Bad criteria for selecting schools?

Started by Chill Pill
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Chill Pill

Chill Pill

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I was wondering if anyone has thrown out a pharmacy school because one of their requirements was a course you can't take.

I am trying to find schools on PharmCAS that require only the courses I've taken or will have taken by the application cycle (as in, courses that are required for my degree).

For example, I'd like to go to USC but I don't want to waste time taking biochemistry/anatomy. As stupid as it sounds, I'm just really anxious to finish undergrad and start pharm school.

This is kinda limiting my schools, right now I only have like 3-4...or is that enough?
 
Chill Pill said:
I was wondering if anyone has thrown out a pharmacy school because one of their requirements was a course you can't take.

I am trying to find schools on PharmCAS that require only the courses I've taken or will have taken by the application cycle (as in, courses that are required for my degree).

For example, I'd like to go to USC but I don't want to waste time taking biochemistry/anatomy. As stupid as it sounds, I'm just really anxious to finish undergrad and start pharm school.

This is kinda limiting my schools, right now I only have like 3-4...or is that enough?
Click to expand...

If you think you are a competitive applicant at those schools compared to past years and what you have read on this site then 3-4 schools is plenty. Especially if one of those schools is your state school.

it is up to you but even though those schools do not require anatomy or Biochem or various other upper division courses, if you have taken those courses and do well, it shows you can probably handle upper division pharm classes.
 
Chill Pill said:
I was wondering if anyone has thrown out a pharmacy school because one of their requirements was a course you can't take.

I am trying to find schools on PharmCAS that require only the courses I've taken or will have taken by the application cycle (as in, courses that are required for my degree).

For example, I'd like to go to USC but I don't want to waste time taking biochemistry/anatomy. As stupid as it sounds, I'm just really anxious to finish undergrad and start pharm school.

This is kinda limiting my schools, right now I only have like 3-4...or is that enough?
Click to expand...

I think that if you can't sacrifice the time to take a course that a specific school requires, then you probably don't really want to go to that school. Only you know what you need/want from a school, no one else can really decide that for you. If you get an acceptance from only one of those, make sure that you genuinely feel that you can see yourself there. Otherwise, you're just wasting time.
 
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Yeah, the classes I've taken/will take for my degree are upper division. But I will be applying Fall 08, and the only upper division courses I'll have completed by then are OChem 1 and 2.

Microbiology, physiology, genetics, cell biology, molecular biology...I'll be enrolled in those during the application cycle. Should I count on my lower div/Ochem grades to apply?
 
Chill Pill said:
For example, I'd like to go to USC but I don't want to waste time taking biochemistry/anatomy. As stupid as it sounds, I'm just really anxious to finish undergrad and start pharm school.

This is kinda limiting my schools, right now I only have like 3-4...or is that enough?
Click to expand...

FYI... USC doesnt require Anatomy. I think Western is one of the very few schools in CA (if not the only one) that requires it.

and like someone Up ^ already stated, if you don't want to go through the trouble of taking those extra classes, then that means you probably dont wanna go there to begin with.

Besides... Biochemistry is a very important course that probably will only help you on the long run. Why wouldnt you want to take that? I find it to be a very fun course, and you get to learn a lot of neat (though useless) things.

that's like saying... "oh, i dont want to apply to UCSF because they require me to fly to SF for the interview. I don't really wanna spend my money on plane tickets... screw it"

But I know what you are saying, and I sympathize with you. Unfortunately that's life, and there;s nothing you can really do about it. -heh... whatever...
 
Bad criteria for selecting schools? I only applied to 1 school for undergrad, and my selection of my undergrad school was based solely on the fact that my school did not want teacher recommendations. That's bad criteria for selecting schools. 😛
 
bad criteria for selecting schools : US News Pharmacy School Rankings.
 
I will believe you on the USC anatomy requirement due to your avatar. I emailed them a while back because the Course Equivalencies page for my school listed 210/211 (anatomy at my school) instead of 200/201 (general biology). They must have changed it.

Yes, I would actually like to take biochemistry (I almost majored in the subject), I'm just tired of doing undergrad...it's going to take me 5 years to get my degree, and I'd rather start pharmacy as soon as possible because some people would argue that every year you put off is another 100K you wouldn't make.

I don't see the connection with the plane trip to SF. Another semester/year in school is undesirable for the reason stated above. Interviews on the other hand make the path to a pharmacy school shorter.

As for using the ranking page, I agree. That had no influence on the decisions I've made.
 
Idesiretosling said:
If you think you are a competitive applicant at those schools compared to past years and what you have read on this site then 3-4 schools is plenty. Especially if one of those schools is your state school.

it is up to you but even though those schools do not require anatomy or Biochem or various other upper division courses, if you have taken those courses and do well, it shows you can probably handle upper division pharm classes.
Click to expand...


Oh boy ..you just know everything.......
 
I did not apply to USC for that same reason-- ok not exactly the same. I think it was one of the labs that they require that I haven't met. Working full time restricts my class time to night classes only and I think the only lab course I could find that would fulfill their requirement was something like 5:30-10:30pm twice a week. And since I have other classes to take in the same semester, I just couldn't do that.
 
Chill Pill said:
I was wondering if anyone has thrown out a pharmacy school because one of their requirements was a course you can't take.

I am trying to find schools on PharmCAS that require only the courses I've taken or will have taken by the application cycle (as in, courses that are required for my degree).

For example, I'd like to go to USC but I don't want to waste time taking biochemistry/anatomy. As stupid as it sounds, I'm just really anxious to finish undergrad and start pharm school.

This is kinda limiting my schools, right now I only have like 3-4...or is that enough?
Click to expand...

It's hard when schools have a bunch of different requirements (like, USC wants "interpersonal cmn" while everyone else wants "public speech"!). Nothing wrong with what you're doing as long as you understand you might be faced with a year off (but really I think most of us face that chance no matter what!). I haven't taken anatomy and although I know it would be really good for me before pharm school, it's only offered once a year at my school and it never fit into my schedule. So I didn't apply to any schools this year that required it. If I don't get in and I have a year off, well then, I'll be taking anatomy. 🙂
 
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