How This Reapplicant Got into PA School [Episode 621]

This episode of Admissions Straight Talk covers the essential strategies for overcoming rejection and successfully reapplying to physician assistant (PA) programs. In this episode, host Dr. Valerie Wherley speaks with Cassandra Zoetjes, a first-generation college student and current PA student at Sacred Heart University who successfully navigated three application cycles. Cassandra shares how she transformed her candidacy by pursuing a master’s in nutrition at Columbia University and diversifying her clinical experiences as a scribe and a medical assistant.

This conversation is especially valuable for reapplicants facing an unsuccessful cycle or those considering a graduate degree to bolster their academic profile. Cassandra provides a transparent look at the emotional toll of the “drinking from a fire hose” aspect of PA school and the importance of maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Her story serves as a road map for applicants who need to add depth to their writing and medical knowledge.

Listeners will gain concrete insights into these topics:

• How a specialized master’s degree can demonstrate academic rigor
• The benefit of diversifying patient care experience across specialties
• Strategies for crafting a resilient mindset and an honest personal statement
• What to expect in a PA curriculum

0:00 Introducing the Journey to PA School

1:06 Meet Cassandra: First-Gen Student Success

2:11 Choosing the PA Profession

3:39 Navigating Three PA Application Cycles

4:52 Strengthening Your GPA With a Master’s Degree

7:28 Diversifying Clinical and Volunteer Experience

9:58 Surviving the PA School Curriculum

11:47 Leadership and Student Government Opportunities in PA School

13:04 Advice for Reapplicants and Future PAs

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Transcript

Admissions Straight Talk (00:34)
And welcome to the podcast.

Cassandra (00:36)
Thank you so much for having me. I'm so happy to be here.

Admissions Straight Talk (00:38)
Great. So I'm excited to have you as a guest. You are here today to talk about your journey applying and successfully getting into PA school. But let's start at the beginning. So to set the scene, can you please share with the listeners a bit about yourself? So let's hear, where did you grow up? Where did you go to undergrad? What did you major in? And did you come from a family full of doctors and PAs or other people in healthcare?

Cassandra (01:06)
Sure. So I grew up in New Jersey, a town called Sparta. It's like Northwestern New Jersey, about an hour outside of Manhattan. I went to undergrad at Sacred Heart University in Fairfields, Connecticut. And while I was there, I majored in psychology, doing all of the pre-PA prerequisite classes. And no one in my family actually works in healthcare. My dad is in construction. My mom is a massage therapist.

So really I am a first gen college student as well.

Admissions Straight Talk (01:36)
Wonderful. So in full disclosure, you and I know each other. We knew each other as I was a faculty member at Sacred Heart University. You were a student, I was director of pre-health advisement and you were pre-PA. And then we also worked together here at Accepted. So it's important for our listeners to know we do have sort of a long history together. Okay, so next question. How did you learn about the physician assistant profession?

Cassandra (01:56)
You do indeed, yes.

Admissions Straight Talk (02:05)
And what was it about the PA career that clicked for you where you knew it was a match for you?

Cassandra (02:11)
Sure. So I learned about the PA profession first, actually through my roommate in college. She was on the pre-PA track. I was nursing originally and she kind of sparked my interest in it. And then I ended up talking to my anatomy professor a little bit more. And we bounced around talking about nursing, again, medical school and the PA profession. And that encouraged me to seek some opportunities and research what a PA does a little bit more. I really think that

Choosing PA wasn't like one single moment for me, but more so became clear through me throughout all of my experiences. So when I was working as a scribe, like I really was able to see PAs in the ED and I really loved the collaboration that they had and the ability to work in different specialties and really be part of a team that helps to manage patient care.

Admissions Straight Talk (03:01)
That's great. And before I ask the next question, it's important to share a little bit of data for any listeners that might not know the specifics of matriculation data. So according to the PAEA, acceptance rates for PA schools are between 20 and 30%. And if you flip that around, looking at it from a different lens, every year between 70 and 80 % of applicants are not getting in

making PA school more competitive than medical school. So having said that, I was wondering if you could share a little bit about your application journey.

Cassandra (03:39)
Sure. So I was actually a three-time applicant to PA school. The first time I applied was shortly after undergrad. I was working as a scribe in the emergency department per diem. I was taking some, you know, I retook some classes that I got lower grades in and I thought that I was good to go, ready to submit. I didn't have a lot of volunteering or anything. I didn't get accepted that cycle. And then I applied the following cycle.

again, took some like upper level classes and then I like started to diversify my patient care experience a little bit. So I became an ophthalmic tech at a retina surgeon's office in Connecticut. And again, retook any classes I got low grades in. I also was a medical assistant in dermatology and I tried to

branch out my volunteer experiences a little bit more. So I worked a little bit in hospice and a little bit at Americares, which is a clinic in Connecticut. And that still didn't do the trick. So my kind of last endeavor was doing a master's degree. I chose a master's degree in nutrition and I did that at Columbia. It was a one-year program, which I really loved. And I think it actually,

Admissions Straight Talk (04:38)
Yeah.

Cassandra (04:52)
I attribute a lot of my success in PA school to it, my ability to handle all of the science classes, which I didn't really get too much in undergrad because I didn't decide to become a PA until later on. So being able to really handle that rigor.

Admissions Straight Talk (05:05)
Yeah. So you think that it was the combination of diversifying your portfolio, your CASPA portfolio, but also you really needed to do that master's program.

Cassandra (05:16)
I did, I really attribute a lot of my success on the third cycle to the master's degree. And at first I was very like, no, but like I've taken all the classes and I've retaken the classes. Like, can't that just be enough? Because you know, if you've applied to PA school before and even medical school, like you always think the first time is going to be the perfect time. ⁓ and the time that gets you in. So of course it was difficult for me to like kind of accept and understand, but I.

I think about it all the time.

Admissions Straight Talk (05:47)
Yeah, yeah. Was there ever a point you thought about not reapplying?

Cassandra (05:53)
Yes, I would say of course. I thought that I feel like times where you're questioned and like you're beaten down isn't the right way to put it. But when you're kind of tested to your ability to forge ahead and like, do I really want this? Am I going to go through this again? I think that that should be very grounded in your why as to why you want to be doing this and why it's so important to you to pursue this career.

And I think that that really helped to ground me. And again, like it gave me something to speak about on interviews. It gave me something to kind of like collaborate with my other classmates about and like sharing the journey here. And also like it doesn't work out perfectly for everyone. And it's part of who I am and like part of my story and part of like my grit and perseverance as well. So yes, I think that.

It's difficult to see in the moment, of course. Like I spent a lot of years trying to grapple with that, but now being on the other side, I actually wouldn't have traded that.

Admissions Straight Talk (06:50)
Yeah, yeah. So this might be a bit redundant, but repeat if you need to, but I'd like to have you reflect critically for a moment. And this could be helpful for applicants who may be coming off an unsuccessful CASPA cycle. What would you say were the two to three things you did that helped to create a stronger CASPA application? And you can think, was it...

asking for different letters of recommendation? it applying to schools that had a different profile? Was it, again, diversifying your portfolio? But what would you really say?

Cassandra (07:28)
Yeah, I think the first one or two application cycles, I was pretty set to being in the Northeast. And I, I feel like those who are from this area can also kind of understand that. I was like, I don't want to go all the way to California. My family's in New Jersey and everything, but, I tried to really pick schools that aligned with my mission personally. And like that we're looking to, select candidates that were more holistic or had different experiences as I did.

And I got a few interviews that way from programs, so that definitely helped. And also again, not to reiterate, but the masters, the masters in nutrition really, I think was key for me. Not only just from, ⁓ you know, she did masters level coursework, but it shaped my view of medicine. I participated in a lot of clinical research. I also had different like involvements there in the culinary medicine club.

And all of those things gave me a different lens outside of just being like a medical assistant or an emergency room scribe that I don't think I would have thought otherwise, that now as a future PA and as a PA student, I'm able to apply more critically to courses and also to the patients I'm gonna provide care to.

Admissions Straight Talk (08:37)
Right. Correct. I have to say, I can add on to this, and that is I read some of your writing on your application before you did your master's work. And then I was able to read some of your writing post-master's work. And you are correct. You were able to add depth to your writing and insight into patient care and also evidence-based medicine.

Cassandra (08:41)
Mm.

Admissions Straight Talk (09:03)
that you didn't have before you did that master's work. And so, no, wasn't a post-bac program. You weren't retaking pre-PA courses. You took this master's degree to increase your knowledge base in this area of nutrition, but it did give you more depth and breadth of knowledge just kind of in medicine and healthcare, which I think PA schools found very valuable.

Cassandra (09:31)
Exactly. And now also like going into this trimester, we're doing an evidence-based practice course that's all based on research and things. So it's nice that I'm, it's not a foreign language to me as much as it is. but yeah, so it's definitely helped with that as well.

Admissions Straight Talk (09:46)
Yeah, agreed. Okay, so you are now in PA school. Can you share with the listeners how far you are in your PA curriculum? And right now, let's just hear how it's going.

Cassandra (09:58)
Sure. So I just finished second trimester, which was like, I was like at the top of the hill and now I'm finally on the downward descent. So I just started summer trimester actually this past week and it's going great. I feel like I didn't understand drinking from a fire hose until I entered school, but it's totally manageable. And I always tell people,

Admissions Straight Talk (10:06)
you

OK, good.

Cassandra (10:23)
some of the pre-PAs that I've spoken with as well. If you're able to handle the coursework and you're able to, if you have a study method that works for you, just stick with it in school. And also I think what I underestimated was the mundane-ness of the hours spent in the classroom and then the hours spent in your desk chair at home. And the importance of finding the 10-minute walk or getting the happy hour drinks with your friends, just to kind of break things up a little bit.

Admissions Straight Talk (10:48)
sure that work-life balance is very important, right? And I often encourage students when they're filling out their CASPA application, include a hobby on your CASPA application so admissions committees know that you have something to apply to that work-life balance. You do yoga and you go running or you...

Cassandra (10:51)
Exactly.

Yes.

Admissions Straight Talk (11:12)
hike with your friends because they want to know that you have the ability to unwind and have that healthy work-life balance.

Cassandra (11:19)
Exactly. 100 % agreed.

Admissions Straight Talk (11:21)
Right. Tell the listeners maybe some things you're able to get involved in in PA school. Sometimes people have this thought that once you're in graduate school, especially demanding curriculum like PA, you're in the classroom, you're in the library, copy, paste, repeat. But there are opportunities to get involved in clubs and extracurriculars. So where have you found yourself extracurricularly?

Cassandra (11:47)
Sure, so I'm actually the president of my school's student government, which I'm very happy to do. It's like a lot of fun. I never served in student government before. When I was at Columbia, I worked as a TA after I graduated there and I worked at a few different clubs as an education chair. And that kind of made me interested to seek that out at Sacred Hearts P.A.

⁓ but yeah, we have great student government. There's like event planners. They plan all the fun activities for us. do some like yoga and some exercise classes together. And also like we bring donuts in on exam days. And like, it's really just having that class camaraderie, which I feel like is very important being that like we're all together. And there are some people from like Washington state and Arizona who don't have any family here. So we are the family. so it's really nice to.

to be a part of that. yeah, student government is great. There's like an AAPA role. So they sit as the chair for AAPA of Connecticut, a lot of different ways to get involved. Yeah.

Admissions Straight Talk (12:46)
That's wonderful.

And as we wrap up this podcast, what advice or pieces of advice would you have for any pre-PA students who might be listening to this, maybe feeling a little concerned about their competitive chances in an upcoming cycle?

Cassandra (13:04)
Sure. So I think my biggest piece of advice and definitely something that resonates the most with me is that mindset through all of this matters, not in the way people usually talk about it. It's not blindly just like believing in yourself. It's more so making a conscious effort to choose yourself and to choose your future you. There were definitely moments where I doubted myself and I feel like

in medicine and in these competitive programs, it's very hard to not compare yourself to other people and other applicants and questioning if you are good enough. But at the end of the day, you are good enough and you can't control some of the outcomes as long as you you put your best foot forward and keep showing up every day. So each cycle, I focused a little bit more on getting better, whether it was improving my experiences, how I told my story and my personal statement.

or just being more honest about why I really wanted this. I think a lot of people assume that rejection means you're not capable, but sometimes it means you're just not there yet. And being able to separate those two things I think is really crucial.

Admissions Straight Talk (14:07)
Hmm. That is very well said. And I have to say, knowing you for as long as I've known you, I'm very proud of you. You may be the walking definition of resilience and your future patients are so lucky to have you.

Cassandra (14:15)
Thank you.

Thanks.

Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

Admissions Straight Talk (14:24)
You're welcome. Thank you for joining me today on the podcast.

Cassandra (14:27)
Of course.

Admissions Straight Talk (14:28)
Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to share, rate, and subscribe to the podcast. We'll be back soon with more conversations to help you get accepted.