University of Toronto Pharmacy Class of 2017

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ssun said:
Do you guys know if the marks for individual PCAT components are important when deciding admissions or if they only look at the composite PCAT score? I read in an earlier thread that they flag you if you score below 50 in a section so I was wondering if this was true? Thanks!
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I'm sure they look at both component and composite marks. I've never heard of them flagging people for scoring below 50 but it does make sense to me. I'm sure they're not looking for candidates that score lower than half of everyone else who took the exam.
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so composite is like the total? whats the lowest pcat and whats the highest? and what do people averagely get?
 
titanlord1 said:
so composite is like the total? whats the lowest pcat and whats the highest? and what do people averagely get?
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The composite is basically an overall average for all the sections. The score you are given is a percentile, meaning if you get anything around a 50 then that would be considered average
 
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50 is average. whats the lowest score and highest?
 
I have a question
So what I get from the PCAT scoring format is that if you are in the 80th percentile that means that 20% of the people did better than you and 80% did worse than you. Doesn't that mean that a higher number of people got below an 80 percentile than above. But most of the stats posted on here have composites of 80+. Are people with lower percentiles just not posting their stats or do I have this all wrong?
I'm just really confused :S
Thanks in advance!
 
nram said:
I have a question
So what I get from the PCAT scoring format is that if you are in the 80th percentile that means that 20% of the people did better than you and 80% did worse than you. Doesn't that mean that a higher number of people got below an 80 percentile than above. But most of the stats posted on here have composites of 80+. Are people with lower percentiles just not posting their stats or do I have this all wrong?
I'm just really confused :S
Thanks in advance!
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You are absolutely correct about percentiles.
 
nram said:
I have a question
So what I get from the PCAT scoring format is that if you are in the 80th percentile that means that 20% of the people did better than you and 80% did worse than you. Doesn't that mean that a higher number of people got below an 80 percentile than above. But most of the stats posted on here have composites of 80+. Are people with lower percentiles just not posting their stats or do I have this all wrong?
I'm just really confused :S
Thanks in advance!
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No you've got the idea of percentiles right. It's very possible that people who have lower composites aren't posting their marks but remember that pharmacy is quite competitive and so having a composite above 80 is needed to table a strong application.
 
man All u people with High marks and PCAT are making me nervous!!!! Hope my interview went well. Fingers crossed.
p.s. I have no backups :(
 
Hey guys, I might as well put my stats up since most of you guys have done so already

PCAT Composite: 88

Uni Percentage: 86

Interview: I think I did ok, I definitely am not 100% confident... maybe 7/10 ish went well
 
1 month and counting !! Going to be a veeeeery long month
 
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aranza said:
I wonder what their PCAT scores were lol

I will be applying this coming September and am actually excited since it will be my first time going through a post-grad application cycle. Goodluck to all those that interviewed!
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Couldn't agree more with the statistically skew, haha.
 
So just to get this straight, we're thinking that lower GPAs and PCAT scores aren't being reported by applicants who interviewed?

I have an average of ~80.5% or GPA of ~3.43 and PCAT comp of 84%. Reading the posts these scores seem about average... Maybe on the lower side of average. But should I be considering these stats more positively? I'm really hoping for the best!
 
northern said:
So just to get this straight, we're thinking that lower GPAs and PCAT scores aren't being reported by applicants who interviewed?

I have an average of ~80.5% or GPA of ~3.43 and PCAT comp of 84%. Reading the posts these scores seem about average... Maybe on the lower side of average. But should I be considering these stats more positively? I'm really hoping for the best!
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I would say they're average for sure. There is a serious skew on this thread towards high scores but we need to remember that the number of people on this thread is insignificant compared to the 500 people that interviewed for the admissions spots. With your stats, I wouldn't worry too much, there are definitely a ton of applicants that scored lower than you.
 
northern said:
So just to get this straight, we're thinking that lower GPAs and PCAT scores aren't being reported by applicants who interviewed?

I have an average of ~80.5% or GPA of ~3.43 and PCAT comp of 84%. Reading the posts these scores seem about average... Maybe on the lower side of average. But should I be considering these stats more positively? I'm really hoping for the best!
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How is it that your average is ~80.5% and a GPA of 3.43?

I go to UofT and my GPA is 3.46. I honestly have no idea how to convert it to a percentage because in UofT standards, a 3.3 is 77-79% and a 3.7 is 80-84%. So where exactly do I stand?
 
Some people said they will use the lower end of the range, so 3.3 is 77%. This is unfair for students who only have letter grades because that means they use their lowest possible average.
 
Pharmgirlee said:
How is it that your average is ~80.5% and a GPA of 3.43?

I go to UofT and my GPA is 3.46. I honestly have no idea how to convert it to a percentage because in UofT standards, a 3.3 is 77-79% and a 3.7 is 80-84%. So where exactly do I stand?
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For all my courses I received percent grades. So the average of those is about 80.5%.

But if I covert each class to a GPA score, like you said 3.3 for 77-79%, 3.7 for 80-84% etc. then take an average of all those GPA scores it averages to a 3.43 .

I'm not sure if that's the way to do it, but that's how I came up with those numbers.
 
Hi, I meant to post my stats earlier. I go to UofT and have graduated. Here are my stats:
Cgpa: 2.96, I know the school uses percentage grades, I'm also having difficulty converting them.
PCAT: 79
MMI: pretty good, I think I did well on at least 8/10.
I was wondering if my stats seem okay for admission, I know most of the stats posted here are pretty high.

Thanks!
 
I'm just wondering (in case I don't get into pharmacy school this year). Does it look bad if you don't have a full course load (five per term). I'm going into 4th year and I had a five courses per term every year except one that had four courses.

I plan on taking a lighter course load (probably four per term) with some first year courses. I still have to take first year physics and probably will take English or something also. Would this look bad if I'm applying to pharmacy again next year? I know UofT requires you to only have 1 full year.
 
I literally had only 1 out of 3 years of my undergrad as the full course load. So don't worry about it going against you in the application process, but worry about it when you get in (6 courses in 1st year).
 
Pharmgirlee said:
How is it that your average is ~80.5% and a GPA of 3.43?

I go to UofT and my GPA is 3.46. I honestly have no idea how to convert it to a percentage because in UofT standards, a 3.3 is 77-79% and a 3.7 is 80-84%. So where exactly do I stand?
Click to expand...

This is the scale they use to convert letter grades:

A+ = 90

A = 85

A- = 81

B+ = 78

B = 75

B- = 71

C+ = 68

C = 65

C- = 61

D+ = 58

D = 55

D- = 51

E = 45

F = 40
 
Hey guys,

I don't know why you care so much about GPA... if your school uses percentage marks, just report a percentage average since it's more accurate than GPA. I think U of T also uses percentages for the admission process, so GPA is irrelevant. I also agree that most of the stats posted people post are higher. I highly doubt that all five hundred people interviewed have amazing stats. And it's impossible for the majority of people to have 80+ on their PCAT because the scores are decided by percentiles. Anyone who has 80+ is in the top 20 percent of PCAT writers.

To anyone who's reading and hasn't applied, you will automatically get an interview if your cumulative average is 70+ and your PCAT scores meet the minimums (per category). They post the minimums used for the last few years on their website. Most of them are really low (therefore, you could still get an interview if you score below 50 on a section, as long as you meet all of the requirements). Obviously getting all scores below 50 and barely making the cut won't look good, but you can still get an interview. I think they just use these low minimums to weed out some applicants before the interview process.

I applied this year and the wait is killing me! I don't even want to count down. :scared:
 
simplicity1love said:
I literally had only 1 out of 3 years of my undergrad as the full course load. So don't worry about it going against you in the application process, but worry about it when you get in (6 courses in 1st year).
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Ok, that sounds good. Did you happen to take 1st year courses third year? Was it four courses per term that you took (from the two years that weren't a full course load). I have a 77-79% average (most likely) but I want to pull it up even more to make myself a stronger applicant.
 
SomeGuyHere said:
Ok, that sounds good. Did you happen to take 1st year courses third year? Was it four courses per term that you took (from the two years that weren't a full course load). I have a 77-79% average (most likely) but I want to pull it up even more to make myself a stronger applicant.
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Yeah I took 2 courses (1 full credit) of first year courses in my third year. I did take four courses per term in 2nd and 3rd year. 77-79% ave is decent but pulling it up will always help. They don't care about the level of the courses you take as long as you get the grades, have the requirements, and have at least one year with a full course load.
 
I had a question. After all the interviews are done do they go back and look at GPA and PCAT and create a rank or is it solely based on your interviewed?
 
aranza said:
I had a question. After all the interviews are done do they go back and look at GPA and PCAT and create a rank or is it solely based on your interviewed?
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They go back and look at your PCAT and GPA
 
pharmachick said:
They go back and look at your PCAT and GPA
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Thank god for this too. I'm not entirely confident in my interview. I still wonder how much percentage interview, PCAT and GPA is worth. I heard rumors about the interview being worth only 20% but I just cannot believe that.
 
SomeGuyHere said:
Thank god for this too. I'm not entirely confident in my interview. I still wonder how much percentage interview, PCAT and GPA is worth. I heard rumors about the interview being worth only 20% but I just cannot believe that.
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I would think that the interview would mean a lot more. I would put it up closer to 50%. I've heard from a lot of people that the PCAT isn't really considered all that much after the interview and a big chunk of the admission decision is based on GPA and interview.
 
I concur!!! I can't believe that the interview is only worth 20% especially after the information session we had prior to the interview where the professor said that if we meet the minimum cut-offs for the PCAT and GPA then we're placed on equal ground. The interview helps the admissions committee to decide if we have the proper skills set to be considered a good fit for the 2013 class. Also, a lot of medical schools use the MMI interview with great weight in considering who to select as well...

Either way we have 25 days left till we find out!
 
Its too bad they don't tell us the actual weighting of our GPA, PCAT and interview. Is it true that they don't really consider our PCAT after the interview? I was hoping they would!
 
pharmachick said:
Its too bad they don't tell us the actual weighting of our GPA, PCAT and interview. Is it true that they don't really consider our PCAT after the interview? I was hoping they would!
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From what I've been told the PCAT is really just a way of cutting down the initial application pool. More and more schools aren't requiring standardized testing anymore (MCAT, PCAT etc.) so it would align with the trend if they considered it substantially less than the interview and GPA but I'm just speculating. We'll definitely know soon enough !!
 
apedicelli said:
I would think that the interview would mean a lot more. I would put it up closer to 50%. I've heard from a lot of people that the PCAT isn't really considered all that much after the interview and a big chunk of the admission decision is based on GPA and interview.
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That's what I thought too. But I still think they should factor everything in equally. Like 33.33% for GPA, interview and PCAT.
 
rslj said:
Mac student here. Just finished second year biochem.
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Do you want to reveal who you are? :p I just finished second year life sci at Mac but I have many friends who were in biochem.
 
Hey everyone!! :oops:

Alright, so round two for me in terms of Pharmacy School.

I applied to UWaterloo a year or two ago (don't remember anymore) (never applied to UofT) and I got accepted for January 2012.

Various aspects of life and lots of new adventures have made me decide on dropping out of UWaterloo School of Pharmacy and pursuing UofT Pharmacy instead.

So, now I'm back at YorkU... finishing up my degree and picking up the calc courses that are required for UofT. (UWaterloo required a different course, which is not accepted by UofT).

Long story short. I will be applying in September/October or whenever applications open once again, but I will be writing the PCAT this July.

I'm really worried about PCAT, because I feel like I need to review a lot, but I think I have enough time.

I'm also worried because my undergrad average was beyond amazing and i did so well in my courses, but my pharmacy courses at UW are dragging me down. I do have supporting documentation of the various circumstances that prevented me from doing well during that one year and some of the documentation is government issue (so im hoping theyre strong). does anyone think it is possible for them to just count my undergrad grades (and my grades for the coming year) and ignore the uwaterloo ones.. i know admission office told me that it is possible but i'm just so horribly worried. :scared:

Good luck to you all! I know it's mostly 2017 now and I'm a bit early but meh lol
 
Would you like to share your life in waterloo? Why did you drop out? If you feel like it's not appropriate to say out in a public forum could you please PM me? Thank you!
 
yazahra89 said:
Hey everyone!! :oops:

Alright, so round two for me in terms of Pharmacy School.

I applied to UWaterloo a year or two ago (don't remember anymore) (never applied to UofT) and I got accepted for January 2012.

Various aspects of life and lots of new adventures have made me decide on dropping out of UWaterloo School of Pharmacy and pursuing UofT Pharmacy instead.

So, now I'm back at YorkU... finishing up my degree and picking up the calc courses that are required for UofT. (UWaterloo required a different course, which is not accepted by UofT).

Long story short. I will be applying in September/October or whenever applications open once again, but I will be writing the PCAT this July.

I'm really worried about PCAT, because I feel like I need to review a lot, but I think I have enough time.

I'm also worried because my undergrad average was beyond amazing and i did so well in my courses, but my pharmacy courses at UW are dragging me down. I do have supporting documentation of the various circumstances that prevented me from doing well during that one year and some of the documentation is government issue (so im hoping theyre strong). does anyone think it is possible for them to just count my undergrad grades (and my grades for the coming year) and ignore the uwaterloo ones.. i know admission office told me that it is possible but i'm just so horribly worried. :scared:

Good luck to you all! I know it's mostly 2017 now and I'm a bit early but meh lol
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I think that in terms of admissions, they'll focus on your undergrad courses, especially the pre-reqs. They'll really focus more on your pharm courses if you get in and request credit for completed courses.
 
I'm hoping that's the case. They do say that they count all courses taken into your GPA but I'm hoping with the supporting documentation that it wouldn't be the case for me. Overall, the pre-reqs are all A or A+ except for Organic Chem and Thermo which were pretty low compared to others. But in general, my average with just undergrad is about 85% and I've had honours in all my terms. I hope they see the difference between undergrad and pharm year 1 and know that life complications were the reason for my poor performance... we'll see. i just need to do well on the pcat in july and really well on my last year at yorku and just prove it to them


As for the person who asked me why i dropped out.. the school is great.. co op is awesome and i highly suggest uwaterloo if you have the choice between the two schools because making almost 9000 during co-op is an awesome added bonus.. you'll need it for tuition and having four different placements will help u when u graduate cuz its hard to find a job nowadays... i just dropped because i had to come back to toronto because I'm getting married and the last thing i want is a long distance marriage lol
 
can anyone tell me what the application looks like for uoft.. do we need a reference letter or is it just an online form we fill out
 
yazahra89 said:
can anyone tell me what the application looks like for uoft.. do we need a reference letter or is it just an online form we fill out
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You don't need a reference letter. Its an online form and you just need to fill out your basic information.
 
yazahra89 said:
Hey everyone!! :oops:

Alright, so round two for me in terms of Pharmacy School.

I applied to UWaterloo a year or two ago (don't remember anymore) (never applied to UofT) and I got accepted for January 2012.

Various aspects of life and lots of new adventures have made me decide on dropping out of UWaterloo School of Pharmacy and pursuing UofT Pharmacy instead.

So, now I'm back at YorkU... finishing up my degree and picking up the calc courses that are required for UofT. (UWaterloo required a different course, which is not accepted by UofT).

Long story short. I will be applying in September/October or whenever applications open once again, but I will be writing the PCAT this July.

I'm really worried about PCAT, because I feel like I need to review a lot, but I think I have enough time.

I'm also worried because my undergrad average was beyond amazing and i did so well in my courses, but my pharmacy courses at UW are dragging me down. I do have supporting documentation of the various circumstances that prevented me from doing well during that one year and some of the documentation is government issue (so im hoping theyre strong). does anyone think it is possible for them to just count my undergrad grades (and my grades for the coming year) and ignore the uwaterloo ones.. i know admission office told me that it is possible but i'm just so horribly worried. :scared:

Good luck to you all! I know it's mostly 2017 now and I'm a bit early but meh lol
Click to expand...
Honestly, the PCAT is not bad at all. I wrote it in January and I only studied one week for it. I spent 6-8 hours per day during that week studying though. I got 92 percentile composite score with 99 percentile in chemistry. I found verbal ability the hardest section (which is pretty sad considering that I was born here).
 
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