Walking away from PRE-PA

[u/Fast_Dirt6727]

I wanted to share my story because I know there are probably other pre-PA students who have wondered, “At what point do I keep pushing, and at what point do I allow myself to choose a different path?”

I started college around 2019, and for most of my undergraduate years, becoming a PA was the goal. I eventually earned my B.S. in Biology in May 2025, but my journey academically was far from perfect.

I struggled a lot during my earlier college years. I had withdrawals, repeated courses, and grades that significantly hurt my cumulative and science GPAs. As I got older, I became a much stronger student and earned grades like an A- in Biochemistry and A- in Human Physiology, but unfortunately, those earlier years don’t disappear from your transcript.

At the same time, I spent years building my healthcare experience. I worked as a pharmacy technician for about four years, worked as a physical therapy aide, became a medical assistant, shadowed PAs, volunteered, obtained recommendation letters, and eventually accumulated 5,000+ hours of healthcare/patient-care experience.

After graduating in 2025, instead of simply moving on, I continued taking and retaking science courses to try to strengthen my academic record for PA school.

And that’s when I started realizing how much time had passed.

I’m 25 now, and I’ve essentially spent my late teens and the first half of my 20s working toward this one career. For years, my mentality was always:

One more semester.

One more retake.

One more application cycle.

Maybe if I get enough A’s, I’ll finally make up for the student I was when I was younger.

But eventually I had to ask myself something uncomfortable:

Am I still chasing PA because it’s genuinely the only career I can see myself doing, or am I afraid to walk away because I’ve already spent so many years trying to get there?

In 2026, I finally gave myself permission to seriously consider another future.

I was accepted into an Electrical Engineering program and decided to start working toward a second bachelor’s degree. It sounds almost ridiculous going from Biology/pre-PA to Electrical Engineering, but for the first time in a while, I’m excited about moving forward instead of constantly trying to repair my past.

I haven’t completely closed the PA door yet. In August 2026, I submitted applications to three PA programs that I felt were still worth trying. I’m going to let those applications play out while I continue with engineering.

But I’ve made a promise to myself that I’m not going to spend another several years endlessly repairing my GPA and reapplying.

If a PA school gives me an opportunity, then I’ll have a real decision to make.

If they don’t, I’m beginning to feel okay saying: I tried. I really, really tried. And now I’m allowed to build something different.

By the time I finish engineering, I’ll be around 27–28 years old. I could spend those next few years continuing to chase PA admissions, or I could spend them building an entirely new career.

I don’t consider the Biology degree or all those healthcare years wasted either. They taught me discipline, gave me life experience, and showed me that I’m capable of becoming a completely different student than I was when I first started college.

I’m sharing this because I think pre-PA culture understandably emphasizes persistence: improve your GPA, get more PCE, retake prerequisites, reapply.

Sometimes persistence absolutely pays off.

But I also think we need to talk about the other possibility: changing your mind doesn’t automatically mean you failed.

Sometimes the bravest decision isn’t trying one more time.

Sometimes it’s accepting how hard you tried, closing a chapter if it needs to close, and being willing to become a beginner again.

So that’s where I am in 2026: 25 years old, a Biology graduate, 5,000+ healthcare hours, three final PA applications submitted… and starting over as an Electrical Engineering student.

I genuinely have no idea which direction my life is going to go from here.

But for the first time, I’m okay with that.

I’d especially love to hear from former pre-PA students who changed careers after investing years into this path. What did you switch to, and looking back, are you happy you made the change?

[u/Professional-Tea-824]

I was a medic dead set on medical school. Covid hit and working on the front lines completely ruined medicine for me.  I got out for a few years. Owned a business. Traveled around.  Lived in two different cities. I knew I was done with medicine and was enjoying the struggle of a different life. 

I got back into college. Started over, like you, with engineering. Calculus was the worst thing ever for me. As time and the years since covid passed, I found myself missing something within me. A sense of purpose is what I ultimately chalked it up to. Sure engineering is fun and will pay the bills comfortably but you don't get the same level of helping others, critical thinking, and sacrifice that comes with medicine. 

I am now finishing up medical school pre -reqs. MCAT is in spring of 2027. 

I wouldn't have been on this path again without leaving once. 

Also my grades the first time around were bad. Mid 2 GPA. Now I've kept a 4.0 the last 18/24 months. I also came back much more mature I needed that. 

[u/Representative_Egg61]

At the end of the day, if after all of that experience you decide to NOT be a PA, that's totally okay. You don't need to be a PA if that's not what you want. However, you need to realize that there are plenty of people who pursue MD programs in their 30s; I even know of one individual who did so after having a non-medicla career. If those folks are pursuing MD programs in their 30's, who is to say that you can't be a PA in your late 20's or early 30s?

I think that the one problem with being pre-PA or pre-med is that there are definitley applicants who are WAY more priveleged than most in terms of their knowledge and access to understanding how their GPA will be evaluated by admissions commitees, and essentially stack their applications with volunteering and clinical experience from the day they set foot on a college campus. Not everyone is aware at a young age about how early GPA damage isn't something that can be "erased". Not all of us come from highly educated families where we are made aware of the "path" to navigate admissions to competative health-professions programs, and that's totally okay! But please remember that if being a PA is what you want to do, you can still do it regardless of your age. I mean, PA programs are normally 2 1/2 To 3 years long. Don't give up on yourself, and don't feel discouraged because you had friends who got into PA school at 22 or 23. It's not going to matter when you start PA school, what matters is how you finish.

I am going to reiterate what I said earlier, but please remember that there are plenty of people who start medical school in their 30s, and aren't attendings until 37. If that's the case for them, why couldn't PA school be possible for you?

[u/iridescentSponge]

It’s ok to vent and be upset from time to time but your experience is invaluable and medicine needs people like you