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So I came across this file from AACP: http://www.aacp.org/governance/HOD/Documents/CODIM16.pdf
On page 13 of 52, there are some really interesting statistics on pharmacy school numbers and numbers of applicants. In the 2013-2014 application cycle, there were 116 schools participating in PharmCAS, and there were 17,365 applicants to these 116 schools.
On the AACP website, you can find the PSAR Table 5, which gives statistics on the first year entering class for Fall 2014. If I'm not mistaken, this should correspond with the applicants who applied in the 2013-2014 year.
Using the PSAR Table 5 and summing the number of students in the entering class for each of the 116 schools that participated in PharmCAS, there were 13,950 students who began in the fall of 2014 at a participating PharmCAS institution. There were 15,962 students who began in the fall of 2014 at all institutions (including the 16 schools who did not participate in PharmCAS).
That same year, there were 17,365 applicants. If 13,950 students started pharmacy school that fall, the overall acceptance rate (for students participating in PharmCAS) is 80.3%. That is, at least 80% of applicants in the 2013-2014 application cycle gained admission to a pharmacy school. (There may have been students who got into pharmacy school, but who decided not to attend. Or there may have been students who applied to both a PharmCAS school and a non-PharmCAS school, and opted to go to the non-PharmCAS school.)
To me, this is astoundingly high. I mean, I know we see students posting in the Pre-Pharmacy subforums about low stats and their admissions (heck, I was one of them who entered in Fall 2013), but I didn't expect this.
Other interesting statistics:
In 2008-2009, there were 72 schools that participated in PharmCAS, and in 2014-2015 there were 119 schools that participated in PharmCAS. This is an increase of 65.3% (47 new schools).
In 2008-2009, there were 16,246 applicants that participated in PharmCAS, and in 2014-2015 there were 16,608 applicants that participated in PharmCAS. This is an increase of 2.2%.
The average class size (using the PSAR Table 5) was 121.8 (standard deviation of 57.3).
If we're to assume (and to be fair, the assumption has many weaknesses,) that the 47 new schools each have entering class sizes of 80 (this is conservative, but they tend to start small), the new schools have contributed 3,760 new spots.
3,670 spots is 22.6% of the current number of total applicants in 2014-2015. Nearly a quarter of the applicant pool who wouldn't've gotten in before is able to get in now.
What I find most disheartening is how difficult this information is to find. There should be pressure from accreditation agencies to push for transparency in application statistics and post-graduate outcomes (full-time employment rates 9 months after graduation).
Tl;dr: Pharmacy schools aren't selective at all. Fewer than 20% of applicants do not get a spot.
On page 13 of 52, there are some really interesting statistics on pharmacy school numbers and numbers of applicants. In the 2013-2014 application cycle, there were 116 schools participating in PharmCAS, and there were 17,365 applicants to these 116 schools.
On the AACP website, you can find the PSAR Table 5, which gives statistics on the first year entering class for Fall 2014. If I'm not mistaken, this should correspond with the applicants who applied in the 2013-2014 year.
Using the PSAR Table 5 and summing the number of students in the entering class for each of the 116 schools that participated in PharmCAS, there were 13,950 students who began in the fall of 2014 at a participating PharmCAS institution. There were 15,962 students who began in the fall of 2014 at all institutions (including the 16 schools who did not participate in PharmCAS).
That same year, there were 17,365 applicants. If 13,950 students started pharmacy school that fall, the overall acceptance rate (for students participating in PharmCAS) is 80.3%. That is, at least 80% of applicants in the 2013-2014 application cycle gained admission to a pharmacy school. (There may have been students who got into pharmacy school, but who decided not to attend. Or there may have been students who applied to both a PharmCAS school and a non-PharmCAS school, and opted to go to the non-PharmCAS school.)
To me, this is astoundingly high. I mean, I know we see students posting in the Pre-Pharmacy subforums about low stats and their admissions (heck, I was one of them who entered in Fall 2013), but I didn't expect this.
Other interesting statistics:
In 2008-2009, there were 72 schools that participated in PharmCAS, and in 2014-2015 there were 119 schools that participated in PharmCAS. This is an increase of 65.3% (47 new schools).
In 2008-2009, there were 16,246 applicants that participated in PharmCAS, and in 2014-2015 there were 16,608 applicants that participated in PharmCAS. This is an increase of 2.2%.
The average class size (using the PSAR Table 5) was 121.8 (standard deviation of 57.3).
If we're to assume (and to be fair, the assumption has many weaknesses,) that the 47 new schools each have entering class sizes of 80 (this is conservative, but they tend to start small), the new schools have contributed 3,760 new spots.
3,670 spots is 22.6% of the current number of total applicants in 2014-2015. Nearly a quarter of the applicant pool who wouldn't've gotten in before is able to get in now.
What I find most disheartening is how difficult this information is to find. There should be pressure from accreditation agencies to push for transparency in application statistics and post-graduate outcomes (full-time employment rates 9 months after graduation).
Tl;dr: Pharmacy schools aren't selective at all. Fewer than 20% of applicants do not get a spot.