Do I stand a chance of a private or state uni?

Applying to College
1

Hello College Confidentials:
I’m new here so please bear with me.
I am a second semester junior in south LA, California and I’m officially freaking out. I really need to go to a good college, I want to earn a Masters in Physician Assistant studies but the problem is that my transcript does not look good. Please take a look: *is for future 12th-grade schedule, TBD is for future spring grades and AP test scores, Semester 1 final grade/ Semester 2 final grade

HONORS
H Engish 9: A/A
H English 10: A/A
H Biology: A/A
H Chemistry: B/C
H Advanced Math (Algebra II & PreCalc in one year): C/TBD
*H Physiology:
*H Gov/Econ:

REGULAR/WEREN’T OFFERED IN HONORS
PE 9: B/B
PE 10: A/A
Algebra 1: B/B
Geometry: A/A
Health: A
Latin American Studies: A
Beginning Band: A/A
Computer Operations: A
Native Spanish: A/A
Psychology: A
Sociology: A

AP’s & SCORES
AP World History: A/A 4
AP Spanish Language 4
AP English Lang: A/TBD Score:TBD
AP United States History: B/TBD
Score: TBD
*AP English Literature:

  • AP Biology:
    *AP Calculus AB

-GPA Weighted 3.758
-GPA Unweighted 3.708
-UC/CSU GPA 4.2
-Campus Rank: ^44/530

-School Rank: ^21/104
-Spends 20+ hours in church activities
-Latest PSAT Score: 1090
-Art History ELAC college credit class
-Currently doing a Medical Assistant/ “Basic Medical SKills” Certification with USC and WLAC
-Was in Marching/Concert Band for a year in a half
-Was a first-chair alto sax player in the first year
-I’ve tutored in math, English, and music
-I’ve worked sporadically throughout high school
-Plan on working my medical skills certification during the summer

Current EC:
~Escalera STEM -college prep club
~ Interact -community serving club
Senior year add-ons:
~Debate
May start own club senior year on domestic violence

I couldn’t take AP Bio this year because it clashed with my schedule and I would have a notoriously careless teacher instead of my assigned magnet teacher, otherwise, I would have taken it.

Do I stand a chance? Please leave any thoughts, I appreciate it, thank you.

2

You can get the pre-PA coursework just about anywhere, so don’t worry about that. Your profile is OK. Do a bit of exam prep and try both SAT and ACT practice tests to see if you perform better on one or the other.

Yes, do complete the Medical Assistant certificate program so that you can get a part-time job as a medical assistant and start gaining clinical experience.

3

Thank you so much for your input!

4

With your GPA, you should be able to get into many public and private universities.

You may want to take the SAT and ACT in junior year, so that you have the scores by summer to better assess reach/match/likely/safety for each university.

Also, talk to your parents about what they will contribute for your college costs, and sit down with them to run the net price calculators on the web sites of universities of interest.

The typical pre-PA course work (mostly science courses, but may also list statistics, social sciences, and foreign language) is widely available at various universities. Here are some example listings of prerequisites for PA programs (different PA programs may have some differences):
https://health.ucdavis.edu/nursing/admissions/programs/mhs-pa.html
https://keck.usc.edu/physician-assistant-program/admission/

5

Thank you so much for putting me a bit at ease, I will definitely follow your recommendations!