Giving up Bachelor's degree to take pre-requisites?

[mchoi2190]

Here are my stats:

currently entering 4th year of college, have 1 year till graduation

@ previous university GPA: 3.01
@ current university GPA: 3.75

got B's and C's in Math, Gen Chem, and Orgo 1
retook Orgo 1 and got an A
A on : Orgo 2, Biochem 1
A- on: Biochem 2

I have some leadership experience, a semester of hospital volunteering, extensive work at research (recently promoted to manager) but it does not pertain to pharmacy at all. no pharm tech experience either.

I'm also planning to take the PCATs in September.

The question here is that, i only decided to go to pharmacy school this summer, so I'm behind in terms of my pre-reqs. I need to take Anatomy, Economics, public speaking, history and some English Literature classes. But then again, there are also a couple more classes i need to take to finish my Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry. If I try to make both happen, I end up having to take 6-7 classes a semester, which I haven't done before and dunno how i will handle it.

With my stats, do I have a strong chance at getting into pharmacy schools at my first shot? My top choice is Long Island University due to its location. With the practice tests (Pearson, Dr Collins, Kaplan) I've been getting 80-85% of the questions right in all areas. I'm worried that I might end up not getting into pharmacy school, AND having to go to college for another year just to get my degree.

What do you guys think? Thanks in advance!

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[Rouelle]

I think if you are not comfortable taking 20 or more credit hours in a semester, you shouldn't do it. Your grades (and thus GPA) could suffer and do you more harm than good. If I was in your situation, I would apply and try to get in to pharmacy school this year. If you do decent on the PCAT, you have a respectable shot of getting in somewhere. If successful, I would probably forget about the bachelors. If you don't get in, then the bachelor's degree gives you something to do in the meantime while you wait for the next application cycle. Good luck!

 

[mchoi2190]

Thanks!! It was something i definitely needed to hear. yes, it's so true that its better not to risk my GPA. I just hope I get into LIU at my first shot with my stats.

 

[chemguy79]

I think if you are not comfortable taking 20 or more credit hours in a semester, you shouldn't do it. Your grades (and thus GPA) could suffer and do you more harm than good. If I was in your situation, I would apply and try to get in to pharmacy school this year. If you do decent on the PCAT, you have a respectable shot of getting in somewhere. If successful, I would probably forget about the bachelors. If you don't get in, then the bachelor's degree gives you something to do in the meantime while you wait for the next application cycle. Good luck!

Agreed!

I think that a Bachelor's will help your application, but given your stats, I think that you have a solid chance at acceptance with a strong PCAT score. Besides, if it doesn't happen this year, you'll have your Bachelor's next year and you'll be an even stronger applicant.

Furthermore, quite a few people on SDN rush to get accepted sooner rather than later. However, at the same token, you want to be as qualified as you can so when you start pharmacy school, you won't be completely shell shocked when you're taking classes in pharmacy school.