Application Questions

[dmbgg]

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So I see that many people on the board are applying to way over 5 school of Pharmacy.

Is there a reason, besides just trying to get into a school?

I mean does that increase your chances of getting in a part from applying to so many schools? Or do you simply apply to so many to increase your chances?

I am applying to 3 I believe next year, so I was curious.

 

[pavouaxiong]

I applied to several schools to increase my chance of acceptance. It's like this...If school A doesn't accept, school B might. And if school B doesn't, then school C might.

I'm glad I applied to several because for the first three interviews, I was put on the waitlist/hold list. The 4th school that I interviewed at accepted me. Since one accepted me, I won't apply to more schools.

 

[busyizzy]

I mean does that increase your chances of getting in a part from applying to so many schools? Or do you simply apply to so many to increase your chances?

😕 Isn't the first and second half of the question asking the same thing?

I am applying to several, yes, to increase my chances. You really never know, it's a chance roulette sometimes. Having higher scores on the PCAT and a higher GPA of course helps, but nothing is guaranteed.

True story, I applied to Georgetown U for undergraduate and got rejected. A few years later, my friend is working for the Admissions Office at Georgetown. She told me she pulled up my file (which ... to be honest, I didn't appreciate, cuz hey, private stuff, yanno?), and looked over my stats. She said I was well qualified and could have easily been admitted. The only problem is they had TOO many of those well qualified people. After cutting the underqualified people and admitting the super amazing people, it's really a toss-up. Maybe the Admissions person who read your application was also on the basketball team and liked your essay on basketball, and so pushes to get you into the school. Vice versa, the person has a dislike for basketball, so ... they end up not liking you as much, and doesn't push for you during the committee meetings and you get dropped. Maybe your application was the last one they looked at before lunch, and they just wanted to get to lunch so skimmed over your app and threw it in the rejected bin to get to lunch. They're human. Unfortunately, there's a lot of variables involved.

Anyway... the point is, just because you're well qualified doesn't mean you'd get admitted. I'm afraid that experience I talked about above has somewhat left a bad taste in my mouth, and I'm overcompensating for it by applying to more schools "just in case" that happens again. I think I'd be fine with 5 schools, but I'm shooting for 8-10.

There's also the issue of place. I just want to go to a new area that I'm unfamiliar with, with a school in a big city. So I geared my schools towards those kindof areas. Since it's such a general condition, I found lots of schools that fall under it. I want to keep my options open. When I get accepted (hopefully....), I will (hopefully...) have some choices. It's always nice to have some choices.

 

[annievu]

busyizzy, that's funny. u made me realize dmbgg's 2 questions are just exactly the same

dmbgg, it is obvious that the more schools u apply to the chance of having one of those many schools to accept you is higher...but i am confused as well, what if all those schools you apply to are hard schools then the chance of getting in can be zero? lol

 

[winterlily05]

busyizzy, that's funny. u made me realize dmbgg's 2 questions are just exactly the same

dmbgg, it is obvious that the more schools u apply to the chance of having one of those many schools to accept you is higher...but i am confused as well, what if all those schools you apply to are hard schools then the chance of getting in can be zero? lol

That is why you would include a school that requires lower stats as a backup plan!

 

[nicolemsm]

True story, I applied to Georgetown U for undergraduate and got rejected.A few years later, my friend is working for the Admissions Office at Georgetown. She told me she pulled up my file (which ... to be honest, I didn't appreciate, cuz hey, private stuff, yanno?), and looked over my stats. She said I was well qualified and could have easily been admitted. The only problem is they had TOO many of those well qualified people. After cutting the underqualified people and admitting the super amazing people, it's really a toss-up. Maybe the Admissions person who read your application was also on the basketball team and liked your essay on basketball, and so pushes to get you into the school. Vice versa, the person has a dislike for basketball, so ... they end up not liking you as much, and doesn't push for you during the committee meetings and you get dropped. Maybe your application was the last one they looked at before lunch, and they just wanted to get to lunch so skimmed over your app and threw it in the rejected bin to get to lunch. They're human. Unfortunately, there's a lot of variables involved.

Wow privacy issues much?

I would be so mad if someone I knew pulled my file.... not because I don't mind sharing stats, but the fact that they blatantly had no need &/or right to have their hands on MY file....

 

[samurai361]

I didn't even think they kept files for that long, especially for something where you get lots of apps every year, like undergrad.