Early Decision Questions Thread

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My take on ED is that it can go both ways. Yes they know they've got you if they accept you and there are generally fewer ED applicants than in the overall pool, but they also only have a limited number of ED slots that they will fill so you may actually have worse chances as an ED candidate in terms of application to available slot ratio. Among the ED candidates you still have to stand out and any defect can be magnified as they have to scrutinize which applicants they will fill their limited ED slots with. Usually public schools will reject any less than stellar out-of-staters preferring to take residents. If there are a significant number of high gpa/pcat applicants than most average applicants can expect to be deferred to regular applicant pool. Of the ED applicants to OSU last year, there were 12 in my interview session, 10 were in-state, 1 was out-of-state with family instate, and then there was me. (Out of state, no pharm experience, slightly above average GPA (3.49sci/3.59cum) I interviewed 10/13, deferred to regular applicant pool 10/23, and rejected in April. I was eventually accepted to USC and Western (both off waitlist)

If you decide to go ED, especially as an out of stater (even more so if you are only an average candidate) have your supplemental applications ready in the event you are deferred to regular applicant pool. I added USC and Western to PharmCAS October 26 and October 28 (or so, the exact dates escape me now). It pays to diversify.
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NotCoy said:
SienceNerd.. You are my competitor. I'm applying to Colorado as an out-of-stater.
GPA 4.0, PCAT 87%, some EC's, BA, some work experience, just started volunteering at a pharmacy.. but.. lack of communication skills since English is not my 1st language.
I haven't decided whether I should apply through ED..
Good luck for both of us.

BTW.. Why do you choose Colorado?
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Good luck to you as well. I'm from GA but my parents moved to Cali last year, so it would be much closer to my family than I am now. Denver is a beautiful area, and very great for outdoorsy activities, which I love to do, the campus is beautiful as well. My significant other is applying to law school at boulder too, so we're hoping to get in together. I got both of my degrees from the same school, and I'm a big believer that grad/professional school should be done at a different school than undergrad; it's just good for experience (I've gone from supersmall town, to big university, large city and I think I would like to settle in Colorado). I actually graduated when in 3 years, and worked for a while. It will be my first time applying (23 years old, will be finished with the BS molecular bio this december). English was not my first language either, but I moved here when I was 5 years old, and most everyone I meet now assumes I was born here and learned English here. However you decide, good luck to you, you have great stats.:)
 
So I applied early decision to Albany but they just sent me a letter saying I didn't get accepted for the early decision admission but that they are deffering my application to the regular decision applicant pool. =( Does that pretty much mean I have a slim chance of getting in?
 
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Same happened to me. Did they change your PharmCas designation yet or are you still waiting?
 
no they havent changed it on pharmcas yet...have they for u?? im thinking of calling tommorow so they can change it so i can start applying to other schools...
 
It may not always be bad, but it was for me last year. I applied ED at Oregon State and got deferred. I finally got a rejection letter in April.
 
Did you get an interview from Albany and then they deferred you or did they just send you the deferment letter?
 
I wasn't accepted for an early admissions program, and I already received the email from the school today. However they said Pharmcas wouldn't change until Monday. So it may be a few days until Pharmcas will allow you to apply other places.
 
I searched all over for old threads and found some answers - but they were in MD forums, and I don't want to assume it's the same for Pharm.

Just a few things I have been pondering about early decision, if anyone knows anything or has an opinion, I'd love to hear it.

1. If you apply ED to one school and get declined, then your other apps don't go out until october. Is this not worth it? Better to just be early to every school?

2. If you apply ED to a school, you are basically saying they can have you at any cost - does this leave them with little incentive to offer you scholarships/financial aid?

3. Should I get declined from the ED school, will the other later schools know I applied ED to a different school? Obviously this doesn't look so great to AdComs - "yea, I was really ready to go to ... school, but I didn't get in ED so I guess I'll settle for your school..."

I love the idea of knowing in October and being all ready to go to a school I love... but I'm afraid of consequences of applying ED and getting declined. If you have any thoughts/experience, I'd love to hear it. : )
 
1. better to apply to all the schools early than settle for one early admission school.

2. Your admission won't have any bearing on scholarships. Most scholarships are based on grades/merit. Financial aid is still "need based".

3. I don't know. You need to check with pharmcas (if that is what you are applying through).
 
mrblah said:
1. better to apply to all the schools early than settle for one early admission school.
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would it be easier to get into a school ED with decent stats then trying to get into multiple schools with stronger competition?
 
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YiYaoYue said:
would it be easier to get into a school ED with decent stats then trying to get into multiple schools with stronger competition?
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I'd rather apply early to multiple schools who use rolling admissions. Rolling admissions is very similar to ED, but you can apply to as many schools as you like. Rolling admissions is first come first serve.

ED doesn't mean you will have a better chance of getting in, considering you still have to sit through a interview. You also don't know how many other students did the same thing you did, and how the school will compare your stats with the other ED applicants. You also don't know how many seats are set aside for ED, and You don't know if PHARMCAS will notify the other schools that you had applied to through pharmcas.

If you feel you are competitive to the program you want to attend, then just apply as early as possible (rolling admissions or not). If you feel ED will give you an advantage, then by all means do so. I just feel its a REALLY BAD IDEA to apply to only one school (if pharmcas restricts you to only one school by going through the ED route). Again this is only my opinion.
 
This is making me rethink my decision to do early decision.... hummmmm.....
 
phuang06 said:
This is making me rethink my decision to do early decision.... hummmmm.....
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I wouldn't, not with your stats. People with close to a 4.0 gpa normally will get a interview regardless of all your other stats. I believe ED is for students who are more than well qualified, and can only see themselves at one particular pharmd program.

However, you should start thinking about your interview, and how you plan on preparing for it. Do not do what I did, which is procrastinate till the week before. While I did get into the pharmacy program of my choice, my interview was far from my best performance.
 
mrblah said:
I wouldn't, not with your stats. People with close to a 4.0 gpa normally will get a interview regardless of all your other stats. I believe ED is for students who are more than well qualified, and can only see themselves at one particular pharmd program.

However, you should start thinking about your interview, and how you plan on preparing for it. Do not do what I did, which is procrastinate till the week before. While I did get into the pharmacy program of my choice, my interview was far from my best performance.
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AHHHHH! The choices... If I do get rejected or even deferred to regular decision, then I will be behind in all my other applications :( I really don't know what to do now. @_@
 
I applied ED to OSU in Fall of 06. I interviewed 10/13 and was deferred to regular applicant status on 10/25. I submitted my applications and supplementals to Western and USC 10/27 and 10/31. I applied to LLU before the 12/1 deadline (don't remember exactly when.) I got an interview to Western in Jan, rejected from LLU in Feb and interviewed at USC on 3/17. I got waitlisted at Western and USC. Finally, in June I got in at USC and then at Western. Here are my thoughts on the experience.

The benefits of ED as I see them.
1. If you really want to get into a program, it's a good way to show them you're committed.
2. If you find out in October it gives plenty of time to plan for moving and financial aid for your first year in P-school.

The disadvantages.
1. You can't apply early to any other program (involved in PharmCAS. Non-PharmCAS schools are technically free game, though ethically questionable.)

Things to consider:
Public vs Private Schools. Most ED schools (I'd say all, but I don't remember) are public schools, which means if you are not applying for your own state's institution, chances are slim during ED. They can defer you to regular applicant status and compare you to all the applicants before giving a spot for a tax-paying citizent of their state before giving it to you.

How dedicated are you to that institution? If you can't get that across in the interview, you're better off going regular applicant status.If your stats are decent, an October submission date will more than likely still get you an interview, but it will be later in the cycle and that means that some seats for the other schools will have been taken decreasing your chances of acceptance. An ED acceptance gives you tons of time to prepare for moving, applying for financial aid, etc. From this aspect it may still be worth it to go ED if you know for sure you'd like to get into that specific program.


As far as other schools seeing it, they can't see which schools if any that you've applied to, so don't worry about that.

If you're only applying because you want to know in October instead of some time later, I'd just apply everywhere early. Especially if your stats are decent. Of course, if your stats aren't decent, applying ED may not be worth it anyway.

Hope that helps. Hope I didn't ramble too much.
 
Farmercyst said:
I applied ED to OSU in Fall of 06. I interviewed 10/13 and was deferred to regular applicant status on 10/25. I submitted my applications and supplementals to Western and USC 10/27 and 10/31. I applied to LLU before the 12/1 deadline (don't remember exactly when.) I got an interview to Western in Jan, rejected from LLU in Feb and interviewed at USC on 3/17. I got waitlisted at Western and USC. Finally, in June I got in at USC and then at Western. Here are my thoughts on the experience.

The benefits of ED as I see them.
1. If you really want to get into a program, it's a good way to show them you're committed.
2. If you find out in October it gives plenty of time to plan for moving and financial aid for your first year in P-school.

The disadvantages.
1. You can't apply early to any other program (involved in PharmCAS. Non-PharmCAS schools are technically free game, though ethically questionable.)

Things to consider:
Public vs Private Schools. Most ED schools (I'd say all, but I don't remember) are public schools, which means if you are not applying for your own state's institution, chances are slim during ED. They can defer you to regular applicant status and compare you to all the applicants before giving a spot for a tax-paying citizent of their state before giving it to you.

How dedicated are you to that institution? If you can't get that across in the interview, you're better off going regular applicant status.If your stats are decent, an October submission date will more than likely still get you an interview, but it will be later in the cycle and that means that some seats for the other schools will have been taken decreasing your chances of acceptance. An ED acceptance gives you tons of time to prepare for moving, applying for financial aid, etc. From this aspect it may still be worth it to go ED if you know for sure you'd like to get into that specific program.


As far as other schools seeing it, they can't see which schools if any that you've applied to, so don't worry about that.

If you're only applying because you want to know in October instead of some time later, I'd just apply everywhere early. Especially if your stats are decent. Of course, if your stats aren't decent, applying ED may not be worth it anyway.

Hope that helps. Hope I didn't ramble too much.
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Thanks! No rambling - it was good info! My stats are kinda up in the air... I have a 3.87 GPA, but I haven't taken the PCAT yet. I am taking it August 23rd. Also - I have a few prereqs left to take - but I have published research (but it's not pharmacy related, ugh). I recently decided to apply to pharm school, so I'm not in the world's best position to apply. It's really hard to judge what schools I stand a chance to get into without a PCAT score. I have one semester of Ochem, stats, microbiology and econ left to take, but I'm a biology major and have all of my physics and gen chem, lots of bio, etc, done.

So like I said, kinda up in the air because my PCAT score is not in. I'm not expecting anything less than A's in the rest of my courses, but nothing is guarenteed.

I'm thinking I should abandon ED and just apply early everywhere. Is my GPA high enough to get into schools even with an average PCAT score? I'm thinking I shouldn't apply as ED because my application has a few variables still TBD. Is ED for people with stellar apps all secured? Thoughts?
 
CycleCali said:
Thanks! No rambling - it was good info! My stats are kinda up in the air... I have a 3.87 GPA, but I haven't taken the PCAT yet. I am taking it August 23rd. Also - I have a few prereqs left to take - but I have published research (but it's not pharmacy related, ugh). I recently decided to apply to pharm school, so I'm not in the world's best position to apply. It's really hard to judge what schools I stand a chance to get into without a PCAT score. I have one semester of Ochem, stats, microbiology and econ left to take, but I'm a biology major and have all of my physics and gen chem, lots of bio, etc, done.

So like I said, kinda up in the air because my PCAT score is not in. I'm not expecting anything less than A's in the rest of my courses, but nothing is guarenteed.

I'm thinking I should abandon ED and just apply early everywhere. Is my GPA high enough to get into schools even with an average PCAT score? I'm thinking I shouldn't apply as ED because my application has a few variables still TBD. Is ED for people with stellar apps all secured? Thoughts?
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If yours isn't high enough, then I got in by mistake.

I had 3.49/3.59 cum/sci. I never took the PCAT and certainly had no published research in any field. Granted I was taken off of waitlist at both USC and Western (meaning I wasn't their first choice, but only got in because someone turned them down), but provided you interview well, I can't think of any reason you shouldn't be able to get in without the PCAT at the schools that don't require it.
 
CycleCali said:
Thanks! No rambling - it was good info! My stats are kinda up in the air... I have a 3.87 GPA, but I haven't taken the PCAT yet. I am taking it August 23rd. Also - I have a few prereqs left to take - but I have published research (but it's not pharmacy related, ugh). I recently decided to apply to pharm school, so I'm not in the world's best position to apply. It's really hard to judge what schools I stand a chance to get into without a PCAT score. I have one semester of Ochem, stats, microbiology and econ left to take, but I'm a biology major and have all of my physics and gen chem, lots of bio, etc, done.

So like I said, kinda up in the air because my PCAT score is not in. I'm not expecting anything less than A's in the rest of my courses, but nothing is guarenteed.

I'm thinking I should abandon ED and just apply early everywhere. Is my GPA high enough to get into schools even with an average PCAT score? I'm thinking I shouldn't apply as ED because my application has a few variables still TBD. Is ED for people with stellar apps all secured? Thoughts?
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Honestly, if you do semi-well on your PCATs, your GPA alone should get you an interview.

Come to think of it, I am kind of in the same spot you are! My GPA is a 3.92, and I just took the PCAT this past Saturday on the 21st, and I feel okay about it. I haven't had any research published (cause the stupid protein won't do what we want it to do), but I do have research experience under my belt. I need to finish taking Biochemistry, Public Speaking, Biological Statistics (even though I already have AP Credit cause they won't accept AP credit), and Human Anatomy + Physiology.

If you have pharmacy experience, leadership experience, and extracurriculars, I'm sure you'll be fine doing early decision. I have decided to do early decision.:thumbup:
 
Since you can only apply to one school through PharmCAS for early decision. If you are NOT accepted to the pharmacy degree program you choose for Early Decision however, you subsequently can apply to other schools through PharmCAS.

But does anyone know how exactly this works? I mean, does this mean that I can only submit one application to one school and sit tight and wait?
How long does it take for you to find out?

And if I don't get in, or hear back from them, what happens? Most deadline are in Nov.1, then what?

If you had any experience with this, please let me know.
Or if there is a really good thread that I have not obviously come across, please be kind and direct me there.

thanks for your response.
 
you can look into schools that don't utilize pharmcas.
 
For early admissions, you apply to one school and wait. Since they are early admission, you will likely hear from them earlier than any other schools, but I don't know that there is a set deadline that they "have" to tell you. So, you do have to be especially careful of the November 1 deadline because you can NOT apply elsewhere until their decision has been sent into pharmcas. If the decision is accepted, then no problems for you. If you are wait-listed or denied, then you should be able to apply to other schools when pharmcas is aware of that decision.

As for me, I applied last year.....

Had an interview in September, was accepted in early October. I am only one person, though, so do not accept this as the norm. Best of luck in the application process!

Sincerely,
Shawn
 
hey futurerxguy...i was wondering which pharmacy school you got into for the early desicion.
 
When I applied 2 years ago, they were required to accept, deny, or defer by 10/25. If they do anything other than accept, then your PharmCAS application is no longer "frozen" and you are free to submit applications to other schools. I was deferred 10/25/06 and applied to USC and Western University before the 11/1 deadline. I ended up getting rejected by OSU (Oregon State) in March 07 and accepted at USC and Western in June 07. So yeah, it's a long wait, but you may not be as stuck as you'd think even if you don't get into the ED school you chose.

edit: I'd also applied to LLU (Non-PharmCAS school) to round things out, though I was denied without interview there.
 
Is Early Decision only for people who have completed ALL prereqs and taken the PCAT by the time they apply?

I was going to do early decision, but a guidance counselor told me it was only for students who had all of their stuff done. Was she correct, or can I still do early decision even though I won't have my prereqs finished until next year?
 
on pharmcas,

I am not exactly sure what Early Decision option is can someone explain? what should I select ED or not?
 
I have e-submitted my PharmCas in the past few days or so and I sent it out to my first choice school as rolling admissions. The application has not been officially mailed out yet. Is there any way of reversing my decision for rolling admissions and submitting my application as an early decision candidate?
 
i think if you email pharmcas, they'll email you back an answer...this is more of a pharmcas issue and iam not sure if anyone else has experienced much of this.
 
Hi, I am strongly leaning on applying by early dicision, but I am also having second thoughts. I would like to apply to ETSU for next years class. I have completed the PCAT and I feel comfortable with my score of 94% and GPA of 3.6. If i apply by early decition to ETSU and do not get in, then i've to begin the process of applying to other schools. Early decision schools have to decide by october 24th. I feel It might be late for me to start applying to other schools, since i am trying to apply EARLY so i have a better chance and not competing for limited seats later in the cycle. So is it better to apply to the 8 schools i have in mind, or apply to ETSU and if i dont get in, i can then apply to the 7 other schools in November. Thanks for your feedback. Lastly, I'm an out of state applicant, so my chances at ETSU are lower than for residents.
 
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I do not think many schools have this option. Apply early is the best, but early decision is the same thing as you apply earl. You will receive a decision earlier. LOl does this even make sense?
 
Moved to pre-pharm forum because of topic.

I think you would be fine with applying early decision and then applying to other schools later if you don't get accepted. October 24th is decently early in the app cycle still. You might want to get the secondaries done early so you can send them out right away. Applying early is mostly important for schools using rolling admissions.
 
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thanks. I was just worried that October 24th was a lilttle late. I will probably apply by early decision for ETSU and also completing secondaries for other schools early, just in case. thanks again.
 
October 24th will not be too late. I submitted my PharmCAS on the last day of October (to meet the November 1st deadline for USC) and was accepted to my top choice school. You could also try applying early for all of the schools you would consider attending, since applying early increasing your chances of getting into a school. Also, get the apps done before school starts. Don't worry about the extra cost of the apps, that extra couple hundred bucks is a small price to pay for your education and future.

HTH
 
I applied through early decision and got in, even though I didn't think I would. It's definitely better knowing in October instead of going through all this stuff for months. I loved that I knew early so I could take some time and get everything organized. Now I'm just waiting for school to start (5 months, 6 days, 11 hours 56 minutes), but who's counting :p
 
kbbbg5 said:
Hi, I am strongly leaning on applying by early dicision, but I am also having second thoughts. I would like to apply to ETSU for next years class. I have completed the PCAT and I feel comfortable with my score of 94% and GPA of 3.6. If i apply by early decition to ETSU and do not get in, then i've to begin the process of applying to other schools. Early decision schools have to decide by october 24th. I feel It might be late for me to start applying to other schools, since i am trying to apply EARLY so i have a better chance and not competing for limited seats later in the cycle. So is it better to apply to the 8 schools i have in mind, or apply to ETSU and if i dont get in, i can then apply to the 7 other schools in November. Thanks for your feedback. Lastly, I'm an out of state applicant, so my chances at ETSU are lower than for residents.
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You have strong stats so I believe you have a good shot at being accepted as an early decision. I would go for it and if you get in you can save the money of applying to the other schools.
 
YES!! You should apply early, not matter what. You might want to do like 3 schools at a time just in case and so you will not feel overwhelmed later. I did early decision for Creighton University, got my interview a week after I submitted and got accepted. I'm telling you, early decision is the best way to go!

Good luck!
 
Hi all,
Do any of you know about the EDP. I have heard good and bad things about the program. The good being that you will find out sooner. The bad being that if you get rejected, you can't apply to other schools until you are rejected (end of october.)

What do you all think???????

If any of you have done this or have any experiences with this, please let me know what you think about it. Thanks!!

Dreezy10.
 
I applied via ED this year and got in. Personally I would recommend it to anyone who'll listen, but as you said, you aren't allowed to apply to other schools (via PharmCAS) until you've been rejected or PharmCAS received notification that you're no longer being considered by the school. That doesn't mean you can't apply to schools with rolling admissions who don't use PharmCAS, but through ED, you basically enter a legal contract that states if you are accepted by the school, you must attend there. If you're rejected, then you can still apply for any other program you're interested in, but it's really nice to have months to plan and get your ducks in a row, and not go through MONTHS of waiting to hear back (I waited 10 days total).
 
... anyone else applying Early Decision to a pharmacy school? I kind of have cold feet because I know that I can't go back to PharmCAS and apply to other schools until late October-ish if I get rejected --- but I really, really, really want to go to my 1st choice school and am hoping I can through ED! Anyone else in same boat?
 
I am considering applying to both medical school and pharmacy school. I was wondering if anyone knew if you can apply early decision to both medical and pharmacy school simultaneously and then decide which to attend? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
bigmann4208 said:
I am considering applying to both medical school and pharmacy school. I was wondering if anyone knew if you can apply early decision to both medical and pharmacy school simultaneously and then decide which to attend? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Yes... in fact, some people leave pharmacy school during their P1 year to attend medical school because they applied to both, LOL.
 
Kaiter said:
that makes me sad to hear :(
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I'm really not a fan of people that do that. They're two very different careers and the person is likely not going to be especially happy with their backup (which I'm assuming is pharmacy nearly 100% of the time). It just takes away from someone that really wants to be there.
 
homeslice said:
I'm really not a fan of people that do that. They're two very different careers and the person is likely not going to be especially happy with their backup (which I'm assuming is pharmacy nearly 100% of the time). It just takes away from someone that really wants to be there.
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thats my reasoning too. I have a hs friend who just completed undergrad and he's doing med school apps this year, if he doesn't get in then he's trying for pharm school next year
 
"If, however, you are denied admission as an Early Decision applicant, you may apply to other PharmCAS institutions for an additional fee." - PharmCAS

anyone know how much this additional fee is?
 
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