Advisor's gone: Need some advice

[johnanderson]

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So due to the unexpected leaving of my pharmacy adviser the entire pharmacy department is now stuck with one adviser for 1200 pre-pharm students. As you can imagine I havn't gotten any email replies from her about my questions let alone try to schedule an appointment with her. So anyways, I thought I'd try here to get my answers instead. So right now I'm applying for schools for fall of '08. Currently my choices are :University of Arizona (where I currently go), University of Ohio, University of Florida, University of Washington (Seattle), University of Nebraska, and possibly University of Kansas. I would basically like to know my probability of getting into any one of these schools. Here is a list of my background:

Science GPA:

According to the U of A: 3.44
According to pharmcas: No clue, haven't sent them my transcript yet


PCAT:

Verbal 79
Biology 69
Reading 61
Quantative 95
Chemistry 87
Composite 86
Essays:
Conventional 4.0
Problem Solving 3.0


Work experience:

8 months Entomology lab research
3 months RNA lab research

Research experience:

2 years DNA lab research

Volunteer Experience:

Currently volunteering at a hospital and shadowing an ICU clinical pharmacist


Degrees:

BS in Molecular and Cellular Biology w/ Minor in Chemistry from University of Arizona (graduating Spring '08 😀)


So there it is. Before my adviser unexpectedly left she told me that I had a pretty good chance at getting into the pharmacy program at the U of A with my background and my degree. However, she never got a chance to sit in the interviews so she didn't really know alot about what the committee was looking for. So right now I'm looking for the best chance I have at getting into a good pharm program nest year. If anyone has any other schools they'd like to throw out that are accredited I'm open to suggestions. Also, I'm signed up to take the October PCAT but it seems my score is adequate for most schools. Would it hurt to just take it again without preparing since most schools look at the highest score or would it be better to just cancel right now instead of risking the possibility of getting a lower score? I don't really have the time I had to study for it like I did earlier in the summer so I don't know if I will do better. Thanks.

 

[sle3pyguii]

Wooo!! A fellow Arizona Wildcat!


From the email the CoP sent out last year, you have a good shot of getting an interview spot. Why not apply to Midwestern also? I think they have similar admission rates.

 

[confettiflyer]

you guys have pharmacy advisors? haha, i went through 4 years of college not seeing an counselor, i just plodded along by myself.

 

[Knickerbocker]

You have 1200 pre-pharms at your school? Wow. There must be 6.02*10^23 pre-meds, then.

We have a pharmacy advisor at my school, but he doesn't do anything other than tell freshman what classes to take (in general, for all schools). Beyond that, he doesn't help with any specifics.

 

[fenixtnlfan]

Your GPA and PCAT fall into about the average scores for those accepted into pharm schools. Your work experience and degree will help you out a bit. From what I've seen on this forum, Florida is really hard to get into unless you are an in-state resident and have a high GPA. You should do a little research on the schools you are applying to and look at their class statistics to gauge how you rank. Taking the PCAT again won't hurt you, but if you don't have time to prepare its probably not worth spending the money and sitting through that long day. An 86 is a competitive score.

 

[fenixtnlfan]

You have 1200 pre-pharms at your school? Wow. There must be 6.02*10^23 pre-meds, then.

6.02x10^23=good number...lol. Actually it seems more common for people to be pre-pharm at UA. However, the number of people who actually stay on that route probably dwindles a lot after the first year.

 

[johnanderson]

Your GPA and PCAT fall into about the average scores for those accepted into pharm schools. Your work experience and degree will help you out a bit. From what I've seen on this forum, Florida is really hard to get into unless you are an in-state resident and have a high GPA. You should do a little research on the schools you are applying to and look at their class statistics to gauge how you rank. Taking the PCAT again won't hurt you, but if you don't have time to prepare its probably not worth spending the money and sitting through that long day. An 86 is a competitive score.

Thanks. I've basically already registered for the PCAT and paid for in about two months ago just in case but I guess I don't really need to retake it, which is why I was wondering if it would hurt me or not. I guess if it doesn't matter I'll sit through it again since there's always the possibility of getting a higher score. As for the schools I'm applying to I just picked them according to the rankings, which according to this forum I hear don't really matter. I just thought that applying wouldn't hurt since the more schools I apply to the higher the chance I have of getting into one, and thats a year I don't have to waste if I don't get accepted. Oh, and the reason I picked Florida was b/c thats where I spent a summer working in the RNA research lab and I really liked it down there. But if its that competitive to get into then I guess I might just skip it.

And yea, the advisers at my school really only help you plan out classes, but you can basically go without one since they give you a 4 year plan your freshman year. Heck, one of my Computer Engineering friends said the only adviser for his whole department left during the summer and they still haven't replaced her

 

[fenixtnlfan]

I think some schools do average your scores. Not completely sure on that though. Just research it a bit at the schools you want to apply to. Sorry I didn't put that in my original post.

 

[johnanderson]

Yea, I'm pretty sure most of the schools I'm applying to just look at the highest score. Also if rankings don't matter then I guess I'll look into other schools that I have the best chance of getting into. Can anyone recommend any other resources besides aacp that might have info on the school acceptance rates(instate/outstate), tuition, pre-reqs, ect? I know the pharmcas website has these but not all colleges use pharmcas. Thanks.

 

[omnione]

You have 1200 pre-pharms at your school? Wow. There must be 6.02*10^23 pre-meds, then.

We have a pharmacy advisor at my school, but he doesn't do anything other than tell freshman what classes to take (in general, for all schools). Beyond that, he doesn't help with any specifics.

😱

I want to know why more of these people aren't on SDN!😀

 

[johnanderson]

Well, I just started my volunteering yesterday and it seems alot of techs there are also applying to the college of pharmacy. There are also some people there that are current pharmacy students and some that are graduated. I also found out that the pharmacy director for the hospital was on the admissions committee last year. Right now I'm filling out my applications so I'm wondering if theres anything else I should be worrying about. It seems that some of the techs have previously applied and didn't get in and now I'm kinda worried about that. One even had the same PCAT score as me. Is there a way I can make myself more distinguishable or am I just worrying too much?

Edit: I forgot to ask, there are some schools that require prereqs that I havn't taken yet, mostly statistics and physiology. Should I still apply to those schools even if I don't have the prereqs? I've read some old topics on this and it seems that they will still consider you if you have the prereqs done before you start their program.

 

[binghamkid]

😱

I want to know why more of these people aren't on SDN!😀

They probably are....just lurking 🙄