I was dismissed from one of the top pharmacy schools in the country. I applied as a sophomore in college and was accepted without an undergraduate degree. The school was 10 hours away from my hometown. I went from living with my family to living on my own. I didn't know anyone in the new city. I literally changed my whole life to attend pharmacy school. When school started, I immediately had stress over the move and feelings of sadness which I attributed to being homesick. I noticed my grades were low which is not like me at all. Most of the class was also struggling so it didn't worry me as much. I studied a lot more and sought help from tutors. However, as the semester went on I noticed my grades didn't improve and my classmates' grades did. I also started noticing I couldn't sleep. I was constantly crying over small unimportant things. I also had difficulty concentrating and remembering things. Around mid-semester, I had an really bad cold and I decided to go to the doctor. I was shocked to find out I had a flu. He also explained to me that I had anxiety and depression. My doctor expressed that he'd wish I had come to him sooner because any medicine he gave me wouldn't affect me until around finals week. I missed a week of school because of the flu and it made me become even more behind in my school work and studying. I spoke to my advisor about it and I also spoke to the assistant dean of admissions. I asked if I could medically withdraw. They urged me to look for study tips and tutors and not withdraw. I did seek help but my grades didn't improve. By finals week I didn't have a chance of passing any of my classes. However, I had been taking my medications for about a month and I scored 70s and above on all my finals. This was a huge improvement. I definitely saw the medicine helping me. My final grades weren't enough to boost my overall grades and I still failed most of my classes. I was academically dismissed. I had a meeting with a committee to appeal their decision to dismiss me. However it seemed like more of a formality and they attributed my poor grades to a lack of studying. I explained to them that I suffered from anxiety and depression and was not aware of it until I was in pharmacy school. It seemed like they didn't care. They also urged me to look into a different career path. I appealed to the dean and he expressed he didn't want to take anymore of my money. I was dismissed in the end. I came back to my old university the same week and started a new semester in a different field of study. I have been getting A's and not having anxiety or depression. It seems like I don't have anything. I am still on medication but it definitely works. However, I do not like my new field of study. I want to go back to pharmacy school. I'm still very active with the pharmacy organizations on campus. I'm also working as a pharmacy technician. I am going to be taking the PCAT again to improve my score. I want advice on whether I should finish my new degree (accounting) or finish my biology degree. What is the likelihood that I will be admitted into the same or another pharmacy school? How will my dismissal affect me?
Dismissed from Pharmacy School. Any advice?
- Thread starter Kit3320
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Um doesn't everyone move away from home to a city they don't know anyone at but then make new friends? If you can't handle school then you definitely can't handle the real world where you will most likely have to move again just to find a job.
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"The school was 10 hours away from my hometown. I went from living with my family to living on my own. I didn't know anyone in the new city. I literally changed my whole life to attend pharmacy school. When school started, I immediately had stress over the move and feelings of sadness which I attributed to being homesick", you need to overcome homesickness first. What if you get accepted to another long distant school? will you going to attend there? before applying schools, reconsider how well you can fit in at different location.
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Sometimes in life you step backwards in order to move forward. If you feel you are in a better place now....and you know what to expect. Apply and go for it. The worst that could happen is you wont get in. But you wont know if you don't try.
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Don't give up on your dreams. Although, I would probably apply to a health care field that isn't as competitive as pharmacy. Supposedly, most of the jobs, i.e. retail companies can really care less about the ranking of your "Top 10" school - what matters is the experience and connections you've acquired during pharmacy school (don't quote me on that, I'm just summarizing the general consensus). If you did have to go back, I recommend looking for an IN-STATE school - which by the way, is $25,000 ANNUAL - TOO MUCH! I'm not saying you're a terrible student - but the dean must be one of the rare people in pharmacy academic power - I would think that he/she would have kept you there to get the extra tuition, as that's the mindset of these pharmacy schools nowadays - more $$$.
Anyway, good luck! I guess you can always take the PCAT, score as high as possible, and take a heavy load of upper division science/biology classes (12-15 credits) for several consecutive terms letting the powers that be that you can handle pharmacy school.
Anyway, good luck! I guess you can always take the PCAT, score as high as possible, and take a heavy load of upper division science/biology classes (12-15 credits) for several consecutive terms letting the powers that be that you can handle pharmacy school.
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totally agree, its a harsh reality but true. also 10 hours from home is not far at all, unless youre talking about a 10 hr flight, which would mean family lives on the other side of the world.
btw, getting out of the pharmacy school is the best thing that happened to you.
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i wish you the best of luck. especially after you graduate and might be moving thousands of miles away from home to land a FT job, like i did. but i agree, living alone sucks. being there, done that, and never want to do it again.
It is a losing situation. Luckily I had scholarships that paid for school so I'm only about 3000 in debt. If anything, the worst part is coming back to my hometown and seeing all my friends move on to being P2's. I feel like I need to prove to myself that I can do it. It's a constant thought in my mind. So that's the plan.
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It's a blessing in disguise. You may just not be up for the rigor required of you in this type of program. Doesn't mean you're not smart enough or not good enough. Re-evaluate you goals and really think about what you want to do. Don't worry about your friends who are now P2, doesn't matter.
I will tell you that I had no idea that be a pharmacist would be as stressful as it is. It seems like a laid back and relatively stress free job from the outside looking in. Getting the boot with only $3K in debt is a blessing. Imagine getting through the program with all the stress and anxiety only to find out you can't handle the stress and anxiety of the job, except instead you have $100k+++ of debt.
Really think about your next step, you have time, trust me.
I will tell you that I had no idea that be a pharmacist would be as stressful as it is. It seems like a laid back and relatively stress free job from the outside looking in. Getting the boot with only $3K in debt is a blessing. Imagine getting through the program with all the stress and anxiety only to find out you can't handle the stress and anxiety of the job, except instead you have $100k+++ of debt.
Really think about your next step, you have time, trust me.
