Advice please! (recommend retaking 2 together)

[phamm88]

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Hello all!

So this past semester, I made some poor decisions and decided to take three pretty tough courses (in my opinion)

together: organic 2, physics 1, and statistics, and worked 20 plus hours because of financial issues occurring at home. Unfortunately, I was unable to balance my classes and work, etc. and I ended up making D's in both organic 2 and statistics. This made my GPA drop to a 3.01 with a math/science GPA of 2.75.

I am currently on a guaranteed pharmacy program as long as i take all my classes at the institution and if I maintain a 3.0 gpa in both core and math/science and meet the minimum score requirement on the PCATS.

The problem is that the university is going to do a GPA check the end of this summer. I can retake the courses over the summer but the school will only take the average of both grades, which means if I make an A in both courses then I technically have a B / C+ in both classes. I do not know if it is really worth the time and $ to retake the classes together again just to try to stay on the guaranteed program. As all you guys know summer courses are very intense, because it is a shorter amount of time. However, if I were on regular pre-pharmacy track my new grade will replace it.

I am planning to take the PCATS in this June, and lets say I am not a really standarized test-taker. I understand if I do regular admissions I would have to an awesome PCAT score.

 

[Passion4Sci]

Alright, so right now you're not going to stay in the guaranteed pharmacy admissions because your GPA slipped below threshold. You're deciding between re-taking the courses in the summer term in order to be able to stay in the guaranteed admissions. If you get As in both of the classes you got Ds in, will you raise your GPA to >3.0? I would do that math first, because if the answer is no, then I think re-taking them in the summer is pointless, and you should go pre-pharmacy and take the PCAT (No S, btw... where do you people get this idea from?).

If you're going to lose your guaranteed admissions no matter what you do, I don't see how this is even a thread. However, if you can get As in those courses and you can stay in your program, DO IT. Drop EVERYTHING, go on a vow of Ramen and Bread for 3 months, get those As, and get into pharmacy school.

 

[diastole]

Would you be taking both of the courses at the same time during the summer or is there a summer session 1 and summer session 2? If they are both at the same time, it is going to be pretty tough getting As.

If you don't pass the GPA check, are you automatically kicked out of the guaranteed admissions or will you go on probation?

 

[Garfield3d]

You're in a program that guarantees admission into a pharmacy program. It only takes a glance of the topics on this forum to recognize how difficult it can be to gain admission into a program. By dropping out of your guaranteed ticket, you would put yourself in a precarious situation which would be difficult to recover from, seeing as your GPA will be relatively low and that you have stated that you are not very proficient at standardized tests (the PCAT). When considering all of this, I think this is a no-brainer. You should retake those classes this summer unless you are physically or financially unable to do so.

Summer school compresses everything into a short amount of time, but personally, I have found that I actually prefer the focused nature of a summer class. Everything is still fresh in my head when the exam rolls around, and when I study for an exam, I don't have to worry about the material in four other completely unrelated classes.

I'm not sure that you fully realize what is at stake. If you fall out of your coordinated admissions program, then later on you will have to spend hundreds of dollars applying to other pharmacy programs. That doesn't even consider the traveling expenses that will be associated with each interview at each pharmacy school. This, of course, assumes that you are able to make yourself a viable candidate. A GPA in the borderline 3.0 range is going to be borderline for a lot of pharmacy programs. If you can't raise that GPA, then you're going to need an 85% or 90% and above on the PCAT. All of this would only make you competitive, but considering that there are students out there with a 3.5 GPA and a 95%+ PCAT, you'll definitely have your work cut out for you.

In short, take a deep breath, suck it up, and take those classes in the summer. Welcome to college.

--Garfield3d

 

[Passion4Sci]

Garfield's advice is sound.

The only thing s/he does not take into account is whether OP, even through taking the summer courses and getting As, will bring his/her GPA up to the =>3.0 benchmark to remain in the program.

If not, then it seems silly to take the classes in the summer regardless of any outcome which would enable OP to stay in the program.

 

[aboveliquidice]

No point in rehashing the great responses above - Only to say that I agree 100% Forget about the money - Max out your loans - retake Org and Stats and do VERY well.