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Chances at Pharmacy School
- Thread starter abanerjee
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You should try. By trying you at least have some chance vs. no chance if you are not trying.
You should take the PCAT. If you score highly on the PCAT, this could compensate your weak GPA. I have read here on SDN that some poster got in Virginia Commonwealth University with 2.90s GPA and 70s PCAT. On the extreme, some even could get in (U of Arizona) with less than 2.90s GPA and/or 10-20 percentile on the PCAT. Not that I would recommend you to apply with those stats. It is safer to have good stats for your application.
So while it is still possible for you to get accepted, note that many schools you listed above, e.g. UGA, Mercer, U of Florida, N & S Carolina, might be more competitive for your stats (again you have not got a PCAT score yet). If you apply with your current stats, try to apply to more low-tiered schools to maximize your chance of acceptance.
Again try to improve your GPA by retaking any failed course (if you have any) or by taking new courses. I think the most important factor for schools for admission consideration, in general, is academic, i.e. they want to know if you can handle the coursework and likely to finish their programs. Also, try to get some pharmacy experience under your belt and get your LORs strong and ready before you apply.
GL
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you also have the PCAT now and apply this year. There is still time and I would recommend you to even try this year. You'd never know
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Yeah take pcat in november or january and apply this year. PCOM doesn't require much prereqs
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I would recommend you to do the following:
-buy Dr. Colin's PCAT prep books/materials
-buy Pearson's PCAT sample tests
-take one sample test (Pearson's) as diagnostic then go over the result to identify your strong and weak areas
-go back to study for your weak areas + review your strong areas and practice w/ Dr. Collin's prep materials
-take more Pearson's sample test and review the results
-repeat those steps above until you are good
The avg prep time is ~4 hrs aday for ~ 1-3 mths for most people I've read here on SDN. You could start now. GL
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I would recommend you to do the following:
-buy Dr. Colin's PCAT prep books/materials
-buy Pearson's PCAT sample tests
-take one sample test (Pearson's) as diagnostic then go over the result to identify your strong and weak areas
-go back to study for your weak areas + review your strong areas and practice w/ Dr. Collin's prep materials
-take more Pearson's sample test and review the results
-repeat those steps above until you are good
The avg prep time is ~4 hrs aday for ~ 1-3 mths for most people I've read here on SDN. You could start now. GL
Lulz I was just about to post my reply until you ninja'd me.
OT - I vouch for this post and I too, had a 2.9 GPA and rocked the PCAT with a 91 composite. You can do it as well.
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Check out PA, nursing, MD/DO, dental, computer/software engineering. There are also a lot of things you can make good money without a college degree...
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best for you is to ask your question in the PA forum (I have not even checked to see if there is such forum on SDN) but you can also google for info.
Do you think PA will suffer just like pharmacy in the future? They have a shortage but more and more people are doing it.
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let's look at what is/are threatening the future of pharmacy (or phamacists):
-too many schools and too many schools continue to open to flood market with new grads
-technology advancement: can replace many tasks (and more) that pharmacists do
-lobbying bodies: pharmacists almost have none
now, let's look at PA:
-do they have many schools ?? they have about 190 accredited programs now http://www.arc-pa.org/acc_programs/ . So if they allow more schools opening, this is not good for PA grads. So far, I have not heard that from PA. Also they seems to have limited amount of available slots for clinical rotations which in turn limits the numbers of PA students in a PA program http://www.crainsdetroit.com/articl...stants-paradox-despite-interest-demand-theres
-can they be replaced by machines ?? not as easily as in the case of pharmacy. PAs are involved in a lot of face-to-face interactions with patients. Their employments are also helping to cut down cost in healthcare as they are cheaper than doctors.
-they also have strong lobbying bodies (compared to nurses, doctors) and more enthusiastic in doing so than what I see in pharmacy, http://www.pawannabe.com/2012/04/lobbying-on-capitol-hill-for-physician.html
as in anything, all parties will have to come to an end, but for now I think PAs will still have at least 10-15 (or even 20) years of good run before greed comes in (like many schools opening like law and pharmacy) and ruins everything for their new grads...
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Aren't you a Georgia resident? I thought GT was pretty cheap for Georgia residents?
So your application has a couple of red flags.
1. You swapped to an easier major and a (seemingly) less rigorous school, but failed to improve.
2. You will also be entering your sixth year of college next semester (5 is ok, 6 is not so good).
With this in mind, I would actually recommend that you apply to PCOM. UGA is the only public school in Georgia so your chances of getting in state tuition is pretty low based on your grades. If you feel confident that you can kill the PCAT (in your case, I would recommend a 95+), you would stand a chance at UGA.
How are your pre-req grades? UGA only looks at pre-req GPA so if your pre-res grades are good, that's to your advantage.
Ultimately, I would focus on finishing as many pre-reqs and applying ASAP if you can do well against PCAT. It won't hurt to try and apply to PCOM. If you change your mind about attending after you get in, at least you'll have gained some much-needed confidence.
Finally, have you looked into why you're doing terribly? Sure bad professors might be a reason, but your consistently sub par performance can't be justified simply through that reason.
So your application has a couple of red flags.
1. You swapped to an easier major and a (seemingly) less rigorous school, but failed to improve.
2. You will also be entering your sixth year of college next semester (5 is ok, 6 is not so good).
With this in mind, I would actually recommend that you apply to PCOM. UGA is the only public school in Georgia so your chances of getting in state tuition is pretty low based on your grades. If you feel confident that you can kill the PCAT (in your case, I would recommend a 95+), you would stand a chance at UGA.
How are your pre-req grades? UGA only looks at pre-req GPA so if your pre-res grades are good, that's to your advantage.
Ultimately, I would focus on finishing as many pre-reqs and applying ASAP if you can do well against PCAT. It won't hurt to try and apply to PCOM. If you change your mind about attending after you get in, at least you'll have gained some much-needed confidence.
Finally, have you looked into why you're doing terribly? Sure bad professors might be a reason, but your consistently sub par performance can't be justified simply through that reason.
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Yeah since you already transferred, there's no point in completing a degree. IMO, I think it's best to withdraw from this semester and use the next three months to study for the July PCAT. If you feel you're confident, retake orgo 2 and take speech during the summer as well. If you do extremely well on the PCAT, take more prereqs during the fall (such as A&P and biochem) for UGA and apply to enter Fall 2016. With a strong PCAT score, your circumstances can sort of explain your low GPA. If you don't do well, just apply PCOM.
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Dude...honestly do NOT go to PCOM. I'm also a GA resident, so I have a pretty good understanding of the GA system in regards to private school tuition. PCOM just got established and they have been fighting to even get rotations (or accreditation) going. If If I were you I would still aim for UGA and Mercer. Honestly, my science GPA was HORRIBLE and I still managed to pull myself up and apply to some top schools. I think you should attempt to do the same. I think if you go to PCOM you are potentially setting yourself up for a nasty failure. Just my 2 cents.
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Also I do agree with @Thestrugglez the switch from GT to KSU is not gonna look good and the fact that you're not doing well in some of those chem. courses is gonna hurt. I honestly thought that GT was much harder...
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Yeah of course UGA or Mercer would be ideal, but OPs acceptance into those schools depend largely on her PCAT scores.
And was your sGPA bad? You got a scholarship to UK and acceptance to UNC though
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Can't you withdraw for medical reasons or did the deadline pass? If not just tough it out I guess.
And you shouldn't be that discouraged OP. I had a sGPA in the 2s according to PharmCAS and I got into most of the schools I applied to, including UGA. Just got to kill that PCAT. Your resume looks very good as well.
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Apply to state schools such as UGA, UBaltimore-Maryland (UB), UF, UT and UNC. If you apply to 5 good state schools, chances are you will get interviewed in at least one! Also, do not go anywhere near California or Northeast region, they are saturated with schools + graduates and I highly doubt the name or reputation of the school will give you percentage points when it comes to securing a job. Another piece of advice, don't waste your money on private schools and spend it on a new Iphone or next Samsung Note instead.
When I interviewed at Minnesota which is supposedly a "top tiered school", a fellow student was in the same situation as you, bombed a few courses at 4 year state college for whatever reason and retook it at community college and got A's in them. Her PCAT was in 80s+ range, overall GPA high 2's and had some technician hours, so you should be fine if you can ace PCAT.
When I interviewed at Minnesota which is supposedly a "top tiered school", a fellow student was in the same situation as you, bombed a few courses at 4 year state college for whatever reason and retook it at community college and got A's in them. Her PCAT was in 80s+ range, overall GPA high 2's and had some technician hours, so you should be fine if you can ace PCAT.
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@Thestrugglez my science GPA was pretty horrific xD. I was a biochem major too, but I did a lot of things on the side I think to bolster the fact that my GPA was so poor (High PCAT, published a couple times, volunteer experience, etc.). And I understand that but literally I feel like this is a "look beyond this point" kind of situation. If the OP decides to go to PCOM the future could worse than deciding not to go at all. Sorry I've just heard so many bad things about PCOM and I don't think going to a bad school with the prospect of no jobs is worth it :/
@abanerjee don't give up! If it's something you're really passionate about you can make it happen.
@abanerjee don't give up! If it's something you're really passionate about you can make it happen.
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My science GPA was like a 2.86. Thankfully I double majored in religious studies so my overall gpa was a 3.18. I read through your resume too and I think you should be fine. Just focus on the PCAT. I studied for about 3 hours every day all last summer (and retaught myself trig...GOD) and ended up doing really well. In addition, the classes I did the worst in (Biochem, Quant. Analysis, P.Chem) were the classes that I got my LOR from professors for. You will get in somewhere I have no doubt about that. I believe that half of the battle is making sure this is really what you want, and putting your all in the 1st time so there is no 2nd time around. I mean...paying for the PCAT/Pharmcas itself is expensive and I know I wouldn't want to do that twice.
Also, weigh out your pros and cons. Before I got started with pharmacy school I weighed ALL factors (tuition, possibilities of not gaining employment) put down a list, volunteered in a couple pharmacies to see if I would like things half of which you have done. If it does come down that you don't get in I'd take time to really evaluate yourself. It's not the end of the world. Every failure is a time for reflection/growing experience in itself. As long as you take in everything and look introspectively you will do well.
Also, weigh out your pros and cons. Before I got started with pharmacy school I weighed ALL factors (tuition, possibilities of not gaining employment) put down a list, volunteered in a couple pharmacies to see if I would like things half of which you have done. If it does come down that you don't get in I'd take time to really evaluate yourself. It's not the end of the world. Every failure is a time for reflection/growing experience in itself. As long as you take in everything and look introspectively you will do well.
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Both @RxStudentatUB and @krobinson59 make some good points. VCU is another good school that puts a lot of emphasis on PCAT and only looks at pre-req GPA. This post is also great information and moral support for students with low GPAs (like me)
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/my-journey-motivation-for-applicants-with-low-gpas.976993/
True, in hindsight, I regret applying to PCOM and wasting the money on a school that I declined the interview for. However, at the time, I was really worried that I wouldn't get in anywhere.
krob - your sGPA and cGPA are both higher than mine (2.7 and 2.85)
Once again OP, study for the PCAT. I got lucky and scored really well without studying, but in hindsight, that was a really stupid thing to do after I've already ****ed up my undergrad. Don't worry about not getting in the first time. If you don't just keep retaking prereqs and keep working as a tech. Your resume is excellent and you have a LOT of different experiences so some solid letters + PS should get you in. One thing I would like to point out is that you don't seem big on community service.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/my-journey-motivation-for-applicants-with-low-gpas.976993/
True, in hindsight, I regret applying to PCOM and wasting the money on a school that I declined the interview for. However, at the time, I was really worried that I wouldn't get in anywhere.
krob - your sGPA and cGPA are both higher than mine
(2.7 and 2.85)Once again OP, study for the PCAT. I got lucky and scored really well without studying, but in hindsight, that was a really stupid thing to do after I've already ****ed up my undergrad. Don't worry about not getting in the first time. If you don't just keep retaking prereqs and keep working as a tech. Your resume is excellent and you have a LOT of different experiences so some solid letters + PS should get you in. One thing I would like to point out is that you don't seem big on community service.
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@abanerjee I work at CHOA now and I can tell you it is almost IMPOSSIBLE to get a tech job. They are very picky about putting the best out for the kids as far as the pharmacy department. If you are planning on becoming a volunteer for any hospitals in the metro area you need to start applying now.
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Yes those will count under the science GPA.
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Well I think for the undergrad it depends. Like mine was registered at my school for credit and I was graded on it so I logged it in under its classification for biochemistry which counts towards the science GPA. As far as the 20-25 schools, understand that you have to pay to send through PharmCAS to a certain # of schools. Which is expensive
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