Any Advice is Appreciated!

[J19]

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Hi everyone!
I'm planning on applying to Pharmacy schools this June and I'm starting to feel a bit worried. I'm currently a 4th year Biochemistry undergrad at UCSD with a GPA of 3.3. I have two more pre-req classes to finish next fall but then i'll be done.

My top school is UCSF followed by UCSD but I'm wondering if UCSF is even possible with a low 3.3.

I currently volunteer in a Pharmacology lab on campus where I do Organic chemistry all day. Basically drug synthesis and then test the response of the drug in mice. I also work part time (not relavant to healthcare), mentor jr youth, and serve as a board member to a club on campus.

However I have no experience directly with a pharmacists. Honestly, I just decided to become pre-pharmacy because I love working in my lab, but have always desired a career that involves interacting with people. Pharmacy seemed like the perfect hybrid of the two.

Any insight will help!
Thanks for reading 🙂

 

[JohnFe]

UCSF accepts people even with a GPA lower than 3.0. The lowest cGPA they accepted was a 2.8! As long as you have strong PS, Letter of Recommendations, leadership experience, volunteering, research and pharmacy related experience, you will get an interview invite. UCSF likes students who do a lot of humanitarian volunteering (It is one of their "missions").

I would suggest to shadow a pharmacist in retail or hospital to get a sense of the job. This will help you answer: why pharmacy? what make you interested in pharmacy? etc.

Also, try to get your pharm tech license, apply for pharmacy clerk jobs, or join pre-pharm club (networking to get these positions).

I just wanted to add that your research work may be related to pharmacy but you have to be CLEAR as to why you want to pursue pharmacy instead of pharmaceutical research.

Good luck and I wish you the best!

 

[PreciousRoy]

Hi everyone!
I'm planning on applying to Pharmacy schools this June and I'm starting to feel a bit worried. I'm currently a 4th year Biochemistry undergrad at UCSD with a GPA of 3.3. I have two more pre-req classes to finish next fall but then i'll be done.

My top school is UCSF followed by UCSD but I'm wondering if UCSF is even possible with a low 3.3.

I currently volunteer in a Pharmacology lab on campus where I do Organic chemistry all day. Basically drug synthesis and then test the response of the drug in mice. I also work part time (not relavant to healthcare), mentor jr youth, and serve as a board member to a club on campus.

However I have no experience directly with a pharmacists. Honestly, I just decided to become pre-pharmacy because I love working in my lab, but have always desired a career that involves interacting with people. Pharmacy seemed like the perfect hybrid of the two.

Any insight will help!
Thanks for reading 🙂

Hey you sound a lot like me when I started to apply to pharmacy schools. Just for your reference, I had no pharmacy experience but similar (more biology-related) research experiences and got an interview at UCSF and UCSD. I saw people there (young and old) who had GPAs that were lower than mine. If you can really articulate the value of your research, you'll do fine. Good luck!

 

[J19]

Thanks for your responses!

PreciousRoy, if you don't mind me asking - did you end up at either campus?

 

[billsauce]

i dont know though rigs rigs rigs