How am I doing so far?

[Jubs]

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I'm currently going into my second semester for my Biology degree already taken quite a few previous classes having nothing really to do with biology.

I have my pharmacy tech license but have yet to find a job, and haven't started any type of volunteer work yet but plan to the beginning of next year. I see a lot of people shadowing physicians but I'm wondering if simply working as a pharm tech would be sufficient?

I just finished my first semester of Biology classes, Gen Chem, Molecular Bio, and Calc all A's, however due to my previous classes my GPA currently is a 3.4. I know I have plenty of time to raise it up with the remainder of the Bio classes I need to take. Any advice?

Thank you

 

[WedgeDawg]

Moving to pre-allo

 

[Jubs]

Yes. Just wondering if there's anything that I'm missing or if I should do something different like with my job as a Pharm tech.


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[Lardy Boy]

Grades first!


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[Jubs]

Absolutely but shouldn't I start working as a pharm tech pronto
Or can I wait? Or should I try for a shadowing thing instead maybe a scribe position?


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[WedgeDawg]

Absolutely but shouldn't I start working as a pharm tech pronto
Or can I wait? Or should I try for a shadowing thing instead maybe a scribe position?


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Grades are more important than anything else. Low grades will keep you out.

 

[ciestar]

To answer your one question, no, just working as a pharm tech won't be sufficient if you're gearing for med school. I had 4000+ hours of pharmacy experience at time of application but hundreds of other clinical/shadowing hours to round it out. I did the pharmacy thing because I needed money, mostly.

 

[Lardy Boy]

If the reason for your low grades was due to work/extracurriculars, don't add anymore.


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[Jubs]

It was mainly due to the fact I didn't really have a long term goal until I realized I wanted to go into med school.
So you're saying I should just wait on the Pharm tech job and focus on grades while also focusing on rotations and volunteer work?


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[WedgeDawg]

It was mainly due to the fact I didn't really have a long term goal until I realized I wanted to go into med school.
So you're saying I should just wait on the Pharm tech job and focus on grades while also focusing on rotations and volunteer work?


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Just grades

 

[Jubs]

I understand grades are important but I realize you also want to stand out during application. Every applicant will have amazing grades but not everyone will have experience in a hospital on top of volunteer work.
The only thing I feel like I have an upper hand on is my ability to speak Spanish.


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[ciestar]

I understand grades are important but I realize you also want to stand out during application. Every applicant will have amazing grades but not everyone will have experience in a hospital on top of volunteer work.
The only thing I feel like I have an upper hand on is my ability to speak Spanish.


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Are you referring to pharmacy for hospital experience? Im afraid you're heavily overestimating the value of pharmacy experience for a med school application.

 

[WedgeDawg]

I understand grades are important but I realize you also want to stand out during application. Every applicant will have amazing grades but not everyone will have experience in a hospital on top of volunteer work.
The only thing I feel like I have an upper hand on is my ability to speak Spanish.


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But not having good grades precludes being competitive. Grades are the hardest, slowest, and most expensive thing to fix if you mess them up.

 

[Jubs]

So then perhaps a scribe position instead? As well as shadowing? Thanks by the way


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[WedgeDawg]

How many semesters of classes contributed to your 3.4

 

[Jubs]

Quite a few. The majority of the semester I had were only 1 to 2 classes. I also was a part of the Pharm tech program at my college and the teachers assumed everyone was going to be done after that so they graded us pretty rough. Got a C in both intro to pharm and adv pharm. calculations and A&P including pharmacology I got A's in.


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[WedgeDawg]

Quite a few. The majority of the semester I had were only 1 to 2 classes. I also was a part of the Pharm tech program at my college and the teachers assumed everyone was going to be done after that so they graded us pretty rough. Got a C in both intro to pharm and adv pharm. calculations and A&P including pharmacology I got A's in.


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If I were you, I would focus all my efforts, at least for the first year in this new endeavor, on maintaining as high a GPA as possible. After you've achieved academic stability, start shadowing, doing clinical work/volunteering, and getting involved in research. But it's imperative that you keep your GPA up. A 3.4 isn't going to cut it and you don't get do-overs. Everything counts.

 

[Jubs]

Okay I will. I still have about 6 or 7 more semesters of classes I've figured plus I'm going to retake a psychology class I got a D in. If I get an A I think it'll bump my GPA quite a bit. Thank you for the help


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[Papa Oso]

@Jubs Do you care about going to a DO school? Or does it HAVE to be an MD school?

 

[Jubs]

I'm aiming for an allopathic school I want an MD. I know my gpa is low now but I have a lot of semesters to go to raise and I definitely will.


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[WedgeDawg]

Okay I will. I still have about 6 or 7 more semesters of classes I've figured plus I'm going to retake a psychology class I got a D in. If I get an A I think it'll bump my GPA quite a bit. Thank you for the help


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MD schools will average the retake grade with the original. Only DO schools will replace

 

[Jubs]

Wow thank you for the info I had no idea.


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