anyone had an interview with a low PCAT score?

[GATOR Girl]

Has anyone with a low PCAT score had an interview/acceptance?

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[Julientampa]

No.

 

[blueclassring]

in schools requiring the pcat, i think it would be highly unlikely that you would be granted an interview with a low pcat score. most school use this stat to equate academic potential for success in their program across the board. a low score would not reflect this.

 

[crossjb]

If everything else is strong, it's possible. I've heard of people getting accepted w/low scores.

The PCAT is a small part of the entire package. You don't need a 99 to get in.

 

[mosco]

I wonder if those who could answer this question (someone already accepted or enrolled in pharm school) would even see it because this question is in the PCAT forum rather than in the larger Pharm school or Pre-Pharm forums?

 

[Julientampa]

Has anyone with a low PCAT score had an interview/acceptance?

If your PCAT < 70 , you'd better retake it, or apply to schools that don't require the PCAT.

I guess you're from FL, and I know that UF only accept applicants that have a high PCAT score (at least 90) and/or a high GPA (3.80 is the average). UF doesn't care about pharmacy experience at all, they just look at your score, GPA, and personal statement.

 

[ultracet]

I wonder if those who could answer this question (someone already accepted or enrolled in pharm school) would even see it because this question is in the PCAT forum rather than in the larger Pharm school or Pre-Pharm forums?

the first year a school is open i have heard of a 7 and a 30 being accepted....

i seriously doubt this happens the next year as there will be more applicants

 

[g5r]

how low is low? >70?

 

[linyliny88]

Actually, the first time I applied, I had a 65% PCAT and got an interview from University of Iowa. but did not get accepted. but I heard somebody with a 60% but a 4.0 GPA got accepted by Midwestern, CCP. so you never know

 

[usi]

If your PCAT < 70 , you'd better retake it, or apply to schools that don't require the PCAT.

I guess you're from FL, and I know that UF only accept applicants that have a high PCAT score (at least 90) and/or a high GPA (3.80 is the average). UF doesn't care about pharmacy experience at all, they just look at your score, GPA, and personal statement.

There are some current students with scores as low as 82 in UF.
I don't know what the rest of their stats are like.
But is true the majority have high GPA and PCAT...

 

[jah2004]

bbmuffin,

Are you in pharmacy school or have you interviewed anywhere? I live in Alabama too and I am trying to get into Auburn. Just got my scores back and had a composite 79. I am really trying to decide whether to retake or not. Are you or is anyone else here familiar with what Auburn likes for the PCAT?

-Adam

 

[megrxgirl]

bbmuffin goes to samford.

 

[ultracet]

bbmuffin,

Are you in pharmacy school or have you interviewed anywhere? I live in Alabama too and I am trying to get into Auburn. Just got my scores back and had a composite 79. I am really trying to decide whether to retake or not. Are you or is anyone else here familiar with what Auburn likes for the PCAT?

-Adam

and i don't know anything about auburn... other than people hate their dress code...

 

[MAXHARDC]

If everything else is strong, it's possible. I've heard of people getting accepted w/low scores.

The PCAT is a small part of the entire package. You don't need a 99 to get in.

Your right, and at my school (LOMA LINDA) we don't even look for PCAT scores. A high GPA, and a high PCAT is a cause of concern for me, they are usually lacking socially. I don't want to see people with their head in books all day. I have had my share of sit in interviews.

Max

 

[nerdystar]

I know someone who got accepted to Samford with a 80 PCAT and a GPA < 3.5 (not sure of the exact #).

 

[bigalaz1]

I'm not sure if anyone cares on here, strictly because of location, but I know the exact statistics that are granted an interview at University of Arizona. At pre-pharm club meetings the dean talked about it and in personal counseling they said the exact same thing: pharmacy experience required (even though application only says recommended), 3.3 GPA, 65% PCAT. UofA is not PharmCAS and this knoced 481 applicants down to 195, whom they interviewed. The counselor told me; however, that you should really get a 75% on PCAT. Also, I don't know what averages you guys have seen, but almost everything I've looked at regarding "average PCAT scores of accepted class" for a school hovers around 85. Obviously there are some above and below so you definitely don't need a 90, or even an 85, to get in.

 

[cdpiano27]

You are from Arizona. At UF, the admissions works the following way:

PCAT: Need 90+ composite with not one section below 50!

88 is mean of students accepted.

GPA: Only calculates grades in Bio I, II, Anatomy and Physiology I, II, Gen Chem I, II, Physics I, II, Organic Chem I, II, Calculus I
(Speech required, does not count in GPA!)

Need around 3.6+ in ONLY these courses. Does not matter whether taken at 2-year junior college or 4-year university. And no school is given preference. For example, UF undergrads are given priority only if they get in and chooose Gainesville as their first choice of campus location. If a course is repeated, both grades are averaged in.

Average GPA of ONLY pre-pharm courses is 3.6.

Extracurricular pharm experience - very secondary compared to GPA - counts for something but usually for "borderline" candidates

Interviews - only done for "borderline" cases or something quite unusual on the application. Very rare, note that only 5-10 interviews were granted last year out of 1000 applicants!

importance (ranked): 1. GPA 2. PCAT 3. Letters of recommendation/Personal statement 4. Pharm experience / extracurriculars.

U of Arizona is also a great pharmacy school as well with excellent research just like UF.

Even though a lot of people on this forum complain about UF's admissions procedures, it is at least as objective as you can possibly get.

UGA admissions is quite similar to UF's, by the way.

 

[soccerfreak]

Has anyone with a low PCAT score had an interview/acceptance?

The first time I took the Pcat I was shocked. I did so bad that I seriously thought about giving up. 33% percentile. Yep. That low. I still decided to apply to some schools, none of which accepted me for the obvious reasons. My GPA is not bad, 3.71. I did my undergraduate at a community college. I decided to get some pharmacy experience. Started working a couple of hours a week at a friends private pharmacy. Next year I decided to retake the Pcat. Didn't get any better results. Did good on Bio, chem and math, but bombed reading and verbal. Composite- 63% percentile. I applied again to 3 schools. Midwestern, IL, Creighton web-based program, and University of Wisconsin-Madison. I was once again rejected by Creighton. I should mention that I have really good e/c and volunteer work. Midwestern gave me a MCV and so did UWM. My visit to Midwestern was in December. I got an email before Christmas that I was accepted. I still plan on going to the other MCV in Wisconsin just to see how it is but I'm going to go to Midwestern for sure. You see, if the school sees that you've improved your application then you have a decent shot at getting in even with a score below 70 on the PCat. Good luck to you all and keep hope for those with low pcat scores. Keep working hard and eventually you'll achieve what you're striving for.

 

[jlpolla]

.

The first time I took the Pcat I was shocked. I did so bad that I seriously thought about giving up. 33% percentile. Yep. That low. I still decided to apply to some schools, none of which accepted me for the obvious reasons. My GPA is not bad, 3.71. I did my undergraduate at a community college. I decided to get some pharmacy experience. Started working a couple of hours a week at a friends private pharmacy. Next year I decided to retake the Pcat. Didn't get any better results. Did good on Bio, chem and math, but bombed reading and verbal. Composite- 63% percentile. I applied again to 3 schools. Midwestern, IL, Creighton web-based program, and University of Wisconsin-Madison. I was once again rejected by Creighton. I should mention that I have really good e/c and volunteer work. Midwestern gave me a MCV and so did UWM. My visit to Midwestern was in December. I got an email before Christmas that I was accepted. I still plan on going to the other MCV in Wisconsin just to see how it is but I'm going to go to Midwestern for sure. You see, if the school sees that you've improved your application then you have a decent shot at getting in even with a score below 70 on the PCat. Good luck to you all and keep hope for those with low pcat scores. Keep working hard and eventually you'll achieve what you're striving for.

 

[xnc123]

The first time I took the Pcat I was shocked. I did so bad that I seriously thought about giving up. 33% percentile. Yep. That low. I still decided to apply to some schools, none of which accepted me for the obvious reasons. My GPA is not bad, 3.71. I did my undergraduate at a community college. I decided to get some pharmacy experience. Started working a couple of hours a week at a friends private pharmacy. Next year I decided to retake the Pcat. Didn't get any better results. Did good on Bio, chem and math, but bombed reading and verbal. Composite- 63% percentile. I applied again to 3 schools. Midwestern, IL, Creighton web-based program, and University of Wisconsin-Madison. I was once again rejected by Creighton. I should mention that I have really good e/c and volunteer work. Midwestern gave me a MCV and so did UWM. My visit to Midwestern was in December. I got an email before Christmas that I was accepted. I still plan on going to the other MCV in Wisconsin just to see how it is but I'm going to go to Midwestern for sure. You see, if the school sees that you've improved your application then you have a decent shot at getting in even with a score below 70 on the PCat. Good luck to you all and keep hope for those with low pcat scores. Keep working hard and eventually you'll achieve what you're striving for.

Congrats! Did you do all of your pre-reqs at CC?

 

[soccerfreak]

Congrats! Did you do all of your pre-reqs at CC?

Thanks. Yes I did do all my prereqs at a city college.

 

[xnc123]

You are my hero soccerfreak!

I was stressing about going to cc, but hearing that it's possible I'm not going to worry about it anymore.

I'm not taking the pcat until June, but it's nice to know that if I bomb it the 1st time, raising my score in Oct will help. If you have to retake the pcat, is the anxiety a lot less? Do you feel better prepared? Just curious.

 

[soccerfreak]

You are my hero soccerfreak!

I was stressing about going to cc, but hearing that it's possible I'm not going to worry about it anymore.

I'm not taking the pcat until June, but it's nice to know that if I bomb it the 1st time, raising my score in Oct will help. If you have to retake the pcat, is the anxiety a lot less? Do you feel better prepared? Just curious.

Unfortunatelly for me I had to drive about 3 hours to take the pcat the first time. Pretty tired at the testing center by the start time. The second time it was easier but still felt a little pressure. As long as you do good in the science sections then I think you're fine. Good luck in June.

 

[DHG]

I know someone who had a 69% PCAT, high GPA (about 3.7 or 3.8) and lots of pharmacy experience and got accepted. PCAT was only part of the package.

 

[melt36]

I was told by an admissions counselor that most schools average your PCAT scores.

 

[beccala33]

I was told by an admissions counselor that most schools average your PCAT scores.

What do you mean, "average your pcat scores?" Do you mean they only look at the composite? That's not really true in most cases...

 

[PharmDat22]

You are from Arizona. At UF, the admissions works the following way:

PCAT: Need 90+ composite with not one section below 50!

88 is mean of students accepted.

GPA: Only calculates grades in Bio I, II, Anatomy and Physiology I, II, Gen Chem I, II, Physics I, II, Organic Chem I, II, Calculus I
(Speech required, does not count in GPA!)

Need around 3.6+ in ONLY these courses. Does not matter whether taken at 2-year junior college or 4-year university. And no school is given preference. For example, UF undergrads are given priority only if they get in and chooose Gainesville as their first choice of campus location. If a course is repeated, both grades are averaged in.

Average GPA of ONLY pre-pharm courses is 3.6.

Extracurricular pharm experience - very secondary compared to GPA - counts for something but usually for "borderline" candidates

Interviews - only done for "borderline" cases or something quite unusual on the application. Very rare, note that only 5-10 interviews were granted last year out of 1000 applicants!

importance (ranked): 1. GPA 2. PCAT 3. Letters of recommendation/Personal statement 4. Pharm experience / extracurriculars.

U of Arizona is also a great pharmacy school as well with excellent research just like UF.

Even though a lot of people on this forum complain about UF's admissions procedures, it is at least as objective as you can possibly get.

UGA admissions is quite similar to UF's, by the way.

I got a 78 composite.

 

[RNtoPharmD]

Has anyone with a low PCAT score had an interview/acceptance?

I have two interview invitations with low PCAT. I am stressed. I'm trying to be optimistic! wow.. these posts are from last year. You guys recycled the thread

 

[PharmDnPhD]

I have two interview invitations with low PCAT. I am stressed. I'm trying to be optimistic! wow.. these posts are from last year. You guys recycled the thread

If you don't mind me asking, where are your interviews at and what is your PCAT score? I think you have posted before....sorry to bug you again!

 

[asiandude77]

I got in!!!

Go gators!




Which campus do you recommend?

 

[NAVYLABTECH08]

I know a guy who had a interview with Hampton U with like a 57 percent PCAt. His GPA was only like a 3.3. The school did not beg him to come, he had to be persistent in requesting a interview. The school interviewed him, but he got rejected.

 

[Gwalla]

I got in!!!

Go gators!




Which campus do you recommend?

congrats on being banned

 

[eelo]

bbmuffin,

Are you in pharmacy school or have you interviewed anywhere? I live in Alabama too and I am trying to get into Auburn. Just got my scores back and had a composite 79. I am really trying to decide whether to retake or not. Are you or is anyone else here familiar with what Auburn likes for the PCAT?

-Adam

The average PCAT score at Auburn for the class that started last August was 65, so you should be okay, assuming your GPA and everything else is relatively competitive. Be sure you've completed all their pre-reqs (they're one of the schools that require Immunology), and you're definitely better off if you're an AL resident.

 

[WannaBPharmer]

I received an interview last year for University of Oklahoma with a PCAT score of 49. However, I was not accepted.

I retook the PCAT and scored 76 and once again will be interviewing with them on Feb 23rd. Hopefully this time I will gain acceptance.

 

[pharmmd12]

I have two interview invitations with low PCAT. I am stressed. I'm trying to be optimistic! wow.. these posts are from last year. You guys recycled the thread

If you don't mind me asking, what was your PCAT composite? And what schools have you received interviews from? I am kind of in the same boat but am still waiting to hear back from schools... trying to be optimistic

 

[rayguns]

I have received four interviews (although two of them were not accredited, but Candidate status) and have been accepted into a pharmacy program this fall. I had a 2.87 Overall GPA with a PCAT composite score of 47. I had 3 months of Pharmacy volunteer work, with research experience, and extra-curricular activities. BELIEVE ME... IT IS POSSIBLE!

 

[tCMashiMaro]

I have received four interviews (although two of them were not accredited, but Candidate status) and have been accepted into a pharmacy program this fall. I had a 2.87 Overall GPA with a PCAT composite score of 47. I had 3 months of Pharmacy volunteer work, with research experience, and extra-curricular activities. BELIEVE ME... IT IS POSSIBLE!

What are those 4 schools and which one did u get in?

 

[PharmD1988]

you can look my stats below. yes this is for real a 45 composite and got interviewed at 7 schools. of course I got waitlisted/denied at most of them but its possible. as for why I got a 45 - I simply not a test taker person on a saturday morning (my SAT scores can say the same thing)

 

[onebigindn]

Hey what were those 7 schools that you applied to?