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Although some of this advice is good for any student applying to pharmacy school, I want to specifically address the pharmacy techs out there. This advice may be too late to help many of you, but hopefully the pharmacy techs you are just starting to take classes will be helped by this.
I served on an admissions committee for ten years at the University of Tennessee and I am now the Associate Dean for student affairs at a California school.
But maybe more importantly, I've been where you are. I worked as a pharmacy tech during the years I did my prerequisites. So I know how tough it can be managing work and classes.
My first bit of advice is to get good grades. I know that only makes sense, but I think some techs feel that their years of experience as a tech and the fact that they got great letters of recommendation from pharmacists they work with will make up for the low grades. But they don't. If your GPA isn't at least 3.0, you will have a difficult time getting into a pharmacy school. But I see applications from techs with GPA's below 2.5, and not only will it be nearly impossible to get into school, but your chance of completing pharmacy school will be pretty low.
Think of the progression of going from undergrad to pharmacy school as being similar to going from a college sports team to the pros. (Although going pro is more competitive than getting into pharmacy school) But the similarity is that the pro's is faster and more complex than college, and to get into the pro's you have to have demonstrated your ability to perform well in. Saying "I know I didn't do well in college but I know I will do well in pharmacy school" doesn't really work.
The second thing I would say is that being a good tech only means you will be a good pharmacist if you are academically prepared to successfully get through pharmacy school. I know this is related to the first thing I said, but a lot of techs think that because they hear pharmacists they work with tell them they would make a great pharmacists, that it is actually true. But remember, those pharmacists don't know about your 2.4 or 2.0 GPA. If they did, they wouldn't be encouraging you to become a pharmacist. They know how difficult pharmacy school is. Being a pharmacists is more than just filling prescriptions or making I.V's, even though it may not seem like it. You actually have to be a medication expert.
And last, I have one questions for you. If you were to consider the amount of knowledge a student has when they complete pharmacy school as 100%, what percent of that knowledge do you think you already have?
If you answered with a number higher than 5 or 10%, you are deluding yourself. I am not trying to be mean. I am just trying to be honest with you and help prevent you from the mistake that some techs make in terms of thinking they already know most of what they need to know. That they just need to go through the process of pharmacy school. I have asked that question to every tech I have interviewed, and all of them stated a percentage much higher than reality. Most say they know 50% or more, which is just crazy.
Again, I'm not trying to be discouraging. I'm trying to be encouraging. Encouraging you to have the right perspective, and encouraging you to put in the hard work to get good grades. But most importantly, especially for those techs who are just starting down the path of taking pre-req courses, I'm trying to prevent you from spending years of your life stressed out by work and school, only to continue to get denied by one school after another. And then having to give up on your dream to become a pharmacist because the thought of having to retake a lot of courses is just too daunting.
There are a lot of other things I could share, but I have gone on long enough. Feel free to reach out to me for advice. It doesn't matter which pharmacy school you plan to apply to, I just want you to have a good chance at being successful. That goes for non-pharmacy techs as well.
I served on an admissions committee for ten years at the University of Tennessee and I am now the Associate Dean for student affairs at a California school.
But maybe more importantly, I've been where you are. I worked as a pharmacy tech during the years I did my prerequisites. So I know how tough it can be managing work and classes.
My first bit of advice is to get good grades. I know that only makes sense, but I think some techs feel that their years of experience as a tech and the fact that they got great letters of recommendation from pharmacists they work with will make up for the low grades. But they don't. If your GPA isn't at least 3.0, you will have a difficult time getting into a pharmacy school. But I see applications from techs with GPA's below 2.5, and not only will it be nearly impossible to get into school, but your chance of completing pharmacy school will be pretty low.
Think of the progression of going from undergrad to pharmacy school as being similar to going from a college sports team to the pros. (Although going pro is more competitive than getting into pharmacy school) But the similarity is that the pro's is faster and more complex than college, and to get into the pro's you have to have demonstrated your ability to perform well in. Saying "I know I didn't do well in college but I know I will do well in pharmacy school" doesn't really work.
The second thing I would say is that being a good tech only means you will be a good pharmacist if you are academically prepared to successfully get through pharmacy school. I know this is related to the first thing I said, but a lot of techs think that because they hear pharmacists they work with tell them they would make a great pharmacists, that it is actually true. But remember, those pharmacists don't know about your 2.4 or 2.0 GPA. If they did, they wouldn't be encouraging you to become a pharmacist. They know how difficult pharmacy school is. Being a pharmacists is more than just filling prescriptions or making I.V's, even though it may not seem like it. You actually have to be a medication expert.
And last, I have one questions for you. If you were to consider the amount of knowledge a student has when they complete pharmacy school as 100%, what percent of that knowledge do you think you already have?
If you answered with a number higher than 5 or 10%, you are deluding yourself. I am not trying to be mean. I am just trying to be honest with you and help prevent you from the mistake that some techs make in terms of thinking they already know most of what they need to know. That they just need to go through the process of pharmacy school. I have asked that question to every tech I have interviewed, and all of them stated a percentage much higher than reality. Most say they know 50% or more, which is just crazy.
Again, I'm not trying to be discouraging. I'm trying to be encouraging. Encouraging you to have the right perspective, and encouraging you to put in the hard work to get good grades. But most importantly, especially for those techs who are just starting down the path of taking pre-req courses, I'm trying to prevent you from spending years of your life stressed out by work and school, only to continue to get denied by one school after another. And then having to give up on your dream to become a pharmacist because the thought of having to retake a lot of courses is just too daunting.
There are a lot of other things I could share, but I have gone on long enough. Feel free to reach out to me for advice. It doesn't matter which pharmacy school you plan to apply to, I just want you to have a good chance at being successful. That goes for non-pharmacy techs as well.
