Honest answer about pharamcy school

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i attended a community college as a freshman for 1 year then i transferred to a 4 yr college i didnt do so well in my science classes the grades that i had received were F and 1 D i decided then to transfer again and start from fresh slate. The first semester at the recent college that I am attending I had a lot of family crisis happening I failed both my science classes and was place on academic probation. I have been feeling a lack of motivation. My overall gpa is below a 2.0. In this school compared to the other school i have had more resources like doing research in the lab and getting worked published. What I am trying to get at is should i continue with the path of pharmacy school or should i give up. I haven't taken anymore science classes as of the moment right now in this summer session i am taking psychology classes to bring my overall gpa up. Any advice will be helpful honest advice because I want to go to pharmacy school i love the profession and I am determined to get into pharmacy school
Here is a brief history of my classes and gpa

biology 1 first time got a c- second time i got a B+
chemistry 1 first time a F then second time a D
anatomy 1 i got a F haven't taken it over again
chemistry 2 i got a F haven't taken it over again
i have 5yrs of pharmacy experience going to take the PCTB exam
2 works published in science.
I changed my major from biology to psychology if this helps
this is my gpa my real gpa right now is 1.6 overall but i have only 34 credits that i have taken in this school my credits that transferred over doesn't count towards this recent school gpa. meaning the 74 credits that transferred doesn't apply to the 1.6 gpa.

At this point you are going to struggle to do much beyond get a BS. Most Pharm schools only accept C or higher for credit of a pre-req course(ie that D in chem wont count).

Truthfully, I am not even sure what to make of this. You have pretty much failed every science course you have attempted, yet have managed to publish not 1, but 2 papers. Why the hell were you doing research if you were failing courses?

I think you might just need to take some time off of school and get your priorities straight. I understand crap happens and your grade in the course will not reflect your ability, but this is not an exception....this has been the rule so far for you.

Anything's possible, but you have a lot of work ahead of you if this is your dream.

You have a lot of pharm experience which will help, but you need to raise your GPA significantly. I don't think switching to psychology will necessarily hurt you, but it probably won't help you either. Try to get awesome grades from here on out. Focus on doing well in the general science courses, then move on to getting As or Bs in advanced science courses so you can show the adcoms that you can do the work.

You need to be able to do well in undergrad science to do well in pharmacy school.

Originally Posted by smercer

Truthfully, I am not even sure what to make of this. You have pretty much failed every science course you have attempted, yet have managed to publish not 1, but 2 papers. Why the hell were you doing research if you were failing courses?

Agreed. What's the point of doing research if you can't even pass freshman courses? Focus much more of your time on your studies, even if it means getting out of research or working less at the pharmacy.

And I don't see how changing your major to psych helps. If anything, it shows you're struggling with bio and trying to avoid it.

Given your stats on your first and second retake of the same classes, I do not think you are ready for pharmacy school. Lower division classes should be easy yet you are struggling. How will you handle upper division classes like O.ChemI/II? However, it does not mean you should give up. I believe everyone can change if their mind is set on it.

If you are struggling, seek assistance from a counselor. Do you have a studying issue? Disturbances in the house that prevent you from studying? Or is reliving the family crisis in your head preventing you from focusing in school? You need to learn why you are getting low grades before you go back to school. And switch back to Biology... a lot of those classes will be relevant in pharmacy school. Avoiding them to get your GPA up will not prepare you at all for whats to come.

I agree with others. You should probably cut back on research and anything else that's taking up your time and just focus on your science courses. Look at it like this: there are applicants who get accepted without pharmacy experience or research b/c they have a good gpa, but the opposite I haven't seen. Meaning you can have all the experience and research but if you're gpa is so low, it won't get you anywhere. Most schools require at least a 2.75 to apply, and to be competitive you should probably aim for a 3.0+ .

I don't think you necessarily need to switch back to biology. Stick with the major you feel comfortable with. But just know that pharmacy schools look at your science and nonscience gpa, so you'll still need to do well in science courses. Also, it might take you longer to finish your degree since you'll have to take both psychology classes and pharmacy prereq classes vs if you are a biology major most likely those prereqs also fulfill your major requirements for graduation. However biology major has hard upper div classes that you would have to take to graduate and not for pharmacy school which might end up hurting your gpa. So stick with psychology if you don't mind possibly taking longer to finish both your degree requirements and pharmacy prereqs.

goodluck !

thanks for the answers people my research professor told me that she wants me to cut back fro research the only reason i switched my major from biology to psychology was because i have to take 20 extra credits in courses that doesn't apply to pharmacy school. I am very motivated and i have taken a closer look at my transcripts from both schools and this past 1 month i have re- evulated what went wrong in my science courses. I am also going to cut back on working in the end my gpa will matter the most

thank again

anymore more advice will be welcomed

You have posted the exact same question, three different times on this forum over the past few months. This just bugs me for some reason.

I do not think you are ready for pharmacy school or even upper-division courses. Basic courses are not meant to be hard and are essentially the foundation for further studies. I do not see the point from biology to psychology or any other major unless you love / or are good at the field you are choosing to pursue.

Think about it. If you are foundation is shaky or crumbling at best, how do you think you will do when it comes time to take the PCAT which tests basic knowledge? What will you do then? Apply to pharmacy schools that do not require PCAT but then have high GPA standards?

Basically, YOU need to determine what is going wrong and how to improve yourself to become a more competitive applicant. In your OP, you said you "have been feeling a lack of motivation" AND "determined to get into pharmacy school." See the disconnect?

If you find out what you are doing wrong and improve upon it, great! If you cannot, maybe pharmacy is not for you and you figured it out without going through the crazy interview process and going into debt.

What I'm assuming you want from this post is a little motivation not a reprimand from a 20 yr old? right? well I'm sorry it doesn't look like you're going to get it here. Most people on these forums have no idea what its like to struggle at something you want so bad it hurts. On top of that they think that they have the right to hand out opinions about you and your struggles just because they got it right the first time. What I have learned from these forums is that there are a lot of pompous SOBs out there that take their situation for granted. I mean hello have you not taken a look at your pharmacy customers lately? A lot of people struggle out there but that doesn't make them any less of a person (or any less smart). Humility is a virtue that people don't get around here.

My biggest recommendation for you is to pick yourself up off the ground and go for it. It doesn't matter what any person says or 'thinks' b/c they really don't know what's been going on. Focus on what is really important. Yes pharmacy school is your end goal but focus on smaller goals like getting off academic probation, getting an A on a test, then getting an A in the class. Trim the excess from your life (less work hours/ party hours) and study more to ensure A's. Celebrate your small victories b/c they will help make the big dreams come true.

Sorry for the long rant but I'm just really sick and tired of all the haters on here that just want to 'tell you the truth' or make you aware of the 'up hill battle' that you will have to take.

Originally Posted by beargirl200308

What I'm assuming you want from this post is a little motivation not a reprimand from a 20 yr old? right? well I'm sorry it doesn't look like you're going to get it here. Most people on these forums have no idea what its like to struggle at something you want so bad it hurts. On top of that they think that they have the right to hand out opinions about you and your struggles just because they got it right the first time. What I have learned from these forums is that there are a lot of pompous SOBs out there that take their situation for granted. I mean hello have you not taken a look at your pharmacy customers lately? A lot of people struggle out there but that doesn't make them any less of a person (or any less smart). Humility is a virtue that people don't get around here.

My biggest recommendation for you is to pick yourself up off the ground and go for it. It doesn't matter what any person says or 'thinks' b/c they really don't know what's been going on. Focus on what is really important. Yes pharmacy school is your end goal but focus on smaller goals like getting off academic probation, getting an A on a test, then getting an A in the class. Trim the excess from your life (less work hours/ party hours) and study more to ensure A's. Celebrate your small victories b/c they will help make the big dreams come true.

Sorry for the long rant but I'm just really sick and tired of all the haters on here that just want to 'tell you the truth' or make you aware of the 'up hill battle' that you will have to take.

Then don't ask for opinions on an internet forum.

And contrary to what you seem to believe, there are probably plenty of posters who didn't "get it right the first time" and have had similar struggles as the OP or experienced other bumps in the road.

You are severely naive if you think that most on here have never had issues. Do I have a perfect 4.0? Nope. I actually have experience with failure. What did I do? I did exactly what I advised this guy to do. Which is take some time off school.
I am sorry that I might have hurt his feelings by not just saying it is ok and if you keep trying you will get it. That is actually pretty crappy advice.


Also what do the pharmacy customers have to do with someone who is failing out of college?

Your comparison has to be based off of the poor customers, as that is the only correlation you can make on people you do not know. Thus you are relating poorness to intellectual ability. Smart people can be slackers and get into bad situations. Dumb people can make good life choices and achieve what they need to survive well.

I think most would cut some slack if it was just a one time thing, but the results here are presenting a trend. They are not failing one class...they have failed them all. Thus there is a fundamental problem present.

Have you thought of doing research? That might be a path you could aim for. If you have good publishing record, you might be able to apply for master or PhD programs. If you go for the master program, and do well in graduate level courses, then you might have a chance for pharmacy school.

Judging from your grade, it seems like you are not spending effort or not spending enough effort. All those courses are lower division science classes, which only requires you spend max of 2 hours a day studying for it. Have you try to talk to professor or seek tutoring center helps? even online resources?

If you want to pursue pharmacy, then I urge you to fix whatever that is bothering your studies before you take on any course. You got a B+ in Biology 1, this means you have the ability to get A on all the other courses.

Good Luck

I was in the same position as you. My school had a "Grad Fair" where I spoke to a couple people from admissions. In a nutshell this is what they told me... start getting A's, ace your PCAT, and become a pharm tech. To this day, that was the only legitimate advice anybody has ever given me.

Originally Posted by jerbearox

I was in the same position as you. My school had a "Grad Fair" where I spoke to a couple people from admissions. In a nutshell this is what they told me... start getting A's, ace your PCAT, and become a pharm tech. To this day, that was the only legitimate advice anybody has ever given me.

So their advice was to quit F'in up and get experience in the field...damn. You'll never get that kind of advice on here. Those guys were such forward thinkers...

Originally Posted by mustang sally

Then don't ask for opinions on an internet forum.

And contrary to what you seem to believe, there are probably plenty of posters who didn't "get it right the first time" and have had similar struggles as the OP or experienced other bumps in the road.

I didn't ask and frankly I don't care. Please do point them out to me b/c I occasionally see a poster or two giving people hope or having words of encouragement. However for the most part people are very pessimistic on these forms. In fact people were being a Debbie downer to this guy and all he was looking for was some encouragement.

Originally Posted by smercer

You are severely naive if you think that most on here have never had issues. Do I have a perfect 4.0? Nope. I actually have experience with failure. What did I do? I did exactly what I advised this guy to do. Which is take some time off school.
I am sorry that I might have hurt his feelings by not just saying it is ok and if you keep trying you will get it. That is actually pretty crappy advice.


Also what do the pharmacy customers have to do with someone who is failing out of college?

Your comparison has to be based off of the poor customers, as that is the only correlation you can make on people you do not know. Thus you are relating poorness to intellectual ability. Smart people can be slackers and get into bad situations. Dumb people can make good life choices and achieve what they need to survive well.

I think most would cut some slack if it was just a one time thing, but the results here are presenting a trend. They are not failing one class...they have failed them all. Thus there is a fundamental problem present.

Will you stop calling people names. First it's not nice and second it just reminds me of two yr old. I'm not "severely naive" but I have seen a lot of people's stats that they post so I know that I'm not a genius either. I'm curious smercer what "struggles" have you been through? I know me personally I've been through a lot so when I see post like this I don't do this: I try to just give them encouragement. Or maybe it just says something about your class. IDK

zolojan I would only recommend doing research if you like failing 99% of the time and only succeeding 1%. Undergrad research is way different than graduate research and getting a Ph.D is harder than getting a PharmD. IMO but it does take longer to get a Ph.D.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=505632

Might be a good thread for you.

As for Beargirl, he/she asked for an honest answer, not encouragement. Just because someone has great stats does not mean they never experienced struggles in their life; to truly believe that requires quite a bit of ignorance.

thank you for the feedback since now i have had time to analyze my time. I have also taken a hard look at my transcript and spoken to advisor's about my future plan it has come down to time management and also seeking help with my studies.I am happy for the honest answers in this forum I have been concern about my future regarding about pharmacy school and I am going to fight this uphill battle

thanks again everyone

Originally Posted by Corpseman

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=505632

Might be a good thread for you.

As for Beargirl, he/she asked for an honest answer, not encouragement. Just because someone has great stats does not mean they never experienced struggles in their life; to truly believe that requires quite a bit of ignorance.

he/she asked for advice b/c he/she wasn't motivated. that doesn't give ppl the right to beat up on him/her and say the same thing over and over again. the rest of this thread everyone was saying the same things over and over again. and I never said that having great stats meant they they never struggled in their life. But please let me know of someone with great stats that has tried applying to pharmacy school 3 times and has yet to get in. I have so many questions for them b/c this would make my 3rd time trying too! Yes I made a generalization but that doesn't mean I'm ignorant. Thanks for the name calling corpseman.

Originally Posted by beargirl200308

he/she asked for advice b/c he/she wasn't motivated. that doesn't give ppl the right to beat up on him/her and say the same thing over and over again. the rest of this thread everyone was saying the same things over and over again. and I never said that having great stats meant they they never struggled in their life. But please let me know of someone with great stats that has tried applying to pharmacy school 3 times and has yet to get in. I have so many questions for them b/c this would make my 3rd time trying too! Yes I made a generalization but that doesn't mean I'm ignorant. Thanks for the name calling corpseman.

There is obviously something wrong with your interview, essays, or stats that is keeping you from getting into school. Some of us have gone from homeless high school drop outs to pharmacy students. Struggles need to be overcome and not something to dwell on. If you have had struggles, but have not shown to overcome them, I would not accept you either.