Grad vs. Undergrad

[orbitaldecay]

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Hello everyone, a few quick questions...
(sorry if these are rendundant, I searched the forums and was unable to find an answer)

1. Is pharmacy school considered graduate or undergraduate level schooling? I am not planning on having a bachelors degree completed when I apply to pharmacy school. This question is specifically in reference to federal financial aid. I understand that as a graduate student one can file as an independant student rather then a dependant student. I'm under 25, but I'm financially independant and responsible for the cost of my education, so it's pretty frustrating that my parents' income impacts what I'm expected to contribute. I'm paying for my pre-pharmacy course work out of pocket because my efc is too high, this obviously won't be an option at a pharmacy school.

2. How common or uncommon is it for pharmacy school applicants to have completed their pre-pharmacy coursework at a community college? Will this have a major detrimental impact on my chances of admitance?

Thanks everybody 🙂

 

[patmcd]

You should check the box for "1st year graduate/professional". Each individual school decides if it will consider you an undergrad or graduate student your 1st year. You will enter a bunch of information that will determine if you are considered independent or not and if you need to enter your parents info.

Basically you just need to fill out the online FAFSA and that should answer your question specically for your case.

 

[xnm11]

i know that university of colorado (uchsc) tells you specifically that your first year of pharmacy school at their school is considered an undergraduate year and needs to be tagged appropriately on your financial aid documents, so it might depend on the school...


for the second question, in my experience, if you're going to be applying to california schools like ucsf, ucsd, usc, etc. you probably will want at least a 4-year degree just because their incoming classes are normally 99% degree holders (maybe 1 or 2 incoming students with less than a 4-year education).

 

[patmcd]

i know that university of colorado (uchsc) tells you specifically that your first year of pharmacy school at their school is considered an undergraduate year and needs to be tagged appropriately on your financial aid documents, so it might depend on the school...


for the second question, in my experience, if you're going to be applying to california schools like ucsf, ucsd, usc, etc. you probably will want at least a 4-year degree just because their incoming classes are normally 99% degree holders (maybe 1 or 2 incoming students with less than a 4-year education).

That is how UCHSC considers you when they are building your financial aid package. But you would still mark down 1st year professional student.

 

[orbitaldecay]

thanks ^_^