PA School

I did some research today on PA schools in Arizona. And now I feel like I'm about to hyperventilate. How in the world am I going to get through this? I have asked my advisor and he feels terrible about it, but there is nobody at DU that can advise me on how to prepare for PA school. There are plenty of advisers for medical school! I am completely on my own with this, and I'm freaking out.

There are two PA programs in Denver (Red Rocks Community College and University of Colorado Denver) and two in Arizona (Arizona School of Health Sciences and Midwestern University). ASHS is in Mesa, and Midwestern is in Glendale. I have already done a ton of research on the programs in Denver, but recently I have thought about going to PA school in Phoenix. My adviser told me about those 2 programs, so I did some research today on them. There's nothing different about ASHS and Midwestern from the Denver schools, but just thinking about applying gets me really nervous. And for good reason: ASHS received over 2000 applications last year, and accepted only 70!! My grades are okay, but not that good. How can I compete? The average age of students in pretty much every program is 26. I will be 23 with my current plan. Tuition is about $30,000 to $35,000. My parents have told me that I'm on my own for graduate school. Students are highly discouraged from working at all while they're in school, so I have no idea how I will pay tuition, let alone support myself. I guess that leaves Daniel to support me :-) Maybe I should put this off a few more years. But I don't want to! I want to be DONE with school!! Why does it never ever end?? After spending as much money on school as my (very generous) grandparents have already, why do I still feel like I need to spend another 2 years just to get a job that will support my family? This is freaking ridiculous. After graduating from a very good university, I should be able to get a fantastic job that earns me plenty of money. But that's not really the issue, is it? I want to be a Physician's assistant. I want to treat patients. Is it worth it? I think so. I hope so.