Advice

[SpitFiR3]

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Hi. I need someone to give me some career counseling.

Here is my situation. I will be senior in college next year and thinking of going to a pharmacy school. My GPA is 3.2 cummulative with mostly A-/A/B+/B in core science and upper division science. I did bad in my first two year but I had good trend in grade with science and breadth class.

I have yet to do any pharmacy experience. If I decided to work 8 hrs/day for a month totaling 160hrs. I will also be thinking of volunteering a couple hours a week during the school year. Would this sastisfy the experience needed? I have yet to taken any leadership position due to my pure laziness. Also, I have yet to take a speech class. Can I delay it till next summer (summer b4 enter pharm school) or do I have to take it at a nearby JC while taking class at a UC?

Given all this, what is my chances of getting to UOP, LVN (sp?), Hawaii, and Western.

Thank you

 

[npp71681]

Hi!
SpitFiR3,

I think you got lot of time to do this volunteering, leaderships, and etc. As you said that you've 1 year left so you can improve your GPA really easy.

Pharmacy schools are not just looking for GPA, they look for all kinds of stuff, such as, PCAT, Personal Statement, Interview, & Letters of Recomondation.

So, you got plenty of time to do this things.

I hope this helps!

 

[afrikankoffee]

I hope you have a good rapport with some of your professors. I will say it now; it's in your best interest to build strong academic/work relationships with profs, advisors and pharmacists now. You still have a year left- so it's very doable. You're going to be thankful if you do come time to ask for letters of recommendation. Don't sacrifice your grades in the process though. Best of luck 🙂

 

[PharmDMD]

Pharmacy schools, thankfully, are not like many medical or dental schools which derive solely on the numbers game. Yes, you have to perform well and you need to bring your GPA up, but it doesn't close the door if you have a certain GPA or PCAT score. You are evaluated as a whole person before the Adcom decides to offer an interview or an offer of acceptance. As Afrikankoffee said earlier, have a good rapport with your profs and other potential persons who can write a great recc letter. Some schools do not require a minimum hour of Rx volunteer time (verify first if this is the case with your schools of interest) Many of the Texas schools for example have eliminated this prerequisite (so the experience on your apps are more like sprinkles on the ice cream). While some say it's good to work in these positions because you'll have a better idea of what Rx is about, this is only true to an extent. Pharmacy is not just the Walgreens across the street. Few applicants have experience in the hospital arena and certainly fewer have come from nuclear pharmacy, clinic pharmacy, mail order pharmacy, consulting pharmacy experience. None can certainly gain knowledge in areas such as Academia or Clinical Pharmacy wherein extensive training in Pharmacy is required including that of a residency/fellowship. Read articles the glean of the experiences from other practitioners in the field so that you can offer your interviewer a candidate who understands pharmacy from a broader perspective than just community. Know about these prospective programs, learn what developments are taking place in these schools, so that you may be able to ask educated questions during the time of interview that will impress the interviewer of your knowledge extending past knowing the name of the college of pharmacy. While becoming involved in school extra currics are nice, it doesnt necessarily guarantee admissions into a Rx school. Academic performance often receives more scrutiny then whether someone was the president of the Pre-Pharmacy Association. Look at your current activities, perhaps you already volunteer or are involved in some community service indirectly. Adcoms wanna make sure you're not just 100% student and that you have a life away from the books that's meaningful (couch potato can't be listed under Extracurrics)

Good luck!!

Harold DelasAlas, Pharm.D.
UH College of Pharmacy Alumni '04
UTMB School of Medicine '08

 

[SpitFiR3]

I'm currently healing from a surgery I received 2 weeks ago. I was able to meet a really great doctor (he was name #1 in America for his practice a few year back). I hope that by volunteering 8hrs/day for at least a month (approx. 1 month after procedure) b4 school start, I can show how dedicate I'm into pharmacy through the gruesome procedure I just had. Of course I will also be volunteering during school this year.

Also, I'm working on a good letter recommendation from this Dr., a pharmacist, ochem teacher (he wrote one) and and an employer (IT work at school) for 2 years. I hope that woud increase my chance a little.

Another question, should I bother with the PCAT if I wanted to go to those schools mentioned above? (Which I dont think require)

Thank you for all your advices. It really give me a sense of direction.

 

[pharmdgrl]

I'm currently healing from a surgery I received 2 weeks ago. I was able to meet a really great doctor (he was name #1 in America for his practice a few year back). I hope that by volunteering 8hrs/day for at least a month (approx. 1 month after procedure) b4 school start, I can show how dedicate I'm into pharmacy through the gruesome procedure I just had. Of course I will also be volunteering during school this year. QUOTE]

Sounds like a good personal statement topic too!