Accepted with a 60 PCAT
Started by garrettmb
I had a friend who was accepted with a 60% range.
I got a 59 and am a third year now. PCAT scores don't signify anything when it comes to pharmacy coursework. It shouldn't even matter to be honest.
I have a friend at UF who is a second year who got in with a 61
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Which school accepted a PCAT in the 30s?
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damn, are u serious? got in with 30s?!.... please tell me more details. Does he/she got like 4.0 GPA?
This is encouraging news folks. Just saw my scores and was not pleased at all.
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yeah, sucks doesn't it? hopefully you didn't think you did really well, cause it hurts more. Get less than a 40?
Understand that, if you get a score below 60 on the PCAT, you will probably need to have other attributes that are incredible in order to thwart that sort of a "mark." The PCAT is not intended to be the "be all" of an application (if so, I'd feel MUCH more comfortable about my 99th percentile), but it can potentially be the "end all" of an application if you have a low score.
Some people argue the PCAT really shouldn't matter, others it matters most. I feel like it should matter alot because it's the only way to normalize a ton of students applying from different schools. Lets all be honest, it's who your teacher is that makes a huge difference on your grade even within the same school. Obviously it shouldn't be an end all be all, but still...
LOL, why do you think it should weigh a lot? You're in pharmacy school to get your PharmD, not your PcatD. You can fail the test, and still get on the dean's list in pharmacy school. You know why? Because pharmacy school tests you on relevant information that you will use throughout your career...stuff that you just studied in the last 2 weeks for most exams, not stuff that you learned throughout your 4 years in undergrad. Most everything on that test doesn't show up in pharmacy school. The test is worthless. 😎
Maybe your right and I'm just trying to justify studying so much for it. I don't have a great pre-req gpa so I thought my 92 composite might help that. You shot that down. Maybe I'll never get into pharmacy school and get stuck at my 25k a year job answering phones all day. Or maybe I can go back to working at Mcdonalds. 🙁 American dream here I come.
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Haha I'm sure you'll get an interview with a 92 composite so make sure you're prepared to answer the questions the way they want them to be answered lol.
How do interviewers want their questions to be answered, what you mean by that?
With empathy, and professionally, and everything else a pharmacist needs to be successful at their career.
I think that the OP means that you should answer the questions without sounding like a tool. LOL
Seriously though, all of these things like PCAT, Science GPA, Cumulative GPA, etc. are merely tools to get you into the door for the interview process. What you show during your interview (with respect to personality, professionalism, intellect) will be a larger role in terms of showing whether you are capable of being in pharmacy school. If you act as if you've been raised by wolves, under a bridge, and have the social skills that make Helen Keller look conversational, there's a good chance that perfect stats won't get you accepted to pharmacy school.
You think that the PCAT should test us on things we learn in pharm school? How does that make sense? 😕 That's called the NAPLEX 😎
I agree with this. Right now, the PCAT is the best thing there is that does this, but it should not be the only deciding factor.
The PCAT is meant to be a field leveler for various pharmacy applicants regardless of what school you may have attended. It was suppose to serve as a yardstick for your performance much the same way that MCAT scores correlate with performance in medical school. However, with that being said... it does in no way predict your performance due to it's lack of rigor. This is why a lot of pharmacy schools do not put a big emphasis on how one does on the PCAT as compared to other entrance exams.
As for the test being worthless... I would agree for reasons different from those stated. It simply is not a good marker for skills needed for a pharmacist. You need critical thinking skills, the ability to understand concepts, apply information... which currently the PCAT does a horrible job doing. If and when they do change it for the better, then I would endorse it.
To answer the OP's question - yes, a technician in the pharmacy where I work got in to our state school as an alternate with a sub-50 score. She wouldn't divulge her actual score because she was embarrassed, but she would confirm it was under 50. She was initially rejected after an interview, but ended up getting called the week before classes started due to other people not accepting spots. I think her GPA was above 3.0 but not stellar and she had about 3 years of pharmacy experience on her side.
As for the PCAT and it's usefulness - I suppose the test could be re-designed to make it more applicable to the specific subjects focused on in pharmacy school, but at the end of the day, it is a general knowledge exam in areas that pharmacy schools have deemed important for success in school. Whether or not that's accurate - well, I'm sure it isn't. I'm also 100% sure that I did NOT need to take calculus prior to pharmacy school to be successful, yet I'm sure most schools still require it, get my drift?
Some people are good at standardized exams, some are not - they will never be truly accurate predictors of success in the programs they are designed to screen for. However, I could argue that the exams I've taken in pharmacy school haven't been accurate predictors of how good I'll be as a pharmacist. It reminds me of a fellow student (from a different school) that I worked with on a rotation - she has a 4.0 and is certainly intelligent and I'm sure she did well on the PCAT. However, she admitted that she studied and did well on exams but then essentially dumped the information...there were some pretty basic questions (IMHO) that she was unable to answer over the course of our rotation. That doesn't mean she won't be a good pharmacist...but I feel much more confident in my level of knowledge even though my GPA isn't perfect, KWIM?
Maybe that comparison isn't valid...I'm bored on my current rotation and my mind is wandering. Ultimately, my point is that you should try to do as well as you can on the PCAT, but don't let it discourage you if your scores aren't quite as high as you'd like. Good luck to all.
As for the PCAT and it's usefulness - I suppose the test could be re-designed to make it more applicable to the specific subjects focused on in pharmacy school, but at the end of the day, it is a general knowledge exam in areas that pharmacy schools have deemed important for success in school. Whether or not that's accurate - well, I'm sure it isn't. I'm also 100% sure that I did NOT need to take calculus prior to pharmacy school to be successful, yet I'm sure most schools still require it, get my drift?
Some people are good at standardized exams, some are not - they will never be truly accurate predictors of success in the programs they are designed to screen for. However, I could argue that the exams I've taken in pharmacy school haven't been accurate predictors of how good I'll be as a pharmacist. It reminds me of a fellow student (from a different school) that I worked with on a rotation - she has a 4.0 and is certainly intelligent and I'm sure she did well on the PCAT. However, she admitted that she studied and did well on exams but then essentially dumped the information...there were some pretty basic questions (IMHO) that she was unable to answer over the course of our rotation. That doesn't mean she won't be a good pharmacist...but I feel much more confident in my level of knowledge even though my GPA isn't perfect, KWIM?
Maybe that comparison isn't valid...I'm bored on my current rotation and my mind is wandering. Ultimately, my point is that you should try to do as well as you can on the PCAT, but don't let it discourage you if your scores aren't quite as high as you'd like. Good luck to all.
To answer the OP's question - yes, a technician in the pharmacy where I work got in to our state school as an alternate with a sub-50 score. She wouldn't divulge her actual score because she was embarrassed, but she would confirm it was under 50. She was initially rejected after an interview, but ended up getting called the week before classes started due to other people not accepting spots. I think her GPA was above 3.0 but not stellar and she had about 3 years of pharmacy experience on her side.
As for the PCAT and it's usefulness - I suppose the test could be re-designed to make it more applicable to the specific subjects focused on in pharmacy school, but at the end of the day, it is a general knowledge exam in areas that pharmacy schools have deemed important for success in school. Whether or not that's accurate - well, I'm sure it isn't. I'm also 100% sure that I did NOT need to take calculus prior to pharmacy school to be successful, yet I'm sure most schools still require it, get my drift?
Some people are good at standardized exams, some are not - they will never be truly accurate predictors of success in the programs they are designed to screen for. However, I could argue that the exams I've taken in pharmacy school haven't been accurate predictors of how good I'll be as a pharmacist. It reminds me of a fellow student (from a different school) that I worked with on a rotation - she has a 4.0 and is certainly intelligent and I'm sure she did well on the PCAT. However, she admitted that she studied and did well on exams but then essentially dumped the information...there were some pretty basic questions (IMHO) that she was unable to answer over the course of our rotation. That doesn't mean she won't be a good pharmacist...but I feel much more confident in my level of knowledge even though my GPA isn't perfect, KWIM?
Maybe that comparison isn't valid...I'm bored on my current rotation and my mind is wandering. Ultimately, my point is that you should try to do as well as you can on the PCAT, but don't let it discourage you if your scores aren't quite as high as you'd like. Good luck to all.
Where's the like button?
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my ex got in from a Community college with just prereq's a 3.8gpa and a 50 on the PCAT....lecom bradenton second year now
i totally agree! and they go so far out of their way to broadcast it too, like adding it to their signature to rub it in our faces every single post they make.
I got in with a score in the 60s, i dont think its that important.
It's not important. Too bad most schools think it is!
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My friend got into a school in Maine with a 35 PCAT composite
It really depends on the school ... I know some schools won't even consider you if your composite or a subsection score is below a certain threshold .. and its usually 50% composite ..
So yeah, you can get admitted with a 60 PCAT
It really depends on the school ... I know some schools won't even consider you if your composite or a subsection score is below a certain threshold .. and its usually 50% composite ..
So yeah, you can get admitted with a 60 PCAT
I had a 96 PCAT - didn't even get interviews. GPA at the time was around 3.5 - applying as a Canadian to US schools. Wouldn't even dream of applying now even with a 100 PCAT to an established US pharm school (GPA is too low). Good PCAT doesn't solve everything 🙂
i got interviews with my score being 33... i retook and got only a 51 and got accepted to 2/3 schools that i interviewed at so far... still waiting to hear back from the one tho.. i just kept calling and emailing the adcom and telling them how badly i wanted to go to pharmacy school in the fall and that i really am just not a good standardized test taker
I got interviews at 2 schools, accepted to one, wait listed at the other one with a 37 on the PCAT. My GPA is 3.3 with A's in organic chem. Really good LORs and little pharmacy experience. I have a lot of volunteer work (mostly church stuff), I also have a degree in Exercise Science. I was told that many schools look for a "well-rounded" student, not just a PCAT score and high GPA but they do take Chemistry classes very seriously. So if you do bad on the PCAT, let your other areas shine 🙂
I also got accepted into pharmacy school at VCU in VA with a 51 PCAT score (up from a 37 the first time I took it) and a 3.3 GPA. I got A's and B's in OChem and GenChem. Pharmacy schools look for well rounded students...not just students who can do well on tests. Good luck everyone!
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