Congrats on starting to prepare for admission now, starting early is important. Just to say it one more time, starting early is important.
When I applied I waited until the last minute and because of that I could not apply for early decision because I was not able to secure one of my LORs before the deadline, so I had to apply regular admission and wait months to get my acceptance.
Start writing your Personal Statement now, so you have plenty of time to revise it and have different people look at it so you get a variety of opinions. Get your LORs early if you can or at least know who you want to write them.
Another benefit of having your personal statement done early is that you can give it to the people writing your LORs, having your statement may help them write a better, more personal letter for you.
Get a feel for the schools you want to apply to now, so you can double check that you meet all the requirements and you can call and ask any questions.
I have seen a lot of threads about the money people spend on applying so if money is tight you may want to think about starting to save some money for airline tickets, hotels, supplemental application fees, deposits and whatever else may come up. You do not want to be scrambling for cash for travel costs while you are preparing for interviews.
During the admission process, SDN is great place to come to ask questions but remember you can always call the school and ask them directly. By calling the school it can help them to get to know you a little so your name pops when they see the application. Also they have the best information about their particular pharmacy program. I know some people are a little nervous about calling them but they are usually very friendly and love to help students. They definitely are not doing what they do for the fat paychecks, they want to help you.
Use the career services that your school offers, many schools have writing centers that will read over your essays, make suggestions and correct errors for FREE. Career centers will often run mock interviews for you so you can get confident before your really interviews. The interview is a very important piece of the admission cycle and even if you are confident it never hurts to run through a free mock interview. They will give you some pointers or at least tell you that you were awesome.
I know a few universities also have a professional dress discount sale in the spring before most job and grad school interviews. This is a great program where students can pick up suits and professional attire for dirt cheap. Most of the stuff is donated by alumni. Suits for men and women can get expensive so this is a good option.
Send in your transcripts early to PharmCas so you are not worrying abut the mail losing them or missing a deadline. It can be a hassle to get transcripts if you have attended multiple school, so get them early.
Another thing to look into is if you are current on all your immunizations, just something to think about, I know lots of students in my class had to get a bunch done before school started and it was a hassle for them. So never hurts to look into it now and know if you are up to date.
After your interviews, promptly write thank you letters, it is a nice touch whether it helps or not. Them seeing your name on something positive, can't hurt!
Do things one at a time. The personal statement can be daunting for some people so start it early.
Applying is a lot of work so work hard, start early and be prepared so you do not have to apply a second time!
Good luck and have fun!
....so for all of you that have applied..in what order did you do things?
