Accepted! Advice #2 - Helen C.

This is our second post in the “Accepted!” series! Helen Chow shares her stats, tips for applying, and interview pointers! -AS

It’s been a few years but I remember that day like it was yesterday. It was just another day at the clinic — my doctor walked by and just so happened to ask me when I would find out. I had interviewed a couple weeks before and I was supposed to find out that day. How did she know that today was the day? I replied that I was supposed to find out today but I think it was supposed to be later in the day. She said nonsense, why don’t you check right now? I hesitated. I was afraid to check, especially in front of my doctor. What if I didn’t get in? But with my doctor staring at me, I had nowhere to hide. I proceeded to login to the school’s website and of course couldn’t remember my password. Once I got access, I saw—in the smallest font possible—it said Helen Chow – Class of 2017. No congratulations in giant font?! No fanfare or burst of confetti across the screen?! Come on, I had worked my tail off for this! It took me a second to register what had just happened. My doctor screamed and gave me a giant bear hug. The rest of the office ran over at the noise and once they heard the news, they all showered me with congratulations. It was a good day, I was surrounded by all the people who had supported me on this journey, and I was officially one step closer to becoming a PA.

A friend had once given me advice to remember that day and that feeling — the elation of knowing that all of my hard work led up to this moment and I was going to fulfill my dreams of becoming a PA. I was going to go into a field that I was so passionate about and was going to go out there and help people. My friend was in optometry school; she knew the hardships I was going to be facing in the near future. Even though I ended up going to a different PA school, I still remember that day as my acceptance day. My friend was right — when I was tired of studying, when I had answered the question wrong, I would look back on that day fondly, and remember why I was doing this. And it was all worth it.

Applicant Profile

• Major: Biochemistry and Cell Biology (but really it’s the same classes as a general/human bio major but it sounds way harder ;))

• Minor: Healthcare Social Issues

• GPA: 3.4

• Took the GRE

• Hands on Work Experience: 1 year full time MA, 3.5 years part time (2-6 hours a week) home health caretaker for a total of ~3,000 hours

• Leadership Experience: PPASO president, PhiDE member, Marshall College Orientation Leader, Student Health Advocate

• Volunteer Experience: CCE (now Pathmaker Internship), Medical Missions to Mexico

• Shadowing: 25 hours

• Letters of Rec: 1 MD, 1 PA, 1 home health caretaker boss

PA school: Northeastern University Class of 2017, Boston, MA

Currently: Emergency Medicine PA

When applying:

1. Research each school you’re applying to. I know it sucks that all the schools have different pre-requisites, some require the GRE, others have supplemental essays, but you still need to put your time in. Keep an excel document listing the different pre-requisites and what they need, including the mission statement so when you apply, you know that you’ve met every pre-requisite and aren’t going to waste your money by applying and not having everything you need.

2. APPLY EARLY! Do it. Seriously. I don’t even want to give you a date but the very latest deadline you should shoot for is end of June. Schools interview on a rolling basis — this means that the earlier you apply, the less competition you have. It’s a no brainer. And now schools are interviewing earlier and earlier to compete with each other. The biggest barrier to applying early will be your personal statement and your letters of recommendations. Everything else about CASPA is manual entry of your transcript and leadership/volunteer.

3. Start your personal statement in January. You need time to think about it, come back to it, re-write it, ask at least 3 other people to read over it and edit it for you. Write about a patient or a personal experience. This is one of the biggest ways that you can stand out!! Show, don’t tell them that you’re passionate, caring, empathetic. What have you done that shows that? Which patient’s lives have you touched and shown that you can provide the best quality care? Or what of your own personal life experiences made you want to pursue PA?

4. Keep a clinical journal – I absolutely loved that idea from Lori. Write down your favorite experiences. It’s really a great idea because when you are under pressure and need to write your personal statement, you have an abundance of patient stories to choose from. It’s also a great resource for when you’re out on interviews and they ask you patient experience questions.

5. Letters of recommendation – ask EARLY, MONTHS before CASPA opens. These doctors, PAs, professors all have busy lives, probably busier than yours. They won’t have time to write your LOR in a week or 2. And keep emailing them to remind them. Be persistent, but not nagging. If you’re having a hard time choosing who to write your LOR, think about the person who will write you the best LOR and will talk most highly about you. Credentials don’t matter as much, unless the school wants a specific LOR from a professor or MD/PA. I had my home health care taker boss write mine — he’s an engineer.

6. Start saving money now – applying for CASPA can get expensive ($175 flat fee + $50 each additional school). And then paying for flights and airbnbs and food for the interviews starts to add up. How many schools should you apply to? When I was applying, people said 10-12 schools but really it’s up to you. I had friends who applied to 3 schools and I had friends who applied to 30 schools. It’s whatever you feel comfortable with.

Prepping for the Interview

1. Practice with friends. Practice eye contact, smiling, laughing. You want it to be conversational. Your friends will be able to tell you if you’re subconsciously twirling your hair or shaking your knee. For example, I would smack one hand into the other every time I wanted to emphasize a point. I had no idea I was doing that until my friend pointed it out.

2. Find the most common interview questions online. Andrew Rodican’s book How to “Ace” the Physician Assistant School Interview is a great resource. Write out your answers either in sentences or bullet form and practice practice practice so that when they ask you those questions, it’s not the first time you’ve said the answer.

3. Dress professionally!!! I know that’s a given but seriously, they notice. Buy a suit and wear comfortable shoes, you walk around a lot. Be early!

4. Be courteous to everyone! Not just the interviewers or the faculty. I went to one interview where the secretary got the same 1 point to vote as the medical director. Another interview had the PA students weigh in on your profile. So be nice to everyone, ask questions, be interested in what they’re saying. Talk to the other interviewees and be friendly.

5. As someone who has an irrational fear that I’ll starve without food for a few hours, bring a protein bar or a snack that you can inhale quickly without people noticing.

Last but not least, be yourself. I know it’s hard to sometimes when you’re nervous but you already got the interview, they like you already! You’ve already been vetted to see if you are going to be successful in their program and if you’ve gotten an interview, they know that you will be successful. The interview is as much about if you are a right fit for them as it is about if the school is a right fit for you. Smile! Laugh! I was surprised at how scared I was to do so in the beginning and then after I broke the ice, it became so much less stressful. You can do it

I hope this helps! Good luck to everyone applying and keep supporting each other through this process. It’s an incredible experience to go through the PA school process with your friends, even if they’re all over the country!