Ed

[+Pharm]

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If I apply for Early Decision, do I lose chances to apply early to rolling admission schools? 😕

 

[steveysmith54]

i thought this question was about erectile disfunction.

 

[breeze2baby]

"erectile dysfunction"! that was good one. No, I dont think you would lose anything by applying for early decision. As a matter of fact, you would be gaining because around this time, people tends to sleep if you know what i mean. Procrastination. Its a common disease at this time. I know of many people including myself that started last year application on June 1st and did not submit till august. You will have an advantage over these people by applying for early decision and if you have something the school you applying to want. You may even be admitted to a pharmacy school by september that you wouldn't even have to worry about applying to other schools and save money for pharmacy school. Its good to apply for early decision. I would have regretted that i did not.

 

[Farmercyst]

If I apply for Early Decision, do I lose chances to apply early to rolling admission schools? 😕

If I understand your question correctly, then yes. Applying early decision means your application is only sent to your ED school. The decision of the ED school must be submitted before you can do anything else. In my case I applied ED to Oregon State last year. ED decision date was 10/25 (meaning school had to submit to PharmCAS their decision on your application by that date.) I found out 10/24 that my application was deferred to regular applicant pool. Only at that point could I submit my application to any other PharmCAS school. That means that my application for USC (rolling admissions) wasn't sent off until 10/30. So yes, I was extremely late in the rolling admissions process. I got in the latest interview 3/17 and was put on waitlist. Fortunately my interview appears to have gone well enough that I was one of the first ones off the waitlist and was admitted.

So, again, yes applying ED does mean you can't apply early to rolling admissions schools (at least the ones with early deadlines), but it doesn't necessarily mean you won't have a chance either.

 

[+Pharm]

I assume that different schools have different rules, but on average how many students are admitted through early decision process?
Do you have to have real good GPA and PCAT?
This is like a gambling!

 

[Farmercyst]

I assume that different schools have different rules, but on average how many students are admitted through early decision process?
Do you have to have real good GPA and PCAT?
This is like a gambling!

It does vary by school, but it is usually a small percentage of the overall class size <15% typically. Most schools I looked at it was 10-20 people. Closer to 10 for small class size, closer to 20 for large class size.

Because they have the option to defer your application to regular admission status, yes, you typically have to stand out as a candidate for them to take you ED. Otherwise they throw you in with the rest of the applicants before they make a decision (or you could be rejected.)

In the sense that it would delay putting in applications to other PharmCAS schools, yes, it can be a gamble. Choose your ED school carefully and have your supplemental applications for your other schools ready for postmarks (especially if they have a Nov 1/Nov 3 deadline) so you can add schools last minute, just in case. It worked for me, but the ride was a stressful one.