Admission Application USN/ISU -- need help

[TwinkleTwinkle]

I am applying to USN and ISU in the fall and was hoping someone knew what I should expect on their applications (type of questions etc.). I switched from pre-med to pre-Pharm in May and feel a little out of my element. I have decided not to take the PCAT (Not sure if that is a smart move) and just apply to these two schools this year because they are of my highest interest. I have a 3.93 GPA with all the pre-req's completed. I have extensive research experience (this is the field I hope to go into with my PharmD) and leadership experience. I have shadowed a local pharmacy and will most likely shadow a clinical pharmacist involved in phase 1 research by the end of the summer. I also spoke with a hospital pharmacist about the scope that covers. I have a lot of service and work in a chem lab. I am spending a lot of time researching different aspects and solidifying why I want to go into pharmacy. I just wish I could prepare more for the application. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
(Also I heard from someone that USN is a school for mainly the consumer end of pharmacy, do they not want to hear that I am more interested in the research aspect?)

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[rxforlife2004]

I am applying to USN and ISU in the fall and was hoping someone knew what I should expect on their applications (type of questions etc.). I switched from pre-med to pre-Pharm in May and feel a little out of my element. I have decided not to take the PCAT (Not sure if that is a smart move) and just apply to these two schools this year because they are of my highest interest. I have a 3.93 GPA with all the pre-req's completed. I have extensive research experience (this is the field I hope to go into with my PharmD) and leadership experience. I have shadowed a local pharmacy and will most likely shadow a clinical pharmacist involved in phase 1 research by the end of the summer. I also spoke with a hospital pharmacist about the scope that covers. I have a lot of service and work in a chem lab. I am spending a lot of time researching different aspects and solidifying why I want to go into pharmacy. I just wish I could prepare more for the application. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
(Also I heard from someone that USN is a school for mainly the consumer end of pharmacy, do they not want to hear that I am more interested in the research aspect?)

Wow..impressive..you shouldn't worry 2 much. you can apply for a NASA job too...with that profile

 

[overhillpharmer]

Considering your ECs and your high GPA you might be safe applying to just 2 schools. There is definately a chance that they may not even interview you at ISU. They only interviewed 30 non-Idaho residents for the class of 2011. My GPA was fairly high (not as good as yours) and I was denied an interview. I did get into USN though. I think I was one of the last persons that they offered a seat. It was my first interview of four. Go to the USN and ISU websites and download USN's pdf application and follow links on the ISU website to set up an account for applying. Neither costs any money until you actually send in a physical snail mail check for the application fee.

From the information you mentioned in your post, you will probably safely get into USN. That being said, I would not put all my eggs in 2 baskets. The expense of applications, assessment tests, and getting to interviews is nothing compared to the expense of pharmacy school itself or worse yet waiting 1 more year to get your seat. I would take the PCAT. You will probably do stellar especially if all your pre-reqs are within the last 3 years. There may be some great schools of real interest to you that require the PCAT. I did really well on the PCAT and it gave me real confidence that my pursuit of a pharmacy career was the right one.

 

[Moxxie]

I am applying to USN and ISU in the fall and was hoping someone knew what I should expect on their applications (type of questions etc.). I switched from pre-med to pre-Pharm in May and feel a little out of my element. I have decided not to take the PCAT (Not sure if that is a smart move) and just apply to these two schools this year because they are of my highest interest. I have a 3.93 GPA with all the pre-req's completed. I have extensive research experience (this is the field I hope to go into with my PharmD) and leadership experience. I have shadowed a local pharmacy and will most likely shadow a clinical pharmacist involved in phase 1 research by the end of the summer. I also spoke with a hospital pharmacist about the scope that covers. I have a lot of service and work in a chem lab. I am spending a lot of time researching different aspects and solidifying why I want to go into pharmacy. I just wish I could prepare more for the application. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
(Also I heard from someone that USN is a school for mainly the consumer end of pharmacy, do they not want to hear that I am more interested in the research aspect?)

Twinkle - My GPA was similar to yours and I had a lot of research experience (in fact, I had completed 2.5 years of a PhD program). I had shadowed several clinical pharmacists but had no retail experience when I applied to ISU. I got in with no problems. However, I applied as an in-state student. ISU really prefers in-state students - less than 20% of each class is from out-of-state. Another thing - ISU is now requiring applicants to have at least 72 credits of undergrad work completed before enrolling - are you there yet?

If you really want to do research, ISU wouldn't be a bad place - they are always looking for more grad students (PharmD/PhD). But I would seriously look into the research that is being done at ISU to see if it's what you would like to do - you'd most likely be working under one the professors there in the same line of study.