A Quick Questio about Pharmacy

[drydox]

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You know when you apply for Medical School, they take a look at every grade you have ever had, even from a previous uncompleted bachelors

Is Pharmacy School Applications the same way? Or will you be able to submit just your most recent bachelors - when applying -

 

[Jogbe001]

Ive been taking college credit courses since 8th grade and for a fact i know that they look at every grade even if uncompleted

 

[pharm B]

Yeah, regardless of whether you apply to PharmCAS or non-PharmCAS schools, the odds are that all schools will run your name through an academic clearing house and figure out what schools you've attended. If you leave one off or pretend it never happened, it can really put you in bad waters.

That being said, I'm not sure how GPA calculation works for non-PharmCAS schools with regard to "old" (assuming over 7 years ago or so?) grades. I think my school calculated my pre-req GPA with classes that were less than 5 years old. Not 100% sure on that, though.

Either way, be honest.

 

[chemguy79]

Yeah, regardless of whether you apply to PharmCAS or non-PharmCAS schools, the odds are that all schools will run your name through an academic clearing house and figure out what schools you've attended. If you leave one off or pretend it never happened, it can really put you in bad waters.

That being said, I'm not sure how GPA calculation works for non-PharmCAS schools with regard to "old" (assuming over 7 years ago or so?) grades. I think my school calculated my pre-req GPA with classes that were less than 5 years old. Not 100% sure on that, though.

Either way, be honest.

Exactly. I took college courses in 1997 and those grades were up for discussion. Therefore, you need to send in all of your transcripts.

 

[drydox]

I had 3 years of a 1.6 or 1.7 GPA at Devry University quite a while back, and was thinking about going to a 4 year state school and trying to get into pharmacy school -

(I am confident i can get good grades, not to worried about that) - but back then I was not trying to hard at all, and did not realize your grades would hinder you in future endeavors) -

Yikes

 

[drydox]

Whats the difference between PharmCAS or non-PharmCAS schools?

Sorry for my most basic questions

 

[chemguy79]

I had 3 years of a 1.6 or 1.7 GPA at Devry University quite a while back, and was thinking about going to a 4 year state school and trying to get into pharmacy school -

(I am confident i can get good grades, not to worried about that) - but back then I was not trying to hard at all, and did not realize your grades would hinder you in future endeavors) -

Yikes

You are still able to pursue that option; However, it comes with the caveat that you will be expected to explain your GPA during those years. Having experience in Pharmacy can offer some degree of insight to why you chose this field, etc.

PharmCAS is handles the application process for a majority of pharmacy schools. Regardless of whether you apply to a school that uses PharmCAS or not, you will have to report all grades.

There is a national clearing house that keeps track of when and where you attended an accredited university, so failing to report all transcripts is easily determined by SOP's and your application will be summarily dismissed.

Edited to add that this information is also shown to a SOP when you apply for financial aid. FAFSA keeps records of all federal financial aid that you received. I mention all of this because NUMEROUS students come onto SDN wondering how schools can keep track of whether or not you will get caught for failing to send in all transcripts, so to alleviate that thread from eventually appearing here ...

 

[owlegrad]

Whats the difference between PharmCAS or non-PharmCAS schools?

Sorry for my most basic questions

One uses PharmCAS, the other does not.

 

[pharm B]

One uses PharmCAS, the other does not.

Nail on the head.

The biggest difference is that PharmCAS schools all utilize the cookie cutter method of cramming all candidates into a box, complete with secondary fees, etc.

Non-PharmCAS schools can do whatever they want when it comes to applications. My school had no secondary essay, interview, etc. Also, my school has academic forgiveness, while PharmCAS does not. If you bombed Calculus and got a D 2 years ago, but retook it this year and got an A, PharmCAS averages your A (4.0) + your D (1.0) to give you a total of 2.5 for that class. Academic forgiveness schools will just take your higher letter grade and forget about the lower one.

That can be a big deal depending on how rocky your road has been.

 

[owlegrad]

Someone from my school once told me that having interviews is an accreditation standard. Apparently UF used to not have them, but ACPE made them start. Obviously I cannot vouch for this info, but I trust my source. So I am surprised your school does not have interviews.

And all schools have their own formula for calculating GPA - I have yet to see a school that actually uses the PharmCAS one. So that is not a fair assessment (to say that all PharmCAS schools look at the same GPA). Also most schools have secondary essays and apps, so to say that all PharmCAS schools use a cookie cutter approach...I respectfully disagree. PharmCAS is just a tool to make applying to multiple schools easier. I suppose it must make some part of the process easier for the schools as well, sense so many of them use it.

Nail on the head.

The biggest difference is that PharmCAS schools all utilize the cookie cutter method of cramming all candidates into a box, complete with secondary fees, etc.

Non-PharmCAS schools can do whatever they want when it comes to applications. My school had no secondary essay, interview, etc. Also, my school has academic forgiveness, while PharmCAS does not. If you bombed Calculus and got a D 2 years ago, but retook it this year and got an A, PharmCAS averages your A (4.0) + your D (1.0) to give you a total of 2.5 for that class. Academic forgiveness schools will just take your higher letter grade and forget about the lower one.

That can be a big deal depending on how rocky your road has been.

 

[pharm B]

Someone from my school once told me that having interviews is an accreditation standard. Apparently UF used to not have them, but ACPE made them start. Obviously I cannot vouch for this info, but I trust my source. So I am surprised your school does not have interviews.

Sorry, I meant secondary interviews. 😳

 

[owlegrad]

😛

Sorry, I meant secondary interviews. 😳