Academic dismissal at a pharmacy school

[tobla]

Hi everyone,

I am currently a P3 and having an extremely rough semester.
I think I won't be able to avoid an academic probation this semester.
The thing is, I've already had one in my P1 Fall semester when I first did it (I repeated my P1 year), and my school has a rule that students who got 2 probations will be dismissed from college.
I haven't talked to the dean or my advisor about this, yet, but before talking to them I wanted to hear some thoughts.
Has anyone gone through or seen a situation like this? I know it will really depends on schools, but I want to know if pharmacy schools do consider not dismissing/readmitting students.

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[VA77]

Sorry you are having a rough time and the P3 year is a big one. 10 or more years ago, the academic committees were pretty harsh and would show students the door especially in the first 2 years. Honestly, let's talk finances. I know a couple of students who repeated multiple years with rich parents and the School was happy to take their money. One student took 6 years and the faculty even joked he was a bad penny.

If I were you I would take a hard look at the money and then we go from there.

 

[bazuka]

I know someone who had a hard time in pharmacy school. The student failed a class in P1, then another in P3, and even a couple of rotations in P4. The reason he kept moving is that the school had a policy where if the deficit was made up with a successful grade, the student would come off probation. He is a pharmacist now.

I suggest you talk to your professors and preceptors. That will show that you are taking this very seriously and it is something important to you. Schools hate to fail students because it looks bad on their part. The student I mentioned was 5-6 years ago. Right now the schools are struggling to attract students since the pharmacy professions has gone into the toilet hole so things may have become easier now.

 

[297point1]

Advice from someone on the inside:
- Read your Student Handbook; based on your circumstances, determine if is says you WILL be dismissed, or are ELIGIBLE for dismissal. That wording will make a load of difference right there.
- Do as well as you can in your remaining class this semester; getting barely passing grades in the courses you do pass doesn't demonstrate that the failing course grade was out of the ordinary.
- Find a faculty member - ideally your faculty advisor - to advocate on your behalf and assist you through the process.
- Follow the appeal pathway and be sure to hit all deadlines. If allowed to submit appeal via email, do so- it creates a date/time stamp in the event that someone claims that you allowed your appeal window to lapse.

Agree with @VA77 - schools aren't in a hurry to dismiss students for academics unless absolutely necessary. Don't make it absolutely necessary for them to do so.

Good luck.

 

[VA77]

Advice from someone on the inside:
- Read your Student Handbook; based on your circumstances, determine if is says you WILL be dismissed, or are ELIGIBLE for dismissal. That wording will make a load of difference right there.
- Do as well as you can in your remaining class this semester; getting barely passing grades in the courses you do pass doesn't demonstrate that the failing course grade was out of the ordinary.
- Find a faculty member - ideally your faculty advisor - to advocate on your behalf and assist you through the process.
- Follow the appeal pathway and be sure to hit all deadlines. If allowed to submit appeal via email, do so- it creates a date/time stamp in the event that someone claims that you allowed your appeal window to lapse.

Agree with @VA77 - schools aren't in a hurry to dismiss students for academics unless absolutely necessary. Don't make it absolutely necessary for them to do so.

Good luck.

All very good advice. Also, other schools could be willing to take you on a transfer because they are having trouble filling seats but again ask yourself how much money your willing to put into this endeavor and remember that government loans will not pay again for a class you failed.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

All very good advice. Also, other schools could be willing to take you on a transfer because they are having trouble filling seats but again ask yourself how much money your willing to put into this endeavor and remember that government loans will not pay again for a class you failed.

Also, make sure you know that if you transfer, you may have to start over at P1. That said, not every school wants to take students that failed the first time or will pay very close attention to the reasons you are asking a transfer.

 

[bazuka]

All very good advice. Also, other schools could be willing to take you on a transfer because they are having trouble filling seats but again ask yourself how much money your willing to put into this endeavor and remember that government loans will not pay again for a class you failed.

I am sorry that you have to go through this, the transfer may be an option but if they make you go back to P1, I think it may be wise to think about something else in healthcare since this profession has no growth unless you enjoy running around VCS for never ending COVID vaccines with no help

 

[BidingMyTime]

Hi everyone,

I am currently a P3 and having an extremely rough semester.
I think I won't be able to avoid an academic probation this semester.
The thing is, I've already had one in my P1 Fall semester when I first did it (I repeated my P1 year), and my school has a rule that students who got 2 probations will be dismissed from college.
I haven't talked to the dean or my advisor about this, yet, but before talking to them I wanted to hear some thoughts.
Has anyone gone through or seen a situation like this? I know it will really depends on schools, but I want to know if pharmacy schools do consider not dismissing/readmitting students.

It really depends on if you have a good reason for your failure. Like, if your mom died during this past semester after a lengthy illness, the school might have more pity on you. Or if you had a major medical diagnosis. If it's just that the work was hard....probably not so much so.

There are lots of stories here about Pharm D's who managed to squeak their way through pharmacy school (barely), but then could never pass the NAPLEX (which has a 5 lifetime try limit.) Sunk cost fallacy is real, yes if you drop out or are expelled at this point, you lose a lot of money. But spending more money to repeat a year, plus your 4th year, could very well just cost you more money in the end.