 1-2 years of medical experience. I suggest EMT if there are jobs in your area. Otherwise CNA would be OK.
   
   
2. Raise your GPA a little. Fortunately you are above the 3.0 mark most schools require. Getting As in pre-reqs is the name of the game as you go along. Don't worry about your overall GPA as much as making your science GPA and last 60 hours look good. Keep in mind that 99% of schools do not take grade replacement. If you have "replaced" a bunch of grades your GPA will be a lot lower than you think. Any retakes are just averaged into your overall grade.
   
   buy this book and read it: http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Getting-Physician-Assistant-Edition/dp/007163973X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407120016&sr=8-1&keywords=pa+school
   
   Hang out a www.physicianassistantforum.com and learn more about the profession and how to get into school.
   
   Good luck!

http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Getting-Physician-Assistant-Edition/dp/007163973X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394385772&sr=8-1&keywords=physician+assistant

Start here. It gives a good general background on getting into a school and what to expect.