CASPA - The application process

How I got to PA school:

I applied two years in a row for PA School. I recommend (even if you aren't submitting this year) to set up your CASPA account. It is important to understand how long the process will take. I wish that I had taken screen shots of my personal application. I can tell you that the second year I applied the application was much easier to fill out (CASPA also updated their system) than the year before. But it was still a beast. CASPA communication when I was applying was all via facebook, which is very, very frustrating for people applying (especially if you don't already have facebook). CASPA makes their announcements about the site being down or how long it will take to verify your application via Facebook (super annoying).

I printed out my application from the year before in order to re-enter the information into the new CASPA application. I am not sure if now you can roll your information over, but because their was a new system in place I didn't have that option. This was helpful for me because I had already calculated my volunteer hours and remembered all my community service and I didn't want to have to go back through that process.

I tried to ask my reference letter writers in January. That way they had 4 months to work on the letter before they needed to submit it to CASPA. CASPA only takes letters via online. So your letter writers need to post the text into the system, which is different if they aren't used to it.

One of the big things that I wish that I would have taken the time to do (and you should do #epicfail for me) is go to each school that you are interested in applying too and look very closely at their prerequisites. There are minute differences in each school I applied to. When I applied, I really just thought oh I live in North Carolina I am going to apply to a 3-4 radius circle from Raleigh, NC and yes that sounds like the best school. Some schools, which I paid to apply to I later learned oh they don't take online labs (which I took two online courses post-grad) or they don't take courses greater than 5 years ago (I graduated and went to grad school, my undergrad, basic science courses were a long time ago). These are important things to look at.

I kept a notebook with all my schools and what I still needed to do for them. Many of my classmates kept an excel spreadsheet with what still needed to be done: supplemental application, GRE scores, transcripts, reference letters, etc.

I love that CASPA has worked in some of the schools supplemental applications into their system (not all). That is very nice and is so much easier that it is all in one place.

Most of the schools that I applied to worked on a rolling application system. Check with your school! email their admissions and see if they can provide you with any advice. I tried to apply as soon as possible, I thought that my application had a better chance of getting positive feedback and an interview.

These are just a few things that I remember working on last year!

#CASPA #PAschool #PA

enjoy my rough looking photo! Good luck to anyone working on their application this year!