2012 Dalhousie Pre-pharmacy 11-12

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Originally Posted by jszy

cGPA: 3.9


I was accepted!! I'm just wondering though--i was offered an amazing opportunity to travel for a year so if i reject their offer and reapply next year, will that look bad on me?

It's not like I've changed as a person, I've just worked really hard for the past 4 years to get my stats--and realize i want to travel before i really hit the books (again).

Congrats on getting accepted!!
Well they wouldn't know why you rejected the offer this year as the interview format wouldn't allow for them to ask you. I think they would wonder why you rejected this year though, and there's a possibility they might come up with a bad reason... But couldn't you ask Margaret about it maybe?

Originally Posted by jszy

cGPA: 3.9


I was accepted!! I'm just wondering though--i was offered an amazing opportunity to travel for a year so if i reject their offer and reapply next year, will that look bad on me?

It's not like I've changed as a person, I've just worked really hard for the past 4 years to get my stats--and realize i want to travel before i really hit the books (again).

Are you going to be going to school while you travel? They only take applications from fulltime students, so if you travel and are not going to school, you won't be able to apply.

Originally Posted by Griffisu

Are you going to be going to school while you travel? They only take applications from fulltime students, so if you travel and are not going to school, you won't be able to apply.

Are you sure about that? I thought it didn't matter what you were up to as log as you has the prereqs. Because you're allowed to apply later in life when you have a career established, which would imply not currently in school, right?

Almost 100% sure. Margaret told me this, it's listed somewhere on the site too but I can't seem to locate it.

I had to enroll in another year to be eligible to apply, I have a Bachelor of Business, then took prereqs, didn't get in on my first application, and was told I had to be enrolled full time in the following year to be able to apply. They say this is needed due to the heavy workload in Pharmacy and that people not in school would not be able to adapt quickly enough.

And I don't believe you can apply later in life either for the same reason (not without being a fulltime student in the year of application). I was working in a career and had to go back to school to apply. It's something that seemed to be unique to Dal, and I didn't quite understand it either, but thems the breaks.

Hmm that seems super weird, eh?! But if it came from Margaret, I believe you! Haha.
Anyway as for the travelling goes - I would love to do it. But it'll be difficult to make such a decision! Don't do something you would regret though.


As for me, still no mail..... no news is good news?

In the spirit of fleshing out the lurkers, I will offer my stats also. My gpa is 4.1/4.3 and I am from NB. I was technically a first year Science student when I applied but I already had a Bachelor of Arts under my belt. I received my offer of admission Monday afternoon and I thought the interview was alright; there were a few great stations, a few poor stations and the rest fell somewhere in the middle. Good luck to everyone and I look forward to meeting you in the fall!

If anyone is wondering: all the letters are sent out for now, and the next batch will be going out the first week of July sometime. I'm assuming after you guys accept/reject they will decide how many other acceptances to send out, and thats what they are waiting for. Just spoke to Margaret.

Edit: Has anyone else heard of anyone who didnt receive a letter either way yet? I'm the only one I know of...unfortunately

Edit2: Margaret also said that only about 65% of the letters went out.

That is the strangest thing i've ever heard of. I mean...i just graduated with a degree in biochemistry so it's not like it's been 10 years since i was last in school. I'll have to ask to confirm about that...it would make more sense if a mature student who had graduated many years ago might have some qualms about being able to handle the course load just because it's been so long since they were a student.

Been lurking for a while now and have finally decided to post.
Status: accepted
cGPA: 3.72/4.3
BSc. Hons and a diploma in animal health technology.
I felt that all but one station went very well during the interview.
Good luck to all those still waiting for their letters

Originally Posted by SpecialK08

If anyone is wondering: all the letters are sent out for now, and the next batch will be going out the first week of July sometime. I'm assuming after you guys accept/reject they will decide how many other acceptances to send out, and thats what they are waiting for. Just spoke to Margaret.

Edit: Has anyone else heard of anyone who didnt receive a letter either way yet? I'm the only one I know of...unfortunately

Edit2: Margaret also said that only about 65% of the letters went out.

Two of my friends still haven't received a letter yet. One of them is from NB, and the other is from Alberta. I really hope everyone gets to hear soon because it must be sickening to be waiting for so long...

Just out of curiosity, does anybody know how our GPAs are calculated in PBL classes? I've been reading about PBL, and I couldn't think of a way to mark the students' work in these types of classes.

Originally Posted by meaw01

Two of my friends still haven't received a letter yet. One of them is from NB, and the other is from Alberta. I really hope everyone gets to hear soon because it must be sickening to be waiting for so long...

Okay, good! Thanks. I felt like 98% of the letters were sent and I was the only one, haha. I hope it actually IS the first week of July, that wouldn't be too bad but anything later would be torture!

To those above who were posting about needing to be a full-time student to apply.

This is untrue. I was out of school for two years (working full-time in retail) before I applied and was accepted last year. Several of my classmates also did not attend classes in the previous year. Now I do have a degree, and I imagine that helps, but unless things have changed drastically I'm not sure where this rumour is coming from.

PBL is pass/fail. No mark. You do lots of self-evaluations and your tutor evaluates you too. If you are graded as weak in more than two areas than you fail. Don't worry though, that never happens.

PBL will help you if you take it seriously as test questions may be based on parts of it and it will help your understanding of the material.

My bad, guess I must have misunderstood what I was told. Thanks for clearing that up.

This kind of sucks, because I'll have to register for classes with the program I'm in now since registration opens July 1st and I might not know about pharmacy then, and don't want crappy class times. You need to put 300 Non refundable down when you register. I guess I'll be okay being out 300 bucks if I get in to pharmacy though. On the bright side I wasn't rejected...

I think the only requirement with regards to being a full-time student was you had to have minimum one year full-time study with some of the pre-reqs involved... not sure on the exact details but something like that comes to mind. Maybe that's what you were thinking of?

Originally Posted by JWillman

PBL is pass/fail. No mark. You do lots of self-evaluations and your tutor evaluates you too. If you are graded as weak in more than two areas than you fail. Don't worry though, that never happens.

PBL will help you if you take it seriously as test questions may be based on parts of it and it will help your understanding of the material.

Thank you so much! Are all the classes in the program marked as pass/fail then?

I'm pretty sure you get marks for skills lab and biochem/organic etc etc etc

im assuming no one else hear heard anything yet.. im still waiting.
tick tock

Long time lurker, first time poster!

Still waiting on my letter. I had to take an English class this summer, so they only received my grades a while ago.

I'm hopeful...but is disparaging to know that 65% of the spots have already been allocated.

Crossing my fingers for me and SpecialK!

Originally Posted by MWeale

Long time lurker, first time poster!

Still waiting on my letter. I had to take an English class this summer, so they only received my grades a while ago.

I'm hopeful...but is disparaging to know that 65% of the spots have already been allocated.

Crossing my fingers for me and SpecialK!

Glad I'm not the only one! Apparently a lot of people applied to pharmacy as a back up to dentistry/medicine, so hopefully all 65% of acceptances sent out weren't accepted by every student! So keep your chin up!

And keep me updated!!

Good luck to everyone still waiting on their letter!! And yup one of my friends told me she got accepted to dentistry already so she won't be accepting her offer.... so one more person off the waitlist!!

Originally Posted by meaw01

Good luck to everyone still waiting on their letter!! And yup one of my friends told me she got accepted to dentistry already so she won't be accepting her offer.... so one more person off the waitlist!!

Good for her! And good for me

Originally Posted by SpecialK08

Glad I'm not the only one! Apparently a lot of people applied to pharmacy as a back up to dentistry/medicine, so hopefully all 65% of acceptances sent out weren't accepted by every student! So keep your chin up!

And keep me updated!!

Yah, I know a number of people that are/have also used dal pharm as a back up to dal med, so lets hope if they get/got accepted that they turn the offer down quickly!

Originally Posted by MWeale

Yah, I know a number of people that are/have also used dal pharm as a back up to dal med, so lets hope if they get/got accepted that they turn the offer down quickly!

Agreed! On a side note, it will be pretty discouraging knowing someone whose second choice was pharmacy potentially took my spot, where pharmacy was my first choice. You know? Hopefully there are quite a few people who got offers of admission for Dentistry and Medicine, for their sake and mine!

Originally Posted by SpecialK08

im assuming no one else hear heard anything yet.. im still waiting.
tick tock

I'm still waiting as well. It's tough not knowing eh? When I looked up the last year's posts, it seems the school sent out the letters on the 8th, which was Friday. I am hoping that they did the same this year, so I can find out the result tomorrow.

And don't be discouraged by people being accepted ahead of you. I believe that its about where you finish not where you start. (also the admission process itself isn't exactly infalliable.) I wouldn't mind being accepted very last, as long as I get a chance to prove that I am much more capable than they gave me credit for.

Good luck to all who are still waiting for the letter!

Originally Posted by DucksDucksDucks

I'm still waiting as well. It's tough not knowing eh? When I looked up the last year's posts, it seems the school sent out the letters on the 8th, which was Friday. I am hoping that they did the same this year, so I can find out the result tomorrow.

And don't be discouraged by people being accepted ahead of you. I believe that its about where you finish not where you start. (also the admission process itself isn't exactly infalliable.) I wouldn't mind being accepted very last, as long as I get a chance to prove that I am much more capable than they gave me credit for.

Good luck to all who are still waiting for the letter!

Good luck to you as well! It is super tough not knowing, because I'm living two lives right now, one where I move to Halifax and my whole life basically changes and one where everything stays the same!!!

Where do you live, if you don't mind me asking? I'm in Nova Scotia so if letters were sent out Friday, I may get mine today. At work, though so I won't know until later. Keep you posted.

And I agree, I know I'm capable of a lot and want the chance to prove myself!!!

Keep me posted!!!!

Originally Posted by SpecialK08

Agreed! On a side note, it will be pretty discouraging knowing someone whose second choice was pharmacy potentially took my spot, where pharmacy was my first choice. You know? Hopefully there are quite a few people who got offers of admission for Dentistry and Medicine, for their sake and mine!

Yah it is kinda upsetting to know that my first choice is someone elses backup. I chose pharmacy because I think its the right thing for me, not because I got rejected from Med School....

On a side note, I'm living in Hali now, so if they did mail out another round of letters late last week, I should hear soon!

Exactly. Couldn't agree more. It's my first choice and because someone else may be more impressive they may get in, but is not going to be as dedicated to the career.

I feel like phoning Margaret and asking when the last batch of letters will be sent out.. think that is obnoxious? I'm just so curious!

The facebook group only has 36 members.. many of which are second year (I did a lot of investigation)

Originally Posted by SpecialK08

Exactly. Couldn't agree more. It's my first choice and because someone else may be more impressive they may get in, but is not going to be as dedicated to the career.

I feel like phoning Margaret and asking when the last batch of letters will be sent out.. think that is obnoxious? I'm just so curious!

The facebook group only has 36 members.. many of which are second year (I did a lot of investigation)

No, I don't think that it is obnoxious as long as you are curtious about it! I'm tempted to as well. If you do find out could you post it.

Still no mail today....

I work all day tomorrow, so won't get a chance to call during office hours, but if I have nothing in the mail tomorrow, I will most definitely give a call on Wednesday to see what the deal is, and keep you up to date!

Gosh my nerves eh

Originally Posted by SpecialK08

Good luck to you as well! It is super tough not knowing, because I'm living two lives right now, one where I move to Halifax and my whole life basically changes and one where everything stays the same!!!

Where do you live, if you don't mind me asking? I'm in Nova Scotia so if letters were sent out Friday, I may get mine today. At work, though so I won't know until later. Keep you posted.

And I agree, I know I'm capable of a lot and want the chance to prove myself!!!

Keep me posted!!!!

I guess I was wrong. Hopefully they'll send it soon though. This is like getting rejected multiple times since I'm imagining the scenario numerous times throughout the day.

I'm in Halifax, so I would get it pretty quick too when they send it out.

Originally Posted by DucksDucksDucks

I guess I was wrong. Hopefully they'll send it soon though. This is like getting rejected multiple times since I'm imagining the scenario numerous times throughout the day.

I'm in Halifax, so I would get it pretty quick too when they send it out.

Hahahaha, I'm with you on that one. I get a sinking feeling in my stomach when I go to check the mail.

No mail for me today.

Will give a call tomorrow to see if I can find anything out.

No mail for me yesterday...sigh I'm getting really nervous.

If you do call today, let us know what you find out!

No mail today, phoned with no answer

No mail for me yesterday either...man I hope I hear something soon.
To bad you couldn't get through SpecialK

No mail

Nothing yesterday...still

Nothing today for me... @MWeale check your PM's, I called Margaret

Hi everyone,
I'm getting fed up with waiting so I finally decided to post! I sill haven't received a letter yet either way.
@SpecialK- Could you PM me any info you got from Margaret? I tried e-mailing her to find out when we could expect a letter but she never got back to me..
Good luck to everybody still waiting and hopefully we'll hear some news soon!

If anyone's interested in knowing what Margaret had to say, feel free to PM me. My attempt to weed out lurkers.

Originally Posted by SpecialK08

If anyone's interested in knowing what Margaret had to say, feel free to PM me. My attempt to weed out lurkers.

BIG BIG BIG thanks to SpecialK for finding out some info for us all.
If we do get in, come find me during Frosh Week and your first drink is on me buddy!

Originally Posted by MWeale

BIG BIG BIG thanks to SpecialK for finding out some info for us all.
If we do get in, come find me during Frosh Week and your first drink is on me buddy!

Thanks, I'll be taking you up on that hahaha. Have a vodka and 7 waiting

No mail today, although thats what I expected. Hopefully tomorrow or Wednesday.

To be frank, it only really matters if you pass/fail any of the courses. But you do get marks through the college of pharmacy, which play into whether you make the Dean's List (but unfortunately you must also finish in the top 25% of your class on a really stupid end of year test called the progress exam). Scholarships are given out to people who make the Dean's List (With average 85 or above plus said ranking on Progress Exam). Marks are percentage based and only available by looking at Pharmx, the online module pharmacy school uses (looking at my regular Dalhousie academic record online it only shows the classes I took as passed and they do not play into my GPA).

Other than that, I think the only thing marks matter for is if you wanted to do further studies after pharmacy school, like say a PharmD, and they may help you applying for various positions at the college (lab tutors).

Originally Posted by JWillman

To be frank, it only really matters if you pass/fail any of the courses. But you do get marks through the college of pharmacy, which play into whether you make the Dean's List (but unfortunately you must also finish in the top 25% of your class on a really stupid end of year test called the progress exam). Scholarships are given out to people who make the Dean's List (With average 85 or above plus said ranking on Progress Exam). Marks are percentage based and only available by looking at Pharmx, the online module pharmacy school uses (looking at my regular Dalhousie academic record online it only shows the classes I took as passed and they do not play into my GPA).

Other than that, I think the only thing marks matter for is if you wanted to do further studies after pharmacy school, like say a PharmD, and they may help you applying for various positions at the college (lab tutors).

Thanks. So is there only one exam throughout the entire academic year? What kind of materials are covered on the progress exam? If it's pass/fail, then I don't think a lot of people would do that well on the progress exam.... This mark thing is important for me cuz I have a renewable scholarship and I really need it....

No mail yesterday... I'm thinking Wednesday is the day though!

No mail today, probably tomorrow as MWeale said

None for me either.. hopefully tomorrow