Yep, but when you have all the A's you don't have to worry as much about the other stuff. Personally getting the A's was easier than having to stress over doing super good on the PCAT, hoping for a great interview or any of that other junk.
A's in hard classes speak for themselves and you have nothing to prove other than that you are not socially inept which shouldn't be all that hard.
Plus you have more control over getting A's than anything else in the process so why wouldn't you want to take full advantage of it?
I agree to an extent - BUT the PCAT is quite similar to the ACT and I think it should be given equal weight to GPA when making admissions decisions.
Grade inflation is quite common in many colleges (some even practice grade deflation), so comparing GPA's is not always an accurate measure of who's more academically prepared. I've known some students who would just need to show up in class to get a good grade, some had professors who awarded hugh curves, and others who struggled and worked extremely hard with an extremely tough professor and never made a B. Sometimes you don't have as much control over getting A's as you would like to.
The PCAT, like the ACT, is the best measure in comparing college students from various schools, as everyone's being tested on the same content.
It is true that some are not very good test takers, but unfortunately testing does not end with an admission, as we are all aware that passing the NAPLEX is needed to earn your pharmD degree.
I also think that a student with a high GPA that cannot do well on the PCAT after 2-3 times would raise a red flag to admissions officers. Bad test taker excuse would probably not be an indicator because how then can a bad test taker have a high GPA, which is the direct result of achieving high grades on a numerous amount of tests?
There are many applicants with GPA's slightly above 3.0 that have a much more impressive well-roundedness and get accepted, while there are some 4.0ers with nothing but GPA to brag about that get rejected.
The ideal applicant is someone that has an extremely high GPA and PCAT, and has found time to volunteer and have work related experience in the pharmacy field. I wonder how many applicants meet that criteria, and to the ones who do, they deserve a standing ovation!
