Help please! I desperately need advice and guidance!

[madelinf]

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Hi. I'm new to SDN, but I've been looking at a whole bunch of different posts and they are all very helpful...but I was hoping to get advice for my specific situation.

I am going to be a fourth year at my university. I'm a Asian American Studies major with a minor in Bio. Initially, I was a Bio major, but I switched to AA studies because of some bad choices and bad grades. I am still continuing to pursue pharmacy as a profession though. Sadly (and I know it's my own fault), my GPA is extremely low. As of now I have a 2.515. I plan to graduate as an AsianAm major in June 2011 and will be taking time off (obviously). I will be taking the PCAT September 2011. I will also be starting an internship at a pharmacy in September.

I still have a couple of prereqs for pharmacy school that I need take (as well as retake). I'm just not really sure what to do. Should I should hold off on taking/retaking courses at my university for pharm and wait till I graduate and take them at a CC and focus on my graduating courses? Or should I try to take more pharm reqs at my university? Do pharmacy schools look down on courses taken/retaken at CC's?

And just in general, what do I need to do in order to get into pharm school? I really just need straight guidance and advice. Advice would be so truly appreciated! Please help!!!!

 

[HmoobRX]

Personally, if I was in your situation, I would focus on getting the highest
GPA possible in your major then finish up your pre-reqs somewhere else.

Your story is very close to my own. I decided that even if I stayed or tried to redo my science courses at my very big university, I would only hurt myself and my chances of ever getting into pharmacy school more. Number 1, I knew I wouldn't be able to get the support I really needed so the science would just bring down my GPA more.

I ended up just graduating with my non-science major and enrolled at a smaller university to retake and finish my pre-reqs. I ended up doing very well at the smaller university and was able to get a second bachelors in science. Many people have gone down the CC route and it seems to have worked out for them so I don't really think that will hurt you if you decide to take that route.

Oh and the other piece of advice many others give is to kill the PCAT so try doing your best on that as well. I'm not in pharmacy school yet but I hope that my hard work will show someone I'm serious about the profession.

 

[Passion4Sci]

I still have a couple of prereqs for pharmacy school that I need take (as well as retake). I'm just not really sure what to do. Should I should hold off on taking/retaking courses at my university for pharm and wait till I graduate and take them at a CC and focus on my graduating courses?

There are a couple ways I'm looking at this. Either you're not university material or you are university material but have poor time management skills (i.e., you "make bad choices" a lot). If the former, you really should just graduate and take CC classes. While schools do put a little downward emphasis on CC coursework, an A at a CC is far superior to a C at your university. Let's face it. Some people do not possess the talent, ambition, drive--whatever you want to call it--to do well in a competitive 4 year school. That doesn't mean you wouldn't be a good pharmacist.

However, if the latter in my scenario above, then you need to take a look at your life and see what "choices" you make that you can stop making. Get help from student academic services, or psychological services, whatever the case may be for you. Then take the pre-requisites at your university, and perform well!

Only you know if you can step back and make the right choices. No one on this forum can determine that.

Or should I try to take more pharm reqs at my university? Do pharmacy schools look down on courses taken/retaken at CC's?

I kinda answered this above. Every school is different in terms of how they view CC work, but very few schools say "NO CC!!!" so what you need to do, if you want to consider that option, is contact each prospective school and just feel out their stance on CC work.

And just in general, what do I need to do in order to get into pharm school? I really just need straight guidance and advice. Advice would be so truly appreciated! Please help!!!!

Well, a 2.5XX is barely above the floor of pretty much every pharmacy school in the U.S. At this point, rather than focus on getting a 3.0XX (Which would take a bat-****-crazy amount of units if you're a rising senior) you should attempt to raise it as much as you can, while preparing strongly for the PCAT. I can't stress that enough. If you can show a 90th+ percentile on the PCAT, schools will be forced to look deeper at you. With that kind of score, obviously you know your ****, and those transgressions earlier in your college career can more easily fade away. In a sense, this can help separate "then" from "now."

That said, you could also consider taking some time off school, do some Peace Corps work or something, and then looking into academic forgiveness.

 

[diastole]

Oh the Peace Corps is awesome. I'd go do that but it is kind of tough to get into. It was waaaaay easier to get into pharmacy school than it was to get into the Peace Corps. It wasn't even close.

 

[madelinf]

I was just wondering what you mean by smaller university? Like a private school? or a CC? or like UC vs. Cal State?

 

[HmoobRX]

I'm not very familiar with the California school systems since I'm not from there. But my first university had about 18,000 undergrads compared to only about 6,000 at the second university I attended. I would say you can compare my first experience as being at a UC and the second to a Cal State institution.

I could've gone to a CC and saved myself some money but I weighed it out for myself and just picked a smaller university. Luckily, I am in an area where there are multiple universities (both private and public) and I was able to just go to another state school that didn't cost me a fortune. I did have to take some extra loans to finish out 3 semesters because I already had a first undergraduate degree but I definitely think it was a good investment on my part.

 

[Passion4Sci]

I was just wondering what you mean by smaller university? Like a private school? or a CC? or like UC vs. Cal State?

In reading for context, it appears as though Hmoob meant "easier." (Not saying the word was wrong, but contextually here smaller will be taken as less competitive).

Madelin, it's common courtesy to not ignore long posts that folks write in response to your OP.

Welcome to SDN.

 

[mandydp6]

Madelin, it's common courtesy to not ignore long posts that folks write in response to your OP.

Welcome to SDN.

👍

 

[deleted329060]

What is your pre-pharmacy GPA now? From your posts, you said you are missing some classes and have to retake. If your pre-pharm GPA is very low, you have to determine how high it will be if you ace all your remaining classes. Then you need to determine whether or not it's possible for you to ace all your classes.

 

[madelinf]

Sorry Passion4Sci! Thank you so much for the advice.
I didn't mean to ignore your post, I'm just not too familiar with SDN and it's functions.
But seriously, thanks for the all the advice!

 

[madelinf]

What is your pre-pharmacy GPA now? From your posts, you said you are missing some classes and have to retake. If your pre-pharm GPA is very low, you have to determine how high it will be if you ace all your remaining classes. Then you need to determine whether or not it's possible for you to ace all your classes.

I'm not exactly sure how to calculate my pre-pharm GPA...is there a specific way to do so?

and thanks for the help! 🙂

 

[Project2015]

Just calculate it normally, except only for pre-req courses.

 

[Carboxide]

Madelin, it's common courtesy to not ignore long posts that folks write in response to your OP.

Welcome to SDN.

Uh..really? Don't get your panties in a wad. It's the internet. If you only make posts so people can thank you, you should probably find a new hobby.

 

[Passion4Sci]

Uh..really? Don't get your panties in a wad. It's the internet. If you only make posts so people can thank you, you should probably find a new hobby.

Who are you again?

 

[Carboxide]

Who are you again?

You realize I've been here longer than you, right? Since you're newer, I'll let you in on a secret; if you look under the username, it tells the join date. Just because I don't spam every single thread with tales of how my school is THE BEST EVER OMG doesn't mean I don't know how SDN works.