Your CASPA physician assistant school essay is your chance to make yourself irresistible to a CASPA PA school admissions committee. Unfortunately, many of the most qualified applicants don’t. Instead, these bright Pre-PA minds are rejected all the time. Their high GPAs, great letters of recommendation, and great medical experiences should leave you wondering:
What are Physician Assistant Schools Looking For?
I was reminded of the answer a couple of days ago while listening to National Public Radio’s Morning Edition while driving to class. They did a great piece about what it takes to get into Amherst College, one of the most selective undergraduate universities in America. According to Amherst’s admissions committee members, many essays describe 2-dimensional applicants.
The Goal of You CASPA Physician Assistant School Essay
The goal of your essay is to get an interview, and to do it, you can’t sound like everyone else. Learn from the unfortunate overachievers by writing a physician assistant school essay that shows who you really are. You don’t need to be bizarre or attention-seeking. But does your essay showcase a real, 3-dimensional person, or just another applicant with scores of blah blah and blah blah experience working at wherever? If the latter, change course NOW - you’re setting yourself up for rejection. Instead, get them thinking of your uniqueness, your unusual passions and capricious experiences — your humanity. These are the things that make you irresistable. What’s more, they might get you an interview despite mediocre grades or limited medical experience (I’ve seen it happen).
No, you aren’t applying to undergraduage colleges. But much like at Amherst, the PA school application pool is vast, the slots are few, and there will always be candidates with better scores and blah blah than you. Thankfully for you, in many cases, their essays will portray them as just that: blah. Make sure yours doesn’t.
[If you haven’t checked it out yet, listen to NPR’s Morning Edition: Behind The Scenes: How Do You Get Into Amherst?]
Hi!
Love this website! I recently changed my mind about becoming a PA rather than an MD. My reasons for this is that I need a more balanced life than an MD may have and I like working as a team. BUT my main reason for becoming a PA is the same reason for becoming an MD: dermatology. It has always been my passion. I wrote a personal statement for medical schools describing my passion for dermatology and how having acne changed me. Can I use this same essay? I know not exactly, but I’ve always wanted to go into dermatology but I feel that I need to showcase why I want to be a PA more than anything else. Thanks!!
Thanks, Lauren! It sounds like you’ve given your career path a great deal of thought, and I’m sure it will pay off. As for your essay, I think you’re on the right track. You can definitely draw from it, but it will need some tweaking at the very least. I always advise students to write about what they are passionate about. These topics inspire others, and who wouldn’t want a PA student in their program who inspires others? In fact, that’s part of the next PA school application tips article that will be coming out later this week. But I guess I shouldn’t spill the beans here - better to keep a little suspense in the air.
Good luck, and let us know how it goes. We’d love to see your essay if you’re willing to share it on the forum. Thanks again, -P
Thank you so much!! I will definitely post my essay up when I’m finished. One more question though. I went on the website for the school that I want to go to and their mission statement is, “The mission of the UMDNJ PA Program is to prepare primary care physician assistants who will provide health care under the supervision of a physician in a variety of settings in order to meet the needs of the community.” Dermatology is not primary care so am I putting myself in a bad position applying to this school? It’s my top choice but I don’t seem to fit into their mission statement! Will they question me if I’m sending them an essay talking about my passion for dermatology when it is not primary care? Thanks again!
Usually, these missions are very important to PA schools, and sadly, your essay may prove to them that you aren’t right for them, causing them to not interview you. If you they’re your top choice, you may do well to rewrite your essay to share your experience in dermatology without projecting it into your professional future. This way, you derive the most benefit from it without closing off your options. This is a good strategy for anyone - keep your CASPA essay more general to generate the maximum response. Then you can tailor your message to the individual schools, depending on where you get secondaries and/or interviews.
I have re-written this essay a few times now. I know what I want to say and how I want to say it, but I am worried that its not going to be enough. I have been in this position before and got rejected from my school of choice. I am afraid that the essay I am writing now is not going to convey how much I want to be a PA. The only solution I can think of is to just write it and have some friends read it and give me feed back. Any other suggestions?