Here's my situation: I applied to 5 schools, got rejected from UOP, Albany , and Drake and havn't heard from Maryland or Buffalo yet. I graduate in May... should I start activly looking for a relevant job position (ie. Pharm Tech) now, or should I wait until I know for sure if I'm going to pharm school or not? I'd hate to apply to a job and lie about how long I could work there (say a year, then get accpeted and leave in 3 months!) But then again, Maryland's website says I may not hear from them until May, and Buffalo's says August!!! What should I do?!?! Any advice?
Buffalo or Maryland or Job?
- Thread starter Leah27
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My personal opinion, I think u should start looking for a job. If not a pharm tech job, then try being a pharm clerk or sometimes they call it a pharmacy assistant. Another job u might try is what they call pharmacy typiest. Pharmacy typiest are allowed to type new prescriptions and take prescription refills, but unlike a tech, are not allowed to touch the medication. I know many pharmacy schools are big on experience. It will help u to answer some interview question too just incase they might ask u questions like, is there anything in pharmacy that u do not like or what do u see are some of the biggest challenges to the pharmacy profession.
U might also want to take more upper divisional classes at a junior college or some 4 year university that are pharmacy related like microbiology or immunology, which are usually not a prequiste for pharmacy school but would show them that u are highly qualified student. Make sure u keep on raising ur gpa, especially ur science gpa.
Prepare to answer this question on ur essay or at an interview just in case they ask this, "since u didn't get in last year, why should we take u this year," or alternatively, "what have u done to improve ur application since last year."
U also should think about turning in ur application a little bit earlier. I know if u wait until the last minute, it is very difficult to get an interview spot. I am pretty sure that is the reason why I got rejected from UOP. I waited until the very last day to send in my application. So u might want to start filling out applications either late summer or early Sept.
Recommendation. Get good letter of recs, not from professors who know u got an A. They can tell that from ur transcripts. But professors who can testify to u as a person. Especially get one from a pharmacist, especially one who is an alumni of the school u want to go to. My pharmacist knew me on a personal level and since he also went to usc, knew what they were looking for in an applicant. My best recommendation, get one from a science professor who can testify to ur knowledge in the science courses. Get one from a pharmacist who can testify to ur ability to become a pharmacist. Get one from a manager who can best testify to ur work ethics and character.
Visits. Arrange visits to the schools u really want to go to. Show them u took time to look at their campus and tell them why u want to go to their school. What part of the school that is unique that makes u want to . For example, usc is big on community service and block curriculum. If u tell usc, yes i went to visit ur campus and I love how u guys give back to the community, it shows the admission officers that u really want to come to this school.
Expand ur application pool. In other words be flexible. In all honesty, I applied to 10 schools and got rejected from almost all of them. Towards the end, I knew I should of applied to more. Apply to some top tier schools, some middle, and some bottom. You will never know which schools will take u and which will reject u. Apply in state, out of state, private, public. But above all, apply to as many as u can. I know it will cost a lot of money, but in the end, is a few hundred dollars for more applications worth another year of ur life. And think about it, every year u are not in pharmacy school, is another year u did not make 100K. So in the end, a few hundred dollars for extra application is nothing.
Hope this helps. I can't gurantee u will make it into the school u want, but I can gurantee u that if u keep on working at it, u will get into some pharmacy school eventually. Good luck.
U might also want to take more upper divisional classes at a junior college or some 4 year university that are pharmacy related like microbiology or immunology, which are usually not a prequiste for pharmacy school but would show them that u are highly qualified student. Make sure u keep on raising ur gpa, especially ur science gpa.
Prepare to answer this question on ur essay or at an interview just in case they ask this, "since u didn't get in last year, why should we take u this year," or alternatively, "what have u done to improve ur application since last year."
U also should think about turning in ur application a little bit earlier. I know if u wait until the last minute, it is very difficult to get an interview spot. I am pretty sure that is the reason why I got rejected from UOP. I waited until the very last day to send in my application. So u might want to start filling out applications either late summer or early Sept.
Recommendation. Get good letter of recs, not from professors who know u got an A. They can tell that from ur transcripts. But professors who can testify to u as a person. Especially get one from a pharmacist, especially one who is an alumni of the school u want to go to. My pharmacist knew me on a personal level and since he also went to usc, knew what they were looking for in an applicant. My best recommendation, get one from a science professor who can testify to ur knowledge in the science courses. Get one from a pharmacist who can testify to ur ability to become a pharmacist. Get one from a manager who can best testify to ur work ethics and character.
Visits. Arrange visits to the schools u really want to go to. Show them u took time to look at their campus and tell them why u want to go to their school. What part of the school that is unique that makes u want to . For example, usc is big on community service and block curriculum. If u tell usc, yes i went to visit ur campus and I love how u guys give back to the community, it shows the admission officers that u really want to come to this school.
Expand ur application pool. In other words be flexible. In all honesty, I applied to 10 schools and got rejected from almost all of them. Towards the end, I knew I should of applied to more. Apply to some top tier schools, some middle, and some bottom. You will never know which schools will take u and which will reject u. Apply in state, out of state, private, public. But above all, apply to as many as u can. I know it will cost a lot of money, but in the end, is a few hundred dollars for more applications worth another year of ur life. And think about it, every year u are not in pharmacy school, is another year u did not make 100K. So in the end, a few hundred dollars for extra application is nothing.
Hope this helps. I can't gurantee u will make it into the school u want, but I can gurantee u that if u keep on working at it, u will get into some pharmacy school eventually. Good luck.
Thanks for your advice. I know I made some of the same mistakes as you (ie. Applying to UOP too late) I know I did a lot right too... (pharmacist letter of rec, volunteer experience in pharmacy) I feel like it is a crap shoot at this point whether I get into U Buffalo and U Maryland or not. My biggest beef though is that I have all that science experience in all those odd courses.. microbio, neuroscience, evolution, ect. and I will have a B.S from a tough school. And, I don't care what pharmacy school I get in... I just want to get in to ONE! I will expand my prereqs at night school if i dont' get in this year (A& P, Biochem ect) But I can't see taking those irrelevant prereqs some schools request......(public speaking? I was only going to take that if I got into UOP first.... why spend 300 bucks to take such a dumb course?) Thank you for the suggestions on other jobs.. I never heard of pharmacy typist! I will def look into that.
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Also you probably have to consider expanding ur application pool. For sure, include more private schools. Publics schools are mandated to take a majority of the students from their state into their school. Certain schools like USC and Creighton could care less where u come from, as long as u have the numbers and are willing to pay. Four or five schools is not enough I feel. I think the minium should be at least ten schools.
Public speaking- try taking this class at a junior college. It is much cheaper and it is not that important of a class when they consider ur application. Unlike the other prerequiste such as organic chemistry and biology, which carries a much bigger weight. The reason why public speaking is required is because you would have to give many presentations to ur classmates, preceptors, professors, and doctors. I know at usc, starting third year, more of the exams become oral instead of just pure writing. They want to make sure that u not only know the facts, but how to communicate them to ur specific audience.
Try finishing up all of the pharmacy prerequiste before u apply, it looks better, even if it is stupid public speaking.
It's not just the number of volunteer hours, but the quality of the volunteership. I know I got more from volunteering as a pharmacy typiest than some people who just work as a tech and filled all day.
Public speaking- try taking this class at a junior college. It is much cheaper and it is not that important of a class when they consider ur application. Unlike the other prerequiste such as organic chemistry and biology, which carries a much bigger weight. The reason why public speaking is required is because you would have to give many presentations to ur classmates, preceptors, professors, and doctors. I know at usc, starting third year, more of the exams become oral instead of just pure writing. They want to make sure that u not only know the facts, but how to communicate them to ur specific audience.
Try finishing up all of the pharmacy prerequiste before u apply, it looks better, even if it is stupid public speaking.
It's not just the number of volunteer hours, but the quality of the volunteership. I know I got more from volunteering as a pharmacy typiest than some people who just work as a tech and filled all day.
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I received a rejection from UM last month.
Shal, No I havn't yet, but I plan on it. Although I suspect I will get the same old response... too many applicants, many qualified applicants, apply earlier ect. ect. ect. It is just a discouraging experience. I'm not looking forward to applying to pharmacy related jobs now either.... I am guessing that it is going to be competitive to apply to those jobs now too, because everyone that got rejected will have the same idea. It will just be a continuation of this train wreck... sigh.
