Struggling with pre-pharm - should I transfer now?

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pharmatttack

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I'm a 2nd year pre-pharm student at a small, specialized, 0-6 health sciences school.
Right now I'm taking Orgo I, Physics I, Microbiology, and a humanities coursee for a total of 15 credits.

My problem is that my grades are completely going down the tube. First semester of 1st year I had a 3.7, second semester I dropped down to a 3.2. I'm currently one exam in and got Ds in both Orgo (66) and Physics (62)...I really enjoy micro but I only got a B- on the first exam for that. I'm doing less than stellar in the lab portions for all three.

I told myself I shouldn't freak out until the second exam, but guess what, I AM. I study for a minimum of six to eight hours a day in addition to classes, plus I work 12 hours a week at a retail pharmacy (which I enjoy) - I feel as if there's nothing else I can do. It's beyond frustrating. I was the salutatorian of my high school class, aced all of my regents, got an 88 composite on my PCAT (4 on the Writing) over the summer, thought I genuinely liked science and would be fine...but now I'm questioning everything. At this rate, I'm not sure if I'll even make it into P1. I don't want to spend my entire summer remediating classes, and did I mention that I have to keep a 3.25 to keep my $20K scholarship?

So I guess my question is, to those who are deeper in than I am, did you struggle, and if so, did you overcome it or change paths? And if I'm struggling now, should I just bag pharmacy while I'm only ~$60K in debt and look into transferring to another school with a different major, or should I try and push through? I've never felt more lost/confused...I talked to advising at my school, and they were useless. I need guidance.

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Many students do poorly due to working while in a rigorous curriculum. I strongly suggest you consider cutting down to 8 or less hours per week, or maybe just once or twice a month. My pharmacist told me, you will be working for the rest of your life, but pharmacy school is a one time deal.

Studying 6-8 hrs a day seems excessive (especially, if its nowhere near exam week). I would reflect on your study methods too.
 
If you doubt yourself, there's no chance, but if you use your strengths and appeal to them, you'll definitely have a chance. Don't doubt yourself, if this is something you want to do, go for it. If everything in life was easy, everyone would be doing it.
 
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