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Sorry this post is really long, but hopefully it will help some of you in the long run.
Planning for your application to pharmacy school requires careful preparation and deliberate motivation. As the application process becomes more and more rigorous, it becomes increasingly essential to understand how to maximize your potential as a pharmacy school candidate. Aside from having the stats (GPA and PCAT), letters of recommendation, and solid extracurriculars, the mentality with which you approach this process is important.
Information is vital
No matter what career you plan on going into, gathering intelligence is key to understanding your options and discovering the pathways you can take to achieving a successful matriculation into pharmacy school. SDN is an excellent resource to utilize in addition to pharmCAS and admissions websites. However, a key point remains to be made. All of this information is readily available to you and can be acquired in many different ways; it is your responsibility to be proactive. As a future professional, it is important to begin acting like a true professional should. Like food, desirable information is not slob served in a cafeteria line, but rather delicately crafted by the experts in locations you must discover.
What does this mean? It means you should be asking yourself What do I need to know in order to get to where I want to be? If you restrict yourself to advice offered by SDN, be prepared to take information you receive with a grain of salt. After all, mistakes do occur and people are human. On the other hand, if you know you are interested in a particular institution, being proactive might net you an opportunity to speak with an admissions committee member to address specific questions about the application process. (Not to mention, name recognition goes a long way in the admissions process)
The benefits of being proactive in gathering information are twofold: 1) You get your information much more quickly and accurately from the source, and 2) you showcase a part of your personality and your potential as a leader and future professional. Your future customers/patients/pharmacy technicians will come to you with questions, and they need to be able to trust that you will find credible information quickly and reliably in a fast-paced environment. You can be sure that the pharmacy admissions committees will notice the difference.
Testtaking is NOT rote memorization
Contrary to popular belief, studying for three to six months and poring over the guides and prep books to memorize all of the information is generally not sufficient enough to do well on the PCAT. As in reference to the first point above about information being vital, it is important to consider the PCAT in its own context. As Harcourt Assessment so eloquently puts it on their website, the PCAT is a specialized test that helps identify qualified applicants to pharmacy colleges. It measure general academic ability and scientific knowledge necessary for the commencement of pharmaceutical education. The key words there are bolded in case you missed it. If all you do is rote memorization, you are merely focusing on the scientific knowledge. What is lacking then is any practice/demonstration of the general academic ability. As professionals, pharmacists are expected to engage in critical thinking and problem solving which involves not only the recollection of knowledge but its application.
This is where your mentality of being proactive comes in handy. You can choose to blindly study the material the prep courses give you and do problem after problem hoping that by the time the test date rolls around, youll have completed every possible question imaginable; alternatively, you can think your way through your preparation and save yourself countless hours. If you take a step back and evaluate the role the PCAT has in your overall application, you will quickly see that the goal of the test is not to test how much knowledge you have. Admissions committees can evaluate your academic background by examining your coursework and GPA records. Why then do they need your PCAT score? Ill leave that for you to figure out. Whatever that answer may be is how you should focus your studies for the exam.
That is not to say knowledge isnt important. You need knowledge in order to apply it. Remember, however, encyclopedias are only good as references. Even human encyclopedias.
Letters of Recommendation are an opportunity
Collecting letters of recommendation required by the pharmacy schools can become very complicated if you are not prepared. On the other hand, it is probably one of the easiest components of your admissions file if you do your homework. Letters of recommendation are typically written by college professors, pharmacists, and work supervisors who can evaluate your personality, work ethic, and academic background through your interactions with them. As an aspiring candidate, this is an opportunity to obtain two or three solid recommendations just by being yourself. It is your personality and your work ethic that becomes evident through daily interactions, and your writers bear witness to the traits which they believe will allow you to succeed as a future pharmacist. If you approach your extracurriculars and academics with this proactive mentality, you will not only gain a more fruitful experience, but also set yourself up for an excellent recommendation letter in the future.
Being proactive about your application process also involves preparing for your letters of recommendation. If you know for sure that you would like to request a letter from a particular individual, be sure to make that request immediately after the class or internship is over. An evaluation of your performance is always best made immediately, particularly if you have participated in the activity or course in some noteworthy way. There are many ways to ask for a letter of recommendation, but general guidelines will include providing ample time to the writer as well as an organized packet of information so that the writer knows what to expect and what to write on your behalf. Given the right preparation, you can have three reputable sources saying good things about you and thats always a good thing. Of course, dont forget to properly thank your writers for their efforts.
Its called an interview, not an interrogation
Assuming youve submitted your application on time and the admissions committee looks favorably upon it, you may be offered an interview. Interview. According to the dictionary definition, a formal meeting in which one or more persons question, consult, or evaluate another person. While it is pretty self-evident that the admissions committee is going to ask you questions, the interview serves a secondary purpose for you as the candidate. You have the opportunity to ask the institution about itself: What does that particular school have to offer you which will make you a superior pharmacist in the future? If all you could do was answer questions that the committee posed, they would call it an interrogation.
Therefore, there is absolutely no reason to go into an interview feeling like you are about to be bombarded with 20 questions about your applications weaknesses. Do be proactive and have responses prepared in the event you do need to address discrepancies between your GPA and PCAT scores. With the proper preparation, you can walk into an interview feeling no different than a properly planned first date. As the admissions office assistant will probably tell you when you get there, there is no need to be nervous. Remember that the institutions have already screened you based on your GPA, PCAT, LORs, and extracurriculars. They had the opportunity to reject you before you even got to the interview, but they didnt. It is your responsibility here not to screw it up.
This brings us back to the focal point of this entire post. Be proactive. If you do your research and are willing to practice your interview skills, you have the potential to enter that interview knowing your well-crafted yet natural answers to whatever questions may come up. The admissions committee is there to evaluate your commitment and mentality toward your future profession; they want to know you will become the qualified pharmacist who will serve the public best. Practice your interview answers with that goal in mind, and you will be better prepared to answer their questions. SDN has an interview feedback forum where you can see what previous applicants have encountered at their interviews. At the same time, be prepared for something unexpected.
Regardless of what career you decide to pursue with your Pharm.D., the mentality of being proactive will be instrumental in helping you achieve the goals you want. It is a simple change in mental attitude, a desire to be self-prepared and self-aware about your surroundings. The benefits to you, however, will be immeasurable as you become more knowledgeable about the entire process. You will hopefully notice that you are in control of your application, putting yourself in a situation where you will select the institution you desire to attend, not vice versa.
Planning for your application to pharmacy school requires careful preparation and deliberate motivation. As the application process becomes more and more rigorous, it becomes increasingly essential to understand how to maximize your potential as a pharmacy school candidate. Aside from having the stats (GPA and PCAT), letters of recommendation, and solid extracurriculars, the mentality with which you approach this process is important.
Information is vital
No matter what career you plan on going into, gathering intelligence is key to understanding your options and discovering the pathways you can take to achieving a successful matriculation into pharmacy school. SDN is an excellent resource to utilize in addition to pharmCAS and admissions websites. However, a key point remains to be made. All of this information is readily available to you and can be acquired in many different ways; it is your responsibility to be proactive. As a future professional, it is important to begin acting like a true professional should. Like food, desirable information is not slob served in a cafeteria line, but rather delicately crafted by the experts in locations you must discover.
What does this mean? It means you should be asking yourself What do I need to know in order to get to where I want to be? If you restrict yourself to advice offered by SDN, be prepared to take information you receive with a grain of salt. After all, mistakes do occur and people are human. On the other hand, if you know you are interested in a particular institution, being proactive might net you an opportunity to speak with an admissions committee member to address specific questions about the application process. (Not to mention, name recognition goes a long way in the admissions process)
The benefits of being proactive in gathering information are twofold: 1) You get your information much more quickly and accurately from the source, and 2) you showcase a part of your personality and your potential as a leader and future professional. Your future customers/patients/pharmacy technicians will come to you with questions, and they need to be able to trust that you will find credible information quickly and reliably in a fast-paced environment. You can be sure that the pharmacy admissions committees will notice the difference.
Testtaking is NOT rote memorization
Contrary to popular belief, studying for three to six months and poring over the guides and prep books to memorize all of the information is generally not sufficient enough to do well on the PCAT. As in reference to the first point above about information being vital, it is important to consider the PCAT in its own context. As Harcourt Assessment so eloquently puts it on their website, the PCAT is a specialized test that helps identify qualified applicants to pharmacy colleges. It measure general academic ability and scientific knowledge necessary for the commencement of pharmaceutical education. The key words there are bolded in case you missed it. If all you do is rote memorization, you are merely focusing on the scientific knowledge. What is lacking then is any practice/demonstration of the general academic ability. As professionals, pharmacists are expected to engage in critical thinking and problem solving which involves not only the recollection of knowledge but its application.
This is where your mentality of being proactive comes in handy. You can choose to blindly study the material the prep courses give you and do problem after problem hoping that by the time the test date rolls around, youll have completed every possible question imaginable; alternatively, you can think your way through your preparation and save yourself countless hours. If you take a step back and evaluate the role the PCAT has in your overall application, you will quickly see that the goal of the test is not to test how much knowledge you have. Admissions committees can evaluate your academic background by examining your coursework and GPA records. Why then do they need your PCAT score? Ill leave that for you to figure out. Whatever that answer may be is how you should focus your studies for the exam.
That is not to say knowledge isnt important. You need knowledge in order to apply it. Remember, however, encyclopedias are only good as references. Even human encyclopedias.
Letters of Recommendation are an opportunity
Collecting letters of recommendation required by the pharmacy schools can become very complicated if you are not prepared. On the other hand, it is probably one of the easiest components of your admissions file if you do your homework. Letters of recommendation are typically written by college professors, pharmacists, and work supervisors who can evaluate your personality, work ethic, and academic background through your interactions with them. As an aspiring candidate, this is an opportunity to obtain two or three solid recommendations just by being yourself. It is your personality and your work ethic that becomes evident through daily interactions, and your writers bear witness to the traits which they believe will allow you to succeed as a future pharmacist. If you approach your extracurriculars and academics with this proactive mentality, you will not only gain a more fruitful experience, but also set yourself up for an excellent recommendation letter in the future.
Being proactive about your application process also involves preparing for your letters of recommendation. If you know for sure that you would like to request a letter from a particular individual, be sure to make that request immediately after the class or internship is over. An evaluation of your performance is always best made immediately, particularly if you have participated in the activity or course in some noteworthy way. There are many ways to ask for a letter of recommendation, but general guidelines will include providing ample time to the writer as well as an organized packet of information so that the writer knows what to expect and what to write on your behalf. Given the right preparation, you can have three reputable sources saying good things about you and thats always a good thing. Of course, dont forget to properly thank your writers for their efforts.
Its called an interview, not an interrogation
Assuming youve submitted your application on time and the admissions committee looks favorably upon it, you may be offered an interview. Interview. According to the dictionary definition, a formal meeting in which one or more persons question, consult, or evaluate another person. While it is pretty self-evident that the admissions committee is going to ask you questions, the interview serves a secondary purpose for you as the candidate. You have the opportunity to ask the institution about itself: What does that particular school have to offer you which will make you a superior pharmacist in the future? If all you could do was answer questions that the committee posed, they would call it an interrogation.
Therefore, there is absolutely no reason to go into an interview feeling like you are about to be bombarded with 20 questions about your applications weaknesses. Do be proactive and have responses prepared in the event you do need to address discrepancies between your GPA and PCAT scores. With the proper preparation, you can walk into an interview feeling no different than a properly planned first date. As the admissions office assistant will probably tell you when you get there, there is no need to be nervous. Remember that the institutions have already screened you based on your GPA, PCAT, LORs, and extracurriculars. They had the opportunity to reject you before you even got to the interview, but they didnt. It is your responsibility here not to screw it up.
This brings us back to the focal point of this entire post. Be proactive. If you do your research and are willing to practice your interview skills, you have the potential to enter that interview knowing your well-crafted yet natural answers to whatever questions may come up. The admissions committee is there to evaluate your commitment and mentality toward your future profession; they want to know you will become the qualified pharmacist who will serve the public best. Practice your interview answers with that goal in mind, and you will be better prepared to answer their questions. SDN has an interview feedback forum where you can see what previous applicants have encountered at their interviews. At the same time, be prepared for something unexpected.
Regardless of what career you decide to pursue with your Pharm.D., the mentality of being proactive will be instrumental in helping you achieve the goals you want. It is a simple change in mental attitude, a desire to be self-prepared and self-aware about your surroundings. The benefits to you, however, will be immeasurable as you become more knowledgeable about the entire process. You will hopefully notice that you are in control of your application, putting yourself in a situation where you will select the institution you desire to attend, not vice versa.
