Fellowship Opportunists for someone like me

[Atorvastatin]

I want to be competitive for industry or academic fellowships. On top of what i'm listing below what can I do to increase my chances. (im a P2 btw)

• 3.35 GPA (low but i'm increasing it one test at a time)
• Research elective with a planned poster next year to present
• Research with Professor attempting to be published by grauaiton
• Involvement with my APhA (fundraising Co-chair for 2 years)
• Involvement in IPhO (drug design competition participant and treasurer of my local branch)
• Champions in local and national competition (1st in local compounding going to nationals this year, 2nd 2 years running in ACCP research competition)
• Working my 4th year at Safeway (2 as a tech, 2 as a intern)
• Summer management internships through Safeway (which idk how important that is)
• Volunteer work for my stats super smash brothers community (its not saving puppies, but its what i like to do)

Should i apply for clinical jobs at my local VA or keep on with Safeway? Is there anywhere i can look for industry internships in the mean time? Should my GPA be higher (obviously the higher the better), or focus on out of school things?

Also, I have a son and will that factor into how competitive i look? I know that some places want full dedication (which i would give to some extent) and i know that children may reflect poorly on that.

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[wucool33]

If you want to work in industry, then why are you working at Safeway right now? All the industry pharmacists I know at least got a summer industry internship while they were in school. One of them told me people like to see you have a plan and are doing everything you can to achieve it. Working at Safeway will not show that.

 

[cl0ud]

If you want to work in industry, then why are you working at Safeway right now? All the industry pharmacists I know at least got a summer industry internship while they were in school. One of them told me people like to see you have a plan and are doing everything you can to achieve it. Working at Safeway will not show that.

I agree with this to a certain extent. You also need to take into consideration the candidate's geographic location. If you attend a school with heavy ties to industry, then it is almost expected that you have some internships/rotations under your belt. On the other hand, if you're in the middle of nowhere, then it's understandable if you don't.

 

[cl0ud]

I want to be competitive for industry or academic fellowships. On top of what i'm listing below what can I do to increase my chances. (im a P2 btw)

• 3.35 GPA (low but i'm increasing it one test at a time)
• Research elective with a planned poster next year to present
• Research with Professor attempting to be published by grauaiton
• Involvement with my APhA (fundraising Co-chair for 2 years)
• Involvement in IPhO (drug design competition participant and treasurer of my local branch)
• Champions in local and national competition (1st in local compounding going to nationals this year, 2nd 2 years running in ACCP research competition)
• Working my 4th year at Safeway (2 as a tech, 2 as a intern)
• Summer management internships through Safeway (which idk how important that is)
• Volunteer work for my stats super smash brothers community (its not saving puppies, but its what i like to do)

Should i apply for clinical jobs at my local VA or keep on with Safeway? Is there anywhere i can look for industry internships in the mean time? Should my GPA be higher (obviously the higher the better), or focus on out of school things?

Also, I have a son and will that factor into how competitive i look? I know that some places want full dedication (which i would give to some extent) and i know that children may reflect poorly on that.

I'm no program director, but in my opinion you'd have a strong chance at getting 1st round interviews. Anything after that is really up to you as a person as well as your interview skills. I wouldn't stress over how competitive you are or not; focus on working hard and doing the best you possibly can during school.