Getting Accepted into Pharmacy School

[Brock1385]

I am currently in my first year of pre pharmacy at Northwest CC in north mississipi.

My grades are pretty good right now as I am about halfway finished with the second semester of my first year. I plan to apply to the Ole Miss School of Pharmacy in the fall of 2006, which would be before february 1st of next year.

By this summer I will have completed Eng Comp I and II, calculus I, Chemistry I and II (and labs), Biology I and II (and labs), Psychology, Microeconomics, and several other electives. Unless something crazy happens, I will have a 4.0 GPA at the end of the year.

Next year I will take Organic Chem I and II, and Physics I and II along with other electives. I will also be able to take the PCAT three times before I apply. I also began working at a pharmacy in July of 2004. I plan to stay there until I go off to school in the fall of 2006, so I should have close to two years work experience by then.

So this brings me to several questions. I study extremely hard, and havent exactly had much trouble yet. I took a physics class in high school so I have only a general idea about what the physics classes will consist of. But as for Organic Chemistry, I have no idea. Is Organic as math based as Physical Chemistry?? I just hear these horror stories about Organic, although I try not to listen too closely because I plan to study harder than ever when I take the class. For someone that is decent in the chemistry area and is willing to dedicate whatever time it takes, does organic really live up to these horror stories of being impossible?

I also didnt do all that well on the ACT in high school (I made a 23). However, I have dedicated alot of time toward school this year(more effort than I put forth in high school), so I hope that will pay off when I take the PCAT. For that reason the PCAT is also a worry of mine. I bought a book for the PCAT and I plan to prepare this summer.

To top it all off, these are the real horror stories that I constantly hear. So many rumors about how impossible it is to get into pharmacy school float around. Everything from "They are only accepting 40 people this year," to "Its almost a requirment to have a four year degree before you get in now." I also had a friend that applied last year. He supposidly had a 3.6 or 3.7 and made 78% on his pcat and did not get accepted. He had no pharmacy experience though. I am convinced at this point that he was missing a requirment of some kind.

All of this crap is very discouraging, even to the point that I am afriad with a 4.0 and a decent score on the PCAT there is no chance of getting accepted after two years. Does anyone know the truth to squash these rumors? Is there any other advice that would increase my chances of being accepted? I trully want to become a pharmacist and would like to do everything in my ability to get accepted after the first time I apply.

thanks,
brock

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[endlesslove]

Hi Brock1385, I think you will be fine in ochem since you say you are a very dedicated student and are good at chemistry. Physical Chemistry is more like G-chem in the sense that you have to deal a LOT more with delta H, delta G, and all the other thermo jazz. On the other hand, Ochem is a whole other world. While there is some talk about delta G (primarily just when you learn about Newmann projections), it is very different. It's a pretyt conceptual course that requires you to think in 3D. I personally didn't like G-chem and know I will not like P-chem next yr in pharmacy school. On other hand, I fell in love with Ochem (synthesis, all the diff reactions, stereochem, ahhh! =). Like you, I heard ALL THESE HORROR stories of Ochem and was quite nervous when I started the course. In the end, I fell in love and did some other ochem related stuff in my extracurricular activities. I guarantee you that you will have a lot of fun in ochem. Initially, it'll seem really hard but that's just b/c you're not familiar with the language of organic chemistry yet. Just work extremely hard initially to adapt to the ochem language and I'm sure you'll do fine.

As for getting into pharmacy school, I don't know about the school you're interested in (or quite frankly much about schools outside of CA). I do know that having a Bachelors is VERY VERY favorable (*almost* a must in CA schools...tho there are always a few exceptions)

Having a 4.0 doesn't mean much if you don't have the extracurriculars to give your application substance and a personality.

Best of luck!

 

[ZpackSux]

I am currently in my first year of pre pharmacy at Northwest CC in north mississipi.

My grades are pretty good right now as I am about halfway finished with the second semester of my first year. I plan to apply to the Ole Miss School of Pharmacy in the fall of 2006, which would be before february 1st of next year.

By this summer I will have completed Eng Comp I and II, calculus I, Chemistry I and II (and labs), Biology I and II (and labs), Psychology, Microeconomics, and several other electives. Unless something crazy happens, I will have a 4.0 GPA at the end of the year.

Next year I will take Organic Chem I and II, and Physics I and II along with other electives. I will also be able to take the PCAT three times before I apply. I also began working at a pharmacy in July of 2004. I plan to stay there until I go off to school in the fall of 2006, so I should have close to two years work experience by then.

So this brings me to several questions. I study extremely hard, and havent exactly had much trouble yet. I took a physics class in high school so I have only a general idea about what the physics classes will consist of. But as for Organic Chemistry, I have no idea. Is Organic as math based as Physical Chemistry?? I just hear these horror stories about Organic, although I try not to listen too closely because I plan to study harder than ever when I take the class. For someone that is decent in the chemistry area and is willing to dedicate whatever time it takes, does organic really live up to these horror stories of being impossible?

I also didnt do all that well on the ACT in high school (I made a 23). However, I have dedicated alot of time toward school this year(more effort than I put forth in high school), so I hope that will pay off when I take the PCAT. For that reason the PCAT is also a worry of mine. I bought a book for the PCAT and I plan to prepare this summer.

To top it all off, these are the real horror stories that I constantly hear. So many rumors about how impossible it is to get into pharmacy school float around. Everything from "They are only accepting 40 people this year," to "Its almost a requirment to have a four year degree before you get in now." I also had a friend that applied last year. He supposidly had a 3.6 or 3.7 and made 78% on his pcat and did not get accepted. He had no pharmacy experience though. I am convinced at this point that he was missing a requirment of some kind.

All of this crap is very discouraging, even to the point that I am afriad with a 4.0 and a decent score on the PCAT there is no chance of getting accepted after two years. Does anyone know the truth to squash these rumors? Is there any other advice that would increase my chances of being accepted? I trully want to become a pharmacist and would like to do everything in my ability to get accepted after the first time I apply.

thanks,
brock

If you can get some hospital pharmacy experience....get to know some clinical pharmacists and the director of pharmacy... complete a pharmacy project or participate.. and have them write you a recommendation.

Of course that's not mandatory.. but couldn't hurt.

 

[Glycerin]

Last I heard, Baptist Desoto was hiring techs. I'd call them up to see if they still are. I recommend having pharmacy experience prior to applying.

It sounds like you should do just fine in OChem. It's different than GenChem, and I personally did much better in OChem than in GenChem. Just study hard and ask questions if you don't understand.

By the way, I went to NWCC for a year and grew up around that area.