Am I the only one

[Leper Messiah]

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Hey guys, new member here, but I've been lurking for awhile. Am I the only one pulling my hair out over the fact that EVERY pharmacy school has a different set of requirements? Seriously, what's the point of getting a pre-pharmacy degree when I have to spend another year taking classes just to be considered eligible for a pharmacy school?

I suppose I should give some basic background info about myself. I am 22, graduating this May with an AS in Pre-Pharmacy. I have a 3.4 GPA at the moment, I took the PCAT for the first time in January and scored in the 70th percentile (with a 91 Biology and 85 Chemistry), I have 2 LORs from the Biology department already, and I will likely get one from my Organic chemistry professor as well. In other words, I should look great on an application, aside from the fact that I'll be an old man before I satisfy the additional requirements for the schools I'm applying to.

I'd Love to go to UGA or Mercer (I live in Ga), but I have to have a total of 90 credit hours ON A "2-YEAR" DEGREE to even be considered for mercer, and UGA wants me to take 9 hours of "world culture" classes like a foreign language, anthropology, history, world religion or some other such bull**** that isn't the least bit relevant to the practice of pharmacy.

I guess my question to this community is what do you guys do about additional classes after you get your Pre-pharmacy degree? do you just keep going to your college and taking the classes to satisfy every school you send an application to, or do you apply to the schools first, and then load up on classes during the summer semester after you get accepted? I'm potentially looking at Psychology, Spanish, A&P 1 and 2, Religion, Microbiology, Biochemistry, Molecular genetics, Physics 2, Immunology, Etc.. When does it end? why is there no nationwide standard for Pharmacy degrees set by the AACP?

Also, I know there are admissions officers on these forums, why does almost every school require PharmCAS, AND a supplemental ($$$) application? doesn't that eliminate the purpose of pharmCAS?

 

[Skrumpy]

Hey guys, new member here, but I've been lurking for awhile. Am I the only one pulling my hair out over the fact that EVERY pharmacy school has a different set of requirements? Seriously, what's the point of getting a pre-pharmacy degree when I have to spend another year taking classes just to be considered eligible for a pharmacy school?

I suppose I should give some basic background info about myself. I am 22, graduating this May with an AS in Pre-Pharmacy. I have a 3.4 GPA at the moment, I took the PCAT for the first time in January and scored in the 70th percentile (with a 91 Biology and 85 Chemistry), I have 2 LORs from the Biology department already, and I will likely get one from my Organic chemistry professor as well. In other words, I should look great on an application, aside from the fact that I'll be an old man before I satisfy the additional requirements for the schools I'm applying to.

I'd Love to go to UGA or Mercer (I live in Ga), but I have to have a total of 90 credit hours ON A "2-YEAR" DEGREE to even be considered for mercer, and UGA wants me to take 9 hours of "world culture" classes like a foreign language, anthropology, history, world religion or some other such bull**** that isn't the least bit relevant to the practice of pharmacy.

I guess my question to this community is what do you guys do about additional classes after you get your Pre-pharmacy degree? do you just keep going to your college and taking the classes to satisfy every school you send an application to, or do you apply to the schools first, and then load up on classes during the summer semester after you get accepted? I'm potentially looking at Psychology, Spanish, A&P 1 and 2, Religion, Microbiology, Biochemistry, Molecular genetics, Physics 2, Immunology, Etc.. When does it end? why is there no nationwide standard for Pharmacy degrees set by the AACP?

Also, I know there are admissions officers on these forums, why does almost every school require PharmCAS, AND a supplemental ($$$) application? doesn't that eliminate the purpose of pharmCAS?

Well most schools have a different set of requirements because they build their programs a bit differently. They also hold certain things more important than others. TBH, and definitely not putting you or others with it down, but I think a "pre-pharmacy degree" is worthless. To me it screams "I want to take the fast track to get into pharmacy school." However, perhaps that is just me and also the fact that no schools offer such a degree in my state. Here you either just do all the prereqs (no degree) or you get a BA/BS degree. If you are going to do all those additional courses you may as well roll it into a BA/BS and set yourself apart from the pack a bit.

I also pondered the "world culture" courses and despite the fact that they aren't distinct pre-pharmacy courses I would say they are all fairly relevant on some level. I have a minor in anthropology and as you are working in human health doing additional work in the "science of humanity" makes perfect sense as a foundation for pharmacy. Also a lot of schools these days are really emphasizing diversity and well-roundedness, so sticking to straight hard science courses is usually a fast track to a decline or wait list. Surprisingly, I found my anthropology courses more mentally stimulating than many of my hard science courses. In anthropology you are encouraged to think and question the material.. in the hard sciences you are told "this does that" and the only time you question something is when you aren't sure how it works.

Not every school requires a supplemental. Most that I've seen that do tend to be more competitive schools and they use it as an additional measure to select candidates.

 

[Leper Messiah]

Well, I am aware that preference is given to people with higher degrees, so I plan to get an AS in Biology this winter since I have most of the prereqs anyway. Also I guess it's always something to fall back on if I don't get into Pharmacy school anytime soon. I can take all of those extra classes and get an easy GPA boost, but I just hate that it's so much extra effort.

 

[Skrumpy]

Well, I am aware that preference is given to people with higher degrees, so I plan to get an AS in Biology this winter since I have most of the prereqs anyway. Also I guess it's always something to fall back on if I don't get into Pharmacy school anytime soon. I can take all of those extra classes and get an easy GPA boost, but I just hate that it's so much extra effort.

Yea it is extra effort but I would try to think about it as a way to expand your mind and not simply a GPA boost. It will help to choose courses that at least sound somewhat interesting. I took a class on Roman Art and Architecture.. initially thought it would be the most boring subject ever. Turned out to be pretty cool, and I got to amaze my GF with a few tidbits of knowledge that I actually remembered from the course the other day when we toured a museum. Also another class I figured would be useless was Frameworks of Sustainability. That class changed my life and had the best professor I've ever had bar none. Just amazing in how he approached the class and how he challenged us to think. So if you go into it with a different mindset you may actually enjoy yourself. Try not to think of it as hurdles you have to get over in order to get to what you want. You may have fun and you'll notice that the time will seem to go by much quicker.

 

[y0ssarian87]

Yea it is extra effort but I would try to think about it as a way to expand your mind and not simply a GPA boost. It will help to choose courses that at least sound somewhat interesting. I took a class on Roman Art and Architecture.. initially thought it would be the most boring subject ever. Turned out to be pretty cool, and I got to amaze my GF with a few tidbits of knowledge that I actually remembered from the course the other day when we toured a museum. Also another class I figured would be useless was Frameworks of Sustainability. That class changed my life and had the best professor I've ever had bar none. Just amazing in how he approached the class and how he challenged us to think. So if you go into it with a different mindset you may actually enjoy yourself. Try not to think of it as hurdles you have to get over in order to get to what you want. You may have fun and you'll notice that the time will seem to go by much quicker.

I wholeheartedly agree, Skrumpy. Some of the best classes I took (and most formative) were GE (general education) courses. In fact it was through GE courses that I first really learned about pharmacy.

The two GE classes that I appreciated most were "Social Issues in Gender" and "Medieval Art and Christian Liturgy". Neither are pharmacy related, but it certainly helped me think about issues in society a bit better. I'd like to think I learned a few things that will help me with certain patient populations, but even if I didn't, I feel like the classes were worth it.

Best of luck to you, OP! I have to admit I don't like the different requirements from each school, but I understand it. You'll like UGA -- it's a nice program!

 

[KasHfg]

Hey guys, new member here, but I've been lurking for awhile. Am I the only one pulling my hair out over the fact that EVERY pharmacy school has a different set of requirements? Seriously, what's the point of getting a pre-pharmacy degree when I have to spend another year taking classes just to be considered eligible for a pharmacy school?

I suppose I should give some basic background info about myself. I am 22, graduating this May with an AS in Pre-Pharmacy. I have a 3.4 GPA at the moment, I took the PCAT for the first time in January and scored in the 70th percentile (with a 91 Biology and 85 Chemistry), I have 2 LORs from the Biology department already, and I will likely get one from my Organic chemistry professor as well. In other words, I should look great on an application, aside from the fact that I'll be an old man before I satisfy the additional requirements for the schools I'm applying to.

I'd Love to go to UGA or Mercer (I live in Ga), but I have to have a total of 90 credit hours ON A "2-YEAR" DEGREE to even be considered for mercer, and UGA wants me to take 9 hours of "world culture" classes like a foreign language, anthropology, history, world religion or some other such bull**** that isn't the least bit relevant to the practice of pharmacy.

I guess my question to this community is what do you guys do about additional classes after you get your Pre-pharmacy degree? do you just keep going to your college and taking the classes to satisfy every school you send an application to, or do you apply to the schools first, and then load up on classes during the summer semester after you get accepted? I'm potentially looking at Psychology, Spanish, A&P 1 and 2, Religion, Microbiology, Biochemistry, Molecular genetics, Physics 2, Immunology, Etc.. When does it end? why is there no nationwide standard for Pharmacy degrees set by the AACP?

Also, I know there are admissions officers on these forums, why does almost every school require PharmCAS, AND a supplemental ($$$) application? doesn't that eliminate the purpose of pharmCAS?

Well... you are not alone! I also don't like the fact that every school has different requirements. That is one of the reasons I only applied to two schools, and concentrated on prerequisites for those. I did not get pre-pharmacy degree (they do not offer it at my school); I just took classes needed for the schools I applied to.

 

[Leper Messiah]

Yeah I guess I never thought about the fact that there is basically no point in having a pre-professional degree other than to show that you're serious about the program. One more reason to go ahead and get my Biology degree while I'm at it.

 

[DrDrugs2012]

Maximize Returns, Minimize Risk/Expense
Your objective should be to first identify which schools you will likely apply and then second identify their course requirements. Select the coursework of great commonality between the programs as part of your regular schooling required for your degree leaving up to two or three random classes depending on the acceptance. Make sure that those classes can be taken at an accredited college or university, online or in-person, during the summer before matriculation.

This way you don't waste your time with classes that only matter for one school if you don't get accepted to that school.

Really folks, this isn't that hard....