Good GPA for Residencies

[housepharmd]

I have a 3.4 GPA would that make me a moderate or strong candidate for a residency after pharmacy school?

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[Dred Pirate]

depends on program - most (or at least mine) throws out anything under a 3.0. Then we look at the whole package, I personally put more weight on GPA and work experience than most of the other preceptors at my site. I would say if the rest of your package is good, a 3.4 would definitely not hurt you, it will not jump out and say, interview me! (we had 3.9 that we did not even consider, and we had 3.0 that we rated very highly), so basically it is a wash, it will put you in the discussion, but the rest of your app will decide.

 

[oldstock]

depends on program - most (or at least mine) throws out anything under a 3.0. Then we look at the whole package, I personally put more weight on GPA and work experience than most of the other preceptors at my site. I would say if the rest of your package is good, a 3.4 would definitely not hurt you, it will not jump out and say, interview me! (we had 3.9 that we did not even consider, and we had 3.0 that we rated very highly), so basically it is a wash, it will put you in the discussion, but the rest of your app will decide.

if you don't mind, can you list all the things you are looking at on one's application ??

 

[Dred Pirate]

My order of preference
1. work experience (esp hospital)
2. gpa
3. charitable work (medical work a bonus)
4. organization and active roles in them
5. misc research

 

[oldstock]

My order of preference
1. work experience (esp hospital)
2. gpa
3. charitable work (medical work a bonus)
4. organization and active roles in them
5. misc research

thanks DredPirate !! that is very helpful !! now I know what to gun for

 

[Dred Pirate]

I will preface this by saying I am only one person, other people may have differing opinions on what they value

 

[oldstock]

I will preface this by saying I am only one person, other people may have differing opinions on what they value

I still appreciate that very much !! hope others will chime in...

 

[bananaface]

I helped with interviews as a community pharmacy resident. GPA was not necessarily a deal breaker above the cutoff, but things like weak grades in therapeutics (less than Bs), poor marks on rotations, or a sprinkling of especially low grades (less than a C) on the transcript would reflect negatively on an applicant. Positive attributes (not in any particular order) that I considered both before and after interviews were practice abilities, community/retail work experience, motivation and interest to pursue a community residency, continued community pharmacy interest, the strength and depth of one's references, personality and perceived overall fit for the site and our individual offerings, verbal and written communication abilities, and emotional maturity.

Extra curricular activities let us know your interests and show us that you are willing to devote time to pharmacy after hours. But, an interest could work against you. For example, applying for a community pharmacy residency after being ASHP chapter president during your 3rd year would make us suspect that we are your "backup" option in the absence of a tailored letter of interest that explained why our program best suited your developmental needs.

 

[bananaface]

Moving to the residency subforum, as that is the most appropriate place for this question.

 

[Chaajo]

My order of preference
1. work experience (esp hospital)
2. gpa
3. charitable work (medical work a bonus)
4. organization and active roles in them
5. misc research

Thank you for this! What if some of the things listed here were done overseas?

 

[tungsten87]

i have several friends with GPAs < 3.5 that were able to secure residencies at nice programs. GPA is somewhat important to get through the screening process for interviews. with so many applicants programs need to use subjective means to eliminate individuals.

 

[Dred Pirate]

Thank you for this! What if some of the things listed here were done overseas?

Depends on where and why, are you a foreign grad? did you do it for charitable purposes, in my mind where you did it isn't a big deal, but why and how

 

[moisturize]

Somewhat related to this issue, I heard that 4.0's are viewed with hesitancy by residency programs because it may reflect a candidate that focused too much on academics. I was just curious.

 

[oldstock]

Somewhat related to this issue, I heard that 4.0's are viewed with hesitancy by residency programs because it may reflect a candidate that focused too much on academics. I was just curious.

Freaking LOL

Before coming to this pharmacy forum, I never heard of things like "focused too much on academics". Usually people are not doing that enough. Never heard complaints like this before....

I guess that the same individuals sitting in the selecting committees for those residency programs are probably the same individuals sitting in those adcoms that are admitting those students with subpar academic credentials such as 2's GPA and 10's-20's PCAT.

LOL

 

[PolarPop]

Freaking LOL

Before coming to this pharmacy forum, I never heard of things like "focused too much on academics". Usually people are not doing that enough. Never heard complaints like this before....

I guess that the same individuals sitting in the selecting committees for those residency programs are probably the same individuals sitting in those adcoms that are admitting those students with subpar academic credentials such as 2's GPA and 10's-20's PCAT.

LOL

Why is it so hard to believe? You are going to be working after school, not taking taking tests and studying all the time. If someone got a 4.0 at the expense of working and volunteering then they definitely focused too much on academics.

 

[moisturize]

Freaking LOL

Before coming to this pharmacy forum, I never heard of things like "focused too much on academics". Usually people are not doing that enough. Never heard complaints like this before....

I guess that the same individuals sitting in the selecting committees for those residency programs are probably the same individuals sitting in those adcoms that are admitting those students with subpar academic credentials such as 2's GPA and 10's-20's PCAT.

LOL

I've actually heard this from program directors. It's hard to believe, but as PolarPop says, they complain that it comes at the expense of other activities.

 

[oldstock]

I've actually heard this from program directors. It's hard to believe, but as PolarPop says, they complain that it comes at the expense of other activities.

I believe you. The whole thing is like a balance and I believe every pharmacy graduate should strike a good balance between school and working/practical experience (again a lot of that experience should be provided via school rotations/internships).

But imho, the #1 proprity should be school first. Saying things like "focused too much on academics" just does not sound right to me. Just me

 

[Dred Pirate]

Somewhat related to this issue, I heard that 4.0's are viewed with hesitancy by residency programs because it may reflect a candidate that focused too much on academics. I was just curious.

total BS - I was a 3.9 undergrad (involved in everything) and a 4.0 in pharamcy school - not a lot of extracuricular stuff, but worked full time. I now hire residents and would NEVER think that.

 

[patmcd]

If someone literally only has awesome grades and did nothing extracurricular (job, clubs, whatever really) it can raise concerns in the sense that they might not have as strong a time management skill set as someone else with solid grades + other activities.

 

[Dred Pirate]

If someone literally only has awesome grades and did nothing extracurricular (job, clubs, whatever really) it can raise concerns in the sense that they might not have as strong a time management skill set as someone else with solid grades + other activities.

that is a different statement that saying we would dismiss somebody simply because of their good grades. - what you said is correct.

 

[PolarPop]

Most of the people in rho chi at my school are still very well rounded students. They weren't as involved as some others but they definitely don't only have a high GPA.

 

[KARM12]

Don't fool yourselves. There are plenty of candidates with 3.8+ GPA, work experience, and leadership experience. You should aim to get as high of a GPA as possible. I also hire residents now and had a near 4.0 GPA in pharmacy school. I would never think poorly of someone with a high GPA...it is a whole package deal and there are hundreds of candidates that have it all.

 

[patmcd]

Don't fool yourselves. There are plenty of candidates with 3.8+ GPA, work experience, and leadership experience. You should aim to get as high of a GPA as possible. I also hire residents now and had a near 4.0 GPA in pharmacy school. I would never think poorly of someone with a high GPA...it is a whole package deal and there are hundreds of candidates that have it all.

Exactly.

 

[PharmlyDoc]

What kind of extracurriculars do you recommend? Joining a pharmacy fraternity and being an officer?

I was the treasurer of my fraternity my last year of college, and I was on the inter fraternity council executive board and it was A LOT of work!

I want to do a residency, but was hoping I could focus more on classes and work experience in pharmacy school.

 

[patmcd]

I would say that you should have at least some involvement with pharmacy organizations (good experience and networking), but it does not need to make up the bulk of your extracurriculars. Mostly people want to see that you are involved/dedicated to group/cause (pharmacy or otherwise) and are able to still do well in classes (aka time management). Realistically as competitive as residencies are now, most successful candidates will have a 3.0+ (often much higher for top tier programs), and a good amount of both work and extracurricular experience.