As I mentioned in a previous post, one can’t hear a yes if you don’t try.

So far I’ve heard back from three of the PA schools I’ve applied to (out of close to a dozen now).

The first I’ll be honest probably hurt the most. This was in part because it was the first. It’s tough getting your first rejection. It does get a bit easier. But that wasn’t the main reason it hurt. The main reason was because it was one of the few schools that doesn’t absolutely require a 3.0 undergrad GPA. It was at or near the top of my list of schools I wanted to get into. I was hoping at the very least to get to the interview stage because if I did, I felt very confident I could sell myself at that point. But alas, not even that is happening at that school. However, if I don’t end up at a PA school in this round, I will definitely re-apply next year. They’re fairly competitive and by then I’ll have well above the average number of required patient contact hours and I’ll have some more classes under my belt and they look favorably at folks who try again. So we’ll see.

I honestly felt more insulted by the second rejection. It wasn’t exactly a long-shot, but it was a mostly online program which I’m not entirely sold on, but they school itself has an excellent reputation. The reason for insult wasn’t the rejection per se, it was the email. I applied at 11:30 PM. At 9:30 AM the next morning I received the rejection letter. My guess is I automatically tripped their minimum GPA requirement. That’s fine. It was some of the wording in the email:

This decision was very difficult, and every consideration was given to your application.

Given no one got in until probably 9:00 AM for the workday, I have to wonder how difficult the decision really was and how much consideration they really gave me!

The third rejection actually was the most honest and as a result, I appreciated the most:

School requires a minimum 3.0 for the overall GPA and science GPA. Unfortunately, one or both of your GPAs, as calculated by CASPA at time of application, did not meet this minimum requirement

Hey, that at least was honest and clear and no pulling of the punches. I’m fine with that. I mean I knew beforehand I would almost certainly get rejected based on my GPA, but this left no doubt. It also means I will leave them off my list for the next round if there is a second round of applications. I’m fine with that. It’ll save me $61.

Ironically however, the last two emails actually give me a bit of hope. Most of the schools I’ve applied to have a 3.0 GPA cut-off, but I haven’t heard from them yet. This means my application apparently hasn’t tripped any automatic “GPA Cut-off” filters. That’s hopeful.

Now, I still expect most if not all of the remaining ones to reject me this round, but there’s still hope.

So the record it’s NO: 3, YES: 0 and Hopeful: quite a few.

We’ll see.

I’l probably expand upon this when I have more time, but I’ve given some thought to an analogy that describes my current life this semester:

It’s like the show from the late 2000s (and apparently back called Wipeout. The goal is to run the course as quickly as possible while avoiding obstacles, many you can see and plan for, but some might pop-out unexpectedly.

The race I’m running is to get in at least 1000 hours of patient contact time so I can apply to most of my choices for PA School (one I am considering actually only requires 500 and a few more). In theory I can apply BEFORE I finish the hours (most allow programs you to apply as long as you’ll have enough before the end of the year). That said, I’m not content to say “Oh ok, I barely squeaked in 1000 hours”. Nope, I want them NOW! I’m getting there.

The obstacles are my classes. I pretty much know when tests and quizzes will be, but I have to plan my schedule around them. And then I have my IT work which mostly I can shift around the workload, but occasionally something pops up that needs fairly immediate attention. These are the obstacles I can expect, but not when.

Fortunately, come May, I’ll be down from 3 classes to just 1 over the summer and things should get easier.

But in the meantime I’m running as fast as I can, trying to avoid wiping out! And that’s one reason my weekly blog posts have been shorter and later than in the past.

Ay, there’s the rub.

As I mentioned last week, I’ve been putting in a lot of hours in the ED. Between that and my school schedule, sometimes sleep is at a premium. This is the one area where I most recognize my age. When I was less than half my age I could easily pull an all-nighter and then be raring to go the next day. Now, not so much. Now I need to make up that sleep.

Fortunately, with my school schedule and consulting schedule, I’m allowed that precious time known as “a nap.” Sometime in our youth we start to resist naps. I suspect because we don’t need them and there’s too much of the world to see. Then at some point we look forward to them. Or at least recognize the need for them. For me there’s still too much of the world to see and things to to, but alas, I need my sleep.

I’m also fortunate for an ability I’ve gained over the years, even if my family at time will laugh at me for it; the ability to fall asleep almost anywhere at almost any time. I’m at the point where if you put me on a plane, it’s Pavlovian and I’ll fall asleep before pushback.

So yes, sometimes I’ll work until 3:30 AM and have class at 9:00 Am, but fortunately I can squeeze in some makeup sleep later in the day. And I’m glad for that.

I am curious to see how things will be once I’m in PA School. But that’s for another time.