Applying to many pharmacy schools

[twinspharm]

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I was just making this post because I have noticed from looking at peoples signatures that some people applied to as much as fifteen pharmacy schools.

I was wondering how difficult it was to file fifteen supplemental applications, contact fifteen pharmacy schools, and deal with the case by case issues that are involved with applying to fifteen pharmacy schools.

On top of that how much does this cost? Pharmacs has a fee per school and most schools charge like a 50ish dollar supplemental charge. Then theres the travel expenses and hotel accommodations for the interviews.

Then when you get accepted, how many deposits to send in. Its not like you get all your letters the same day. Do u just fork out the Benjamins, or do you roll the dice waiting on your other fourteen?

Also, does anyone know if pharmacy schools know what other schools you apply to. If pharmcas informs them that you applied to fifteen schools, wouldn't this deter them from giving you an interview? I sure hope this isn't the case.

I'm not going after people who applied to a bunch of schools, I was just wondering how you manage it.

 

[justjack]

I was just making this post because I have noticed from looking at peoples signatures that some people applied to as much as fifteen pharmacy schools.

I was wondering how difficult it was to file fifteen supplemental applications, contact fifteen pharmacy schools, and deal with the case by case issues that are involved with applying to fifteen pharmacy schools.

it's not that difficult, but it's not a breeze either. it depends on you and which schools you choose because you can apply to really competitive schools and that would entail really tough supplementals to fill out or take an easier route and choose schools that have no supplemental essay or no supplemental app at all

On top of that how much does this cost? Pharmacs has a fee per school and most schools charge like a 50ish dollar supplemental charge. Then theres the travel expenses and hotel accommodations for the interviews.

PharmCAS alone for 15 schools is $710. but that's a drop in the bucket compared to the total after supplementals (about $30-80 each school) and traveling expenses for interviews. i've spent about $450 on average at each interview (three down and one more coming). i've even had to turn down interview invites because i can't afford to travel anymore. so expect to pay thousands.

Then when you get accepted, how many deposits to send in. Its not like you get all your letters the same day. Do u just fork out the Benjamins, or do you roll the dice waiting on your other fourteen?

you HAVE to fork over the Benjamins unless you are an extremely competitive candidate and know you'll get into the schools you want.

Also, does anyone know if pharmacy schools know what other schools you apply to. If pharmcas informs them that you applied to fifteen schools, wouldn't this deter them from giving you an interview? I sure hope this isn't the case.

yes, but not really until at the end of the applications cycle. there is a breakdown of this in the pharmcas manual.

I'm not going after people who applied to a bunch of schools, I was just wondering how you manage it.

it's always better safe than sorry and to not waste a year reapplying.

 

[Moni526]

I applied to 16 schools; 15 PharmCAS schools and one non-PharmCAS school. I did the PharmCAS school applications in two heats. One of 7 schools and one of 8. I will say it did take a lot of time/money to do the supplementals, but most of them ask for the same types of information.
My reason for applying to so many schools was my stats are pretty low for an aspiring pharmacist, but I have worked really hard to get where I am, so I applied to a bunch of schools to increase my chances. So yes I have wasted some money thus far, but the reward will be greater in the end. 🙂

 

[arcticrevolver]

I applied to 15 schools. Considering my stats are pretty low, it was better for me to cast a larger net and see what I could catch. haha.

I actually calculated how much I spend the entire admissions cycle, so with apps, supplementals, travel for interviews and deposits I put down, I've spent about $3500. I say its definitely worth it in the end. 😀

 

[holymolys]

i applied to around 15 as well, but probably didnt spend as much because i got accepted pretty early, so i didnt finish alot of the supplemental and didnt travel too far for my interviews, maybe 1500 at the most, couldve saved abit more if i had known some things beforehand... but its still worth it

 

[sb813]

yea im pretty much in the same boat as most of the people who replied....
-applied to 14 through pharmcas (~$700)
-completed supplementals for 4 (~$200-300)
-travelling for interviews (~$800)
-deposits ($1000)

getting accepted to pharmacy school (priceless!)

haha excuse my lame humor but anyway, it's obviously expensive to apply to a lot of schools but my gpa and overall application wasn't as strong as I would've liked so i thought 'the more schools i apply to, the better my chances'. i completed supplemental for the schools which didnt ask any essay type questions (basically that didn't require any effort) and for the schools i was most interested in. once i started getting interviews and got my first acceptance i decided not to fill out any more supplementals.
as far as pharmacy schools knowing how many other schools you applied to, i dont think pharmcas informs them of that information but some schools' supplementals ask how many schools you applied to and which ones ( i definately got asked at one of my interviews why i applied to so many different schools but apparently it wasn't seen as a negative to them because i received acceptance to that school).

but yea, it is expensive to apply to a lot of schools but def manageable and worth it in the end.

 

[GJLaw]

I applied to 8 schools; 6 were through pharmcas

 

[delano2000]

Next application cycle I will be applying to about 7 or 8. Good to know it is gonna be that expensive.🙄

 

[Rossikc]

Next application cycle I will be applying to about 7 or 8. Good to know it is gonna be that expensive.🙄

Just remember, the beer afterwards is always cheaper than the application fee.

 

[OCizzle]

Honestly, if you have competitive stats (i.e. 3.5+ GPA and 80+ PCAT) you should be fine applying to 4-5 schools. I wasted a lot of money applying to 8 schools through pharmcas and working on the supplementals. I prioritized my top choices and once I got interview invites/acceptances, I got lazy and didn't even finish half my supplementals. Could've saved my self at least 300 bucks.

 

[desmoulins45179]

I applied to 12. It's doable but you have to be organized. I kept a notebook of all possible schools to apply to. This was more than the 12 I applied to. I wrote down pre-reqs I needed, average gpa/pcat, when they had interviews, deadlines, supplemental fees, etc. I then looked at the info and the school website to further narrow down the schools to apply to.

To possibly save money - some have rolling admissions and you should do those first. But not everyone does - some have deadlines as late as January and are not rolling. You could hold off sending your app to those schools. Perhaps a school that is rolling will accept you before the deadline for non-rolling schools. If you want to go to that school over some non-rolling ones, don't send out the non-rolling apps and save the money.

I applied to 12 schools (submitted a 13th through pharmcas but didn't submit the supp) mostly because my gpa is not so hot (sci is only ~3.0). Also, I applied to 2 schools last year and was waitlisted at both. This year I was making sure that did not happen so I applied to more schools. I did not add up how much it cost. I actually do not want to know - it is mroe than I think it is. I had to fly to 4 interviews and stay overnight for 3 of them...that right there is pretty expensive...

 

[Moni526]

I applied to 15 schools. Considering my stats are pretty low, it was better for me to cast a larger net and see what I could catch. haha.

I actually calculated how much I spend the entire admissions cycle, so with apps, supplementals, travel for interviews and deposits I put down, I've spent about $3500. I say its definitely worth it in the end. 😀

^Twinsies!! 🙂

 

[SCP08]

I applied to 9 and completed supplementals for 8. My stats were extremely good, so I felt fairly confident about getting into most of my choices, but applying to so many schools around the country gave me peace of mind and, in the end, I had the luxury of picking a school that really felt right.

The real issue with applying to so many schools is the interview--each school got back to me at wildly different times throughout the year, so I wasn't able to coordinate my cross-country interviews. I ended up declining interviews at all but one school on the East Coast, which was a bit disappointing.

 

[nextyearrx]

Hi guys,

I just saw this interesting topic and I decided to join it.

I applied to a total of 9 schools (all PharmCAS schools). In the beginning it was pretty easy with all supplemental and stuff..

But now, It is getting harder for me since I got very low score on PCAT...🙁.. Out of 9 schools, there are two schools left that I have hope for.. Now it is about to end this year's admission process, it's getting harder and harder... but not as much hard as when I think of applying to pharmacy schools for next year...😉..

 

[weetzie00]

I applied to 8 since my GPA is very low. Fortunately, the schools with supplementals asked relatively the same questions. So, I was able to take my original responses and mold it to the particular schools. My #2 school was my first interview and I was accepted. So that allowed me to cancel most of my other interviews last minute. The only thing that was very difficult was how close together the interviews were scheduled and how far apart the schools were, geographically. Plus, I had booked a vacation several months ago at the end of January, and it was hard to schedule interviews that didn't conflict with the vaca or with each other. The money is worth it in the long run. If you're worried about your application strength, it's much better to be safe than sorry.

 

[twinspharm]

Wow, it seemed like it wasn't too difficult for u guys to apply to so many schools. I bet i would've went crazy if i applied to that many, but you guys seemed to handle it great.

Good Luck Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!