Has anybody here been accepted without ever working in a pharmacy?

[Bob_Barker27]

I was recently rejected by the University of South Carolina. I had a 3.6 pre-pharmacy GPA, and some of those courses were more advanced than the pharmacy school required. The only two C's that I had were in two calculus based physics courses which were a higher level physics than the pharmacy school required. I made all A's in the remaining pre-pharmacy courses that I had to take upon returning to school last spring, including both organic chemistry and both anatomy/physiology courses. I also earned an undergrad degree in mechanical engineering back in 2000 and I finished up with a 3.1 GPA in that. On their website, USC states that 25% of the students accepted last year have an undergrad degree. I would have thought that percentage would have been much higher if pharmacy school applicants are as competitive as they claim. USC doesn't require the PCAT or an interview, which I thought was a good thing before I got rejected, but now I don't think it is. The PCAT and interview are good opportunities to get separation from other applicants with good GPAs. I feel like the only "deficiency" that I had was that I didn't work in a pharmacy, although I did shadow in a hospital pharmacy 30 minutes from where I live for 5 hours. I also talked to a nuclear pharmacist about that field. I applied for several retail pharmacy jobs, but I never got offered a job. The weird thing is that I have been told by some students that got in that many of the students that are accepted by USC have never worked anywhere including a pharmacy. I just don't see how I didn't even make the waiting list at South Carolina.

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[DrugDealer]

I was recently rejected by the University of South Carolina. I had a 3.6 pre-pharmacy GPA, and some of those courses were more advanced than the pharmacy school required. The only two C's that I had were in two calculus based physics courses which were a higher level physics than the pharmacy school required. I made all A's in the remaining pre-pharmacy courses that I had to take upon returning to school last spring, including both organic chemistry and both anatomy/physiology courses. I also earned an undergrad degree in mechanical engineering back in 2000 and I finished up with a 3.1 GPA in that. On their website, USC states that 25% of the students accepted last year have an undergrad degree. I would have thought that percentage would have been much higher if pharmacy school applicants are as competitive as they claim. USC doesn't require the PCAT or an interview, which I thought was a good thing before I got rejected, but now I don't think it is. The PCAT and interview are good opportunities to get separation from other applicants with good GPAs. I feel like the only "deficiency" that I had was that I didn't work in a pharmacy, although I did shadow in a hospital pharmacy 30 minutes from where I live for 5 hours. I also talked to a nuclear pharmacist about that field. I applied for several retail pharmacy jobs, but I never got offered a job. The weird thing is that I have been told by some students that got in that many of the students that are accepted by USC have never worked anywhere including a pharmacy. I just don't see how I didn't even make the waiting list at South Carolina.

Yup. I was accepted last week into the Univ. of Southern Nevada and I've never worked in a pharmacy. I was apprehensive during the whole application process, though, because I thought my weakness in this area would hurt me.

 

[cjsdca]

I, too, never had any work experience in a pharmacy. This was clear in my application and interviews - so I was worried that it would adversely affect my candidacy. However, based on my other accomplishments, I managed to get offers from UCSF and UCSD!

 

[28657]

That sucks you didn't even make the waiting list. I know how you feel. I wasn't accepted at University of Utah with a 3.6/99% and I was pissed off! I had never worked in a pharmacy before either, so that might have been the reason why I wasn't accepted there. But good things happen in weird ways, because I was accepted to MWU-CPG and I absolutely love it here.

I guess some schools really like prior pharm experience b/c a lot of people don't really know what its like to work in a pharmacy. I have a few classmates who didn't have pharm experience and now they hate pharmacy school and hope to do something else afterward.

Did you apply to other schools? I'm sure you'll get in somewhere.

 

[Bob_Barker27]

That sucks you didn't even make the waiting list. I know how you feel. I wasn't accepted at University of Utah with a 3.6/99% and I was pissed off! I had never worked in a pharmacy before either, so that might have been the reason why I wasn't accepted there. But good things happen in weird ways, because I was accepted to MWU-CPG and I absolutely love it here.

I guess some schools really like prior pharm experience b/c a lot of people don't really know what its like to work in a pharmacy. I have a few classmates who didn't have pharm experience and now they hate pharmacy school and hope to do something else afterward.

Did you apply to other schools? I'm sure you'll get in somewhere.

Thanks for your response. Yes, I applied to the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), and I'm set up for an interview with them. I believe that they think you are academically qualified if they offer you an interview, so I have a good shot at getting in there as long as I don't bomb the interview. I would rather live down in Charleston on the coast where MUSC is anyway, so hopefully it will all work out. I actually was considering applying to Utah because I enjoy snow skiing and Salt Lake City is obviously a good place to live for that. According to their stats they don't accept any out of staters at all, at least in recent years, so I decided not to apply there.

 

[ultracet]

i got in with no real pharmacy experience...

good luck

 

[zarafa]

i got in with no real pharmacy experience...

me too

 

[Vuitton27]

I was accepted to MUSC without any pharmacy experience. Good luck with your interview!

 

[Superman22]

I was accepted to MUSC without any pharmacy experience. Good luck with your interview!

From past comments made by the writer who started this thread, it is no wonder why he hasn't gotten accepted. There is justice in the world.

 

[chloejane]

Although I have several years of pharm experience, I didn't feel the adcom was impressed by that... I got a job as a tech when I was in high school and continued to work there through my undergrad college experience. I then left and pursued other interests. I don't think the adcom was as interested in my actual experience as they were my explanation as to why it took me so long to settle on pharmacy. And I told them the honest, from-my-heart truth about how I ended up back on pharmacy after a couple years of doing other things. THAT is what I felt impressed them... I wasn't making anything up or telling them what they wanted to hear. But I think what they got was an honest answer to why I should be in pharmacy. If you can answer that question (with knowledge of pharmacy) then I think they take you seriously... but that's just my opinion.

Good luck!!

 

[illusions]

From past comments made by the writer who started this thread, it is no wonder why he hasn't gotten accepted. There is justice in the world.

 

[ultracet]

Bob: perhaps it was your lack of experience and carrer change that factored into it.

 

[imperial frog]

Lack of experience and a career change here too...didn't seem to make a difference.

 

[Bob_Barker27]

From past comments made by the writer who started this thread, it is no wonder why he hasn't gotten accepted. There is justice in the world.

I oppose racial quotas in college admissions and hiring, and thus I must be punished by the Gods

 

[Bob_Barker27]

Bob: perhaps it was your lack of experience and carrer change that factored into it.

I think not working in a pharmacy was the main thing, but who knows. It's possible that my 3.1 GPA in my undergrad major, mechanical engineering, was too low in their view, although I thought it was good because engineering is tough. I'm not really sure why being a career changer would really hurt. Americans change careers all the time. I earned my undergrad major at the rivial college in the state, Clemson, so maybe they have an anti-Clemson bias This isn't a politically correct to say, but I think they may have some racial quotas in place too. Thanks.

 

[Bob_Barker27]

I was accepted to MUSC without any pharmacy experience. Good luck with your interview!

Awesome, are you a student at MUSC now or do you start this fall? Did they ask a lot of specific questions in the interview or just general things like why pharmacy or why musc?

 

[Sosumi]

Making unfounded accusations about quotas and such isn't going to help you. Just go to the admissions people and ask them tactfully how you can improve on yourself. There are many subjective factors in place that it can be very random. That's why it's best to apply to many schools.

By the way, I had absolutely no pharmacy experience before I went to pharmacy school. None of my interviewers' seemed to care. It's about emphasizing your strengths and trying to improve your weaknesses in the adcom's and interviewers' eyes.

 

[ultracet]

my interviewers put me on the spot about my lack of experience

i just happen to be one of those people who thinks fast and had a great answer for them

my interviewers also put me on the spot about the one W on my transcript from my first semester of college..

 

[jmhousem]

I am also going through a career change (I'm in a completely unrelated field), and I don't have any prior pharmacy experience, but I got in. I had a good GPA back in college, and I did well on the PCAT. I think my interviews went well, too. Taking the PCAT and going to interviews was kind of a pain, but I think they helped prove that I was a serious and well-qualified candidate. I don't know what kind of essays USC required in their supplemental application. If they don't require much in the way of essays, and they don't look at the PCAT or conduct interviews, then all they have is prior work experience, volunteer activities, and GPA, and maybe they don't share your view that a 3.1 GPA in engineering is equivalent to a 3.8 in biology or chemistry. (Please tell me you didn't use that line in your PharmCAS personal statement!)

 

[Vuitton27]

Awesome, are you a student at MUSC now or do you start this fall? Did they ask a lot of specific questions in the interview or just general things like why pharmacy or why musc?

I am currently in my first year at MUSC. My lack of experience wasn't really that big of an issue to them. They just asked some general questions about why I had chosen the field of pharmacy and why MUSC. Honestly, my interview wasn't very stressful at all. It was more like a conversation with both my interviewers. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me. I'm sure you'll do great.

 

[illusions]

This isn't a politically correct to say, but I think they may have some racial quotas in place too. Thanks.

I'm sorry, I think it is unfair for you to make an accusation like that. Maybe you should ask them honestly how you can improve. I am black, got into USC, but I'm sure my 3.7 gpa has something to do with it.

..and regarding MUSC. The interview was very conversational. The only real questions I remember answering where...."tell me about yourself" and why pharmacy".....be prepared to have a lot of questions to ask them to make the interview flow.

 

[28657]

I'm sorry, I think it is unfair for you to make an accusation like that. Maybe you should ask them honestly how you can improve. I am black, got into USC, but I'm sure my 3.7 gpa has something to do with it.

..and regarding MUSC. The interview was very conversational. The only real questions I remember answering where...."tell me about yourself" and why pharmacy".....be prepared to have a lot of questions to ask them to make the interview flow.

It's not unfair and it's not an accusation. It's the truth. If MUSC is a state funded school, then they must follow affirmative action.

Bob-I had the same thoughts about the affirmative action thing too when I didn't get accepted to the U of U. The U of U specifically states on their application that they "aggressively enforce affirmative action"...it doesn't get much more black and white than that? (No pun intended).

 

[illusions]

It's not unfair and it's not an accusation. It's the truth. If MUSC is a state funded school, then they must follow affirmative action.

Bob-I had the same thoughts about the affirmative action thing too when I didn't get accepted to the U of U. The U of U specifically states on their application that they "aggressively enforce affirmative action"...it doesn't get much more black and white than that? (No pun intended).

First, that comment was concerning USC and not MUSC. Secondly, I don't care if they follow affirmative action or not, don't try to solely blame your reason for not getting accepted on that. Get real.

 

[Superman22]

First, that comment was concerning USC and not MUSC. Secondly, I don't care if they follow affirmative action or not, don't try to solely blame your reason for not getting accepted on that. Get real.

If admission was truly based on affirmative action, then the student population would truly reflect the population of this country as a whole. Last time I noticed this wasn't the case. And don't say, well there is enough of "you" applying. You don't know this. The point is whatever the reason the comment I made prior about there is justice in the world had to do with a person who probably can be seen for what he/she is. This probably was noticeable in the interview. So the comment I made unbeknown by the original writer of this thread, had nothing to do with quotas, affirmative action, racial bias, or however anyone wants to call it. And for your information someone of color or foreign has to work twice as hard to ever reach some form of equality in this country. Although this is "fair" it is the reality for those who walk in these shoes. It is difficult to understand this unless your are willing to be humble and honest with yourself to the way our world really works.

 

[Sosumi]

Judging by the average population of students in pharmacy school recently, white males are part of the minority. Looking at the racial and gender makeup of my school (Maryland), Asian Americans females are overrepresented, while males are extremely underrepresented across the board. It's hard to imagine how being a white male applying to pharmacy school can be affected adversely as far as acceptance goes these days.

 

[Betty'sBeast]

If admission was truly based on affirmative action, then the student population would truly reflect the population of this country as a whole. Last time I noticed this wasn't the case. And don't say, well there is enough of "you" applying. You don't know this. The point is whatever the reason the comment I made prior about there is justice in the world had to do with a person who probably can be seen for what he/she is. This probably was noticeable in the interview. So the comment I made unbeknown by the original writer of this thread, had nothing to do with quotas, affirmative action, racial bias, or however anyone wants to call it. And for your information someone of color or foreign has to work twice as hard to ever reach some form of equality in this country. Although this is "fair" it is the reality for those who walk in these shoes. It is difficult to understand this unless your are willing to be humble and honest with yourself to the way our world really works.

BS

 

[starsweet]

I think not working in a pharmacy was the main thing, but who knows. It's possible that my 3.1 GPA in my undergrad major, mechanical engineering, was too low in their view, although I thought it was good because engineering is tough. I'm not really sure why being a career changer would really hurt. Americans change careers all the time. I earned my undergrad major at the rivial college in the state, Clemson, so maybe they have an anti-Clemson bias This isn't a politically correct to say, but I think they may have some racial quotas in place too. Thanks.

I'm curious, what was your personal statement about? I'm intrigued because your stats and situation are *very* similar to mine (almost exact, in fact) and I can't believe you didn't get in. I'm applying for next fall to only 3 schools (not USC, however) but am now thinking of applying to more since I read your post. I don't see how a career change could hurt you, on the contrary, the admissions committee should appreciate that because it takes a lot of hard work and effort to leave one field and enter a completely different one. And I don't think they would reject anyone solely because they didn't work in a pharmacy, and you mentioned that you did at least shadow a pharmacist. Since there was no interview or PCAT and your grades are pretty good, the only thing I can think of that they might have had a problem with is the essay. Just trying to help.

 

[pharm13oy]

I was recently rejected by the University of South Carolina. I had a 3.6 pre-pharmacy GPA, and some of those courses were more advanced than the pharmacy school required. The only two C's that I had were in two calculus based physics courses which were a higher level physics than the pharmacy school required. I made all A's in the remaining pre-pharmacy courses that I had to take upon returning to school last spring, including both organic chemistry and both anatomy/physiology courses. I also earned an undergrad degree in mechanical engineering back in 2000 and I finished up with a 3.1 GPA in that. On their website, USC states that 25% of the students accepted last year have an undergrad degree. I would have thought that percentage would have been much higher if pharmacy school applicants are as competitive as they claim. USC doesn't require the PCAT or an interview, which I thought was a good thing before I got rejected, but now I don't think it is. The PCAT and interview are good opportunities to get separation from other applicants with good GPAs. I feel like the only "deficiency" that I had was that I didn't work in a pharmacy, although I did shadow in a hospital pharmacy 30 minutes from where I live for 5 hours. I also talked to a nuclear pharmacist about that field. I applied for several retail pharmacy jobs, but I never got offered a job. The weird thing is that I have been told by some students that got in that many of the students that are accepted by USC have never worked anywhere including a pharmacy. I just don't see how I didn't even make the waiting list at South Carolina.

Yes. I was accepted nearly 10 years ago and my interviewers knew I didn't have work experience. They did not ask me about it though. I think that it helps you get in, but it doesn't hinder you either. So don't sweat it.

 

[Bob_Barker27]

Making unfounded accusations about quotas and such isn't going to help you. Just go to the admissions people and ask them tactfully how you can improve on yourself. There are many subjective factors in place that it can be very random. That's why it's best to apply to many schools.

By the way, I had absolutely no pharmacy experience before I went to pharmacy school. None of my interviewers' seemed to care. It's about emphasizing your strengths and trying to improve your weaknesses in the adcom's and interviewers' eyes.

I never said that it was a fact that USC uses racial quotas. I am just open to the possiblity because many schools admit they consider minority status in admissions. I think you may remember the supreme court knocking down the university of michigan's admissions policy for their law school, in which they awarded 20 points to applicants that were minority, but only a max 16 points to an applicant who had a good LSAT score. This school thought that being a minority was 4 points more impressive than a perfect score on the LSAT!!! I believe a few years ago, a few white students won a reverse discrimination case against the U. of Texas law school in which some hispanic students got in over them with much lower LSAT scores. It's not unfounded to believe that a college may be considering things like race in admissions. If you still don't believe that colleges consider race in admissions, I recommend the following link: http://www.ceousa.org/pdfs/VAS Report.pdf

The University of South Carolina doesn't require an interview, so it's hard to take your advice on emphasizing my strengths in an interview. I think that with a degree in mechanical engineering and a 3.6 in pre-pharmacy courses that I should have been accepted especiallly when you consider that most of the students accepted at USC have only taken 1.5 years of courses. They are accepted before they take organic chemistry 2 or Anatomy/Physiology 2, which in my view, were the toughest courses in the pre-pharmacy program.

 

[Bob_Barker27]

my interviewers put me on the spot about my lack of experience

i just happen to be one of those people who thinks fast and had a great answer for them

my interviewers also put me on the spot about the one W on my transcript from my first semester of college..

USC doesn't require interviews, so I never had the chance to market myself. I used a lot most or all of my W's in my mechanical engineering program, but I don't see anything wrong with that if the school allows it.

 

[Bob_Barker27]

I am also going through a career change (I'm in a completely unrelated field), and I don't have any prior pharmacy experience, but I got in. I had a good GPA back in college, and I did well on the PCAT. I think my interviews went well, too. Taking the PCAT and going to interviews was kind of a pain, but I think they helped prove that I was a serious and well-qualified candidate. I don't know what kind of essays USC required in their supplemental application. If they don't require much in the way of essays, and they don't look at the PCAT or conduct interviews, then all they have is prior work experience, volunteer activities, and GPA, and maybe they don't share your view that a 3.1 GPA in engineering is equivalent to a 3.8 in biology or chemistry. (Please tell me you didn't use that line in your PharmCAS personal statement!)

I don't see how a 3.1 GPA in mechanical engineering could hurt me if you consider most applicants have only taken 1.5 years of introductory type courses. I do think a 3.1 is as impressive a 3.8 in a biology degree because biology is more about memorization and engineering is more about problem solving and all the math required makes it more difficult for your average student. USC doesn't use PharmCAS, but they did require a personal statement. I think that I'm a better than average writer, and I made A's in all the english composition courses that I took in my undergrad degree, so I think my personal statement was fine. I don't see how a personal statement could hurt an applicant unless they do something really stupid like spell pharmacy like farmacy.

 

[Bob_Barker27]

I am currently in my first year at MUSC. My lack of experience wasn't really that big of an issue to them. They just asked some general questions about why I had chosen the field of pharmacy and why MUSC. Honestly, my interview wasn't very stressful at all. It was more like a conversation with both my interviewers. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me. I'm sure you'll do great.

Thanks for the feedback, and congratulations on getting in to MUSC. Do most pharmacy students live near the campus or do they live over in Mount Pleasant or the North Charleston areas? I heard it was expensive living out on the peninsula.

 

[Bob_Barker27]

I'm sorry, I think it is unfair for you to make an accusation like that. Maybe you should ask them honestly how you can improve. I am black, got into USC, but I'm sure my 3.7 gpa has something to do with it.

..and regarding MUSC. The interview was very conversational. The only real questions I remember answering where...."tell me about yourself" and why pharmacy".....be prepared to have a lot of questions to ask them to make the interview flow.

To be fair, I never claimed ALL or even a MAJORITY of minorities got into the pharmacy school because of racial quotas. I do think that there is a POSSIBILITY that USC takes minority status into consideration and that some minorities with lower GPAs than me MIGHT have been accepted because of of their minority status. I would agree that you deserved to get in with a pre-pharmacy GPA of a 3.7. However, I essentially had the same pre-pharmacy GPA (3.6) as you, and I made a 4.0 in the courses that I took once I decided to pursue pharmacy, and this included organic chemistry 1 and 2 and both anatomy courses. I was told these courses were looked at very closely as indicators of success in pharmacy school. If you also take into consideration that my 3.6 covers all 2 years of pre-pharmacy courses, while most students appear to be accepted with only a 1.5 year of courses completed. I also credited a more advanced statistics, calculus, and two physics courses than USC required, and my only two C's were in those physics courses. If you throw in the fact that I have an engineering degree, I think you would have to agree that I am at the very LEAST as qualified as you to get into the pharmacy school at USC, if academic potential and achievements are the most important factor in admissions, as they should be, in my opinion. Thanks for the feedback on the MUSC interview, and congratulations on getting in to USC.

 

[Bob_Barker27]

It's not unfair and it's not an accusation. It's the truth. If MUSC is a state funded school, then they must follow affirmative action.

Bob-I had the same thoughts about the affirmative action thing too when I didn't get accepted to the U of U. The U of U specifically states on their application that they "aggressively enforce affirmative action"...it doesn't get much more black and white than that? (No pun intended).

Yeah, I don't understand people who don't think schools consider race and often times reward minority status in admissions. There is too much evidence to the contrary. I thought you had a great GPA and you aced the PCAT,and there is no question you should have been admitted to the Utah pharmacy school.

 

[Bob_Barker27]

If admission was truly based on affirmative action, then the student population would truly reflect the population of this country as a whole. Last time I noticed this wasn't the case. And don't say, well there is enough of "you" applying. You don't know this. The point is whatever the reason the comment I made prior about there is justice in the world had to do with a person who probably can be seen for what he/she is. This probably was noticeable in the interview. So the comment I made unbeknown by the original writer of this thread, had nothing to do with quotas, affirmative action, racial bias, or however anyone wants to call it. And for your information someone of color or foreign has to work twice as hard to ever reach some form of equality in this country. Although this is "fair" it is the reality for those who walk in these shoes. It is difficult to understand this unless your are willing to be humble and honest with yourself to the way our world really works.

At the present time, affirmative action could never achieve a minority population that reflects society as a whole because a smaller percentage of minorities choose to attend college in comparison with whites.

I think affirmative action was neccessary at one point, back in the day when many white people in America were racist, and minorities with merit got a raw deal in hiring and admissions. However, I think America has radically changed and that the majority of whites do not discriminate against blacks, and in fact, want them to do well in life. Affirmative action has drifted away from it's original goal of ensuring that blacks with academic merit are accepted into school, and it's become more about ensuring diversity of skin color in schools, even if that means screwing somebody else who has done better in school. I disagree with you that minorities have to work twice as hard to achieve equality with whites, but you are entitled to your perspective.

 

[BTB]

At the present time, affirmative action could never achieve a minority population that reflects society as a whole because a smaller percentage of minorities choose to attend college in comparison with whites.

I think affirmative action was neccessary at one point, back in the day when many white people in America were racist, and minorities with merit got a raw deal in hiring and admissions. However, I think America has radically changed and that the majority of whites do not discriminate against blacks, and in fact, want them to do well in life. Affirmative action has drifted away from it's original goal of ensuring that blacks with academic merit are accepted into school, and it's become more about ensuring diversity of skin color in schools, even if that means screwing somebody else who has done better in school. I disagree with you that minorities have to work twice as hard to achieve equality with whites, but you are entitled to your perspective.

No comment.

 

[Bob_Barker27]

I'm curious, what was your personal statement about? I'm intrigued because your stats and situation are *very* similar to mine (almost exact, in fact) and I can't believe you didn't get in. I'm applying for next fall to only 3 schools (not USC, however) but am now thinking of applying to more since I read your post. I don't see how a career change could hurt you, on the contrary, the admissions committee should appreciate that because it takes a lot of hard work and effort to leave one field and enter a completely different one. And I don't think they would reject anyone solely because they didn't work in a pharmacy, and you mentioned that you did at least shadow a pharmacist. Since there was no interview or PCAT and your grades are pretty good, the only thing I can think of that they might have had a problem with is the essay. Just trying to help.

The essay was just about why I am interested in pharmacy and what my career goals are in the pharmacy field. I thought that I did a pretty good job on it. I made A's in all my english composition courses, and I think that I write fairly well. I had my mother read over it because she is a teacher, and she said she thought it was great. I don't really see how an essay can really hurt or help you unless your spelling or grammar is awful. There really can't be a wrong answer on why a person decides to do pharmacy unless you write that you want to hook friends up with some drugs that they don't have prescriptions for . I personally thought the essay was kind of a silly requirement.

I would recommend applying to as many schools as possible. I was sure that I would get in to USC this year so I was just not going to worry about taking the PCAT which is required by the other school in South Carolina, MUSC. However, I decided to take the PCAT at the last second this January and I am glad that I did or I would have been up the creek without a paddle. MUSC called me and invited me in for an interview a few minutes before I checked my mail and found out USC had rejected me.

According to USC's website, only 25% of their students have an undergrad degree. It appears to me they don't give much weight to having an undergrad degree compared to other schools. I would recommend that you apply to a pharmacy school that takes a lot of students with an undergrad degree. MUSC claims that 50% of the students they accept in a year have one, and they take 1/3 of their students from out of state, so you probably would have a good shot there. Charleston is a nice town too. I think that I saw on their website that UNC takes a lot of engineering students, and chemical engineering was the most represented branch, so I think you would have a good chance there as well. I think your chemical engineering degree would look good to most schools because a lot of chemical engineers work for the drug companies. I would recommend that you apply to schools that require the PCAT and an interview because that gives you more opportunities to separate yourself from other students. You probably should try to work in a pharmacy for at least three months so they can't use lack of pharmacy experience as an excuse to reject you. That would also allow you to use a pharmacist as a reference, which probably goes a long way.

 

[ultracet]

Bob: I can't say i disagree with you on some of your points. i understand you may be frusterated wht the current status of your applications (as i'm sure a lot on here are)

the reason i suggested that it could be the lack of experience is because people MIGHT wonder if you really know that pharmacy is for you.

i know that ME is a difficult major however... i know several MEs who would not be able to cut it in pharmacy school... every person has unique talents

i think perhaps a lot of what you type comes off differently than perhaps you intend
could this be the case in your personal statement/essay?
i'm sure you did well in english however content is often what adcoms are looking at

no one on here knows why you did or didn't get in
all we can do is speculate

i would encourage everyone to not speculate too much about anything on this board

aff action has always been a sensitive subject and probably always will be

 

[Bob_Barker27]

No comment.

"No comment" is a comment, and I'm assuming a negative one. Why don't you tell me where you think I am wrong, and we can discuss it.

 

[forever27]

Judging by the average population of students in pharmacy school recently, white males are part of the minority. Looking at the racial and gender makeup of my school (Maryland), Asian Americans females are overrepresented, while males are extremely underrepresented across the board. It's hard to imagine how being a white male applying to pharmacy school can be affected adversely as far as acceptance goes these days.

Do you know that Asian Americans are not protected under Affirmative Action? Asian Americans maybe over represented in the pharmacy school than their population but it is just because of their hard working and their tradition of emphasis on education. They compete equally with white without any extra point at all.

 

[blueclassring]

Bob,

I'm sorry to hear that you didn't get in. Those darn adcoms don't know what they are doing sometimes. Hope you can get into MUSC.

Engineering is a very difficult major because the material is very abstract and theoretical. I know of several chemical engineering dropouts that couldn't cut it and became pharmacists. (in hindsight, they were lucky ))

Imagine spending 6 hours on an engineering problem and still not knowing if you got it right or not. In comparison, I think that pharmacy school will be a little more easier than engineering as a whole, maybe with the exception of kinetics of pharmaceutical processes. (I took a chemical kinetics class in college and it was the hardest class I ever took. Know your laplace transforms and advanced math.)

We have very similiar stats with the exception that I have my degree in chemical engineering and I graduated a year early. I hope to get in this year, and I intend on applying to all the school up and down the West Coast and AZ.

 

[Bob_Barker27]

Bob: I can't say i disagree with you on some of your points. i understand you may be frusterated wht the current status of your applications (as i'm sure a lot on here are)

the reason i suggested that it could be the lack of experience is because people MIGHT wonder if you really know that pharmacy is for you.

i know that ME is a difficult major however... i know several MEs who would not be able to cut it in pharmacy school... every person has unique talents

i think perhaps a lot of what you type comes off differently than perhaps you intend
could this be the case in your personal statement/essay?
i'm sure you did well in english however content is often what adcoms are looking at

no one on here knows why you did or didn't get in
all we can do is speculate

i would encourage everyone to not speculate too much about anything on this board

aff action has always been a sensitive subject and probably always will be

I think that I am pretty clear on what I say, but you are right, affirmative action is a sensitive issue and people can read things in to what you say that aren't there. I never claimed that racial quotas were the ONLY factor in the school deciding not to accept me, but that I believe it's possible it was ONE factor.

I never claimed that every engineering student could do well in pharmacy school, but I don't think there is any reason to believe that a student who did well in engineering could not also do well in pharmacy school. They are both challenging programs.

It's possible as you say that they wondered if pharmacy was really for me, but in my view, they would be trying to read my mind if that was the case. If I state that I want to be a pharmacist, I think they have to accept that at face value. Many of the students that get in to pharmacy school may change their mind about wanting to be a pharmacist. The pharmacy school doesn't have any control over that, and there is no way to prevent it from happening.

The content of my personal statement was fine. There can't be a wrong or right reason for wanting to be a pharmacist, and my reasons were good ones. I talked about how I have epilepsy and how I would not be able to drive if not for the drugs that I take to control the condition. I talked about how I am very interested in learning how drugs work in the body to control diseases such as epilepsy. I also talked about a personal experience that I had when a young physician incorrectly diagnosed me with hay fever when I had poison ivy on my face (both of my eye lids were swollen shut). The pharmacist immediately realized that I had poison ivy and called the physician to get the right prescription. I made the point that if the pharmacist had not been diligent that I would have suffered much longer from poison ivy in addition to taking an inappropriate medication.

I thought the point of this forum was to provide an arena for students to speculate about what factors pharmacy schools consider in admissions. I never at any point said that all or even most minorities get accepted because of quotas. I just believe it's possible that a few minorities with lower grades got in instead of me. On the application, we had to put down our parents education levels. In my opinion, this probably means that the school was seeking to accept students whose parents did not attend college, the assumption being that many of those students are also minorities. Also, I think the reason that they got rid of the PCAT requirement was that some people claim that standardized tests like the SAT or PCAT discriminate against non-asian mnorities because as a group they do worse on these tests. I don't see how a test can be guilty of discrimination, especially when it contains science and math questions.

 

[Bob_Barker27]

Do you know that Asian Americans are not protected under Affirmative Action? Asian Americans maybe over represented in the pharmacy school than their population but it is just because of their hard working and their tradition of emphasis on education. They compete equally with white without any extra point at all.

Asians as a group do much better than whites especially in science and math, actually. It is funny how minority status is only given to non-asian minorities. There are more hispanics and african americans in the united states than asians, but asians aren't considered minorities? Go figure.

 

[Bob_Barker27]

Bob,

I'm sorry to hear that you didn't get in. Those darn adcoms don't know what they are doing sometimes. Hope you can get into MUSC.

Engineering is a very difficult major because the material is very abstract and theoretical. I know of several chemical engineering dropouts that couldn't cut it and became pharmacists. (in hindsight, they were lucky ))

Imagine spending 6 hours on an engineering problem and still not knowing if you got it right or not. In comparison, I think that pharmacy school will be a little more easier than engineering as a whole, maybe with the exception of kinetics of pharmaceutical processes. (I took a chemical kinetics class in college and it was the hardest class I ever took. Know your laplace transforms and advanced math.)

We have very similiar stats with the exception that I have my degree in chemical engineering and I graduated a year early. I hope to get in this year, and I intend on applying to all the school up and down the West Coast and AZ.

Blueclassring
I appreciate the kind words. I think that I heard the California schools put more emphasis on students having an undergrad degree. somebody said that 75% of accepted students in cali have an undergrad degree so that probably will make you a lock to get in. I actually wish that I had a chemical engineering degree over a mechanical because it probably makes more sense for a chemical engineer to be interested in pharmacy, at least to the pharmacy schools. I think pharmacy and engineering are both difficult, but in different ways. I think pharmacy requires memorization of a much larger volume of information which can be difficult. In contrast, there isn't that much memorization in engineering but the concepts can be more difficult to grasp and there is much more math involved.

 

[forever27]

Asians as a group do much better than whites especially in science and math, actually. It is funny how minority status is only given to non-asian minorities. There are more hispanics and african americans in the united states than asians, but asians aren't considered minorities? Go figure.

I read the U of Michigan's admission critiria before and only for African and Hispanic Americans can earn the extra 20 points but not Asian. Because there are more Asians already in the University than the "quota" they should be allocated based on their population. Better science and math is not a born charateristics of Asian. Everyone can be good at it if he works hard on it.

 

[dgroulx]

UF took a lot of flack a couple of years ago by removing "race" from their applications (for undergrad as well as professional schools). There was a big deal made about it. UF said that they wanted the best and the brightest and race shouldn't matter. It turns out that minority admissions for undergrad actually went up after this policy was instituted.

 

[Glycerin]

UF took a lot of flack a couple of years ago by removing "race" from their applications (for undergrad as well as professional schools). There was a big deal made about it. UF said that they wanted the best and the brightest and race shouldn't matter. It turns out that minority admissions for undergrad actually went up after this policy was instituted.

I'm actually for the idea of removing race and gender from applications. If you end up with all white guys or all black females or mostly (insert any ethnicity in here), then so be it. They would be the most qualified.

 

[Vuitton27]

Thanks for the feedback, and congratulations on getting in to MUSC. Do most pharmacy students live near the campus or do they live over in Mount Pleasant or the North Charleston areas? I heard it was expensive living out on the peninsula.

Most students live in either the West Ashley area or in Mount Pleasant. A few do live downtown but it can be very expensive. There aren't that many that live in North Charleston, but there are a few. Driving from North Charleston can be a pretty long commute due to construction. However, I think the construction should be done sometime in the next year and that will definitely make the commute much easier.

 

[PHARMDhope2b]

Wasnt This Supposed To Be A Thread About Getting Into Pharmacy School Without Pharmacy Experience.

However, Once Again Another Thread Has Gone Downhill.
First We Put Pharmacists Against Physicians, Now We Put Black Prepharms Against White Prepharms.
1. The United States Will Never Be A Place Of Equality, So Whichever Race You May Be, Just Deal With The Way Society Is And Keep Moving Forward.

2. I Dont Care If You Are White, Black, Asian, Etc. If You Get Into Pharmacy School And I Dont Then, I Assume That You Had Something That The Adcom Saw That I Did Not. Albeit, Grades, Extracurriculars, Good Essays, Good Interview. Im Just Glad That You Got In.

3. What Would Happen If Everyone Blamed Another Race For The Fact That He/she Didnt Get Into Pharmacy School? Ever Consider The Fact That Someone Of Your Own Race Could Have Gotten In With Lower Gpa, But Had A Much Better Attitude In The Interview. Adcoms Know If You Are An Arrogant Person, That's An Innate Attribute, And We All Can See And Hear It In Your Actions.

4. Just Congratulate Each Other For Our Accomplishments And Console One Another In Our Setbacks, Evantually We All (hopefully) Will Be Pharmacists Working Together Some Day.


Just My Few Cents

 

[Bob_Barker27]

Wasnt This Supposed To Be A Thread About Getting Into Pharmacy School Without Pharmacy Experience.

However, Once Again Another Thread Has Gone Downhill.
First We Put Pharmacists Against Physicians, Now We Put Black Prepharms Against White Prepharms.
1. The United States Will Never Be A Place Of Equality, So Whichever Race You May Be, Just Deal With The Way Society Is And Keep Moving Forward.

2. I Dont Care If You Are White, Black, Asian, Etc. If You Get Into Pharmacy School And I Dont Then, I Assume That You Had Something That The Adcom Saw That I Did Not. Albeit, Grades, Extracurriculars, Good Essays, Good Interview. Im Just Glad That You Got In.

3. What Would Happen If Everyone Blamed Another Race For The Fact That He/she Didnt Get Into Pharmacy School? Ever Consider The Fact That Someone Of Your Own Race Could Have Gotten In With Lower Gpa, But Had A Much Better Attitude In The Interview. Adcoms Know If You Are An Arrogant Person, That's An Innate Attribute, And We All Can See And Hear It In Your Actions.

4. Just Congratulate Each Other For Our Accomplishments And Console One Another In Our Setbacks, Evantually We All (hopefully) Will Be Pharmacists Working Together Some Day.


Just My Few Cents

I guess you missed the part about the U. of South Carolina not requiring an interview. There goes your "bob barker didn't get in because he is arrogant and it came through in the interview" theory. Acknowledging that colleges often use race as a factor in admissions is not a sign of arrogance. I never blamed black students for causing me not to get into this pharmacy college - students do not set the admissions criteria at a college, the college does. If I were to say that I don't think student should be accepted just because one of their parents went to the school , would you accuse me of arrogance? Probably not. I have said that I believe the main thing that hurt me was not having worked in a pharmacy, but that race MAY have also been a factor. I do believe that a black male with my stats would have most likely been accepted by the pharmacy college. I am curious, is there a reason you capitalize every word in every sentence? I have never seen that done before. Take care.