A few simple questions...

[dubLeE]

Hello everyone! I love these forums. I've gained some much knowledge Pharm school all in place! However, there are a few things that I can't figure out or just am not sure.

I am currently a student Penn State University (University Park, Main Campus) and am a junior (gonna start my 6th semester). Right now, I'm majoring biotechnology however recently I've had a growing interest in Pharmacy. And am highly thinking about applying to a Pharmacy school. However, I can't figure out what exactly I should be applying for.

Should I be applying for a Pharm.D? How long does this usually take (3-6 years more after I get my BS in biotechnology, right)?

Since I am in my 6th semester when should I start applying? I was thinking about taking the PCATs late summer/early fall and start applying in fall. Is that too late?

Also, I am no exactly sure what I should be researching exactly for Pharmacy schools besides the requirements and what not. What are something I should pay attention to? Or must have researched? Any sort of help or guidance in the right direction will be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

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[PharmDapplicant]

If you want to be a Pharmacist, which I am assuming, then you should be applying for the Pharm D professional program. There are a few Pharmacy schools that have an accelerated 3 year program, but most of them are 4 years. As of right now you only need your AA to apply, however you do need to finish all of the pre-pharmacy coursework your school requires before fall of the entering year. You should take your PCAT and start applying as soon as possible.
Most schools accept applications through Pharmcas. Go to www.pharmcas.org to start the application. There is also a link on pharmcas for school pages which list the pharmcas schools and their requirements, you might want to visit that as well. Hope this helped, good luck with everything.

 

[WhiteSnows]

Besides prerequisites, most schools require 2 to 3 letter of recommendation, personal essay, pharmacy experience, Volunteering hours, good grades, Pcat.

Your most urgent things to do:
- Get either working in Pharmacy, or volunteer in pharmacy.
-Take the Pcat (Verbal, reading, Chemistry, Maths, Biology, Writing)
- Get a good GPA. About 3.5 of above, some schools do accept below that average.
- Write a personal essay. How to write? Go to Pharmcas and read the instruction, also you can find a lot of information in SDN.

When to apply:

- Apply through pharmcas. www.pharmcas.com
- Pharmacas starts receiving applications in July.
- It takes them up to 5 weeks to calculate your GPA, so send them transcript as soon as possible.
- Before Christmas, it is considered to be early.
- After Chritmas, it is late, but it is not too late if you are done with pharmcas.
- After Christmas, and you have not summit your pharmcas with payment. You should apply next year.

 

[dubLeE]

Thanks guys!

So based on what you said, it would actually be better for me to take the PCATS by June? I should be done all the pre-reqs for pharmacy school by then minus maybe a class or two which I will be doing over the summer.

- Before Christmas, it is considered to be early.
- After Chritmas, it is late, but it is not too late if you are done with pharmcas.
- After Christmas, and you have not summit your pharmcas with payment. You should apply next year.

When you say Christmas, is that the Christmas of my senior year? Right now I am in my Spring semester of junior year.

My GPA right now is horrible but I am confident I can bring it up to at least a 2.9-3.0 which is pretty low. Right now I have experience of around 120 hours in a lab and by the time I graduate I should have close 400-500 hours of research experience.