In this blog post, we are going to go over a list of PA schools with low GPA requirements. In the United States, there are over 300 PA schools and almost all of them require a minimum of 3.0 GPA. Does that mean that it’s hopeless for us applicants with GPAs lower than 3.0?
Absolutely not!
If you’re like me who had a rough undergraduate career and ended up with an overall GPA that is less than stellar, you may feel that it is impossible to get into PA school. I want to remind you that that is totally not true and there are many ways to improve your chances of getting in with a low GPA.
And one of them is looking for schools that have a GPA requirement that is less strict, such as schools that accept GPAs lower than 3.0 or schools that have no minimum GPA. And in this blog post, we will go over all of those schools.
There are also schools that look at your most recent credit hours (usually 60 credit hours) to give you a chance to offset your low overall GPA with your most recent performance, assuming you are generating an upward trend in your academic career.
You can find more about the schools that look at the most recent credit hours here.
List of PA Schools with Low GPA Requirements
| State | School | Accreditation | Minimum GPA |
| CA | A.T. Still University of Health Sciences (Central Coast) | Provisional | 2.50 |
| CA | Samuel Merritt University | Continued | 2.80 |
| GA | Brenau University | Provisional | 2.75 |
| IA | Des Moines University | Continued | 2.80 |
| IL | Rosalind Franklin Univ of Medicine (formerly Finch) | Continued | 2.75 |
| KY | University of Kentucky | Continued | 2.75 |
| NC | South College – Asheville | Provisional | 2.75 |
| NV | University of Nevada, Reno | Provisional | 2.75 |
| OH | Ursuline College | Provisional | No min |
| PA | Delaware Valley University | Provisional | No min |
| TN | Lincoln Memorial University-Knoxville | Probation | 2.80 |
| TN | Meharry Medical College | Provisional | No min |
| TN | South College – Knoxville | Continued | 2.75 |
| TN | South College – Nashville | Provisional | 2.75 |
| UT | University of Utah | Continued | 2.70 |
5 Ways to Improve Your Chances as a Low GPA Applicant
All right, K. You’ve given us a list of schools. But what are some things we can do to improve our chances?
Well, I’m glad you asked. There are many things you can do to greatly improve your chances. Here are a couple of things that have worked for me.
If you’re lacking in your academia, compensate for it by getting more patient care experience.
There are many PA schools that will look at your application holistically. And you have to remember that GPA is only one part of the application, meaning that you can compensate in other areas. One big area that you can utilize is your patient care/healthcare experience. A lot of PA schools want you to have hands-on direct patient care experience, in which, you will be performing high-level decision-making and very hands-on responsibility. And a good number to aim for, especially if you’re a low GPA applicant, is to have more than 2000 hours.
Apply to as many programs as you can.
When I was going through my application cycle in 2021, I told myself that I was going to do whatever it takes to get into a PA school during that cycle. As a low GPA applicant, I knew that I needed to apply to as many schools as I could to really increase my chances. While I would have loved to go to a school that was local, I knew that I would have better chances if I started applying out-of-state, and that’s exactly what I did.
I applied to over twenty schools with more than half of them out-of-state. If you cast a wide net, you are bound to find at least one school that will look at your application.
Pick and choose your schools wisely.
When I say apply to as many programs as you can, it doesn’t mean that you should start submitting your application to any programs that have a low GPA requirement. You want to pick and choose schools where you will have the best chances with your current stats.
Now, what do I mean by that? Let’s just say you’re someone who has had a rough undergraduate career and on top of that, you have a ‘D’ in Organic Chemistry. But you’re also someone who has aced your most recent coursework of over 60 credit hours. Then, you would look for a school that will look at your most recent coursework and one that doesn’t require organic chemistry as a prerequisite.
This may seem intuitive but believe me, when you’re working with a ton of schools on your application, keeping track of the different prerequisite requirements becomes challenging. Always keep a list or an Excel sheet of the schools that you’ve chosen and remember to double-check!
Go ahead and take those standardized tests.
While several schools are moving away from the GRE, many of the schools are starting to require the PA-CAT or CASPer. You don’t have to take all three standardized tests to get into PA school. However, I would recommend you consider taking some of these tests to greatly increase your chances.
During my application cycle, I noticed that many of the out-of-state PA schools that I wanted to apply to (I am from California) required the GRE. Like many of you, I was trying to avoid taking any standardized tests at all, but I quickly realized that taking that test would open many doors for me, and that is exactly what I did.
Make sure you do your research before signing up to take any of these tests because different schools have different requirements, even for standardized tests. Some may require just the GRE or just the PA-CAT, or some may require both PA-CAT and CASPer. Again, do your due diligence.
Get more shadowing or volunteer hours on top of your patient care experience.
If you’re a low GPA applicant, you want to make sure that all the other parts of the application that are within your control, such as shadowing or volunteer hours, are more than outstanding. That means you want to have shadowed more than 50 hours than the average applicant, or you have gone on a mission trip for your volunteer activities.
Do things that will make you stand out from your competition. Go shadow PAs in different specialties, don’t just shadow for the sake of hours. Learn the profession and be able to really articulate that in your application. The worst thing you can do is to just be another application in a pool of thousands of applicants.
Final Thoughts
I know that applying to PA schools is a long and arduous task. And I’m here to tell you that it may feel like it is impossible with so many obstacles in the way. However, there is always something you can do on your application that will help you stand out and land you that interview. I hope this post has helped you on your journey and as always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact me.
