Posted by heatherl88 on November 21, 2012, 10:05 am
I am very concerned of my chances of ever getting accepted. I am a sophomore with: -3.0 gpa -C's in Chemistry and Math courses
Should I retake all the courses with C's or keep the scores and try to get my gpa up along with working on a decent MCAT score?
Re: What do I do??
Posted by FutureAnesthetist on November 21, 2012, 1:09 pm, in reply to "What do I do??"
Admission to AA programs has gotten very competitive over the last few years. I'm not trying to discourage you, but I applied two years in a row with a 3.59 GPA and couldn't get into Nova, Emory, or South. Having a somewhat low quantitative GRE score probably didn't help my chances, either.
However, if you are just a sophomore, it isn't too late for you to switch majors and not really lose much time (in terms of semesters). If I were you, I would go ahead and change majors to nursing and set your sights on becoming a CRNA. There are many more CRNA programs throughout the country, so you have much higher chances of being accepted to at least one of them. CRNA's were recently awarded the right to be paid by CMS for pain medicine procedures at the physician rate, and of course, CRNA's can work in any state in the country.
After my multiple AA program rejections, I finally decided to change directions (despite already having a bio degree) and set my goal to becoming a CRNA. I will be starting an accelerated nursing program next semester. Even though I'll have to work for a year as an ICU nurse, I think it will be worth the hassle. You probably don't want to hear anyone tell you to become a CRNA instead, but it's worth considering, especially if you're at risk for spending several years applying and not getting accepted to AA programs.
Re: What do I do??
Posted by kala on November 25, 2012, 1:52 pm, in reply to "Re: What do I do??"
@futureanesthetist ... What were your extracurriculars? And after your first try at applying and not getting in, what made you apply again? Thanks!
Re: What do I do??
Posted by FutureAnesthetist on November 25, 2012, 11:27 pm, in reply to "Re: What do I do??"
I would say that I had the standard list of extracurriculars: shadowing experiences with several AA's, physicians, involvement with the university's pre-med group, etc. However -- and I'm not sure if things have changed for the current admissions cycle -- during the last few admissions cycles, extracurricular experiences haven't really been valued or scrutinized heavily by the admissions committees at any of the schools. For the most part, they've always emphasized GPA and GRE scores as being the primary criteria they evaluate to determine which applicants receive interview invites.
In other words, someone with a high GPA, experience being the president of their local pre-med organization, 1,000 hours of volunteering experience, LOR's from 5 AA's, but a low quantitative GRE score is going to get turned down in favor of an applicant who has zero extracurriculars but a high GPA and high GRE scores. Again, the evaluating criteria might have changed in the last year, but for the past few admissions cycles, that's been how it is.
To answer your other question, when I was rejected from every program following my first application attempt, I realized (and received confirmation from the AA schools I applied to) that my quantitative GRE score being low was the factor that was responsible for my application's cumulative rejections. So I studied harder and completed more practice problems and re-took the GRE; my score improved (and I thought at the time that it would be high enough to nab an interview with at least ONE program) and so I re-applied to Emory, South, and Nova.
I received a rejection letter from South a week later stating flat-out that my quantitative GRE score was still too low. A few months later and after never receiving an interview invite, I received another rejection email from Emory (they later told me it was due to having a low quant GRE score).
It gets interesting with Nova... when I applied the previous year, they told me that my GPA (3.6) was competitive but (surprise) that my quantitative GRE score was too low. Since Nova is known for interviewing applicants with lower stats than other programs are willing to interview, I felt SURE on my re-application attempt that they would offer me an interview even though Emory and South turned me down outright. Well, surprise surprise... even though my GPA had been considered competitive during the previous admissions cycle and only my GRE score had been uncompetitive, after I re-applied, they rejected me and told me that this time, not only was my GRE score still too low, but so was my GPA.
So I went from having a too-low GRE score and a competitive GPA during my first application attempt, to improving both my GRE score and GPA for my second attempt, only to be told that BOTH values were now uncompetitive. In other words, even though I improved both my GPA and GRE score, admission in general became substantially more competitive during the last admission cycle.
At that point, I realized that I wasn't going to become an AA. I also recognized that, even though going back to school to become a nurse (especially since I just recently graduated with a bio degree) would be a hassle, I had already wasted more time during my two failed AA program application attempts than it would've taken me to just return to school and get a nursing degree. I could apply a third time and give it one more shot, but if I get rejected yet again, then I will supremely regret not having decided to just become a nurse. I have also heard people say that, if someone hasn't been accepted to an AA program after 2 application attempts, it just isn't going to happen for them. I'm not sure if that's true or not, but I'm not willing to test the proverb.
Sorry to get so long-winded... let me know if you have anymore questions! Good luck.
Re: What do I do??
Posted by Pablo on November 26, 2012, 11:12 am, in reply to "Re: What do I do??"
Nova is not known for "interviewing applicants with lower stats." Where do you people come up with this crap? The fact of the matter is that more people are applying to AA schools and the competition is stiffer.
Re: What do I do??
Posted by FutureAnesthetist on November 27, 2012, 1:48 pm, in reply to "Re: What do I do??"
I said that because a couple years ago that really did seem to be the general consensus (at least in regards to their Tampa program). I should have been more specific: I don't know if Nova still makes it a "habit" to interview applicants with lower stats at their Tampa program, but when I applied to all 4 AA programs (including both Nova programs) throughout the southeast 2 years ago, Nova's Tampa program was the only one that offered me an interview, which I was waitlisted after (this is why I went ahead and just said they all rejected me without bothering to mention the interview).
But since I was rejected flat-out during the following admissions cycle despite having interviewed their before, you are right -- that is definitely an indication that the program has gotten more competitive. It was probably just easier to get an interview because the program was still garnering interest during the first cycle I applied.
But you are absolutely right in your assessment that more people are applying and thereby making it more competitive to get accepted (or to even just receive an interview offer). Believe me, after having received an interview to a program, getting waitlisted, then going back and improving my GRE/GPA only to re-apply and be told that BOTH factors are now uncompetitive was a shock.
But to provide the OP with honest advice, I would probably *not* bother applying to AA programs without having a GPA that is substantially higher than 3.0. I know that changing majors to nursing is totally NOT what you even want to think about doing, but if you wait until your senior year of college to apply to AA programs and get rejected, you'll realize that you would've actually SAVED time if you had instead made the decision to change majors to nursing during your sophomore year.
At this point, you will probably only "lose" a single semester's worth of time by doing that; it's a lot less time than the amount you'd lose being dealt across-the-board rejections to AA programs (which is not what I'm saying will absolutely happen, but I really do think it would be a longshot for someone with a 3.0 GPA to be accepted by any program).
Re: What do I do??
Posted by sarahk3108 on November 26, 2012, 7:01 am, in reply to "Re: What do I do??"
Not to get picky, but could I ask what your GRE scores/percentiles were? My quantitative is lower than my qualitative and writing (which were quite high, but probably not as heavily weighed) but I still think it's competitive...I'm not sure though. Emory has posted the "55th percentile or above" but I feel like that seems kind of low to still be competitive, especially with the rising GPAs of each incoming class.
Re: What do I do??
Posted by kala on November 26, 2012, 2:06 am, in reply to "Re: What do I do??"
Thank you so much for your response! I appreciate your thoroughness and honesty!
Re: What do I do??
Posted by heatherl88 on November 21, 2012, 2:33 pm, in reply to "Re: What do I do??"
Thank you for the advice! I had thought of doing the CRNA route but thought AA would be a better fit.
I have been talking to South who strongly suggested I retake those courses. Do all the classes I have taken need to be above a C or just science courses? For instance, I have gotten a C in an English course as well as Psychology.
I feel so far in the Biology degree that it would feel like such a waste to switch now but honestly might be the only option I have
Re: What do I do??
Posted by heatherl88 on November 21, 2012, 4:03 pm, in reply to "Re: What do I do??"
Why do the schools say "C" or better if they won't even take it?