Community College Transfer

[roberthope]

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I am curious how my situation will be reflected on pharmacy school applications. Prior to transferring to a 4 year school, I spent 3 years at a community college doing mostly nursing pre-reqs for the first two years and then chemistry major requirements for the last one. My GPA prior to transferring was a 3.5 with mostly 4.0's for the last two years. Currently at my 4 year school my gpa is a 2.99, and I have one year left to complete a BS chemistry (that makes six years total in undergrad, 3 at community college and 3 at a 4 year school). It is my understanding that most schools have a 3.0 minimum gpa, so I'm curious how that works with my transfer credits.

Aside from my gpa, I have two full summers and two semesters of research in analytical chemistry, and I will likely publish this summer. I also have 4 years of hospital experience as a patient transporter, but no pharmacy experience.

I appreciate any advise/information on the matter

 

[AlPacino]

Your Science GPA is a big factor but not the only one. I know people who have gotten in Pharmacy school with a 2.8 GPA. However, they did make up by strengthening other parts of their application. A great PCAT score, volunteer experience(s), strong LoRs, and a good personal statement. GPA is a deciding factor to get into a pharmacy program, but they look at your application as a whole and what you can contribute to the school.

 

[roberthope]

My science gpa is around a 3.8 at the community college and probably about a 2.7 at my current school. I am mostly wondering how the two gpa's will average out on my application. Thanks for your help.

 

[AlPacino]

My science gpa is around a 3.8 at the community college and probably about a 2.7 at my current school. I am mostly wondering how the two gpa's will average out on my application. Thanks for your help.

The Pharmacy College Application Service (PharmCAS) will do that for you. It will calculate your GPAs separately. Heres and example

 

[DiveHawaii]

Yeah like FelixRx said your GPA will be calculated as a whole by Pharmcas, one for science and the other for overall GPA. It doesn't matter that your current university Gpa is lower because your community college grades will average it out. I did the same thing as you because it was cheaper and then transferred into my 4 year university at my third year and I got into pharmacy school just fine. But why does it seem that your GPA has gone down severely since you've transitioned into your university? They do look at things like that as well, how you are able to handle a harder workload and classes as it is an indicator as to how you will be able to handle pharmacy school. If you're concerned with your GPA then I would suggest definitely start getting pharmacy experience somehow because it will help you a lot and make sure that you write a awesome personal statement and get your two LOR's from people who will write very highly of you. It's a package deal.

 

[pharm B]

Based on your extras and the fact that you'll have a bachelors, I'd say you're competitive.

As mentioned above, PharmCAS calculates a cumulative GPA so you can see for yourself where you stand. You can also just do a manual calculation of the same thing with all of your grades from each school together. I wouldn't sweat it. 🙂