How competitive am I?

[sportsfan23]

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Well, unfortunately I didn't do as well as I had hoped. I knew I was terrible at standardized tests and I guess I was unprepared. I'm just trying to figure out how competitive I would be for early admission with my score, gpa and resume'.

Verbal-69%
Bio-20%
Chem-34%
Reading-60%
Quantitative-33%
Cumulative- 33%

Cumulative GPA-3.4
Major GPA-3.6

Important class grades
Orgo-B
Orgo II-A
Physics-A
Calculus-A
(just trying to buffer it up)
I haven't gotten lower than a B in any required course for pharm school.

I have letters of rec from a prominent organic 2 teacher where I received an A in his class.
My other letter will come from my pharmacist I worked for.

I was in multiple clubs including chem, bio and social fraternities
1 year internship at CVS
400 community service hours
Getting my degree in Biomedical Science and a minor in Chem this fall

I will be applying to early admission at UMKC (Missouri) or Belmont (Tennessee) after I visit them.
GPA averages are around 3.3
PCAT averages are around 55

I understand most schools want 60% range PCAT and I am pretty bummed I did so ****ty. Just looking for a silver lining or some insight on what I should do. Of course I plan to retake it, but early admission is in a couple months and that will be my score. I was just going to see if I would be considered. I know if I get the interview I will kill it, but getting it may be the problem. Just be honest, I take criticism with a grain of salt.

Thanks a bunch guys, really appreciate it.

 

[jkral1102]

I highly recommend using (in order of importance) these materials to study for your retake: Pearson PCAT practice tests > Dr Collins > Kaplan PCAT or another test prep book. At the very least, skim through a Dr Collins chemistry section because that was mostly responsible for my 98 score on the PCAT.

If you pull up the PCAT you'll be quite competitive! It looks like you have a great GPA and pharmacy experience. Even if you don't retake the PCAT, I would plan to apply to at least 5 schools because your chance for an interview may be on the lower end due to the PCAT score but can be increased with stellar essays and your pharmacy experience (huge plus). I don't doubt you'll get at least 1 interview. Good luck

 

[MyRealNameIs]

Early decision is not for someone that is an average applicant. I read that on most schools website. With your PCAT score, your great application turned to average at best. Schools will accept great applicants and defer average applicants that has a chance to get into school.
34% and 20% in the two most important subject is not good.

You might want to hold off on applying early admission, take another PCAT test and just apply during regular cycle to different schools. If you don't get in through early admission, it may hurt your chances as a lot of schools accept less people toward the end of their cycle.

While other people are sending applications, you will be forced to wait until your decision.
As long as you get your PCAT score up to ~70 which is definitely easy if you take the time to study using the right material (PCAT practice test offered by Pearson is very good), you will get in anyway with regular application cycle. Don't see why you are so desperate to apply early admission.

 

[tnva92]

I'm applying to UMKC for ED also. I talked to one of the advisers early this summer, she told me they generally want 70-80th percentile. However, that's not the case most of the time. Your GPA and curriculum look great. I think if you want to, just try study again for the September test (UMKC will still take that one for ED). I used Dr. Collin study guide and Pearson practice tests. I used the material from Dr. Collin and actually sat down doing the practice test and reviewed all of the questions which will improve your score tremendously. I spent about 1 month of study time (not everyday though, I tend to focus study for 4-5hrs/day, may be 3 days/wk), my score today was 96 composite compared to the one I took this last January which was 40 with no study.

Good luck!

 

[MybuttsHadouken]

Well, unfortunately I didn't do as well as I had hoped. I knew I was terrible at standardized tests and I guess I was unprepared. I'm just trying to figure out how competitive I would be for early admission with my score, gpa and resume'.

Verbal-69%
Bio-20%
Chem-34%
Reading-60%
Quantitative-33%
Cumulative- 33%

Cumulative GPA-3.4
Major GPA-3.6

Important class grades
Orgo-B
Orgo II-A
Physics-A
Calculus-A
(just trying to buffer it up)
I haven't gotten lower than a B in any required course for pharm school.

I have letters of rec from a prominent organic 2 teacher where I received an A in his class.
My other letter will come from my pharmacist I worked for.

I was in multiple clubs including chem, bio and social fraternities
1 year internship at CVS
400 community service hours
Getting my degree in Biomedical Science and a minor in Chem this fall

I will be applying to early admission at UMKC (Missouri) or Belmont (Tennessee) after I visit them.
GPA averages are around 3.3
PCAT averages are around 55

I understand most schools want 60% range PCAT and I am pretty bummed I did so ****ty. Just looking for a silver lining or some insight on what I should do. Of course I plan to retake it, but early admission is in a couple months and that will be my score. I was just going to see if I would be considered. I know if I get the interview I will kill it, but getting it may be the problem. Just be honest, I take criticism with a grain of salt.

Thanks a bunch guys, really appreciate it.

Actually all around you look like a good candidate. I would still apply and poke at schools I'm actually interested in (this increase your chance for every cycle). If you plan to take the PCAT again just focus on Quant/Chem as some schools use that as a focal point after observing the PCAT composite (this is to make sure you can grasp concepts that are reliant on chem/quant in pharm school). Also you said the schools you're applying to hover around your gpa and your pcat composite is only 20%+- away from 55% pcat average. Looks like you've done the research with schools that are around your stats. The Bio section with 20% might halt your application as some school also require each section to be above a certain %. For example: OU requires that each section be above 25%. Might want to check if this policy applies at your school you plan to apply to. Good Luck! You got it!

 

[SClENCE]

You are not competitive for early decision at any school with a 33 PCAT. That being said, if you can raise your PCAT I'm sure you will get accepted somewhere