Anyone got in with GPA <3.0

[rxlea]

You can make all the personal attack you want.

Have you been reading these threads? What make all of these applicants with < 3.0 stand out?

I am not saying someone with <3.0 should not be accepted. Of course there are exceptions. What worries me is the spike in applicants with subpar GPA getting accepted for no apparent reason.

Unless you are on an admissions committee, you cannot make the assertion that people are getting accepted for no apparent reason. PharmCAS includes ALL classes. Many schools look at trends and ~60 of the most recent credits as well as grades in pre-reqs.

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[rxlea]

TBF, there may only be a spike in subpar applicants coming to SDN to announce their acceptance.

True. This is a self-selecting group. Either here to seek support/guidance or to give it.

 

[BMBiology]

Yes, you need years of data before you can form an opinion.

Decline in salary and benefits, lack of job opportunity in the cities, increase in tuition, increase in the number of pharmacy schools = decline in application + lower admissions standards.

Common sense dictates.

 

[The Recoverer]

Sounds like a lowering of standards...

You can make all the personal attack you want.

Have you been reading these threads? What make all of these applicants with < 3.0 stand out?

I am not saying someone with <3.0 should not be accepted. Of course there are exceptions. What worries me is the spike in applicants with subpar GPA getting accepted for no apparent reason.

I'm getting really sick of these viewpoints where people think it's a terrible tragedy that applicants with sub 3.0 GPAs got into pharm school, and that the only reason they got in was because schools are lowering their standards.

Truth is, humans **** up all the time. messing up your undergrad may set you back in the game, but it certainly shouldn't prevent anyone from pursuing what they want to do as long as they put in the effort. Someone that was not mentioned was THE LENGTH OF TIME, they applicants took to get into pharm school. sure an applicant like me, with a sub 3.0 GPA, got into pharm school, but it took me a good 3 years after undergrad to achieve this.

Applicants with a higher GPA like for example, a 3.5 maybe will get in with just the pre-reqs or straight after undergrad. Point is, no one's acceptance should be questioned due to their GPA if they put the work into it. I find it extremely disrespectful to say that someone with a low GPA only got into school because of diploma mills, the field is collapsing, lower standards, blah blah blah.

Truth is, GPA does NOT correlate with how good of a pharmacist you will be. You can be a MF nerd and read a book all day get a 6.7GPA but have no social skills. No social skills=no go for pharmacy

 

[BMBiology]

Yes, let's get rid of GPA and base admission solely on personal statement.

 

[dk00]

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[Stilltrying1288]

Just want to say something here, just thinking logically, if my gpa was over 3.5 I would not hesitate to apply To med school rather than pharm school, I think this is true for most people. If you have outstanding academics why would you sell yourself short, you would rather go for MD DO or dental... Resulting in the pool of applicants that we have today.

Speak for yourself then. I had over a 3.5 GPA, by around .1 I think, with my bachelors and decided I'd rather do Pharmacy than MD or dental.

A) MD is way too much time for my liking.
B)I don't want to deal with people's mouths.

 

[dk00]

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[rxlea]

I think you are part of a select few. Most people I have spoken to would do MD DO or dental over pharmacy if their stats were better. The way I see it
3.5-4.0 gpa majority goes to MD and dental
3.0-3.5 goes to DO
2.5-3.0 goes to pharm, opt, and various other health careers

Anyways you are in pharmacy to help people right, so why wouldn't you go MD where you can make a bigger impact, higher salary, have more respect, not work retail...do you make a habit of doing things that come easy to you or have you challenged yourself?

By the way just another point here, I am very surprised the DO schools offer grade replacement and pharmacy does not. This doesn't make any sense since DO is the more prestigious career and it is easier to get into with regards to gpa.

I recommend taking your negative comments about pharmacy elsewhere. It's not nice to troll into other forums to bash the profession. It's not acceptable and may get you in trouble.

 

[dk00]

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[Sugoi Travis]

I got into pharmacy school with a sub 3.0 GPA (2.91 cGPA to be exact). However, I had things on my application that really turned things around in my favor.

 

[y0ssarian87]

If you look at the PSAR Table 8, you can see that the average incoming GPA for most reputable schools is around a 3.40 to a 3.60. These same schools admit students with GPAs under a 3.0, meaning that they they must admit (many) more students that are 3.5. It's just the way averages work. I think more students with a sub-3.0 average tend to register and participate in discussion here about GPA.

 

[Stilltrying1288]

I think you are part of a select few. Most people I have spoken to would do MD DO or dental over pharmacy if their stats were better. The way I see it
3.5-4.0 gpa majority goes to MD and dental
3.0-3.5 goes to DO
2.5-3.0 goes to pharm, opt, and various other health careers

Anyways you are in pharmacy to help people right, so why wouldn't you go MD where you can make a bigger impact, higher salary, have more respect, not work retail...do you make a habit of doing things that come easy to you or have you challenged yourself?

By the way just another point here, I am very surprised the DO schools offer grade replacement and pharmacy does not. This doesn't make any sense since DO is the more prestigious career and it is easier to get into with regards to gpa.

It's not just about helping people, but about myself and my family as well. Medical school is time consuming and so is anything I decided to do afterwards. And bigger impact? I get to help people out and do something I like to do. The higher salary isn't something I care about, if I'm able to pay back my loans and make at least a certain amount I'm sure I can live happily. I'm just an intern at a retail setting so maybe it will change depending on where I end up, but my pharmacist help patients out throughout the day. Like I said this is what I want to do, it has been since high school. If you want a better health system it isn't just doctors doing the work.

 

[BMBiology]

Just keep in mind admitted GPA > class GPA. If the admitted GPA is 3.5 then most likely the class GPA is 3.2.

 

[radio frequency]

Just want to say something here, just thinking logically, if my gpa was over 3.5 I would not hesitate to apply To med school rather than pharm school, I think this is true for most people. If you have outstanding academics why would you sell yourself short, you would rather go for MD DO or dental... Resulting in the pool of applicants that we have today.

A lot of people who apply to pharmacy really don't want to do direct patient care that involves potentially touching patients. It's a totally different job description; I don't think pharmacy sells anybody short if that's what they want to do (and yes, my GPA was well over 3.5).

 

[radio frequency]

Dude, The Recoverer, all people below 3.0 do not have excellent social skills, just like all those above 3.0 do not have terrible social skills. It's a continuum, but it's best to have the whole package of social skills + grades + smarts + work skills. Pardon me, but I don't necessarily believe in second chances academically without huge extenuating circumstances (not the ones most people post about on SDN).

 

[Skrumpy]

I think you are part of a select few. Most people I have spoken to would do MD DO or dental over pharmacy if their stats were better. The way I see it
3.5-4.0 gpa majority goes to MD and dental
3.0-3.5 goes to DO
2.5-3.0 goes to pharm, opt, and various other health careers

Anyways you are in pharmacy to help people right, so why wouldn't you go MD where you can make a bigger impact, higher salary, have more respect, not work retail...do you make a habit of doing things that come easy to you or have you challenged yourself?

By the way just another point here, I am very surprised the DO schools offer grade replacement and pharmacy does not. This doesn't make any sense since DO is the more prestigious career and it is easier to get into with regards to gpa.

Where are you getting your information from? Are you just pulling it out of your ass or just assuming everyone who doesn't do exactly what YOU would do is a "select few?" I think you are evaluating dental way to high as well, unless you open your own practice (the vast majority don't) you aren't making much more than a pharmacist (if more at all). This is true in our area at least because my GF is a pharmacist and her best friend is a dentist. A good buddy of mine just got into med school and I just got into pharm school. I had a higher GPA than he did. I've been doing pharmacy since HS and that's what I want to do. What's funny is that you claim you want BMBiology to STFU and yet you come here and try to peddle some of the same BS. Either way I'd love to see where you are getting your "facts" and "figures" from.

 

[owlegrad]

Most people I have spoken to would do MD DO or dental over pharmacy if their stats were better.

I think you are suffering from some selection bias my friend.

 

[BMBiology]

you don't think admission standards have dropped? Just look the dramatic drop in applications:

http://mobile.sdn.net/showthread.php?p=14082813#post14082813

 

[Skrumpy]

You're right. One school is statistically significant. They allowed a 13% PCAT and had a 56% avg their first year. Sounds mighty impressive to start off. Maybe higher qualified applicants got scared off instead?

 

[dk00]

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[Skrumpy]

I love how most people here are in denial, Either that or they have an ego to protect...

Sounds like you are describing yourself to me. Still waiting on those facts and figures though Mr dk00. I'm not saying you're wrong, but I have a small rule about not believing random people on the Internet without some hard data. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say the possibility that you have anything is slim to none. However, I'd love to be proven wrong (please give me something.. even a crudely drawn MS Paint picture that you did yourself and uploaded somewhere.. anything!).

 

[Stilltrying1288]

Biology should just go on every pharmacy school's page that requires the PCAT and start doing some statistics.

 

[The Recoverer]

Dude, The Recoverer, all people below 3.0 do not have excellent social skills, just like all those above 3.0 do not have terrible social skills. It's a continuum, but it's best to have the whole package of social skills + grades + smarts + work skills. Pardon me, but I don't necessarily believe in second chances academically without huge extenuating circumstances (not the ones most people post about on SDN).

You have a valid point there about social skills. With 2nd chances, as long as the applicant is willing to put in extra time and effort, I see nothing wrong with another shot

 

[Corpseman]

A lot of people who apply to pharmacy really don't want to do direct patient care that involves potentially touching patients. It's a totally different job description; I don't think pharmacy sells anybody short if that's what they want to do (and yes, my GPA was well over 3.5).

Totally agree! I was a combat medic before deciding on pharmacy school and after years of putting my hands on and in patients, I swore I would never become an MD. My GPA was a 4.0, so I guess I do not fit into that guy's ignorant view.

 

[y0ssarian87]

Just keep in mind admitted GPA > class GPA. If the admitted GPA is 3.5 then most likely the class GPA is 3.2.

You're totally right about the discrepancy between admitted and matriculated groups. I should have been more clear though. If I'm not mistaken the PSAR table 8 describes the statistics of the matriculating students, not the admitted students. It's described as "Characteristics of Fall 2011 First-Year Class for Pharm.D. Degree Programs".