Does Fall get much more hectic due to interviews?

[YiYaoYue]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Since interviews start around Fall quarter, is it a good idea to have slightly less classes (units) for the Fall and spend some additional time preparing for interviews and use the weekend checking out the school or would it be better to keep the units high and focus on improving GPA? I've been taking 14+ units and wondering if going 13 units would hurt or should I just take the additional class and go 17 units?

I'm currently planning on 17 units, but wondering if those who had lots of interviews last year had some academic stress due to scheduling flights, hotels, preparing for interview, etc while going to school full time + EC + pharmacy work/volunteer + Research. Or was interviews not that time consuming and was not too hard adding it to a rigorous coursework?

Also in addition, does the in progress Fall coursework (13 units vs 17) make a difference in admission if prereqs are completed (if they are just a few retakes) considering they won't see the grades till probably after/during interviews.

 

[mrblah]

Its definitely more stressful but I wouldnt say its so stressful that you need to adjust your academic goals. Its stressful enough where you will gain a few pounds around your waist, but thats about it.

Your professors will let you skip class, even postpone tests if you need to.

Only academic stress I experienced was that I couldn't concentrate on anything because that interview was always in the back of my head. Even when it was over, I worried about the interview. Most of my friends experienced the same thing.

Also in addition, does the in progress Fall coursework (13 units vs 17) make a difference in admission if prereqs are completed (if they are just a few retakes) considering they won't see the grades till probably after/during interviews.

If your pre-reqs are already done, and your gpa is competitive, then probably not.

 

[YiYaoYue]

If your pre-reqs are already done, and your gpa is competitive, then probably not.

what exactly is considered competitive? I probably have somewhere between 3.2 and 3.3. Kinda hard to calculate exact since I've taken lots of credits from multiple schools, but I've had straight A's for the year so if I continue with that I should be above 3.3 after Fall grades.

 

[mrblah]

competitiveness depends on the pharmacy school. Look for last year's stats on what the incoming pharmd class got.

For example, my class's school's gpa average is a 3.7gpa. So that means if you were to apply to the pharmd program I'm in, for you to be competitive it would be a 3.7 or higher. Some pharmd schools are 3.2 others 3.4, etc.

 

[ExpressMaiL]

Your senioritis will increase, exponentially.

 

[laimyours]

Since interviews start around Fall quarter, is it a good idea to have slightly less classes (units) for the Fall and spend some additional time preparing for interviews and use the weekend checking out the school or would it be better to keep the units high and focus on improving GPA? I've been taking 14+ units and wondering if going 13 units would hurt or should I just take the additional class and go 17 units?

I'm currently planning on 17 units, but wondering if those who had lots of interviews last year had some academic stress due to scheduling flights, hotels, preparing for interview, etc while going to school full time + EC + pharmacy work/volunteer + Research. Or was interviews not that time consuming and was not too hard adding it to a rigorous coursework?

Also in addition, does the in progress Fall coursework (13 units vs 17) make a difference in admission if prereqs are completed (if they are just a few retakes) considering they won't see the grades till probably after/during interviews.

I was wondering the same thing. But, i'm taking 17 units anyway! Plus working 20 hours a week and volunteering 6 hours a week. It will be a rough fall semester. Maybe I should try to lose weight now to offset the weight gain I will be expecting.

 

[YiYaoYue]

Well the more stress part makes me eat a lot when I'm bored and worrying, but having lots to do makes me think less about food and I end up not eating much. Kinda cancels each other out.

 

[laimyours]

I don't understand why you would gain weight... the busier I get the less I eat.

Well, mostly because I exercise a lot. I've found that when i'm extremely busy with school I go from exercising 5 days a week to exercising NO days a week. No time to train for marathons, only time to sit on my butt and study! With my food intake staying about the same. And drinking lots of high calorie coffee drinks.

 

[fenixtnlfan]

I think it depends on where you applied. The schools I applied to were all far away and none offered Saturday interviews. I ended up missing 2-3 days of school/work for every interview. I would also say it depends on the classes. If you are taking a lot of classes where notes are posted online and they are good notes, no problem. Some of my classes were hard to keep up with unless you went to class. I also had a class where you couldn't do any make-up work for assignments due. The one semester I ended up with jerk professors...lol. Really it's up to how much stress you can handle and how time efficient you are. I really only spent a night and part of my flights preparing for the interviews. So the actually preparing part wasn't time consuming for me.

Whether or not your fall grades would be looked at probably depends on when the school starts accepting people. Also if you get placed on a wait list they would most likely look at fall grades also. I think getting the pre-reqs done is more important so if you are just taking filler classes now, I feel the adcoms would be fine with you taking 13 units.

 

[beancow]

From my experience last year, I found it helpful to have a lighter courseload on Friday. I had three interviews on Friday, and one on Saturday. That way, if you skip class on Friday, it'll be easier to make it up.