Advice Pleaseeeeeee

[mkassir]

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im a junior right now, i want to get into pharmacay at wayne state, my freshman year was a disaster, i have a couple of grades that sucked bad, i had a few C's ,and a D in bio, im retaking all these classes and replacing them with A's and B's, my gpa right now is bad because of that freshman year ( 2.7 ) , but im hoping by the end of the year i will get it up to 3.5 and above after all the class retaking, do i still have a chance in getting into pharmacy, or did my freshman year blow it, is retaking classes going to affect my admission decision, i do have experience from working in a pharmacy for a while, and i have some letters of reccomendation, and im hoping to excell in my pcats, but the damage that was done in my first semesters is done, nothing i can do except retake the classes, getting desperate and upset, please any honest opinions or advice, thank you

 

[PharmacyWannabe]

I'm in the same situation unfortunatley mine if even worse. I messed up my freshman and sophmore year so i'm completley in the hole on this one. I would say that as long as you get your GPA up and you get all your stuff straight you will have no problem getting accepted. You should start to buckle down though.. you have a long stretch ahead of you.

 

[binghamkid]

Don't you guys fret =) I was in the same boat (except i screwed up three and a half years) You guys still have plenty of time to focus and get your GPA up. Remember that your GPA is only ONE component of the admissions process. While it is important, it is also important to have a solid PCAT score, good extracurriculars, good recommendations, and most importantly, a mature and clear understanding of why you want to become a pharmacist.

If the rest of your application is strong, it can make up for a less than stellar GPA, but of course, don't give up!

 

[jspwinter]

Well realistically speaking even though you guys might've gotten more focused and are excelling in your classes now, you have to consider you're competing against all the other applicants who went the full four years who didn't screw up. I hope you guys get accepted to wherever you apply but don't assume that just because you did a complete 360 gives you a "get in for free" card. Just know that you have to work harder than evertybody else and hope you get lucky.

 

[Farmercyst]

Went from 2.8 to 3.59. Got in w/o PCAT. It can happen, it may take 4 years. (Or longer if other things are going on in the background like me: marriage, full-time work, kids, etc)

 

[mkassir]

Went from 2.8 to 3.59. Got in w/o PCAT. It can happen, it may take 4 years. (Or longer if other things are going on in the background like me: marriage, full-time work, kids, etc)

wow, ur my new inspiration lol how did u get in without pcat, and did u get ur bs ? did ur raise ur gpa by retaking classes or did u just take alot of upper level and excelled , let me know what u did 😀

 

[Lurkerkat]

I was in a similar boat also. My freshman year was a lackluster 2.6 and then spring semester of my sophomore year was all withdrawals since I dropped out after the add/drop date. When I returned to college at the age of 21 I worked my ass off since I knew I had to prove that those past grades don't represent me at all. I went for my BS rather than just getting pre-reqs since I knew I need to extra credits to boost my GPA up and graduated with a near 4.0. As a result my cumulative GPA became a 3.6 and I got accepted the first time I applied.

Forget about getting B's in the classes you failed, you need A's. B's will help pull your GPA up, but they won't get it up to a 3.5. Try sitting down, crunching some numbers and seeing how many credit hours you need and what sort of grades you have to get. It helps to have a realistic idea of how long it's going to take and where you can get by on a B and where you absolute need an A.

 

[futurerx212]

Well realistically speaking even though you guys might've gotten more focused and are excelling in your classes now, you have to consider you're competing against all the other applicants who went the full four years who didn't screw up. I hope you guys get accepted to wherever you apply but don't assume that just because you did a complete 360 gives you a "get in for free" card. Just know that you have to work harder than evertybody else and hope you get lucky.

Well youknow, just because someone did well all four years does not automatically give THEM a "get in free card". There are a LOT more dimensions to each applicant. You may be more well rounded and have a better personality than someone with a 4.0. Don't listen about competing with others with perfect GPAs. There's a lot more to consider than the GPA>

 

[jspwinter]

Well youknow, just because someone did well all four years does not automatically give THEM a "get in free card". There are a LOT more dimensions to each applicant. You may be more well rounded and have a better personality than someone with a 4.0. Don't listen about competing with others with perfect GPAs. There's a lot more to consider than the GPA>

Quite true "But" having a good gpa DOES HELP. And how per say is that person who is well rounded / great personality even going to get an offer for an interview if his gpa sucks? Do they have a "Check here if you're a well rounded person" check box? The point here is that you don't have to have a perfect 4.0 or even close to it. But adcoms would like to see someone who is of a competitive and competent nature. And at the interview, that's where they can size you up get a feel for what you are about.
PS No matter how much everyone likes you, if you can't hack it academically, theres no way you'll make it through a graduate school.

 

[Farmercyst]

wow, ur my new inspiration lol how did u get in without pcat, and did u get ur bs ? did ur raise ur gpa by retaking classes or did u just take alot of upper level and excelled , let me know what u did 😀

I got a D in Intro to visual art my first semester. (Notice I'm not in an art field) Retook it the second semester, got another D. It's the only class I ever retook. I did finish my BS. With all the pre-reqs that required prereqs (Trig>Pre-Calc>CalcI>CalcII) I ended up graduating with 200+units. Science GPA was 3.59, Cumulative 3.49. I only applied to schools that didn't require PCAT (USC, Western, LLU, and OSU) accepted to USC and Western from waitlist. Denied w/interview at OSU, denied w/o interview at LLU. I had pharm tech classes (pharmacology, pharmacy calcs, and Pharmacy Systems, as well as medicinal chemistry) So I had decent overall gpa, commitment to pharmacy related coursework, decent LORs, and a couple ECs. It worked out. I'd suggest experience for anyone that doesn't have any though.

 

[rphchase]

Also:

If you are not happy with a grade think twice before re-taking the class. Whatever you do academically will follow you on your transcripts forever. If you do re-take a class it is expected that your new grade will be higher - if not it could be a flag. GPA's are also evaluated in relation to the number of credits taken at a time. Taking a full load and maintaining a B average is much better than taking two classes and getting A's. Adcoms look too see if you are able to handle a large course load.

Watch the number of times you withdraw from a course - too many W's on the transcripts do not look good to adcoms. They will wonder why you withdrew - and certain excuses do not fly - especially if it happens more than once.

They (adcoms) do like to see that future potential candidates are well-rounded and that they can handle more than just their academics. As a pharmacist you cannot be narrow minded and must be able to reason and problem solve using a lot of common sense and skills other than your GPA. There are many students who have great book smarts, or are really good at rote memorization (which can lead to good GPA's) but are unable to translate that into the real world practice of pharmacy.