Applying to Med school while in a preprofessional/Graduate level program.

[jumboolia]

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Hello,
I'm a pharm. D. student with only an AA (did the 6 year track), would Med schools allow me to apply while in my senior year of Pharmacy school or do I have to graduate first. I know that some schools don't let students apply while in graduate school as respect to the profession in addition to the fact that I will only haev an AA becuase I haven't technically graduated yet in my senior year. Just wondering if any body had any insight or experience with this.
thanks,
Julia.

 

[J ROD]

Hello,
I'm a pharm. D. student with only an AA (did the 6 year track), would Med schools allow me to apply while in my senior year of Pharmacy school or do I have to graduate first. I know that some schools don't let students apply while in graduate school as respect to the profession in addition to the fact that I will only haev an AA becuase I haven't technically graduated yet in my senior year. Just wondering if any body had any insight or experience with this.
thanks,
Julia.

At my school, you need to have completed as least 90 hours with the standard prereqs; however, almost everyone has a bachelor's. Personally, I would finish the PharmD and then apply. You have come so far. Get the pharm degree for safety. It is a hell of a backup.

 

[QofQuimica]

Hello,
I'm a pharm. D. student with only an AA (did the 6 year track), would Med schools allow me to apply while in my senior year of Pharmacy school or do I have to graduate first. I know that some schools don't let students apply while in graduate school as respect to the profession in addition to the fact that I will only haev an AA becuase I haven't technically graduated yet in my senior year. Just wondering if any body had any insight or experience with this.
thanks,
Julia.

If you're in your last year of school, you can go ahead and apply as long as you will graduate before the matriculation date for medical school. I was in the same position for grad school, and the medical school basically told me that if I didn't finish my PhD in time, I wouldn't be able to matriculate this year. But pharmacy is, to my understanding, a pretty lockstep program in terms of the timing, so I don't think you'll have the same kind of issues that grad students have....our graduation dates tend to be relatively fluid. 😉

 

[jumboolia]

Did you finish all your Pre reqs before entering grad school or did you complete some while in grad school (ie, in the summers) I fulfilled the pre req requirements to enter Pharmacy school which are pretty identical to med school but I know that pharmacy school is much more lax about where you take them. I recieved my AA from UF and took the bulk of my pre reqs there but recieved Ap credit for all my english pre reqs (but did complete a speech class at UF), AP credit for half of my humanities, and took chem 2 and physics 1 at a community college during a summer, I'm thinking it mgith be a good idea to retake physics 1 at UF even though I took Physics 2 there already. It's really annoying because it seems like what Med schools accept is basically relative to the school itself and I don't know how much credit they will give me for completing pharmacy school...For instance, completing pharmacy school at UF would kind of excuse me taking the gen chem 2 at a Community college. if you have any advice from personal experience, just holla back,
Thanks!
Julia

If you're in your last year of school, you can go ahead and apply as long as you will graduate before the matriculation date for medical school. I was in the same position for grad school, and the medical school basically told me that if I didn't finish my PhD in time, I wouldn't be able to matriculate this year. But pharmacy is, to my understanding, a pretty lockstep program in terms of the timing, so I don't think you'll have the same kind of issues that grad students have....our graduation dates tend to be relatively fluid. 😉

 

[QofQuimica]

Did you finish all your Pre reqs before entering grad school or did you complete some while in grad school (ie, in the summers) I fulfilled the pre req requirements to enter Pharmacy school which are pretty identical to med school but I know that pharmacy school is much more lax about where you take them. I recieved my AA from UF and took the bulk of my pre reqs there but recieved Ap credit for all my english pre reqs (but did complete a speech class at UF), AP credit for half of my humanities, and took chem 2 and physics 1 at a community college during a summer, I'm thinking it mgith be a good idea to retake physics 1 at UF even though I took Physics 2 there already. It's really annoying because it seems like what Med schools accept is basically relative to the school itself and I don't know how much credit they will give me for completing pharmacy school...For instance, completing pharmacy school at UF would kind of excuse me taking the gen chem 2 at a Community college. if you have any advice from personal experience, just holla back,
Thanks!
Julia

Hey, I'm a Floridian too. 🙂 Yes, I finished all of my pre-reqs in college. I was actually considering doing pharmacy; I wound up going to grad school in pharmaceutical chemistry ultimately. Are you in pharmacy school at UF? That's where I was looking at going; it's a great program. 👍

If you want to go to UF for med school, I suggest calling Robyn Sheppard in the admissions office and talking to her about your CC credits. I went to New College, so I did not have any CC credits, but all of my pre-reqs were P/F, which was a whole 'nother pain in the rear when it came to applying. 😛 Ultimately this was not a problem at any of the FL schools; they waived their GPA requirements for me. If you're interested in the other FL schools, the person to talk to at USF is REL Larkin, and at U Miami it's Dr. Hinkley. I met with all three of them before I applied to go over my application, and I recommend that you do this too. I can't even tell you how much it helped me strengthen my app. I thought that REL was particularly helpful; it's worth the drive down to Tampa IMO.

 

[jumboolia]

HEy,
yes this is my first semester at UF in the College of Pharmacy. It's a nice place with fairly new everything. It was where you were looking at going...or still are looking at going? I gave up going to UNC chapel hill for UF's pharmacy program due to money reasons. I couldn't possibly have afforded out of state pharmacy school and then med school. thanks for all the info, definately will look into all of that.
thanks,
Julia

Hey, I'm a Floridian too. 🙂 Yes, I finished all of my pre-reqs in college. I was actually considering doing pharmacy; I wound up going to grad school in pharmaceutical chemistry ultimately. Are you in pharmacy school at UF? That's where I was looking at going; it's a great program. 👍

If you want to go to UF for med school, I suggest calling Robyn Sheppard in the admissions office and talking to her about your CC credits. I went to New College, so I did not have any CC credits, but all of my pre-reqs were P/F, which was a whole 'nother pain in the rear when it came to applying. 😛 Ultimately this was not a problem at any of the FL schools; they waived their GPA requirements for me. If you're interested in the other FL schools, the person to talk to at USF is REL Larkin, and at U Miami it's Dr. Hinkley. I met with all three of them before I applied to go over my application, and I recommend that you do this too. I can't even tell you how much it helped me strengthen my app. I thought that REL was particularly helpful; it's worth the drive down to Tampa IMO.

 

[QofQuimica]

HEy,
yes this is my first semester at UF in the College of Pharmacy. It's a nice place with fairly new everything. It was where you were looking at going...or still are looking at going? I gave up going to UNC chapel hill for UF's pharmacy program due to money reasons. I couldn't possibly have afforded out of state pharmacy school and then med school. thanks for all the info, definately will look into all of that.
thanks,
Julia

No, I'm starting my first year of med school now. I decided a couple of years ago to go to med school instead of pharmacy school because the degree is more flexible in terms of allowing me to do the kind of research that I want to do. But I have to confess that I think the pharmacy coursework sounds more interesting; it's seriously all chemistry and pharmacology. 😛 I don't think you made a mistake by going to UF. I don't know anything about UNC's program, and I'm sure it's a good one, but I do know how competitive UF's program is! UF was actually my top choice when I thought I'd go for the PharmD. You'll get a fantastic education there, and at in-state rates, too. 👍

How much longer do you have to go? I assume you have three years after this one since you entered with your AA. In that case, I suggest that you take the MCAT in August 2008 after your second year if you can work it in with your school schedule; that way, you'll have it done early, and worst case scenario, you'll have plenty of time to retake it if necessary. Then, the summer after your third year, that's when you submit your AMCAS (June 2009). You'll be filling out secondaries and interviewing during your fourth year, and then you'll be ready to matriculate in August 2010 after you graduate. If you meant that you have six years to go post-AA, then just move everything I said back by two years. 🙂

 

[jumboolia]

Hey,
yes, I have 3 years left to go, which may sound like a lot but it really doesn't when I start alotting what I must do each summer. If you don't mind sharing, what med school are you going to?
-julia.

No, I'm starting my first year of med school now. I decided a couple of years ago to go to med school instead of pharmacy school because the degree is more flexible in terms of allowing me to do the kind of research that I want to do. But I have to confess that I think the pharmacy coursework sounds more interesting; it's seriously all chemistry and pharmacology. 😛 I don't think you made a mistake by going to UF. I don't know anything about UNC's program, and I'm sure it's a good one, but I do know how competitive UF's program is! UF was actually my top choice when I thought I'd go for the PharmD. You'll get a fantastic education there, and at in-state rates, too. 👍

How much longer do you have to go? I assume you have three years after this one since you entered with your AA. In that case, I suggest that you take the MCAT in August 2008 after your second year if you can work it in with your school schedule; that way, you'll have it done early, and worst case scenario, you'll have plenty of time to retake it if necessary. Then, the summer after your third year, that's when you submit your AMCAS (June 2009). You'll be filling out secondaries and interviewing during your fourth year, and then you'll be ready to matriculate in August 2010 after you graduate. If you meant that you have six years to go post-AA, then just move everything I said back by two years. 🙂