Advice needed: nursing (or others) to pa?

[missalmostpa124]

Hi everyone. looking for any level of advice you can give me. I'm going to list the genuine question first, then provide back story for anyone who has time/could maybe give me advice as an overall.

question: has anyone done completed an ABSN or done any other sort of graduate degree before trying to get into PA school?

 

Backstory: I've been completely set on PA since I was a sophomore in high school. my freshman year of college was rough. I spent the fall semester watching my mom die and had to go home for a month in the spring to take care of her before/when she passed (thank you covid for allowing me zoom). this is all to say my grades suffered. I was still adjusting to college four hours away from home and monitoring my mom's lab results, appointments, and spent a lot of time just a genuine wreck. primarily my freshman year and my fall semester of sophomore were really hard for me and my grades were not pretty (gen eds for the most part). I'm ashamed of them even knowing the circumstances. after that I did great for the remainder of college. my cumulative gpa is a 3.15 and my science is a 2.89. my last 60 credits is cGPA 3.49 and sGPA 3.37, bachelors in neuroscience w a minor in biology. I have somewhere around 2,000 hours of PCE (hospital, pharmacy tech, and now medical assistant), and I believe 20ish hours of shadowing. I know my letters of recommendation from my professors are good, they both watched me improve and grow leaps and bounds as a person. 

I have applied two rounds thus far. the first round I know that I shouldn't have applied. I was not ready in any way possible. I learned a lot from that cycle though and I am thankful for what I learned. I applied again this year now that I've graduated and have had no luck. I have two schools I'm still waiting on but have lost pretty much all hope at this point. I know that given the chance, I would excel in PA school. I know that I would excel as a PA. I have the heart for learning and when it comes to diagnoses, reading charts and understanding illnesses, I get them. I just don't think I'm going to get this chance anytime soon and am at a point where I don't know what to do. I have no one in my family who's ever been in this position that I can ask. to also add, I am currently retaking general chemistry on portage (slowly but surely) while working full time.

 

I apologize for how long this is. I know part of this is just me spewing my words and emotions on an anonymous platform. any amount of help any of you can give I would really appreciate.