How important are LORs?

[tinkerD]

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I made the mistake of not familiarizing myself with professors that well and don't have any pharmacy experience. I have a cGPA and sGPA of 3.6 and a PCAT composite of 98%. Would my chances be greatly lessened of getting into Pharm school with weak LORs? Thanks.

 

[kcwang]

http://pharmdadmissions.ucsf.edu/200...on-really.html

 

[tinkerD]

Thanks for the link. Now I'm scared... :/

 

[gopher13]

LOR and extracurriculars/work experience show that you have the skills to succeed in Pharmacy school and excel in the real world. Without them a pharmacy school can see that your gpa/pcat look great however they want to train pharmacists who will have an impact on healthcare and be successful in the work place which academics cant show.

 

[owlegrad]

Your stats will get you in I bet.

 

[cycloketocaine]

I always evaluate LOR's critically. Stats and brain power will only get you so far....

 

[usechopstix]

i think you're fine so long as your LORs are at least decent. every school wants students that can improve their statistics

 

[BenJammin]

I always evaluate LOR's critically. Stats and brain power will only get you so far....

I completely disagree. My school didnt accept LORs because some really dumb people know some really powerful people. The interview tells you more about someone than a LOR ever will.

 

[cycloketocaine]

I completely disagree. My school didnt accept LORs because some really dumb people know some really powerful people. The interview tells you more about someone than a LOR ever will.

Okay. Well I am on an adcom, and I'm telling you what we do here.

 

[kcwang]

I completely disagree. My school didnt accept LORs because some really dumb people know some really powerful people. The interview tells you more about someone than a LOR ever will.

LOR is only part of the package, I doubt school will just decide on LOR alone. Adcom should be smart enough to make that decision.

 

[armorking]

LORs are extremely important. They are a reflection of your character. A LOR will enhance a package that has a great gpa/pcat score but it can be so helpful if you struggled a bit during college. Honestly, if you are an awesome person but it didn't reflect on scores and the like, those LORs will be the key. That's what I tell everyone who applies: do everything in your power to get that foot in the door with the interview and then sell yourself!

 

[NickW9682]

LOR's are extremely important. Generic ones tell them nothing about you. One of my professors (who is on the adcom for med school) devoted an entire class to the importance of getting quality recommendations from people who actually know you beyond your grade.

 

[Twentytwelve2]

You will still get accepted somewhere. No school is silly enough to select someone with a sub 3.0 GPA and poor PCAT to someone who is academically capable to succeed in school.

What's the point of accepting people who show no academic capability with good LoRs? Sure, that means they have a great personality and people skills but if they cannot master material and understand clinical science, whats the point?

 

[The Recoverer]

You will still get accepted somewhere. No school is silly enough to select someone with a sub 3.0 GPA and poor PCAT to someone who is academically capable to succeed in school.

What's the point of accepting people who show no academic capability with good LoRs? Sure, that means they have a great personality and people skills but if they cannot master material and understand clinical science, whats the point?

I guess the point is having good grades but no social skills makes for a bad future pharmacist. being able to connect with patients is important.

 

[Twentytwelve2]

I guess the point is having good grades but no social skills makes for a bad future pharmacist. being able to connect with patients is important.

That's true but its very unlikely for someone who gets good grades to have "no" social skills. Everyone has social skills and why is it fair to say we all must have excellent social skills when everyone grows up in a different environment? I'm sure the OP isn't a sociopath or anti-people person so most likely s/he will get in either way. Besides, they teach u patient counseling, interpersonal communications, and presentation skills in pharmacy school so after these training, anyone can be confident in their ability to be a great pharmacist if they learn well.

 

[NickW9682]

I made the mistake of not familiarizing myself with professors that well and don't have any pharmacy experience. I have a cGPA and sGPA of 3.6 and a PCAT composite of 98%. Would my chances be greatly lessened of getting into Pharm school with weak LORs? Thanks.

If you can't pull legitimate quality LOR's with those stats then your doing something wrong.

 

[NickW9682]

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