Advice on preparing for application?

[Krismeese]

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Hi all, just had few questions. I was planning on applying for 2005, but, alas, I was missing a couple pre-reqs, namely anatomy and med. microbio.

Would I be at a large disadvantage if I took these courses at the local community college? being that I am employed full-time, it would be near impossible to make day classes.

Also, what would you guys suggest doing over the next year to make my application more competitive? I graduated with a Engineering B.S. from a top-15 nationally ranked school (incurred too much debt for an undergrad 😀 ) with a 3.66 GPA and currently work in the medical software industry.

Also, has anyone else looked into/enrolled in UofMichigan-AnnArbor or Univ. Wisc-Madison, or even wayne state university (could be a good back-up) that can offer their experience at those schools?

Sorry about all the questions, and thanks in advance!

 

[Apteka]

Hi all, just had few questions. I was planning on applying for 2005, but, alas, I was missing a couple pre-reqs, namely anatomy and med. microbio.

Would I be at a large disadvantage if I took these courses at the local community college? being that I am employed full-time, it would be near impossible to make day classes.

Also, what would you guys suggest doing over the next year to make my application more competitive?

Hi there, i'm respoding from CA but wanted to give my two cents- there are MANY of us who went back and finished our prereqs at CC's and it worked out well. actually, i felt like i got a lot more out of one of my classes from taking it at a CC. Of course since you're working, it would reflect in your application why you didn't take the courses during the day. 🙂

I'm sure you will get a LOT of wonderful suggestions on how to make your application more competitive, but right now, with all that's going on (with Naproxen, Vioxx, Celebrex, etc.) in the news, it would probably be a great idea to keep up to speed on the developments on all of this and how it's being reported... I can imagine that interviews even this year might ask some potential applicants what they know about what's happening, just to see if they're on the up and up! Another idea is to take a (possibly not too financially lucrative, but enriching) part time job at a local retail pharmacy to see how the day to day workings are, to get a taste of what retail pharmacists do... even if you're interested in going the big pharma route, it would be an easy way to get your foot in the door.. the world of pharmacists is really, really, small, so it can't hurt- it really seems like everyone knows everyone once they've started working! Also, get copies of this year's supplemental applications and keep in mind how you'll be formulating the responses to the many, many essay questions. Some schools ask quite a few ?s about financial, cultural, ethnic, academic challenges, and it's a good idea to have in mind what you'd like to include in your application.

good luck, and happy holidays!

 

[Glycerin]

Have you checked out this thread?

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=139936

🙂

 

[Krismeese]

Thanks guys,

I will definitely look into trying to do some part time or volunteering at a pharmacy during the weekends or something, but not sure if that would be amenable to them hehe. I know hospitals usually take volunteers, although I'm not sure if they ever take any volunteers for the pharm department, but can't hurt to ask I guess 🙂 Anyone do that?

I guess noone here goes to UofM or UW-M hehe, but will look forward to being one of the first 😛 Will probably apply to a couple private schools too just in case, being it seems difficult to get in to a state school from out-of-state, so maybe USC or St. Johns or something.

Thanks again!