How much does pharmacy school gpa matter?

[Jared.mock]

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[frosted_flake]

Great Pharmacy school GPA!
Just make sure you have solid reasons (shadowing, volunteer experiences, etc.) about why you want to switch to medicine. I would expect the question "why not pharmacy?"

 

[rederza]

Not sure how much weight. I have a B.S. with a 3.98 and I went to pharmacy school and had a 3.00 my first semester. Looking for answers too! I heard it's comparable to people who go to law school, where getting B's is impressive but I don't know if that replaces a solid undergrad gpa.

 

[first_time_poster]

Probably little to no weight imho. If you didn't practice as a pharmacist, what would it matter. Same as if you went to nursing school but didn't practice as a nurse.

 

[Doug Underhill]

gonnif, while pharmacy/pharmacology are definitely considered "Health Sciences" and non-BCPM, other courses in pharmacy school like physiology would fall under biology and definitely be BCPM, right?

 

[Jared.mock]

Not sure how much weight. I have a B.S. with a 3.98 and I went to pharmacy school and had a 3.00 my first semester. Looking for answers too! I heard it's comparable to people who go to law school, where getting B's is impressive but I don't know if that replaces a solid undergrad gpa.

Really? Damn..... Can any Pharm.D's currently in med. school please weigh in about their experiences?

 

[Grace184]

As a pharmacy grad with plenty of clinical experience, I iwas pretty upset that curriculum like med chem, adv pharmacology, etc didn't count when applying through AMCAS. AACOMAS new science considerations found pharmacy adv sci classes classes as part of sGPA, so it was a big help (where as AMCAs wouldn't count them bc they where part of Pharmacy school curriculum). DO school may fair better gpa wise, but that's my personal experience.

 

[Grace184]

https://www.aamc.org/students/download/182162/data/amcas_instruction_manual.pdf (see bottom page 37)

If you have enrolled simultaneously in an undergraduate and a graduate program (e.g.,
Bachelors/Masters dual degree):

*The graduate-level coursework will count toward a graduate degree
and should be listed under the graduate status at the time the courses
were attempted. The undergraduate-level coursework should be assigned the
appropriate undergraduate status (FR, SO, JR, SR).

If you have enrolled in a professional degree program (Nursing, Pharmacy, Veterinary
Medicine, etc.) leading to a Bachelor’s degree:
*FR, SO, JR, and SR statuses should be assigned

Yea because mine was a 0-6 program, I only had "2 years of science" so it was a BIG app problem as after the 2nd yr I was in pharm school and nothing counted bc it was taken though the school of pharmacy

 

[GrapesofRath]

3.55/3.62 can definitely work for MDs with a smart list. Relax.

 

[Grace184]

3.55/3.62 can definitely work for MDs with a smart list. Relax.

It looks good on paper... What I'm saying is once it is classified as pharmacy curriculum, the science classes don't count. For example, my biochem I and II, A&P I &Ii, my micro etc, because I took them in a professional program. It's just something to be aware of.

 

[Biochemistry2014]

It won't count towards your sGPA, but it'll prove strong evidence of maturity and personal change, as you said you slacked off during undergrad.

So yes, it will matter, just not towards your undergraduate GPAs.

 

[Jared.mock]

Apologize in advance for the bump.

But can more people please weigh in how my 3.92 pharmacy school gpa will look like to the adcoms next to the undergrad 3.55/3.62 (cGPA/sGPA)..

 

[Romz]

AMCAS released a fairly detailed list as to what classes they would consider fall into cGPA and sGPA. Honestly, it'll go by name of title, but if the type of coursework is not represented in the heading, yet you feel that it does fall into a sGPA category, then call up AMCAS yourself.

Molecular Pharmacology would be considered a health science class.

Pathobiology and Pathology most probably a science class.

Metabolic Biochemistry, Immunology, Human Physiology are science classes.

The fact that you're in pharmacy in of itself does not mean ALL your classes will fall under the health sciences category.

 

[Jared.mock]

AMCAS released a fairly detailed list as to what classes they would consider fall into cGPA and sGPA. Honestly, it'll go by name of title, but if the type of coursework is not represented in the heading, yet you feel that it does fall into a sGPA category, then call up AMCAS yourself.

Molecular Pharmacology would be considered a health science class.

Pathobiology and Pathology most probably a science class.

Metabolic Biochemistry, Immunology, Human Physiology are science classes.

The fact that you're in pharmacy in of itself does not mean ALL your classes will fall under the health sciences category.

Thanks for your reply, but..

The pharmacy school gpa will be in a completely separate "graduate" category. I'm wondering if a high pharmacy school gpa would mitigate a below average undergrad gpa. As of now, my undergrad gpas are locked at 3.55/3.62 unless I take undergrad courses during this year (my third and last didactic pharmacy school year)..

 

[Grace184]

You have a good uGpas. The graduate GPAs don't really hold weight, whether pharm or not (trust me). Your ability to do well on the MCAT can only be the next true predictor when coupled with your undergrad grades. But if you choose not to finish and get your pharmd, you need to get a bachelors.

 

[Catalystik]

The pharmacy school gpa will be in a completely separate "graduate" category. I'm wondering if a high pharmacy school gpa would mitigate a below average undergrad gpa. As of now, my undergrad gpas are locked at 3.55/3.62 unless I take undergrad courses during this year (my third and last didactic pharmacy school year)..

If applying to DO schools, for which your uGPA is fine, isn't in your plans, and you can't rely on getting a strong MCAT score, you might consider taking additional undergrad upper-level Bio for a year or two after graduating from pharmacy school (while working as a pharmacist) to raise your undergrad GPAs.

Or, besides creatively reassigning categories to appropriate PharmD coursework to generate a grad sGPA on the AMCAS transcript (and hoping it's not changed back during verification), you could target your application to the few allopathic med schools that do take hard science gGPA into account. You can find mention of them throughout this thread: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...t-actually-matter.796298/page-3#post-10786521 but consider calling them to be sure their policies haven't changed, before investing application dollars in this strategy.

 

[Catalystik]

What I'm saying is once it is classified as pharmacy curriculum, the science classes don't count. For example, my biochem I and II, A&P I &Ii, my micro etc, because I took them in a professional program. It's just something to be aware of.

I'm curious to know, did you categorize these classes under CHEM and BIO, or leave them as Health Sciences? If you did change the category, did AMCAS change them back during verification? Was any grad sGPA generated for you?

 

[Grace184]

If applying to DO schools, for which your uGPA is fine, isn't in your plans, and you can't rely on getting a strong MCAT score, you might consider taking additional undergrad upper-level Bio for a year or two after graduating from pharmacy school (while working as a pharmacist) to raise your undergrad GPAs.

Or, besides creatively reassigning categories to some PharmD coursework to generate a grad sGPA on the AMCAS transcript, you could target your application to the few allopathic med schools that do take hard science gGPA into account. You can find mention of them throughout this thread: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...t-actually-matter.796298/page-3#post-10786521 but consider calling them to be sure their policies haven't changed, before investing application dollars.

Haha I tried the "creative reassignment" with AMCAS last year, but once I entered pharmacy school my 3rd year, the prefix gave it away. Even though it was medicinal chemistry it was taken through the pharm school, therefore had a pharm prefix not a chem prefix. AMCAS "creativity fixed" these for me lol!

 

[Grace184]

I'm curious to know, did you categorize these classes under CHEM and BIO, or leave them as Health Sciences? If you did change the category, did AMCAS change them back during verification? Was any grad sGPA generated for you?

I categorized them as chem, bio, but AMCAS changed them back to pharm....no sci credit given
I was only given science credit for first 2 yrs (where I did complete all med prerequisite)- it just didn't do my gpa justice to give it MD competition

 

[Catalystik]

I categorized them as chem, bio, but AMCAS changed them back to pharm....no sci credit given

 

[Catalystik]

I categorized them as chem, bio, but AMCAS changed them back to pharm....no sci credit given
I was only given science credit for first 2 yrs (where I did complete all med prerequisite)- it just didn't do my gpa justice to give it MD competition

AMCAS verifiers are known not to be 100% consistent. Have you inquired of other PharmD to Doc applicants here on SDN about their experience in this regard?

 

[Grace184]

AMCAS verifiers are known not to be 100% consistent. Have you inquired of other PharmD to Doc applicants here on SDN about their experience in this regard?

No I didn't...I mean I know my first 2 yrs weren't great, and my cumulative isn't jaw dropping, but it was enough to earn me a publication prior to graduation, a 2 year pharm residency at a university system, and a clinical faculty position. So, I don't know, it's a late for this year, I'm in between submitting an app for DOs or doing and SMP, simply because I do love academia and would like to go back to it someday.

 

[Jared.mock]

You have a good uGpas. The graduate GPAs don't really hold weight, whether pharm or not (trust me). Your ability to do well on the MCAT can only be the next true predictor when coupled with your undergrad grades. But if you choose not to finish and get your pharmd, you need to get a bachelors.

Sigh.. alright thank you.

 

[Jared.mock]

If applying to DO schools, for which your uGPA is fine, isn't in your plans, and you can't rely on getting a strong MCAT score, you might consider taking additional undergrad upper-level Bio for a year or two after graduating from pharmacy school (while working as a pharmacist) to raise your undergrad GPAs.

Or, besides creatively reassigning categories to appropriate PharmD coursework to generate a grad sGPA on the AMCAS transcript (and hoping it's not changed back during verification), you could target your application to the few allopathic med schools that do take hard science gGPA into account. You can find mention of them throughout this thread: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...t-actually-matter.796298/page-3#post-10786521 but consider calling them to be sure their policies haven't changed, before investing application dollars in this strategy.

Well, that's good news. I'll call separately and verify. Thanks!

 

[Jared.mock]

Well, I just contacted Wayne State and they told me that the undergrad GPA is completely replaced only if you take at least 20 credits of biology, chemistry, physics or math graduate-level or as undergrad post-bacc.

However pharmacy school courses are counted as health courses by AMCAS and not BCPM, so they would not replace the undergrad GPA. Even my medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, pathology, pharmacotherapy, etc. courses. The only way for me to repair my GPA for them would be to do an informal post-bacc/SMP

 

[Grace184]

Well, I just contacted Wayne State and they told me that the undergrad GPA is completely replaced only if you take at least 20 credits of biology, chemistry, physics or math graduate-level or as undergrad post-bacc.

However pharmacy school courses are counted as health courses by AMCAS and not BCPM, so they would not replace the undergrad GPA. Even my medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, pathology, pharmacotherapy, etc. courses. The only way for me to repair my GPA for them would be to do an informal post-bacc/SMP

Yep...unfortunately that's essentially the only way to go about doing it. Now AACOMAS recently recognized pharmacy courses as part or the science gpa so that also another option.

 

[deleted158872]

Pharmacy will not count towards "science" (ie BCPM).

AAMC counts it as graduate GPA.

AACOMAS just calculates it into everything.

 

[Doug Underhill]

I'm curious to know, did you categorize these classes under CHEM and BIO, or leave them as Health Sciences? If you did change the category, did AMCAS change them back during verification? Was any grad sGPA generated for you?

I actually classified my pharmacology courses as Health Sciences (note: I am a pharmacology Ph.D student not a Pharm.D) and AMCAS did NOT change them back. Grad sGPA was generated for other courses marked biology or chemistry, and these designations were not challenged.

 

[Catalystik]

I actually classified my pharmacology courses as Health Sciences (note: I am a pharmacology Ph.D student not a Pharm.D) and AMCAS did NOT change them back.

Was that a strategic choice that had a beneficial impact on your application's grad sGPA?

 

[StudyLater]

@Jared.mock care to share why you want to switch without jumping in first?