Am I The Only One

[txsouthernbelle]

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this is my 2nd semester in the pre pharm program, last semster was real shaky for me i got an f in 3 classes and am now on a.p. (history,soc,and speech) how bad will this effect my chance into getting in pharmacy school, but would be the best things for me 2 do...

 

[gators14]

which classes did you get an F in....were you sick during the semester? anything that could contribute to those grades? If you were not feeling well for whatever reason you could get a retro withdrawl......

 

[PharmDJH]

3 F's is pretty bad you really just need to put your head in the game and see if pharmacy is really what you want to do and if it is push your self harder to study as well as probly less partying and more and more study time. I mean F's is hard to come back from but people have done it. By the way are those class for pre q. or gen ed classes?

 

[LowGPAHighPCAT]

this is my 2nd semester in the pre pharm program, last semster was real shaky for me i got an f in 3 classes and am now on a.p. (history,soc,and speech) how bad will this effect my chance into getting in pharmacy school, but would be the best things for me 2 do...

Were there extenuating circumstances which contributed to your poor grades? If there were, you need to document it and be able to explain it and then turn out the highest GPA from here on in that you possibly can. In addition, you'll likely want to repeat the courses that you failed, particularly if those courses are pharmacy pre-reqs (which they probably are). How were your first semester grades?

 

[Me+PharmD]

I received 2 F's in separate semesters 7 years ago and those grades are still affecting my application 20 A's and 1 B later. I would say get your act together because it's incredibly hard to turn your GPA around.

 

[sle3pyguii]

Do you have grade replacement at your school?

For my school, you can retake up to 3 classes using the Grade Replacement. You take the same course (same lecture/section), and you get to replace the previous grade with the new one. The old grade is not counted toward your GPA, but it shows up on your transcipt.

 

[Farmercyst]

this is my 2nd semester in the pre pharm program, last semster was real shaky for me i got an f in 3 classes and am now on a.p. (history,soc,and speech) how bad will this effect my chance into getting in pharmacy school, but would be the best things for me 2 do...

The questions being asked do require honest answers, but in terms of damage done, it depends on which track you intend to take. First of all, fortunately, History and Soc are not that big of a deal. Retake/replace and easily forgotten or don't and still it's recoverable. Speech is one of the minor prerequisites in terms of Pharm School. You will need the skills, but less than orgo or biology/a&p. Again retake/replace and easily forgotten. GPA-wise the damage is more significant if you want to try to get in without a BS/BA and you're intending to apply through PharmCAS. Not that you NEED the BS/BA, but it will take a lot of quarter/semester hours to bring the GPA up to something competitive after getting 3 F's. Not something you can easily repair by just finishing up prereqs. It may take enough units that you'd be better getting the BS/BA by the time the GPA is sufficiently repaired. That's provided you don't become the perfect student and get A's in everything from here on out. PharmCAS becomes important because they do the GPA calculations for the schools and they average ALL grades, so replacing grades doesn't remove them from the PharmCAS GPA calculation like it would at your school and possibly some schools that don't use PharmCAS. If you can find a school that allows for academic forgiveness of recent grades (the only school I've looked into that does academic forgiveness is for grades older than 5 years and you don't want to wait that long) or one that uses your schools calculations after replacement then you may still have a shot of getting in after just completing prereqs. Otherwise I'd say take the four-year path.

 

[Rumplestiltazepam]

As farmercyst said, I think you are on the BS/BA track now.

Also you have to ask yourself if you can be a semi perfect student from here on out. We are talking about almost straight As, to get that GPA up. To heal those Fs, the only remedy is all As from here on out unfortunately.

 

[Farmercyst]

As farmercyst said, I think you are on the BS/BA track now.

Also you have to ask yourself if you can be a semi perfect student from here on out. We are talking about almost straight As, to get that GPA up. To heal those Fs, the only remedy is all As from here on out unfortunately.

I wouldn't say all A's. I've got 2 D's, 2 C's, and a C+ in amongst my A's & B's. You just can't get away with C's as much anymore. You can be less than perfect, just not less than really good.

 

[LowGPAHighPCAT]

I wouldn't say all A's. I've got 2 D's, 2 C's, and a C+ in amongst my A's & B's. You just can't get away with C's as much anymore. You can be less than perfect, just not less than really good.

I would agree with Farmercyst. I carried a 1.5 GPA my first 3 semesters of college (oh yeah, I got some F's). My next 40 hours or so were luke warm (about a 2.3). My final 60 or so were about a 3.75 with my final 25 at a 4.0. My GPA never fully recovered but that upward trend in my GPA speaks volumes about how I would do in pharmacy school - especially since my last 25 hours included a graduate level biochem course, molecular biology and a few other difficult classes. As a result, I have one of the lower GPAs of anybody applying at my school. But with a 95 PCAT, 10 years of tech experience and that upward curve in my GPA, I managed to squeeze my way into an interview. No easy task considering my school takes 200 interviewees and admits 140 of those. Approximately 66% of those who apply at my school are turned down for an interview, so just to receive one means you've done something right. Haven't been accepted yet but I'm really hoping that I get that letter. Anyway, my point is this: Don't give up - strive for perfection. You may not attain it, but you'll certainly set yourself up better for success if you expect it rather than dread it.

Good Luck!

 

[Rumplestiltazepam]

Okay, all As is a little extreme in retrospect but if you can do , do it. Like farmercyst said you really can't get away with Cs now. When I spoke to my advisor last year before applying, she looked over my transcript and told me I "should" retake phsyics I and get rid of the C and retake statistics and get rid of that C. She said she would hate to see something like couple Cs here and there ruin my chances, so from then on I have been afraid of Cs in any amount. I know plenty of people that have gotten in with Cs though. I guess I am rambling on back and forth but stay away from Cs! lol

 

[stylerprodigy]

I would agree with Farmercyst. I carried a 1.5 GPA my first 3 semesters of college (oh yeah, I got some F's). My next 40 hours or so were luke warm (about a 2.3). My final 60 or so were about a 3.75 with my final 25 at a 4.0. My GPA never fully recovered but that upward trend in my GPA speaks volumes about how I would do in pharmacy school - especially since my last 25 hours included a graduate level biochem course, molecular biology and a few other difficult classes. As a result, I have one of the lower GPAs of anybody applying at my school. But with a 95 PCAT, 10 years of tech experience and that upward curve in my GPA, I managed to squeeze my way into an interview. No easy task considering my school takes 200 interviewees and admits 140 of those. Approximately 66% of those who apply at my school are turned down for an interview, so just to receive one means you've done something right. Haven't been accepted yet but I'm really hoping that I get that letter. Anyway, my point is this: Don't give up - strive for perfection. You may not attain it, but you'll certainly set yourself up better for success if you expect it rather than dread it.

Good Luck!

I'm almost the same boat. I was an electrical engineering major for 4 semesters and my GPA went to 1.7. I switched majors to molecular biology and gotten straight A's since. Now, after 6 semesters of straight A's I'm at a 3.13, considering over half of the credits were upper divisional courses and the other half were pre-reqs. Although I haven't applied or took the PCAT yet, I've been told I'm in a good position by other people and my prehealth advisor although I am still skeptical and regret my engineering attempts. I do hope everything goes well for me. And if I can do it, then you can do it (at least pull up your GPA because I haven't applied or accepted yet). Good luck to all of us that are in the same boat!