Desperate for advice about pharmacy school!!!

[bonni]

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Im a junior at a university right now. i started of as a chemistry major when i was a freshman, but failed calculus II 3 times and i can't retake it again. which means i can't go on further in a pursueing a science degree. they kicked me out of my major. With so many other things going on I even failed a 2 other science classes. i pretty much gave up hope this past year of getting into pharmacy school or just school in general. my gpa is 2.0 and im a psychology major now. Which i have no interest in what so ever.

Can anyone give me advice as to what to do next? should i transfer out to a community or state college and still work on getting into pharmacy school?

 

[Farmercyst]

Im a junior at a university right now. i started of as a chemistry major when i was a freshman, but failed calculus II 3 times and i can't retake it again. which means i can't go on further in a pursueing a science degree. they kicked me out of my major. With so many other things going on I even failed a 2 other science classes. i pretty much gave up hope this past year of getting into pharmacy school or just school in general. my gpa is 2.0 and im a psychology major now. Which i have no interest in what so ever.

Can anyone give me advice as to what to do next? should i transfer out to a community or state college and still work on getting into pharmacy school?

I suppose if your CC would let you take the classes you messed up in and you managed to pass that would get you by one roadblock. But the GPA damage would be difficult to overcome since all the grades would be averaged into a cumulative GPA. I won't say impossible, but definitely very hard to do.

 

[jasonbourne]

Im a junior at a university right now. i started of as a chemistry major when i was a freshman, but failed calculus II 3 times and i can't retake it again. which means i can't go on further in a pursueing a science degree. they kicked me out of my major. With so many other things going on I even failed a 2 other science classes. i pretty much gave up hope this past year of getting into pharmacy school or just school in general. my gpa is 2.0 and im a psychology major now. Which i have no interest in what so ever.

Can anyone give me advice as to what to do next? should i transfer out to a community or state college and still work on getting into pharmacy school?

The damage is too high. I dont think there is any way. I am not trying to be negative. I am being real with you. No parmacy school will think its cool to fail a class 3 times in undergrad. Moreover, If you cant bring your GPA to 3 at least. You are toast

 

[Passion4Sci]

To say it's beyond hope is not true but it certainly will be very difficult for you to ever get your GPA up to a respectable level.

That said, there are some schools that offer academic forgiveness and/or just look at your pre-requisite GPA. Thus, if you go to a CC and re-take all of the pre-requisites, and perform well, and perform very well on the PCAT (something people seem to leave out of these doom and gloom type posts), you might, MIGHT have a chance to make it. A lot of variables will be at play, but of course the biggest one is you.

Before you failed Calc II three times, were you a straight-A student? Did failing it the first time send you on a downward spiral and cause an overall loss in grades? I mean, even if you get into pharmacy school, if you're just not a good student (and some people are just genuinely, legitimately bad at academics, it isn't for everyone) then you might find yourself washed out of Pharmacy (or worse yet, graduate and not pass NAPLEX).

You need to evaluate your strengths, weaknesses, and goals and match them up. Not everyone can be Le Bron James and toss 3-pointers at a buzzer, not everyone can do space walks, not everyone can be a Pharmacist, not everyone can be a police officer or a soldier. Keep this in mind when you're evaluating yourself... Just because you want to, or fancy the idea of, become/ing a Pharmacist does not mean this is the field for you.

This may sound like a really, really dumb question, but if you've got no interest in Psychology, when you were pushed out of CHemistry, why did you choose it? You should've had Psych courses during your lower division years (at least one, but I took two requisite courses in psych for my lower-div) and been able to discern your lack of desire to do it in the first place.

You're in a tough spot, no doubt about it. Is it insurmountable? No. Will it take severe changes in your lifestyle/habits to accomplish your goal? Yes.

 

[charfdorn]

Im a junior at a university right now. i started of as a chemistry major when i was a freshman, but failed calculus II 3 times and i can't retake it again. which means i can't go on further in a pursueing a science degree. they kicked me out of my major. With so many other things going on I even failed a 2 other science classes. i pretty much gave up hope this past year of getting into pharmacy school or just school in general. my gpa is 2.0 and im a psychology major now. Which i have no interest in what so ever.

Can anyone give me advice as to what to do next? should i transfer out to a community or state college and still work on getting into pharmacy school?

Maybe science is not the field for you. It wouldn't be impossible to get into pharmacy school, but you need to understand that pharmacy is not a fall-back option. You need to go 4.0 the rest of the way to have any chance. You might be better off finishing the degree now and going the MBA route. Or maybe you need a year off to think about what you want to do with your life. But there has to be a reason you failed a total of five math and science courses, and if you can't figure out what that is then you won't be able to pass them somewhere else, either.

I would talk to an advisor at your school, and I would start seeing a counselor as well, to try to work out what you really want to do. It sounds like you don't know, and this forum isn't the place to find out.

 

[RaginCajun]

There are some pharmacy programs that will replace a previous course grade if you retake it, when considering your gpa. If you really want this then don't give up but it is going to be an uphill battle so I would sit back and consider the reasoning. Good Luck though!

 

[jasonbourne]

To say it's beyond hope is not true but it certainly will be very difficult for you to ever get your GPA up to a respectable level.

That said, there are some schools that offer academic forgiveness and/or just look at your pre-requisite GPA. Thus, if you go to a CC and re-take all of the pre-requisites, and perform well, and perform very well on the PCAT (something people seem to leave out of these doom and gloom type posts), you might, MIGHT have a chance to make it. A lot of variables will be at play, but of course the biggest one is you.

Before you failed Calc II three times, were you a straight-A student? Did failing it the first time send you on a downward spiral and cause an overall loss in grades? I mean, even if you get into pharmacy school, if you're just not a good student (and some people are just genuinely, legitimately bad at academics, it isn't for everyone) then you might find yourself washed out of Pharmacy (or worse yet, graduate and not pass NAPLEX).

You need to evaluate your strengths, weaknesses, and goals and match them up. Not everyone can be Le Bron James and toss 3-pointers at a buzzer, not everyone can do space walks, not everyone can be a Pharmacist, not everyone can be a police officer or a soldier. Keep this in mind when you're evaluating yourself... Just because you want to, or fancy the idea of, become/ing a Pharmacist does not mean this is the field for you.

This may sound like a really, really dumb question, but if you've got no interest in Psychology, when you were pushed out of CHemistry, why did you choose it? You should've had Psych courses during your lower division years (at least one, but I took two requisite courses in psych for my lower-div) and been able to discern your lack of desire to do it in the first place.

You're in a tough spot, no doubt about it. Is it insurmountable? No. Will it take severe changes in your lifestyle/habits to accomplish your goal? Yes.

Passion, depending on the # of hours he has, this guy is gonna have an extremely hard time. His GPA is 2.0 meaning he probably has a couple of C's D's , etc. He is a long shot and must be extremely patient to make straight A's for like 60 more hours If not, He might never get towards a 3.2-3.5 . It all depends on how many hours he has taken. The more hours taken, the harder it is to alter your cumulative GPA. The less hours taken, he has a better chance of improving it. It is gonna be tough for him.

 

[jasonbourne]

There are some pharmacy programs that will replace a previous course grade if you retake it, when considering your gpa. If you really want this then don't give up but it is going to be an uphill battle so I would sit back and consider the reasoning. Good Luck though!

Very few schools do it which makes them even more competitive cuz all the people with lower GPAs might apply there.

 

[Passion4Sci]

Passion, depending on the # of hours he has, this guy is gonna have an extremely hard time. His GPA is 2.0 meaning he probably has a couple of C's D's , etc. He is a long shot and must be extremely patient to make straight A's for like 60 more hours If not, He might never get towards a 3.2-3.5 . It all depends on how many hours he has taken. The more hours taken, the harder it is to alter your cumulative GPA. The less hours taken, he has a better chance of improving it. It is gonna be tough for him.

Yeah, I definitely emphasized that enough with italics and bold, thanks for re-iterating the point though.

 

[atticus27]

Yup, you need grade forgiveness, probably a 2 year strong upward trend, a degree, apply to 15+ schools, an awe inspiring personal statement, and solid everything else. If you're not passionate about pharmacy it really isn't going to be worth the effort my friend.

 

[bluesickle]

Im a junior at a university right now. i started of as a chemistry major when i was a freshman, but failed calculus II 3 times and i can't retake it again. which means i can't go on further in a pursueing a science degree. they kicked me out of my major. With so many other things going on I even failed a 2 other science classes. i pretty much gave up hope this past year of getting into pharmacy school or just school in general. my gpa is 2.0 and im a psychology major now. Which i have no interest in what so ever.

Can anyone give me advice as to what to do next? should i transfer out to a community or state college and still work on getting into pharmacy school?

If you're failing so many classes now, are you sure you're going to be able to survive pharmacy school? I won't say it's impossible to raise your GPA to something respectable but I'd imagine it's going to take 3+ years of straight A's since you're a junior -- and presumably almost a senior.

 

[Inconspicuous]

Is integral really that hard, failed it 3 times?

 

[Maxpwer222]

Is integral really that hard, failed it 3 times?

I found Calc II a bit harder than Calc I or Calc III to be honest.

 

[tomk]

you have to answer this honestly,

can you take the rest of your science classes and get mostly a's, and score a real high pcat.

if the answer is no, then pharmacy isn't for you.

right now you probably lack the discipline and brain power to get the grades you need to go to pharmacy school.

im just being honest to save you some time and heartbreak, hate for you to retake your prereqs just to get a 2.5 and get rejected.

now, if you can get good grades from here on out with no W's/fails/c's and mainly a's, go on ahead.

another option is to retake your pre reqs in 5 years and try to get into a school that does academic forgiveness.

 

[charfdorn]

you have to answer this honestly,

can you take the rest of your science classes and get mostly a's, and score a real high pcat.

if the answer is no, then pharmacy isn't for you.

right now you probably lack the discipline and brain power to get the grades you need to go to pharmacy school.

im just being honest to save you some time and heartbreak, hate for you to retake your prereqs just to get a 2.5 and get rejected.

now, if you can get good grades from here on out with no W's/fails/c's and mainly a's, go on ahead.

another option is to retake your pre reqs in 5 years and try to get into a school that does academic forgiveness.

Not mostly As. All As.

 

[atticus27]

right now you probably lack the discipline and brain power to get the grades you need to go to pharmacy school.

low blow!

 

[Passion4Sci]

low blow!

LOL, yea I noticed that too.

I took the high road and went with "academically challenged."

Brain power seems inflammatory and really nebulous anyway. I mean, what exactly is brain power and how can we measure it, and in what measurement? kJ?

 

[mildlyneurotic]

Calc II is pretty basic, it only gets harder with more stuff to learn.
You should probably give up on school and go work at the post office... I'm serious, they got it pretty good if you can land a desk job!

 

[EDLKim]

I have to agree with everyone here. It will be very difficult for you to make up your grades and prepare for pharmacy school now that you are a junior in college. Every year it is getting more competitive and difficult to get accepted to pharmacy school, evident from the GPA increase this year alone.

There is a difference between you liking science/health versus science as your strength. If science is not your strength since you are not doing well in your classes then this is not the career path for you. You need a good science foundation for any healthcare career in the future.

However, if you believe that you can really pursue this then I suggest you got to a CC, get A's, and score an unbelievable PCAT score. Also have lots of amazing extra cirr and LORs. Good luck.

 

[cascones92]

You might not want to hear this but after my sophomore year in college my GPA was a whopping 1.96 and I was on probation with absolutely no direction in what I wanted to be. I went to a state school and had absolutely no maturity so my GPA after my freshmen year was a 2.83. With it being this low I figured there was no way I could get into vet school so my sophomore year was completely wasted. With a 1.96 GPA I had the "talk" with my dad about how I wanted to support my family and if I thought I could do it without a college degree. I talked with my mom and we decided with a passion for people and science I should think about teaching. It took 3 and a half years to take all the classes I needed to graduate with a degree in Secondary Education in which I was certified to teach biology and chemistry. By the way, I was able to get my GPA up to slightly above 3.0. After teaching chemistry for 8 years I realized that there was more to my life than teaching. I shadowed a pharmacist and then worked part time as a pharm tech loving every bit of it cementing in my head that I now knew what I wanted to be when I "grew up"- a pharmacist. The past year I have taken a total of 24 hours (chem II, Org I and II, calculus, and anatomy and physiology), taken the PCAT, worked part time at the pharmacy, while still teaching chemistry full time. It was approximately 2 weeks ago that I got my letter of acceptance into the only Pharmacy school I applied to this year (do not recommend this practice). The moral of the story is that you might have shot yourself in the foot for the here and now, but it is possible if you are willing to work at it

 

[OChemist]

After teaching chemistry for 8 years I realized that there was more to my life than teaching.

god bless you. Change your study habits and do more calc 2 math problems? solve the book, eat it up and pursue your dreams.

 

[quitejaded]

I agree. Do not lose hope. I would pay attention to "alternative" school and stuff like that.

You are going to need to RADICALLY change your life in order to study hard enough to make As from now on and do well on the PCAT. I advise that you take a break and be a part-time student so you study a few courses at a time. You should also talk to some sort of counselour, minister, life coach, etc. To help you. And if you have parents, siblings, roommates, etc who can help you to stay focused on studying, don't resent it when they become annoying.

 

[TheIshow23]

Im a junior at a university right now. i started of as a chemistry major when i was a freshman, but failed calculus II 3 times and i can't retake it again. which means i can't go on further in a pursueing a science degree. they kicked me out of my major. With so many other things going on I even failed a 2 other science classes. i pretty much gave up hope this past year of getting into pharmacy school or just school in general. my gpa is 2.0 and im a psychology major now. Which i have no interest in what so ever.

Can anyone give me advice as to what to do next? should i transfer out to a community or state college and still work on getting into pharmacy school?

what science classes did you fail? Some pharmacy schools will only look at your pre-reqs and not at calc 2. If the science classes you failed were not pre-reqs you might be ok. also apply to every pharmacy school that you can.

 

[quitejaded]

Wouldn't that mean she would be spending more time in school getting pre-reqs for schools that are not pre-reqs for other schools?

I think in general, anatomy, genetics and microbiology are pre-reqs that are either required or not required. So that's 3 more classes to take.

 

[BeautifulDay]

I found Calc II a bit harder than Calc I or Calc III to be honest.

I so agree w/ you on that. I was a Chem Eng major and I needed to take calc II b/c it was a pre req for physic II for engineers. I got a C+ in Calc II but got an A in Calc III. But then again, my Cal II proffesor was blind and my classmates and I had a real hard time understanding what he wrote on the board. Regarless of all that though, I still found Calc II to be more difficult than Cal I & III combined.

 

[Nerdgirl]

I really don't think you will make it to pharmacy school because your of GPA, but I do think you will make it as an engineer where your grades
is not weighted as much. You can just get a 'C' in your classes and still
become an engineer. Maybe find other career of your choosing.

 

[bluesickle]

I really don't think you will make it to pharmacy school because your of GPA, but I do think you will make it as an engineer where your grades
is not weighted as much. You can just get a 'C' in your classes and still
become an engineer. Maybe find other career of your choosing.

Try asking all those 2.0 engineering students how they're doing in their job searches.

 

[psi1989]

I really don't think you will make it to pharmacy school because your of GPA, but I do think you will make it as an engineer where your grades
is not weighted as much. You can just get a 'C' in your classes and still
become an engineer. Maybe find other career of your choosing.

i'd have to disagree with you about grades not weighing much when you go out to search for a job. no employer wants to hire someone with 2.xx gpa when there are plenty of others with a respectable 3.xx gpa--fyi most employers will look at your transcript to see what kind of a student you were..at least thats how it is when you go look for a decent job in pharmaceutical companies..and by decent i don't mean some dinky lab assistant position.

that's why those who just have that "i just want to finish" mentality while in undergrad are pretty much toast! how many people do you know graduate with a BS, end up moving home, and complain about how hard it is to find a decent job???

 

[psi1989]

That's one of the silliest thing I've read in a long time. Maybe you're confused by the fact that many engineering students graduate with a low GPA but these are students who're already in the major. No respectable school is going to accept a 2.0 transfer student into their engineering program especially after the OP showed absolutely no prowess in mathematics. At most universities, those who fail out of their majors end up in something in the school of social sciences, which is exactly where the OP is right now.

Oh and for your information, you can get an undergraduate degree in just about anything with a 'C' average. Ever heard of "C's for degrees?"

i agree 👍

 

[xtsukiyox]

Boy, there are some inflammatory responses here! TBH, I skipped most of them. 🙄

I agree with Passion4Sci's first post.

I have to add... Why not get a different undergrad degree? I think it might be best to go to State U (if only for resources and change of scenery, which might be just what you need), but it would be a decision you need to make, involving your current university.

What is your goal? What are you going to do with your degree? What kind of a job do you want? Have you ever experienced what pharmacy is like, or a job using any other science degree you've considered?

I saw a post on here a while back (forgive my memory) about someone with medical problems who got something like a 2.4 in their undergrad degree, then buckled down and got a 3.4 or something on the prepharm requirements. Made a really great inspirational story for the admissions people. Perhaps this type of route would be good for you? Pick something that will allign you with where you really want to be.

 

[wes011]

Im a junior at a university right now. i started of as a chemistry major when i was a freshman, but failed calculus II 3 times and i can't retake it again. which means i can't go on further in a pursueing a science degree. they kicked me out of my major. With so many other things going on I even failed a 2 other science classes. i pretty much gave up hope this past year of getting into pharmacy school or just school in general. my gpa is 2.0 and im a psychology major now. Which i have no interest in what so ever.

Can anyone give me advice as to what to do next? should i transfer out to a community or state college and still work on getting into pharmacy school?

Why did you fail these classes? If there is a reason behind it such as missed school due to serious illness or family member gravely ill you can explain things. However, if you simply failed because the class it too difficult for you that is something completely different. Not that Calculus II is easy because it isn't, but there are far more advanced classes to take in pharmacy school and like other's have said, it might be too much to overcome. Maybe take some time off and give calculus II a try over the summer or when you can take that class by itself you can get through it, otherwise, find something else you are passionate about and go for it.

First thing I would do is contact a pharmacy school and ask their recruiter or assistant dean for guidance. If you work with one of these schools and continue to try to bring up the grades and show grit and determination on how badly you want to become something (they might let you in) providing you meet the admission requirements.