2 + 4 Pharmacy capability

[dhimmer1]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Hi,
I am a freshman at Johns Hopkins University, and like everyone else here, I thought I wanted to go to medical school. However, I now know that I want to be a pharmacist. Right now, I am on track to fulfull the pharmacy school admission requirements in 2 years, but in order to do that, I would need to transfer to a different undergraduate school, because Johns Hopkins does not acknowledge most AP credit. I don't mind transferring, actually, I am kind of homesick (I am from CA). I am thinking about transferring to the University of San Diego. I was just wondering what you thought of my chances of getting into a pharmacy school with no bachelor's degree, and only two years of undergrad would be. One of the pharmacy school I am considering is UCSD's school of pharmacy. Do you think I could get in after only two years of college, even with all the requirements fulfilled? Does school name recognition a bigger factor in getting accepted?

 

[PharmMnM]

UCSD is one of the hardest schools to get into. They receive over 2000 applictions for about 70 seats. About 98% of people have had their baclelors degree. Chances of getting into a california school are pretty slim without a bachelors degree.

 

[sdn1977]

I agree with the previous poster....UCSD is as difficult as some of the most difficult schools in the country to be accepted to. Realize also, your AP credits, for UC graduate school admissions, will be looked at as "C's" - pass only. Yeah...it may be unfair, but that is how UC looks at AP classes because there are so many CA students who take them (there is a whole thread somewhere on this topic).

No...name recognition does not mean a whole lot when it comes to prerequisite requirements. It would mean a lot if you received a BS degree - the more difficult the school, the more they know you can handle & will not just accept the course load, but be willing to put yourself out for more.

You need to distance yourself from others beyond your academic capabilities....what else do you have to offer the field of pharmacy? Why do you want to pursue this avenue of careers? What do you & you alone have to contribute to not just the institution you want to be accepted to, but to the field in general????

When you can answer those questions & be able to put those experiences on paper, your time at JH will help. Take this freshman year & pursue what JH has to offer.....you are in a wonderful place to take advantage of lots of opportunities - do it!

Good luck & have fun!

 

[dhimmer1]

Thanks a lot for the imput. I have been struggling figurring out what to do. I am just curious how hard is it to get into University of the Pacific? I know USC would be just as hard as UCSD, if not harder, so I won't even ask. Also, I have more question. I am pretty sure now that I am not going to leave Hopkins just yet, but does not haveing a bachelor's degree hurt your chances of doing some type of research? I know that most people who do research have PhD, but I understand from reading some of the other threads that there are limited number of pharmacists with a PharmD degree who do research after doing a year or two of residency. I was just wondering if I tried to do that if I would run into problems without a bachelor's degree. I know this question probably doesn't really apply to me anymore, but it is hard for me to make decisions until I examine all sides of the picture. I don't know, it's just one of those things. Thanks

 

[Pharm47]

Hi,
I am a freshman at Johns Hopkins University, and like everyone else here, I thought I wanted to go to medical school.

Speak for yourself!

 

[dhimmer1]

Speak for yourself!

ya, maybe I was exaggerating a little bit. I just wish I knew I wanted to be a pharmacist earlier.

 

[starsweet]

Speak for yourself!

I don't know about that. My sister NEVER wanted to be a doctor or go to medical school. She ended up going to Johns Hopkins for undergrad (majored in biomedical engineering) and by the end of her second semester she was already on track with her pre-med requirements. 🙄

 

[sdn1977]

Thanks a lot for the imput. I have been struggling figurring out what to do. I am just curious how hard is it to get into University of the Pacific? I know USC would be just as hard as UCSD, if not harder, so I won't even ask. Also, I have more question. I am pretty sure now that I am not going to leave Hopkins just yet, but does not haveing a bachelor's degree hurt your chances of doing some type of research? I know that most people who do research have PhD, but I understand from reading some of the other threads that there are limited number of pharmacists with a PharmD degree who do research after doing a year or two of residency. I was just wondering if I tried to do that if I would run into problems without a bachelor's degree. I know this question probably doesn't really apply to me anymore, but it is hard for me to make decisions until I examine all sides of the picture. I don't know, it's just one of those things. Thanks

dhimmer - you're just a freshman! Take your time...find out what you want. You've only finished about 2 months - its too soon to really find out what you want to do, especially since you're so confused.

I think you are trying to find the answer before the question has ever been asked. Try lots of classes....chemistry, molecular biology - even bioengineering (or english, history or sociology) ......who knows where they will lead????

Give yourself some time to find what interests you then figure out if you want that to be medicine, pharmacy, dentistry or something more esoteric & academic like research. Go to your career center - check out lab jobs, vounteer in a hospital, shadow a pharmacist or dentist.....you've got lots of options & you're very new to all of this.

Good luck - come back with any other questions!😀

 

[dhimmer1]

Thanks for the help. Im just curious, how tough is it to get into University of the Pacific without a bachelor's degree?

 

[JYim]

it's hard to get into ANY school w/o a bachelor's degree. in CA, it's almost impossible.