Help making me competitive XD

[desertraichu]

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Hey guys, first time posting, gotta say i love what's been written so far. Anyway, I'm going in to be a fourth year biology major next year at UC Riverside, and I'm applying to pharm schools in cali with the mindset that I won't get in since my gpa is 3.2 and i have barely any experience. My dream school is Western and what do you guys think I should do to get more competitive? I plan on raising my gpa duh, but i can probably only raise it to 3.4 by the end of the year. I plan on taking a year off and grabbing an associate degree in pharmacy technology. Would that count as good experience? I'm also planning on doing virology research with a professor of mine, i've seen some forums saying it's pointless but is it? Lastly, should i focus on retaking classes after graduation or grabbing more experience? It is nearly impossible to get experience in riverside, i've called every and i mean every pharmacy in riverside lol. sorry for how long it is please help.

 

[triplerox]

sup! im gonna be a 3rd year in ucr next year. i know what you mean by getting a pharm experience haha it is near impossible here despite all these pharmacies around, too many of them prepharm and not enough openings. im thinking about applying to usn this summer too lol and my gpa is only 3.3 =[ goodluck to you!

 

[Kaxa2000]

Having at least a 3.2 for pre-pharmacy is considered competitive.

 

[IrishRxMan]

Try asking an independent pharmacy to come and shadow instead of one of the big chains. They can do what they want without the corporate head shed telling them what to do. Unless you really want to do the virology research, I would take the PCAT if you need to and apply this year. If you get waitlisted or denied, you can find out what you need to improve on instead of speculating. The GPA, as you may have seen, is only one part of the pie they look at when considering who to grant interviews and accept. Of course, if you do get an interview and accepted, you're one year closer to achieving your dream! Good luck!

 

[desertraichu]

thanks for the tips and encouragement XD. It's sad really, i've called every pharmacy in the riverside county and a 15 mile radius outside of the county and asked for a clerk position or volunteer. I got refused at every one very fast lol. It feels impossible to get the foot in the door of any pharmacy experience in this town..........

 

[smartypants723]

It's difficult to find a pharmacy job in Riverside. I've talked to a couple, and they are either not hiring or just fear of hiring full-time students. One owner has told me that she didn't want to hire me because I'm a full-time student.

Try volunteering at Loma Linda Medical Center. Their volunteer office allows you to volunteer in their inpatient pharmacy department. They don't give you a lot of things to do, but it gives you an opportunity to talk to the pharmacists there and to observe a little bit of the inner workings of hospital pharmacy.

 

[triplerox]

It's difficult to find a pharmacy job in Riverside. I've talked to a couple, and they are either not hiring or just fear of hiring full-time students. One owner has told me that she didn't want to hire me because I'm a full-time student.

Try volunteering at Loma Linda Medical Center. Their volunteer office allows you to volunteer in their inpatient pharmacy department. They don't give you a lot of things to do, but it gives you an opportunity to talk to the pharmacists there and to observe a little bit of the inner workings of hospital pharmacy.

i was gonna do that this summer. i called loma linda and asked about pharmacy and they told me its full of volunteers already, go figure 😡

where are you guys applying to?

 

[217933]

Having at least a 3.2 for pre-pharmacy is considered competitive.

I beg to differ. Even at the University of Kansas you'd need a 3.8 to be competitive. I would imagine it to be around the same for any prestigious pharmacy school. :/

 

[mrblah]

Having at least a 3.2 for pre-pharmacy is considered competitive.

Thats what people think until application time. Competitiveness depends on the school, and it usually is whatever the average gpa is of the last incoming class is for that particular school.

Even then, you are only looking at gpa, so if you are competitive (gpa-wise), you still have to worry about LOR, EC, PS, INTERVIEW, tc.

 

[Prepharm1214]

I beg to differ. Even at the University of Kansas you'd need a 3.8 to be competitive. I would imagine it to be around the same for any prestigious pharmacy school. :/

Kansas is a bad example, and what do you mean by a prestigious pharmacy school? A lot of pharmacy schools have an average acceptance gpa around 3.5, 3.2 probably wasn't best termed as 'competitive' but it will give you a shot. What pharmacy school you go to doesn't matter most of the time unless you plan on doing a residency or fellowship. Most people end up going into retail or hospital pharmacy anyway, and in which case it hardly makes a difference whatsoever.

 

[Avelox]

A few things:

1) A 3.4 GPA is good enough for Western for sure in terms of at least being competetive (assuming you are able to get it 3.4). Even a 3.2 would give you a chance IF you could have other things on the resume. If you do not have pharmacy experience yet tho and will not get much in this year it might be hard though to stretch a 3.2 into an acceptance.

2) Research is not worthless. Applications are all about emphasizing what you did and relating it to your career path. Sure if you do the research and cannot make any link to pharmacy or how it will be beneficial to you as a pharmacy student then ya it would be worthless. IF you can make a link tho its only a positive. Consider also that some schools like research more then others (ie. UCSF or UCSD).

3) I think a year off would definitly be beneficial. I'm not sure what an AA in pharmacy technology entails but you could also get a Masters in Public Health if you can find one offered for a year. I know USC has one in which you can apply for spring semester and then it goes on through the following year (1.5 years). Not sure if you wanna wait that long but it could work as well or any other masters program that is possibly a year? Again I'm only saying this because i'm not sure what the AA entails. You could also just use that year off to find a pharmacy to work in full-time. Assuming you are able to get a job this year somewhere, the added year off could give you a total of 1.5-2 years experience which would be nice. Volunteering in a hospital (even it is not particulary pharmacy related) could also be helpful since volunteering is always nice.

Hope that helps 🙂

 

[desertraichu]

Thanks for the info. Anyway, the AA in pharmacy technology ends with me getting training and full licensing as a pharm tech and provides 80 hours of externship experience in a retail pharmacy. I think it's my best bet to get any experience out of orange county. Here's a link if anyone's interested. http://www.sac.edu/faculty_staff/academic_progs/departments/pharmacy/training_options.htm
Has anyone ever taken this program or can tell me if it's a good idea? also, if i can't find anything should I just volunteer at a hospital doing anything?

 

[Avelox]

It would not hurt -- you could also just take the pharmacy tech test and see if you can get a job as a Tech instead of a clerk too without taking the course.

 

[jmcfa002]

I'm a 3rd year pre-pharm from UCR as well, but I'm transferring this year. Try the surrounding cities like Mo Val and maybe San Bernardino for tech jobs. If you go home every weekend(or commute), look by your hometown. The easiest way to get a tech job is to get PTCB certified first, then apply. Like someone said earlier, volunteering at Loma Linda is a good option. If you can become an officer in any club, that would be great for leadership experience. Future Pills is a good club to be a part of as well, there is a lot of helpful knowledge available. Hope that helps

 

[217933]

Kansas is a bad example, and what do you mean by a prestigious pharmacy school? A lot of pharmacy schools have an average acceptance gpa around 3.5, 3.2 probably wasn't best termed as 'competitive' but it will give you a shot. What pharmacy school you go to doesn't matter most of the time unless you plan on doing a residency or fellowship. Most people end up going into retail or hospital pharmacy anyway, and in which case it hardly makes a difference whatsoever.

Wait why is Kansas a bad example? Their incoming GPA really is 3.8 is it because the GPA is higher than what other pharmacy schools are? I wouldn't really know about other pharmacy schools though because I haven't really looked into any other school but KU..so maybe that's it lol...

 

[desertraichu]

I signed up for a volunteer orientation at loma linda XD It's a start i'll take w/e volunteering the give me, even all the hospitals in riverside have no volunteering, i swear riverside is a deadzone for pre pharm students

 

[laimyours]

Hey guys, first time posting, gotta say i love what's been written so far. Anyway, I'm going in to be a fourth year biology major next year at UC Riverside, and I'm applying to pharm schools in cali with the mindset that I won't get in since my gpa is 3.2 and i have barely any experience. My dream school is Western and what do you guys think I should do to get more competitive? I plan on raising my gpa duh, but i can probably only raise it to 3.4 by the end of the year. I plan on taking a year off and grabbing an associate degree in pharmacy technology. Would that count as good experience? I'm also planning on doing virology research with a professor of mine, i've seen some forums saying it's pointless but is it? Lastly, should i focus on retaking classes after graduation or grabbing more experience? It is nearly impossible to get experience in riverside, i've called every and i mean every pharmacy in riverside lol. sorry for how long it is please help.

There are people who get in without experience. Research and other EC's are good to have. Having a 3.2 still gives you a shot at getting in at Western, you're going to need to make sure you have good LORs, PS, and a good interview if you get that far. Having pharmacy experience does help, especially in the interview and writing a PS. But, still isn't required. I work with 2 pharmacists that went to Western and both had experience. They were both rejected the first time, with similar gpas as yours. They spent the next year retaking classes to boost their gpa, and getting some more experience/ECs. So if Western is where you want to go, then apply. Worst case scenario you get rejected. You can always apply again the following year.

 

[Prepharm1214]

Wait why is Kansas a bad example? Their incoming GPA really is 3.8 is it because the GPA is higher than what other pharmacy schools are? I wouldn't really know about other pharmacy schools though because I haven't really looked into any other school but KU..so maybe that's it lol...

Yes, Kansas has a very high average GPA, to my knowledge Purdue and Kansas are the only schools that have an average acceptance gpa of 3.8 or higher.