How Many Schools Did I Apply To?
Let me start by clarifying that I expected a total of 3 gap years before matriculating into a program.
I started CASPA in the spring of 2017.
By then, I had ~1.5 years of STNA/CNA experience in assisted living and dementia care, as well as a little less than a year of Medical Scribe experience in the emergency department.
In short, I went into the application process treating it more like a practice run to prepare for the real deal. My thought process at the time was that I did not have enough hands-on experience to be competitive. I thought I'd apply this round for the hell of it; if I got in, I got in, and if I didn't, that would have been okay too. You can imagine how ecstatic (and surprised, lol) I was after I found out I was offered a seat.
As a result, I applied to mostly local schools (3 in Ohio).
In total, I applied to five. Those five are (in order of preference):
Out of these, I interviewed at three schools. I was waitlisted for a Rush interview, but ultimately, I received an email that all 30 seats had been filled by either mid-October or early November (their deadline was October 1st).
For the schools I interviewed at, I received one rejection.
If I could redo the application process:
I started CASPA in the spring of 2017.
By then, I had ~1.5 years of STNA/CNA experience in assisted living and dementia care, as well as a little less than a year of Medical Scribe experience in the emergency department.
In short, I went into the application process treating it more like a practice run to prepare for the real deal. My thought process at the time was that I did not have enough hands-on experience to be competitive. I thought I'd apply this round for the hell of it; if I got in, I got in, and if I didn't, that would have been okay too. You can imagine how ecstatic (and surprised, lol) I was after I found out I was offered a seat.
As a result, I applied to mostly local schools (3 in Ohio).
In total, I applied to five. Those five are (in order of preference):
- University of Dayton
- Kettering College
- Rush University (Chicago)
- Rocky Mountain College (Montana)
- Baldwin Wallace University
Out of these, I interviewed at three schools. I was waitlisted for a Rush interview, but ultimately, I received an email that all 30 seats had been filled by either mid-October or early November (their deadline was October 1st).
For the schools I interviewed at, I received one rejection.
If I could redo the application process:
- I would have applied to and/or interviewed at all the schools I initially intended. At the time, I was money-conscious and didn't want to blow any more than $2000 on application-related expenses (my frugal self included travel costs and the GRE. Some schools had additional app fees that seemed like a lot at the time but now seems negligible. For example, I really wanted to apply to Pacific University in Oregon but refrained from doing so because of additional costs. I also ended up not interviewing in Montana because being there for a day would have cost me ~$500 (*disclaimer*: had I not already been accepted into programs, I definitely would have flown out there).
- I would have applied and submitted the CASPA earlier. I didn't submit my CASPA until the beginning of September. Although my earliest deadline was October 1st, I regret how long I put it off. For one thing, I could have applied to programs either 1) closer to where I am now, or 2) on the west coast.
- I would have applied during my first gap year: Now, if I did this, I wouldn't have had the 2,000+ hours of healthcare experience to put on the CASPA. Some schools will accept "projected hours", but a lot of schools don't. If your GPA or GRE scores are questionable, having MORE healthcare hours is invaluable, as it is a surefire way to render you a more competitive applicant. If I had submitted my CASPA by, let's say, August 1st of 2016, I would have only had minimal scribe hours logged -- in addition to my part-time STNA experience in my senior year of college. From there, I would have had to estimate my projected hours prior to prospective matriculation (July/August of 2017). Doing that would have been difficult because in that period, I tacked on two more part-time jobs (1) dementia care assistant (STNA) and 2) Macy's merchandising associate) to make ends meet. This happened because the scribe company I worked for --who initially promised me a full-time ~40 hour workweek-- gave me part-time hours (~20 hour workweek, if that). This was an unforeseen event. Life happens, and I had to figure out how to supplement my income fast. Speaking of unforeseen events and life happenings, I moved to Cincinnati in July.
- I would have taken the GRE earlier. The earlier, the better. Study as much as possible, but do not put it off. There is only so much studying you can do for the GRE (unless you're REALLY gunning for a perfect score).
Big picture: if I applied the year before, I may or may not be in a program right now. I'd like to think I would be, but there is no way to tell. The other thing is that I would have missed out on my current experience as a retail clinic PCT (which is actually a full-time position, as was promised in the beginning). If I could redo it, these are things I'd change. But all in all, I'm very happy with how things turned out for me as they did.
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