Speed-Running a Bachelor’s at 18 to Prep for a MS in PAs

[crystalxxxzzz]

Your Location: California, United States
Your Age: 18 
What kind of degree do you want?: 
Open to suggestions
Need to get a bachelor’s (BS preferable) to qualify for a MS in Physician Assistant Studies
Would prefer to complete a bachelor’s as fast as possible so I can focus on clinical hours and prerequisite classes in local 4-year and community college (have an intimidating spreadsheet of classes I need to complete help)
Might prefer a degree in Accounting so I have a backup plan with good and stable job prospects.

Current Regional Accredited Credits:
Community College: 40 semester credits in total
ANTH 1, Biological/Physical Anthro (2020 - worried that credit might not count after 5 years)
ADMJ 50, Intro to Admin of Justice
SOCI 3, Intro to Race & Ethnicity 
ENGL 1, Critical Reading & Composition 
ART 2A, Intro to Drawing
COMM 1, Fundamentals of Speech Communication
NUTR 1, Intro to Nutrition Science
PSY 1, General Psychology
ARTH 1, Intro to Art (History) 
BIOS 41, Fundamentals of Biology for Health Science
ENGL 4A, Critical Think/Write Lit
MTH 43, Intro to Probability & Statistics

Current ACE, CLEP, or NCCRS Credits:
None (don't know where to start!) Was originally looking at CLEP to test out of some GEs for a traditional transfer into a 4-year university but considering doing a degree fast-track instead

Any certifications or military experience? None

Budget: I'd like to go the cheapest route possible, but will consider spending more if I can speed things up. 

Commitments: 
Can dedicate myself towards studies full-time during the summer (capable of studying 10 hours daily if necessary)

Planning to take in fall 2024 (full course load, so won’t have too much time)
BIO 7A, Human Anatomy
CHEM 1A, General Chemistry
Maybe: Ethnic Studies 42 or 43

Planning to take in spring 2025 (full course load, but can reconsider and push classes back to work on degree full-time): 
Physiology
Chem 1B

Planning to do in summer 2025: 
Medical Assistant certification course from May to September (8:30a-2:30p M-F) but can dedicate nights and weekends to studying
Externship (work full-time M-F) during October but can study on weekends and nights

Dedicated time to study: I can study as much as is needed during the night or weekends. During the summer until August 19, I am capable of studying 10 hours per day if necessary. 
Unsure if I will have more than 4 hours weekly to study during the full-time fall semester though. Will make time if I have a plan.

Timeline: Finishing the courses required for the degree as fast as possible would be ideal. Prefer a year but that may be too ambitious. Would like to finish under 2 years at least if possible?

Tuition assistance/reimbursement: Not much, just a small scholarship so far but in the process of applying for at least 50 more

Test-Taking:
I'm not entirely confident in my test-taking abilities, but I am capable of scoring 100s in easier STEM classes with statistics and biology exams. Unsure of how to approach CLEP studies as I have no material to directly study/reference. Would like to test out but I have no idea what material to study specifically. Some people say that some REA guides didn't match up with the exams, and some say to just use InstantCert flashcards — with so much advice out there, it can get overwhelming without any specific materials to structure my learning around!

End Notes & Appreciation:
Thank you if you managed to make it all the way to end of this post. I understand that this is a lot of information, and I would be very grateful for any guidance or advice that you could afford me. I admire all the work that this community’s members have so generously devoted towards DegreeForum — seen so many threads of people selflessly giving their time and energy over to help strangers in need and it’s heartwarming to witness. (Notable mention and salutations to mods like bjcheung77 — who I heard about even before I stepped foot into DegreeForum! I see him on so many threads!)

[Jonathan Whatley]

Do not worry about a five-year or any recency limitation to undergraduate transfer credit at the schools widely used here, in your case. Recency is almost exclusively an issue with credit and degrees related to information technology (e.g., degrees from the School of IT at WGU), or in graduate degrees.

Recency may be important with PA schools for their specific prerequisite classes especially the sciences.

Excellent call to take prerequisite classes locally if you're at all able.

I'm going to step a little outside DegreeForum's generic advice: In your case, I'd put a real premium on graded RA credit over alt-credit. Your path to a bachelor's might not even include any alt-credit (e.g., CLEP, DSST, ACE/NCCRS providers such as Sophia and Study.com).

One reason is that you already have 40 semester hours of RA community college credit that will go towards general education and overall credit hour requirements.

Another is that PA schools will weigh heavily your overall and science GPAs which will be derived from graded RA credit. Your experience and confidence indicates you can deliver good grades. Even if alt-credit gives you a small advantage in time or money towards completion of your bachelor's degree, the work you put into alt-credit will not contribute to your GPA.

UMPI YourPace would be a good choice for you. It awards graded RA credit, with typically friendly grading if you meet the reasonable expectations, it's highly accelerable and it's affordable. Accounting is available as a major, concentration within Business Administration, or minor. Health Administration is not currently available in the competency-based online YourPace format but it's under development and might become available as a major or minor fall or next year.

[ItsNeverTheLionsYear]

Depending on what the prereqs consist of, OP may be the rare candidate where a TESU BS in Health Services Technology would make the most sense: https://www.tesu.edu/nursing/health-prof...h-services

I'm going to disagree slightly with Jonathan and say that OP probably should pursue alt credit for less relevant gen eds (e.g. sociology, american history, etc). It'll free OP up to focus on doing well in the prereq courses. If you get good grades in the prereq courses then your GPA is already high and you have no need to take other RA courses to boost your GPA.

[Jonathan Whatley]

I'm going to disagree slightly with Jonathan and say that OP probably should pursue alt credit for less relevant gen eds (e.g. sociology, american history, etc). It'll free OP up to focus on doing well in the prereq courses. If you get good grades in the prereq courses then your GPA is already high and you have no need to take other RA courses to boost your GPA.

Fair! I am concerned that the OP might take a GPA hit from a future science course – happens to the best students among us – then wish that they had the GPA cushion from a few more relatively easy graded RA gen eds or electives.

That TESU BS HST is worth considering. Disadvantage of no especially friendly-graded credits as part of the program, advantage of no residency credit requirement to speak of.

In an alternate universe where WGU awards graded credit their new BS in Health Science would be a great choice for pre-PA. It could still be a good choice in this universe for someone who's assembled credits and GPA elsewhere for pre-PA or other pre-health but has no bachelor's yet.

[bjcheung77]

@crystalxxxzzz, Welcome to the board! Great start! Wow, what a great initial post! It's awesome to see people provide more details displaying an overall picture of their scenario.  A quick non-related question, I'm curious, where did you hear or read about me?!

There are so many ways to get to your current goal, I suggest TESU or UMPI, you really need to take your sciences at the community college (or anything that can't be obtained through alternative credit).  How does a TESU BA Biology/Comp Sci double major sound?

Your goal is to get a few PA programs brochures or websites that you're interested in, check to see what their entry requirements are, then create a spreadsheet of those requirements.  Take those from the community colleges to transfer into TESU or UMPI.

[ss20ts]

UMPI YourPace would be a good choice for you. It awards graded RA credit, with typically friendly grading if you meet the reasonable expectations, it's highly accelerable and it's affordable. Accounting is available as a major, concentration within Business Administration, or minor. Health Administration is not currently available in the competency-based online YourPace format but it's under development and might become available as a major or minor fall or next year.

The OP is not old enough to be accepted into UMPI's YourPace program. You must be at least 20 years old when you apply. 

I wouldn't expect healthcare administration to be up and running this fall as they are still not accepting students for the program and not have made any announcements about the program. People have been saying CS is coming to YourPace since 2020 and still nothing. On campus didn't even have a program then!

[Duneranger]

PA school is competitive. I’m literally working right next to a PA this very second who spent years trying to get in.

He was a combat medic and paramedic.

Being young, you will be at a disadvantage. PA schools love experienced medical providers and being a MA is a pretty weak form of medical experience unless you can back it up with something else.

That something else should be stellar grades (ie not easy/hand waive ACE credits) or solid research experience.

You should not speed run this. To be honest I wouldn’t want a 22-23 year old PA treating me. I’ve seen hundreds in my lifetime, some good…many not.

Sounds like you are doing the right thing with CC pre reqs at the least. IMO MA certs are a waste of time, they are glorified secretaries that take vital signs and do blood draws.

[natshar]

there is a thread here about applying to med school. read that from people who've been there. Its complicated and yes do have to worry about the 5 years expiring, I have a friend applying for PA school and he had to take an undergrad class again cause it expired. I don't think most of commenters here know enough about PA admissions, and I don't know too much either (but i know a bit). We know all about hacking degrees but for your circumstances I'm not sure what route to take.

[Jonathan Whatley]

IMO MA certs are a waste of time, they are glorified secretaries that take vital signs and do blood draws.

It could be worth it if it gets the OP in with one or more physicians or PAs who allow wider opportunities than the typical MA position. Like shadowing, scribing, and of course recommendation letters. And maybe if it corresponds to a type of practice setting the OP is interested in working in and they want to sell that interest in their statement backed by some experience.

[Duneranger]

IMO MA certs are a waste of time, they are glorified secretaries that take vital signs and do blood draws.

It could be worth it if it gets the OP in with one or more physicians or PAs who allow wider opportunities than the typical MA position. Like shadowing, scribing, and of course recommendation letters. And maybe if it corresponds to a type of practice setting the OP is interested in working in and they want to sell that interest in their statement backed by some experience.

Maybe. Most do not treat MAs well is the issue. They are the “help”. I wouldn’t put in the effort banking on the possibility that a MD/PA or NP would take me under their wing. Some jobs may really foster a great learning environment but in my years of experience, most providers  won’t bother unless they know you personally.

Honestly a better route to go would be an ER tech. Usually is OJT training and only requires a CNA or EMT license. They often can do scribe work as well in a fast paced/intense environment. PAs are also heavily used in the ER.

Secretary work isn’t going to do much for her. MAs are almost always strictly outpatient too which limits things.