can you major in chemistry and go to pharmacy graduate school??

[jungjh9001]

can you major in chemisty as an undergraduate and go to pharmacy graduate school??
if I want to be a pharmacist, is it better to go to the school that has
pre-pharm program??
would it be harder for me to admitted to pharmacy graduate schools if I major in chemistry instead of going to pre-pharmacy school??

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[cutiger]

I got a degree in Chemistry, took a year off, and just got accepted to pharmacy school somewhere else.

 

[pharmgirl2012]

I am in the same boat here. I have a b.s. in chemistry, a year off, and got accepted to both of the schools that applied to!! Good luck!

 

[UES Girl]

can you major in chemisty as an undergraduate and go to pharmacy graduate school??
if I want to be a pharmacist, is it better to go to the school that has
pre-pharm program??
would it be harder for me to admitted to pharmacy graduate schools if I major in chemistry instead of going to pre-pharmacy school??

Either I don't understand your question correctly or you are asking something rather odd. Pre-pharmacy is not an actual major = you can't graduate from college and have a Bachelor of Science in Pre-pharmacy. What do you become then Pre-pharmacist ?

When people say I did pre-pharmacy in college it's a fancy way of saying I majored in nothing and took my basic sciency pre-reqs.

Major in Chemistry - that's one of the most, if not most challenging majors and it will provide you with the background you need to further apply to pharmacy school. Also you ever decided during your years of college that phamacy is not for you you'll have an actual degree to fall on - a degree in chemistry and can work in the research lab or do all kinds of stuff, whereas with the pre-pharmacy - well you can't really do much as a pre-pharmacist.

 

[fenixtnlfan]

Just to add, going to a school with a pre-pharm program might be helpful. They can help you pick out the classes you need to take to apply for pharm school and have other resources that can help you out (like clubs). However, it's not necessary because you should be able to pick out which classes you need.

It's also becoming more common for people to get admitted to pharm school if they have a bachelors over just having the pre-reqs done. You can major in anything you want so do what you enjoy. A chem major is tough, but if it's what you love it's worth it.

Now I hope I answered your questions. Sounds like you wanted to know about the Pharm.D. but saying pharm graduate school implies Ph.D. which is a bit different.

 

[mike36]

can you major in chemisty as an undergraduate and go to pharmacy graduate school??
if I want to be a pharmacist, is it better to go to the school that has
pre-pharm program??
would it be harder for me to admitted to pharmacy graduate schools if I major in chemistry instead of going to pre-pharmacy school??

Pharmacy school = professional school (like med school, dental school, etc.)
Graduate school = masters degree or doctor of philosophy (PhD)

 

[jonnyboi303]

if you want to go to the pharmacy school's graduate program to get an advanced degree in pharmacology or pharmaceutical sciences or the like then yeah a chemistry degree would be helpful if not necessary. if you want to go to the pharmacy school's professional program then you can major in anything, not graduate, and still get in as long as you have all of your prerequisites done before you matriculate

 

[Pharmpills]

Majoring in chemistry is tough but very beneficial, i would recommend taking the pre-reqs and take a few chem. major classes during that time then apply early and take alot of ur classes for chemistry degree during ur fall year bc making an A is very hard in those classes so therefore it wont affect u alot then just use the summer to take any remaining class. If u made good grades then submit ur trancript in the spring but nevertheless Chem major is a definite positive just becareful in it pulling ur gpa. gl

 

[HoosierChemist]

I will receive my Chemistry BS this May from an AMAZING program. I have all of my pre-reqs completed minus microbiology because it always conflicted with courses that were required for my major.

Partiality aside, if you can get a BS in Chemistry, I'd highly recommend it. Ok, I guess I am being partial here

 

[Knickerbocker]

If I don't get into any pharmacy school, I am going to weep. I took murderous classes like physical chemistry while the bulk of people getting in haven't taken any advanced chemistry at all

Oh yeah... I had the conflict problem for years and didn't get some of my prerequisites finished until last semester.

 

[viva yoda]

I got a B.S. in Chemistry at a UC, ~3.4 sGPA there, got a job as a QC Chemist for almost 4 years now, and just got conditionally accepted to USC. It's totally possible!

 

[Lau70]

I have a BS in Chem. and have been accepted to pharmacy school- it can happen.

It's a tough major and, if you can pull it off, will make you stand out a little from all of the bio majors that are applying.

If you want to be a pharmacist, then you would be talking about the Doctor of Pharmacy programs (aka pharmacy school). "Pharmacy graduate school" could be misleading since there is a PhD. in pharmacology avaliable at some schools.

As a Chemistry major, you may have a difficult time squeezing the additional pre-requisites such as biology, anatomy, physiology, microbiology and even some of the misc. courses like economics, statistics, or speech. As a result, you may need to take some summer courses or continue post-bac. undergrad work to complete all of the pre-reqs.

Regarding "pre-pharmacy": You can apply to a school that has a "pre-pharmacy" program such as UOP. They take students directly out of high school and allow them to basically take the pre-reqs for 2-4 years (you don't get a BS degree unless you complete all 4 years of the undergraduate work- not sure what the BS is in however) while holding their spot in the Doctoral program. This is almost like a guaranteed admissions system (provided you maintain good standing: ie. GPA).

There's a lot of ways towards the path of becoming a pharmacist, so do some more research (school webistes/ PharmCAS) and check in here every so often.

Good Luck!

 

[jonnyboi303]

If I don't get into any pharmacy school, I am going to weep. I took murderous classes like physical chemistry while the bulk of people getting in haven't taken any advanced chemistry at all

Oh yeah... I had the conflict problem for years and didn't get some of my prerequisites finished until last semester.

haha i remember pchem2 still. the professor drew up an equation on the board and was like "this represents the electron traveling around the nucleus" and i was like '........wth happened to it just being a dot?'

 

[jungjh9001]

I thought it takes about 4 years to get BS in chemistry.. (Is it true??)

then do I have to study for 4 years to get BS in chemisty and then apply to

pharmacy school??

 

[phuang06]

I thought it takes about 4 years to get BS in chemistry.. (Is it true??)

then do I have to study for 4 years to get BS in chemisty and then apply to

pharmacy school??

you don't HAVE to obtain a BS in anything if you get accepted to pharmacy school with just the pre-reqs done. But yes, generally, it does take 4 years to get a BS in Chemistry or any other degree.

All this talk about Chemistry majoring urges me to bring up the major of Biochemistry. At my school, it's a very crazy curriculum, including the upper division biochemistry (as opposed to the lower level one for non-biochemistry majors [chemistry majors included]) and Physical Chemistry, and a 6-credit biochemistry/molecular biology lab. Yay for biochemistry majors!

 

[UES Girl]

I thought it takes about 4 years to get BS in chemistry.. (Is it true??)

then do I have to study for 4 years to get BS in chemisty and then apply to

pharmacy school??

4 years to get a BS in chemistry ???????? Either in the dream land, private school or at the school that has an unaccredited degree.

In reality acreditted degree in chemistry BS - takes 5-6 years to complete. Not only you have to take 3 semesters of calculus but 3 semesters of physics with calculus + physical chemistry with calculus + a bunch of upper division classes and labs after you complete pchem.

 

[cutiger]

4 years to get a BS in chemistry ???????? Either in the dream land, private school or at the school that has an unaccredited degree.

In reality acreditted degree in chemistry BS - takes 5-6 years to complete. Not only you have to take 3 semesters of calculus but 3 semesters of physics with calculus + physical chemistry with calculus + a bunch of upper division classes and labs after you complete pchem.

Bullcrap... A BS in Chemistry is totally possible in 4 years. Your school has to make the curriculum fit into a 4 year system. So unless you screw up and fail/drop classes it is very easy to get a BS in chemistry in 4 years.

 

[UES Girl]

Bullcrap... A BS in Chemistry is totally possible in 4 years. Your school has to make the curriculum fit into a 4 year system. So unless you screw up and fail/drop classes it is very easy to get a BS in chemistry in 4 years.

Look it up yourself - I don't know anyone from my peers/age group who is a chemistry major who graduated in 4 years. Yet I go to the State school and it sometimes takes a year to get into a class here. It took me a year just before I was able to get a seat in ochem - so I couldn't take ochem untill the end of my sophmore year.

Also as far as I am concerned there are different BS in chemistry degrees - do some basic research and see how much the curriculum varies from school to school. A BS in chemistry from one school can require 15-20 units more than BS in chemistry from another school. When you take into account that these 15-20 units may be of sequential classes here is your extra year or 2 right there.

 

[jonnyboi303]

Look it up yourself - I don't know anyone from my peers/age group who is a chemistry major who graduated in 4 years. Yet I go to the State school and it sometimes takes a year to get into a class here. It took me a year just before I was able to get a seat in ochem - so I couldn't take ochem untill the end of my sophmore year.

Also as far as I am concerned there are different BS in chemistry degrees - do some basic research and see how much the curriculum varies from school to school. A BS in chemistry from one school can require 15-20 units more than BS in chemistry from another school. When you take into account that these 15-20 units may be of sequential classes here is your extra year or 2 right there.

I'm a biochem major at CU Boulder and took all of those classes you talked about and I'm finishing in 3 years with credits going in. Also, UC Berkeley's programs, and I'm guessing most other programs, are able to be finished in 4 years.

 

[UES Girl]

I'm a biochem major at CU Boulder and took all of those classes you talked about and I'm finishing in 3 years with credits going in. Also, UC Berkeley's programs, and I'm guessing most other programs, are able to be finished in 4 years.

That's great - maybe at other schools it's possible . At my school I don't know anybody amongst my peers ( there is a handfull of chem majors literally ) who graduated in 4 years. I have been there for over 5.5 years and so have they. If you can finish a BS in chemistry degree in the traditional sense of it in 4 years I applaud you. In our school:

- it takes a year just to get into some classes

- half the electives required have not been taught in the last 5 years due to lack of faculty

- some of the require core courses are no longer taught so you have to substitue for them with classes that require more additional pre-reqs.

 

[AggiePharmer]

Why haven't your faculty addressed these concerns so you're not having to pay for another year/2 of education?!

 

[jungjh9001]

so it will be most likely (if I want to get BS in chemistry) to be 4 years of chemistry BS + about 5 or 6 years of pharmacy (including pre-pharm).. so about 9 total years??

or can I somehow take pre req classes for pre-pharmacy with BS chemistry classes??

and what happens if I took all of my pre req classes for pre-pharmacy but I didn't take enough classes for BS chemistry.. do I have to choose one of the two or can I get finish my BS chemistry study in pharmacy school??

 

[phuang06]

so it will be most likely (if I want to get BS in chemistry) to be 4 years of chemistry BS + about 5 or 6 years of pharmacy (including pre-pharm).. so about 9 total years??

or can I somehow take pre req classes for pre-pharmacy with BS chemistry classes??

and what happens if I took all of my pre req classes for pre-pharmacy but I didn't take enough classes for BS chemistry.. do I have to choose one of the two or can I get finish my BS chemistry study in pharmacy school??

First off, the completion of a Bachelors Degree is NOT necessary for acceptance into Pharmacy School.

Second, you can take pre-reqs for Pharmacy School along side BS Chemistry courses. In fact, a lot of them overlap. You just need to make sure you have the public speaking, anatomy, physiology, statistics, biochemistry, or whatever the schools you wish to apply for requires as pre-reqs. So if you really wanted to obtain your BS in Chemistry, it would take 4 years for BS Chemistry and another 4 years for PharmD, a total of 8 years.

If you took all your pre-reqs for pharmacy school, you are more than welcome to apply to pharmacy school if you feel you are competitive enough without the completion of a BS degree. There are some schools that have programs that allow a 3+1 program for BS degrees, where you go to undergrad working toward a BS in whatever for 3 years, get accepted and go to professional school (pharmacy school in this case) for a year, and transfer enough credits back to the undergraduate school to complete the requirements to obtain a BS degree. You should check with your school to see if they have such a program.

 

[floating Tech]

Look it up yourself - I don't know anyone from my peers/age group who is a chemistry major who graduated in 4 years. Yet I go to the State school and it sometimes takes a year to get into a class here. It took me a year just before I was able to get a seat in ochem - so I couldn't take ochem untill the end of my sophmore year.

Also as far as I am concerned there are different BS in chemistry degrees - do some basic research and see how much the curriculum varies from school to school. A BS in chemistry from one school can require 15-20 units more than BS in chemistry from another school. When you take into account that these 15-20 units may be of sequential classes here is your extra year or 2 right there.

Not to threadcrap, or to really argue with you but my best friend graduated from UVA with dual majors....BS Chemistry/BS Physics all in 4 years. SO I guess he must be super-smart and efficient.

 

[cutiger]

I got a degree in Polymer Chemistry with a Minor in Chemistry in 4 years, and I managed to get in. 2 semesters of Gen Chem, 2 of OChem, 2 of Pchem, 1 of Envri Chem, and 6 semesters of Polym Chem. With all of my other requirements except Biology. Which is why i took a year off and came back to take Bio 101/102 and Anat/Phys.