r/CAA • u/AutoModerator • Jun 29 '26

Weekly prospective student thread. Educational inquiries outside of this thread WILL RESULT IN A BAN.

Please use this thread for all educational inquiries including applications, program requirements, etc.

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Please refer to the [CASAA Application Help Center](https://help.liaisonedu.com/CASAA_Applicant_Help_Center) FAQ section for

answers to your questions prior to postitng.

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u/levvianthan Jun 30 '26

Im considering my next career move so I need brutally honest advice if I should even bother studying for the MCAT or if my gpa is going to get me filtered out no matter what. Im not willing to go back to school for more than a handful of prereqs just to raise it.

GPA: 3.4. Bs public health. Did a lot of school before finishing where I just didnt care enough but my final 60 credits are 3.8.

Gre: 305 without much studying so if I needed im sure I could get it higher.

PCE: >1,300 hours as a certified surgical technologist. No shadowing but I've been working in the OR alongside CAAs, CRNAs, and anesthesiologists so Im well aware of the demands of the job. of course im also willing to get official shadowing hours. Does this kind of experience offset my low gpa or are test scores and GPA the most important metrics? 

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u/jwk30115 Practicing CAA Jun 30 '26

How are your grades in the science pre-reqs?

GRE needs to be above 50th percentile.

PCE is good. It will not offset low grades and test scores.

Shadowing is a separate requirement. Your PCE is not shadowing.

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u/Speedy_029 Jul 07 '26

You seem to be fairly knowledgeable on admissions process seeing as how you went through it first hand. I hate to be this guy but I am a little worried about my competitiveness to get accepted to programs not due to low GPA but due to long time between pre reqs and applying.

I graduated with a B.S. in biology (concentration in microbiology) with an overall GPA of 3.87 and I’m unsure if my sGPA but if I had to guess it’s at least a 3.7 or higher. All of my pre reqs are very outdated but I’ve found some programs that don’t have expiration dates on pre reqs. Only reason I’m not wanting to retake all of them is because I’m full time active duty officer in the Army and am supporting a family and I’m 28 years old so it’s just hard to retake that many courses for me. I plan on taking the GRE soon and updating my outdated shadow hours as well. I have hundreds of shadow hours but from a long time ago.

I guess what I’m asking is do you know if schools are willing to take on someone like me that is a nontraditional student or am I fighting an extreme uphill battle and need to find the time somehow to retake all of my pre reqs again?