How is my situation, need honest answers please

[jackal head]

not that you guys wouldn't be anything but honest

I think my situation looks kinda grim at the moment, the Pharm School I need to get into has an average accepted GPA of 3.7 (Wayne State), I currently have a 3.53, I still have about a year of pre reqs left, if I got all As from now till next year I will have a 3.8 which I would be fine with.

However what worries me is that I am so close to screwing things up permenantly, if I get even one more B+ or a couple of A-s its over, I will then have to stick around another year and take a whole bunch of upper level courses to get a degree, in addition I will be applying in august and still have no ECs of any sort (plan on starting this fall though).

Now I know even that is not a reason for major concern however I'm an international student and most internationals usually have a very high gpa (my university gets lots of internationals), so if I don't have a GPA that is AT LEAST average, I will be at a serious disadvantage. The adcoms at Wayne State say that it all comes down to 3 factors, GPA, PCAT and interview score.

Is it unrealistic to aim for all As till next year? Here are the courses I'm taking, this is the back bone of my schedule I might switch up a couple of things if necessary. I'm keeping them very spaced out to make sure I can handle them all, please let me know what you think .

Fall 08
Microbiology
Gen Chem
Political Science

Winter 09
Anatomy and Physiology
Calc I
English

Summer 09
Orgo I
One other easy class

Fall 09
Orgo II
Two other easy classes
Take PCAT

I'm also using ratemyprofessor to make sure I'm taking the best profs I can, however now that my time is limited, it is possiable I might still end up with a crappy prof.

If I can make it past Fall 09 I will up my course load however to make it that far without screwing up feels so unrealistic, the strange part is, I can see myself getting As in each of those semesters but not in all of them .

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[optimistic828]

So i'm gonna go with the safe assumption that you go to wayne state now? (lots of internationals lol)

me too! we are taking micro together in the fall!
just a heads up- don't forget about the other physiology class (BIO 3200) that is now required too. you could take that maybe fall '09?

the 3.7 average gpa is just in prereqs and since you still have to take the majority of them, its REALLY important that you get A's in them!

I keep telling myself the same thing because i'm in a similar situation... Wayne is my first choice, but realistically I'll go anywhere. and ill be done with pre reqs this year so im going through the application process right now...

not sure if that helped but thought i might at least let you know were taking micro together lol

 

[alum]

First off, relax. Second, you still have your PCAT. Third, why is that the only school you are applying to? Try your best in GPA, but the PCAT is a big factor too. Good luck to you!

not that you guys wouldn't be anything but honest

I think my situation looks kinda grim at the moment, the Pharm School I need to get into has an average accepted GPA of 3.7 (Wayne State), I currently have a 3.53, I still have about a year of pre reqs left, if I got all As from now till next year I will have a 3.8 which I would be fine with.

However what worries me is that I am so close to screwing things up permenantly, if I get even one more B+ or a couple of A-s its over, I will then have to stick around another year and take a whole bunch of upper level courses to get a degree, in addition I will be applying in august and still have no ECs of any sort (plan on starting this fall though).

Now I know even that is not a reason for major concern however I'm an international student and most internationals usually have a very high gpa (my university gets lots of internationals), so if I don't have a GPA that is AT LEAST average, I will be at a serious disadvantage. The adcoms at Wayne State say that it all comes down to 3 factors, GPA, PCAT and interview score.

Is it unrealistic to aim for all As till next year? Here are the courses I'm taking, this is the back bone of my schedule I might switch up a couple of things if necessary. I'm keeping them very spaced out to make sure I can handle them all, please let me know what you think .

Fall 08
Microbiology
Gen Chem
Political Science

Winter 09
Anatomy and Physiology
Calc I
English

Summer 09
Orgo I
One other easy class

Fall 09
Orgo II
Two other easy classes
Take PCAT

I'm also using ratemyprofessor to make sure I'm taking the best profs I can, however now that my time is limited, it is possiable I might still end up with a crappy prof.

If I can make it past Fall 09 I will up my course load however to make it that far without screwing up feels so unrealistic, the strange part is, I can see myself getting As in each of those semesters but not in all of them .

 

[jackal head]

So i'm gonna go with the safe assumption that you go to wayne state now? (lots of internationals lol)

me too! we are taking micro together in the fall!
just a heads up- don't forget about the other physiology class (BIO 3200) that is now required too. you could take that maybe fall '09?

the 3.7 average gpa is just in prereqs and since you still have to take the majority of them, its REALLY important that you get A's in them!

I keep telling myself the same thing because i'm in a similar situation... Wayne is my first choice, but realistically I'll go anywhere. and ill be done with pre reqs this year so im going through the application process right now...

not sure if that helped but thought i might at least let you know were taking micro together lol

For micro I hear its going to be the lab that will really require our attention, might wanna get whatever you can from friends who have taken it before.

To alum, I am going to try as many schools as I can but even still I will probably only be able to apply to around 3-5 with the classes I will have taken by next year.

Like optimistic828 laugh I don't really care where I get in however I have absolutley no alternative to pharmacy and limited financial resources (parents are bankrupt) so I will probably only have one shot at this.

 

[optimistic828]

For micro I hear its going to be the lab that will really require our attention, might wanna get whatever you can from friends who have taken it before.

already got my friends old lab manual

good luck! keep in touch!

 

[jmcfa002]

As far as the average is concerned, this is how I've come to look at it(probably wrong though). The average is based on all accepted, so that means there are people above and below that number, in the shape of a gausian(sp?) curve. If you somewhat close, I think you are alright.

 

[jackal head]

As far as the average is concerned, this is how I've come to look at it(probably wrong though). The average is based on all accepted, so that means there are people above and below that number, in the shape of a gausian(sp?) curve. If you somewhat close, I think you are alright.

Well lets say you have the average, then you have only a 50% chance in terms of GPA right? The people who are below average must make up for it by some really crazy ECs and even still it depends on the school.

So for a school like Wayne that mainly cares about GPA and PCAT, even if you have a 3.8, that probably increases your chances to about 60-70% in terms of GPA alone, take into consideration being an international and that they can only taken a very small number of us and the chances are probably down to around 50-60% (I already know one other international who has a 3.9).

 

[jmcfa002]

Well lets say you have the average, then you have only a 50% chance in terms of GPA right? The people who are below average must make up for it by some really crazy ECs and even still it depends on the school.

So for a school like Wayne that mainly cares about GPA and PCAT, even if you have a 3.8, that probably increases your chances to about 60-70% in terms of GPA alone, take into consideration being an international and that they can only taken a very small number of us and the chances are probably down to around 50-60% (I already know one other international who has a 3.9).

I havn't taken stats, and I don't know how schools weight different parts of the app, but theoretically, yes if you have the average, you are better then %50 of the the other apps. BUT, it depends on the quality of apps for this year, not last years. This years could be different

edit:and this is what I 'think', I don't know for sure. It makes sense to me, but could be completely wrong. JSYK

 

[mrblah]

to be competitive, you want to have the same gpa as the average as last years incoming class. So yes, if you are competitive you have a +50% of getting accepted, but more importantly you have a extremely high chance of getting a interview IF we were only looking at gpa alone. If your gpa is competitive, its one less thing you have to worry about.

Obviously, your chances depend on the quality of this years applicants. However, you don't know who's applying, hence why we look at last years stats. Most often than not the stats remain pretty stable from year to year.

 

[cuedee]

So i'm gonna go with the safe assumption that you go to wayne state now? (lots of internationals lol)

me too! we are taking micro together in the fall!
just a heads up- don't forget about the other physiology class (BIO 3200) that is now required too. you could take that maybe fall '09?

the 3.7 average gpa is just in prereqs and since you still have to take the majority of them, its REALLY important that you get A's in them!

I keep telling myself the same thing because i'm in a similar situation... Wayne is my first choice, but realistically I'll go anywhere. and ill be done with pre reqs this year so im going through the application process right now...

not sure if that helped but thought i might at least let you know were taking micro together lol

Oh my gosh! I completely over looked the new pre-req.

 

[optimistic828]

cuedee,

both a&p and physiology are now required

physio counts towards bio major but a&p doesnt

 

[PistonFan531]

The lab is not the only thing that gets students in Micro at Wayne. I was registered for this course since March and an old student who had Prof Kang (the prof who is teaching it in the fall) said that a 90% on one of the exams ended up being a B because of the bell curve. Top 10% get A's, 20% B's, 40% C's, 20% D's, and 10% F's. I was terrified and yesterday I got out of Micro and switched to Physics.

Word of advice: Take the class AFTER you apply to pharmacy schools. And if you are worried about the PCAT, just remember: Kaplan does a phenominal job covering the Bio section.

 

[cuedee]

cuedee,

both a&p and physiology are now required

physio counts towards bio major but a&p doesnt

I completed A&P during the winter so at least that's out of the way. With the exception of speech, I thought I was all set for WSU. I feel dejected. I checked the equivalent course guides and not many schools have an equivalent.

 

[optimistic828]

The lab is not the only thing that gets students in Micro at Wayne. I was registered for this course since March and an old student who had Prof Kang (the prof who is teaching it in the fall) said that a 90% on one of the exams ended up being a B because of the bell curve. Top 10% get A's, 20% B's, 40% C's, 20% D's, and 10% F's. I was terrified and yesterday I got out of Micro and switched to Physics.

Word of advice: Take the class AFTER you apply to pharmacy schools. And if you are worried about the PCAT, just remember: Kaplan does a phenominal job covering the Bio section.

just for one exam though right? not the entire class?

youre starting to scare me now!

 

[PistonFan531]

The exam AND the class I believe. Basically all I'm trying to say is that whichever prof you have for micro at wayne, whether it's Kang or Cunningham, you are gonna get about the same grade. Yes you may get better scores in Kang's class, but so are your classmates, and you could EASILY end up getting a B or even a C.

 

[jackal head]

physio counts towards bio major but a&p doesnt

I really don't understand why that is, perhaps because a&p is too vaguely connected with biology?