Advice? Currently in limbo :(

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Pharmacceptance

Hey all!
I've been reading some of the posts on here and I guess I have a situation that would sort of fit in the WAMC forum, but not exactly.

My problem is that right now, I'm about to get my BS in Bio, and my gpa is low (about a 2.8). I have most of my pre-reqs down for some pharm schools, but I just don't think my GPA is good enough to really be competitive. I get to take my first PCAT this Saturday, so I'm not sure how I'll do there.

So I guess my question is, should I rush everything now and try to get in on this cycle, or get my degree, work a bit while taking some more classes in hopes of raising my GPA.

However, will I be able to raise my GPA enough in a year's time? I was also thinking that I could get pharm tech certified in that year.

Should I take some grad classes if I do decide to wait a year in case I get rejected so that they'll work towards my master's?

As you can see, my mind right now is torn into shreds. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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Well, here's the easy, yet more expensive answer; apply this year, and if you don't get in, apply again next year. I'm kind of in the same predicament; getting a Bachelor's this year, and my GPA is too low for my liking. I'm thinking if it doesn't work out this year, I'm going to just look into some master's degree courses and wait it out for another year. I'm hoping this year a 3.9 or 4.0 for each semester (taking 22 credits) will look good enough to the adcoms to overlook some less than stellar earlier years.
 
Figure out EXACTLY the number of hours/credits you'll need to break the 3.0 mark. No sense in paying for grad classes if you can't really up that GPA.

If you do well on your PCAT, and your extracurriculars are stellar, it might be worth applying this year, especially to state schools. It's a tough call though.
 
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Definitely a tough spot.

Echoing the other posters, I'd consider:

a. Still applying, maybe to 2 or 3 schools, why not?
b. Improving my application. I'd look at ECs, what I could do to enrich my application.

Appreciate that at a 2.8 at what, ~120+ unit hours, a few post-bacc. classes aren't really going to boost you very far up unless you take a considerable amount. What they CAN do, however, is give you ammunition to use. Do you have n upward trend in your grades at all, or were you basically a Cish student the whole time?

Plenty of C-students make absolutely fantastic pharmacists. Hell, Mikey took five years to graduate from WVU and he's got to be one of the best in his area.

You have options, and hopefully time is on your side too (You didn't mention your age). Just don't give up.
 
Now, is 2.8 GPA your school-calculated GPA, or your PharmCAS calculated GPA? Because I know my school GPA was a bit higher than my PharmCAS GPA, because I re-took every single required calculus class freshman year, and my school only calculated the re-takes. So you might want to look at your PharmCAS GPA, as well as Science-classes-only PharmCAS GPA, would be.
 
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