High School Senior

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[gilgamesh]

Hi! I am a high school senior. I am thinking about majoring in Pharmacy, but I am still not sure. I plan on attending a college, but it doesn't have pre-pharmacy as a major. Should I just major in Biology? Also, I hear all these talks about a 0-6 2-3 or 2-4 programs, and I am a little confused. Does that mean that I only need to attend my undergrad at my desire school for 2 years, and then reapply for a graduate school for 4 years? Will I miss out on the "undergraduate experience"?

Also, when is the best time to take the PCAT. How is the score range. Sorry for all these question. I have been so focus on college application and ACT/SAT that I am just starting to look into my major. Thanks

You can choose a major of your preference. Biology is fine, however, make sure you are meeting the prerequisites of the pharmacy schools you plan on applying to when taking your courses (they are different for each school). Normally these prerequisites take two years of full-time schoolwork to complete, and you CAN apply with these two years worth of prerequisites but you do not by any means have to.

Recently, many applicants have been applying to pharmacy school after earning their bachelor's degree, meaning they complete their undergraduate studies first. If you choose to do this, not only can you enjoy your undergraduate experience (four years) but a bachelor's degree will also make you a competitive applicant, as applicants with a degree are generally more sought after than the regular applicant.

I would say the best time to take the PCAT is during your second year of college - after you have the following courses under your belt: one year general chem, one year biology, at least one semester organic chem, and one semester calculus. Hope this all helps-

 

[gilgamesh]

On a second note, since you are still in high school, if you are really sure about pharmacy I would suggest going to a university that offers early assurance / decision. You will have to work extremely hard in school, but that's about all you will have to do.

 

[k1451372]

Alot depends on the school you plan to attend for pharmacy. So maybe look at the pharmacy schools in your state, pre- reqs and whether they encourage an undergrad degree
If they are a 0-6 school thats basically out of high school type of program but I am not sure
yes you can take all your pre-reqs at a community college then apply or at a university and apply
I have my BS in Molecular and microbiology this is because I wasn't sure what I was going to do but also because I wanted a degree...plus where I applied had so many pre reqs( more then normal) it just made sense
Any science that covers most of your prereqs is good( chemistry, biology, micro or molecular) also a lot of people choose to have degrees like health addmin., psychology, etc and just make sure you get all your pre reqs in for the school you apply to
The PCat consist of a Bio section( microbio, genetics,physiology,general bio,biochm and more), chm( general chm 1 and 2 and organic 1 and 2), math( all math up to calc), verbal, and writing
So maybe look up the criteria for the pcat and once you have most of the classes under your belt, alot of people take a prep course to prepare
so usually around when your done with your pre reqs
check harcourt for more info or pharmcas, see if your school has a pre-pharm club
I could go on and on sooooo, goodluck🙂

 

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[k1451372]

Doctor of pharmacy or doctor of philosophy
pcat scores from 200 to 600
a 389 would be in the 70 to 80 percentile most likely average but for UNC probably need higher to be competitive
you usually want to be higher hen average

 

[mike36]

Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) is the entry level degree for pharmacy. This is what you need if you want to be a pharmacist.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) is typically more research oriented. This is what you would need if you wanted to work in industry or as a university professor.

 

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[hello18]

if the PCAT is scored from 200-600..then why do people on this forum say that they have a 89 of 93 or 95

b/c the score is based on percentile... that is there composite score... no one goes by point system...

 

[parabolic]

If you have already been accepted somewhere, then you're not looking for a 0-6 program, which is a six-year pharmacy program that accepts students directly from high school. 2-3 and 2-4 programs indicate, respectively, how many years of undergraduate and how many years of pharmacy school you would complete. Different pharmacy schools have different pre-requisites, so if you want to apply after only two years of undergraduate work, you need to be careful to complete the requirements for all the pharmacy schools you want to apply to. But more students are completing bachelor's degrees before going on to pharmacy school. There's no reason to miss out on the college experience if you don't want to!

How sure are you about going into pharmacy? I don't ask to doubt you, just that I personally changed my major three or four times from freshman to senior year. Have you worked in a pharmacy, or shadowed a pharmacist, or know one well? If you're not 100% certain that it's for you, I'd recommend finding out as much about the profession as you can while working on your pre-requisites. Also take classes outside pharmacy to see if anything else is interesting to you that you might also like to consider.

So far as the PCAT goes, you'll want to take it once you have a strong handle on all the items it tests (general biology, microbiology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, math: algebra through calculus, verbal analogies, reading comprehension, etc etc). If that is next year, great; if it's five years from now, that's fine too.

Percentile ranks indicate how well a student did in comparison to other test takers. An 80, for example, means you did better than 80% of test takers and not as well as 20%.

Anyway, congrats on getting into college, and best of luck to you!