future getting more competitive?

[97obw]

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I dont really know the stats, and ratios on pharm school acceptance over the years, but i would assume it is getting more and more competitive because of more people applying?...anyone got any data on this...thinking what its gonna be like 2-3 years from now : )

 

[WhiteSnows]

I dont really know the stats, and ratios on pharm school acceptance over the years, but i would assume it is getting more and more competitive because of more people applying?...anyone got any data on this...thinking what its gonna be like 2-3 years from now : )

I do not have data. But yes, it is getting a lot more competitive.

 

[genesis09]

Back in 2003, the acceptance rate at my school was about 1 in 4-5. For this past year, it was about 1 in 9.

 

[1908PharmD]

I dont really know the stats, and ratios on pharm school acceptance over the years, but i would assume it is getting more and more competitive because of more people applying?...anyone got any data on this...thinking what its gonna be like 2-3 years from now : )

Please visit AACP website: these links were found on thier page. 🙂

• Fall 2006 Profile of Pharmacy Students

• Fall 2005 Profile of Pharmacy Students

• Fall 2004 Profile of Pharmacy Students

• Fall 2003 Profile of Pharmacy Students

• Fall 2002 Profile of Pharmacy Students

• Fall 2001 Profile of Pharmacy Students

• Application Trends 1998-2006
  Compare application data by year,

 

[Lurkerkat]

Definitely. For this round of applications my school is requiring the PCAT and now do Early Decisions. For 2009 they're requiring three years of pre-reqs instead of two. Last year they just got swamped with more applications than they could handle so they're trying to narrow down their applicant pool. On one hand it prevents some great candidates from applying to school, but on the other it gives them more time to really look at personal statements, letters of recommendations, and look at the big picture of those who qualify.

 

[1908PharmD]

Definitely. For this round of applications my school is requiring the PCAT and now do Early Decisions. For 2009 they're requiring three years of pre-reqs instead of two. Last year they just got swamped with more applications than they could handle so they're trying to narrow down their applicant pool. On one hand it prevents some great candidates from applying to school, but on the other it gives them more time to really look at personal statements, letters of recommendations, and look at the big picture of those who qualify.

Ole Miss, the school where I am now, is changing thier curriculum. Theyre adding like 4-5 more prerequisite classes.

 

[lee0539]

Well it makes perfect sense that they would increase prereqs. People will hate me for saying this, but I think it is a good thing for the profession. It will start to weed out those who are not truly serious about going to pharmacy school. But yes I understand some people are switching profession/majors and are really serious about pharmacy and don't want to do a whole 3-4 years of college just to get in. CA schools seems to already make Bachelors mandatory since they have so many applicants.

 

[Pharmcdc]

Well it makes perfect sense that they would increase prereqs. People will hate me for saying this, but I think it is a good thing for the profession. It will start to weed out those who are not truly serious about going to pharmacy school. But yes I understand some people are switching profession/majors and are really serious about pharmacy and don't want to do a whole 3-4 years of college just to get in. CA schools seems to already make Bachelors mandatory since they have so many applicants.

So true, at Ohio State a bachelors is not just highly suggested, but it is a requirment. Look toward the bottom of the page where it says How to Prepare for the Doctor of Pharmacy Program.
http://www.pharmacy.ohio-state.edu/services/academics/entrylevel.cfm

 

[confettiflyer]

yeah there will be no more "do your prereq's at community college and that's that." I predict a BS/BA to be manadtory within 4 years at 85% of institutions, and schools will weigh "academic rigor" (aka are you going to some podunk university or Stanford?) more so than they do now.

 

[Knickerbocker]

Well it makes perfect sense that they would increase prereqs. People will hate me for saying this, but I think it is a good thing for the profession. It will start to weed out those who are not truly serious about going to pharmacy school. But yes I understand some people are switching profession/majors and are really serious about pharmacy and don't want to do a whole 3-4 years of college just to get in. CA schools seems to already make Bachelors mandatory since they have so many applicants.

Making a BS a requirement would strengthen the 'doctoral' part of the degree. I'm all for it.

 

[lee0539]

Making a BS a requirement would strengthen the 'doctoral' part of the degree. I'm all for it.

I'm not making a judgement call about the importance of a BS, it just more common to see someone with BS have taken more classes (and more upper divs) then someone who does not have one, therefore although BS isn't important, number of units you have taken and the difficulty of class (taking GE science for nonmajor vs upperdiv science) will be included as a factor eventually to differentiate candidates.

 

[fenixtnlfan]

schools will weigh "academic rigor" (aka are you going to some podunk university or Stanford?) more so than they do now.

Now this part would make me mad. Not everyone can go to those tops schools, for grade or financial reasons. A lot of people just end up going to their state school. Plus, some people can only afford a community college for the first two years. If you are a good candidate you should get in regardless where you go.

 

[lee0539]

Now this part would make me mad. Not everyone can go to those tops schools, for grade or financial reasons. A lot of people just end up going to their state school. Plus, some people can only afford a community college for the first two years. If you are a good candidate you should get in regardless where you go.

I dont think he meant that people from CC will not be accepted, but a GPA at a top school will be weighed higher then a GPA from CC. Therefore if two students had very similar GPA, the one from the more prestigous school will be taken first. So, if you are in that situation, you just need a higher GPA to get in. So I dont think personal circumstances apply, its not like they will reject a CC application.

The main argument against this would be that the CC courses are just as difficult as top university schools. From my personal experience, top universities are harder, but that's not to say thats always the case. I think the line gets much more fuzzy when comparing good CCs against low end universities, but I'm not going to go there.

 

[rxgales]

most of the intern or intern grad who work in the pharmacy don't know anything....they stand behind the pharmacy counter and hide from the patients, as if they are scare of the patient, what a communication problem! ...in other words, AVOIDING TECH WORK!!!, and ask a bunch of insurance questions...can't solve a problem or don't know what to say on the phone, this is probably true for those schools who accepted student who do not have any pharmacy experience or volunteering in one particular pharmacy setting or not well-rounded........................now go back in time when they first got interview or acceptance to pharm school, total lies or??

 

[bananaface]

yeah there will be no more "do your prereq's at community college and that's that." I predict a BS/BA to be manadtory within 4 years at 85% of institutions, and schools will weigh "academic rigor" (aka are you going to some podunk university or Stanford?) more so than they do now.

I think this will happen at some places, but not others. it really depends on the philosophy of the school. One thing to note is that change is slow anywhere that bureaucracy is involved.

The increase in application # is partly due to PharmCAS making multiple applications easier.

 

[piyi]

most of the intern or intern grad who work in the pharmacy don't know anything....they stand behind the pharmacy counter and hide from the patients, as if they are scare of the patient, what a communication problem! ...in other words, AVOIDING TECH WORK!!!, and ask a bunch of insurance questions...can't solve a problem or don't know what to say on the phone, this is probably true for those schools who accepted student who do not have any pharmacy experience or volunteering in one particular pharmacy setting or not well-rounded........................now go back in time when they first got interview or acceptance to pharm school, total lies or??

This is part of the reason why I wish that instead of the BS as requirement, they would make working/volunteering a certain number of hours in a pharmacy a requirement. Also, how else are you going to know what you are getting into if you don't have the experience first? Pharmacy school is so expensive. Wouldn't that just suck to have upwards of $100,000 debt and then realize that you just hate your job?

 

[confettiflyer]

This is part of the reason why I wish that instead of the BS as requirement, they would make working/volunteering a certain number of hours in a pharmacy a requirement. Also, how else are you going to know what you are getting into if you don't have the experience first? Pharmacy school is so expensive. Wouldn't that just suck to have upwards of $100,000 debt and then realize that you just hate your job?

True, but I don't think this is going to be a hard and fast rule. All of my pharmacists at work did not gain actual in-pharmacy experience until AFTER they got their intern licenses.

Remember, this is a 4 year doctorate degree in drugs, so the ability to perform in an academically rigorous setting is the absolute top priority. This is why I think a BS/BA requirement should take precedence over any work/volunteer requirements. Any bloke can work at CVS/Wags/Rite Aid as a clerk/tech. Plus, the opportunities with a PharmD are more than what many people can fathom...so in that aspect, working in retail before going to PS really won't benefit someone who plans to go into nuclear pharmacy afterward.

 

[genesis09]

The increase in application # is partly due to PharmCAS making multiple applications easier.

I once saw a list of number of applications per year at my school. One year, the number doubled, and when asked, they said that was the year they joined PharmCAS.

 

[NotCoy]

Definitely. For this round of applications my school is requiring the PCAT and now do Early Decisions. For 2009 they're requiring three years of pre-reqs instead of two. Last year they just got swamped with more applications than they could handle so they're trying to narrow down their applicant pool. On one hand it prevents some great candidates from applying to school, but on the other it gives them more time to really look at personal statements, letters of recommendations, and look at the big picture of those who qualify.

Three years of pre-reqs? Are you sure?
I'm applying to U of C and only see 2 yrs of pre-reqs on the school website.

 

[Lurkerkat]

Three years of pre-reqs? Are you sure?
I'm applying to U of C and only see 2 yrs of pre-reqs on the school website.

It's two years with the PCAT for this round of applications (class of 2012). But for the class of 2013 it will be three years of pre-reqs. They haven't posted it yet but within the school they are very open with this. We were told this by the head of admissions during our orientation week. I know definitely two of the additional pre-reqs will be Physiology and Biochemistry... as to the others I have no clue.

 

[Lurkerkat]

Actually it is posted online:

http://www.uchsc.edu/sop/pharmd/7.Admissions/3.Pre-Pharmacy_Coursework/

Scroll to the end of this website and they have the predicted new pre-reqs.

 

[NotCoy]

Actually it is posted online:

http://www.uchsc.edu/sop/pharmd/7.Admissions/3.Pre-Pharmacy_Coursework/

Scroll to the end of this website and they have the predicted new pre-reqs.

It's for the 2009 applicants.
Man!!! you scared me. 🙂

 

[Knickerbocker]

This is part of the reason why I wish that instead of the BS as requirement, they would make working/volunteering a certain number of hours in a pharmacy a requirement. Also, how else are you going to know what you are getting into if you don't have the experience first? Pharmacy school is so expensive. Wouldn't that just suck to have upwards of $100,000 debt and then realize that you just hate your job?

Pharmacy experience would be a good prerequisite. At least one school that I know of does this. University of the Incarnate Word requires students to have 80 hours of experience.

 

[confettiflyer]

Pharmacy experience would be a good prerequisite. At least one school that I know of does this. University of the Incarnate Word requires students to have 80 hours of experience.

Pacific U requires 40 hours of working, volunteering, or shadowing.

My point was...I knocked out 40 hours ringing people up at CVS within 2 weeks, that's not really gonna help me too much in PS or my future career. If any idiot can do it...it's not really a helpful requirement, nor is it indicative of one's ability to perform in pharmacy school.

At least make it recommended, but I still believe the BS/BA should be required + added weight to prereq's done at a 4-yr university not in 13 & 14th grade.

 

[binghamkid]

Pacific U requires 40 hours of working, volunteering, or shadowing.

My point was...I knocked out 40 hours ringing people up at CVS within 2 weeks, that's not really gonna help me too much in PS or my future career. If any idiot can do it...it's not really a helpful requirement, nor is it indicative of one's ability to perform in pharmacy school.

At least make it recommended, but I still believe the BS/BA should be required + added weight to prereq's done at a 4-yr university not in 13 & 14th grade.

Also, you have to remember we are going to pharmacy school to learn to be pharmacists, not pharmacy techs/clerks. They will teach you the background knowledge and patient counseling skills (as well as the ability to think critically in a situation that requires you to make life-saving decisions on the spot). I wouldn't want to trust any tech to do that, and no matter how much experience ( or how little) you have working behind that counter as a tech, you will never be prepared for that part of the pharmacists' job. That is something you learn in school. Yes, it's important to know how to count pills and capsules. Yes, it's important to know how a store operates (especially if you intend on staying within community pharmacy). But it's not the be-all end-all. Most schools provide ample training so that within a year, the advantage you would have had as a prior tech/clerk is erased (assuming those who haven't ever worked before take advantage of the situation to really work hard and learn).

That is not to say that prior experience won't help you decide whether pharmacy really is for you. However, I would definitely play down the fact that it preps you for pharmacy school...because aside from recognizing commonly prescribed drugs and being familiar with the computer system...there's not too much else (and every pharmacy school I know of forces its students to learn those drugs by the end of the first year).