how should we approach the PS?

[doublehh03]

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b/c i dont' have direct experience w/ pharmacy but have perosnal reasons why, do i just state them directly?

what were some methods u guys use?

thanks

 

[Pharm47]

My essay was formed around a childhood experience that sparked my interest in healthcare. I continued on regarding experiences throughout life that continued my interest in science (research mostly), then tied it all together regarding the possibilities in pharmacy for both patient care and research and development of new drugs. Don't know if its any good...but we'll see!

 

[doublehh03]

yes i have a few experiences that make me choose the healthcare industry, caring for ppl, finding cures for cancer (im doin research on a knockout gene experiment right now) and stuff like that, but i dont' really know how to tie it into pharmacy.

anymore advice is helpful

 

[Pharm47]

Go to the Pfizer site and read the Guide to Careers in Pharmacy:

http://www.pfizercareerguides.com/default.asp?t=book&b=pharmacy

Its cliche, but it might give you some ideas about what to specialize in...try Oncology Pharmacist...

Then when you write your essay, you can sound educated about the different Practice Areas in which you can use your interests and talents.

BTW...are you sure about applying to pharm school? It seems from your profile you might be more interested in MD. If you're using pharm as a backup - don't. Just use the extra energy to work even harder towards MD...if that's your real goal.

 

[doublehh03]

Go to the Pfizer site and read the Guide to Careers in Pharmacy:

http://www.pfizercareerguides.com/default.asp?t=book&b=pharmacy

Its cliche, but it might give you some ideas about what to specialize in...try Oncology Pharmacist...

Then when you write your essay, you can sound educated about the different Practice Areas in which you can use your interests and talents.

BTW...are you sure about applying to pharm school? It seems from your profile you might be more interested in MD. If you're using pharm as a backup - don't. Just use the extra energy to work even harder towards MD...if that's your real goal.

i prefer the career of pharmacy b/c it fits my professional and personal goals best. however, my family is pressuring me to apply to medical schools b/c of the "prestige." if u know from the family i come from, i feel obligated to do so.

pharmacy is def. not a backup b/c it's still very competitive.

 

[Pharm47]

I'm sorry you have to deal with familial pressure. If you are set on pharmacy, that is awesome. In time, your family will see that it is, in its own right, a very respectable profession.

 

[fidelio]

i prefer the career of pharmacy b/c it fits my professional and personal goals best. however, my family is pressuring me to apply to medical schools b/c of the "prestige." if u know from the family i come from, i feel obligated to do so.

pharmacy is def. not a backup b/c it's still very competitive.

Ah lucky. To be honest, Pharmacy is my back up. I grew up with nonstop talk of pharmacy and pressure to be one from my father for the last 10 years. It ruined my life.

It's left me very confused and angry, which is why I only applied to one Pharmacy school, because I couldn't tell whether I wanted to go or if my parents wanted me to go.

For advice, I suggest trying to think of an experience that was unique to you. I think the point of the PS is to also catch their attention and interest, like what makes you different from other applicants.

 

[PolarBear21]

My friend read my personal statement and said it lacked.. passion and said something about it not being creative.

What do you guys think of my outline -

I just talk about how growing up I wasn't sure what I wanted to be, I wanted to do something health related, but I didn't think i had the science smarts, then I improved my grades a lot and I took an internship where I realized pharmacy was def a career choice where you get to interact with people and I never realized before the exact crucial role of pharmacists. Then I mention my internship now and say how its confirmed my interest.

Sounds corny I know, but I guess you have to read the entire thing. What do you guys think? My advisor on school thinks I focused too much on the aspect of deciding why pharmacy.. but isn't that sort of the question on pharmcas?

Advice would be very appreciated.

 

[senzabee]

My friend read my personal statement and said it lacked.. passion and said something about it not being creative.

What do you guys think of my outline -

I just talk about how growing up I wasn't sure what I wanted to be, I wanted to do something health related, but I didn't think i had the science smarts, then I improved my grades a lot and I took an internship where I realized pharmacy was def a career choice where you get to interact with people and I never realized before the exact crucial role of pharmacists. Then I mention my internship now and say how its confirmed my interest.

Sounds corny I know, but I guess you have to read the entire thing. What do you guys think? My advisor on school thinks I focused too much on the aspect of deciding why pharmacy.. but isn't that sort of the question on pharmcas?

Advice would be very appreciated.

PolarBear21, I was actually having sort of the same problem. No one has read my essay, but I rewrote it to talk about my activities...and I found that I was simply explaining the list of activities that they already have from PharmCAS.

I'm a little confused because I know that people say you should give examples in your essays, a.k.a. talk about what you've done. But then I find myself just talking about that and I'm straying away from a nice creative theme. Anyone know how the essay should be?

 

[PolarBear21]

Yeah I totally understand! I feel like my essay lacks cohesiveness sometimes.. like.. its a .. "and then.. and then.. and then.... tada!! Pharmacy!!"

 

[senzabee]

Random question that may seem stupid, but do we need titles for our essays?! What are you guys doing? 😕

 

[PolarBear21]

I'm not. I never thought about it to be honest.. but I don't think I'm going to..

"The Journey: How Polarbear21 decided to go to Pharmacy School"

 

[Utterdevotion]

I'm also having a lot of trouble w/ making my PS flow since all my experiences don't make for any kind of thesis...very frustrating.

The one thing I did learn while writing my PS (this is my 3rd revision now) that it's not about listing, but about being personal. Which means, there should be "I" and "me" a lot in your PS, I would think. Something I learned from IB English, is to bold what you want to make sure you emphasize, so that when you finish your essay, you can see how much you stayed on task. If there isn't bolded "I" everywhere, that means you remained general and distant, instead of talking about yourself - which is the point of the PS.

After doing some research/writing my PS here's some things that you could address:

Choose a good attention getter!

Experiences:
-Made you think about pharmacy, changed you/made you grow
-Influence you to choose pharmacy in order to promote a change.

Characteristics:
-Makes you suited for pharmacy
-Improves your success in the field
-Skills you poccess
-Lifestyle that you want
(remember not to literally write I'm a hardworker for example, but to explain it through your experiences aka show not tell)

Here's some words I found from a med-school PS website
-Treating patients: compassion, empathy, sensitivity, integrity, communication skills.

-Solving problems: creativity, initiative, independence, curiosity, critical thinking skills.

-General: perseverance, dedication, maturity, honesty, sincerity, motivation, energy, diversity.

I hope that helps someone 🙂

Doublehh03 - I don't think it matters if you have direct pharmacy experience, there has to be experiences that led you to decide pharmacy. Just be honest! Show them that you're sure you want to do pharmacy and you have the love/passion for it, even though you haven't worked behind the counter to confirm it 😛

 

[senzabee]

Wow Utterdevotion, thanks for the tips! Right now, I'm concentrating on the PharmCAS and trying to get that PS down...but we should be looking at talking about those things you mentioned in each of our supplementals more so, right? It's bugging me so much because a lot of schools don't look at the PharmCAS essay that much, yet you don't want to slack on it because it's sent to every school and you never know if one or more of your schools will look at it!

See, what I'm worried is that I'm somehow going to overlap a little bit in the PharmCAS and supp. essays when I talk in regards to how my personal experiences have shaped me into becoming a pharmacist. Do you guys think that's such a bad thing? I'm hoping not! 😛

Oh, another question! So some schools have questions that aren't forwardly related to pharmacy. For example, some essays ask you to talk about an academic hardship and how you overcame it. Should we somehow tie that into becoming a pharmacist? I know it does show what kind of person you are or pharmacist you'll be, but should we straight up talk about it, like "And as a pharmacist, I will take this lesson and apply it towards..."?

 

[Utterdevotion]

I'm glad my tips help! 🙂

I've been concentrating on my PharmCAS app too, while waiting dreadfully for my PCAT scores to arrive. I'll probably reevaluate whether to add any schools after I get my scores. I'm not sure about the supp apps, but I've looked at all of the schools I'm applying to and there's no overlap content. It's more like they ask you to be more specific about one experience, or ask an entirely different question all together.
Most of them just ask for just an extra fee. So for me, this essay should be my best one.

I think that if I had that question - I wouldn't upright say "As a pharmacist, I'd use this hardship to..." I would on the otherhand make sure that some of things I've learned ties into characteristics and ideals that would make me a better pharmacist, without ever saying that. 😉

 

[pills4alivin]

I'm also having a lot of trouble w/ making my PS flow since all my experiences don't make for any kind of thesis...very frustrating.

The one thing I did learn while writing my PS (this is my 3rd revision now) that it's not about listing, but about being personal. Which means, there should be "I" and "me" a lot in your PS, I would think. Something I learned from IB English, is to bold what you want to make sure you emphasize, so that when you finish your essay, you can see how much you stayed on task. If there isn't bolded "I" everywhere, that means you remained general and distant, instead of talking about yourself - which is the point of the PS.

After doing some research/writing my PS here's some things that you could address:

Choose a good attention getter!

Experiences:
-Made you think about pharmacy, changed you/made you grow
-Influence you to choose pharmacy in order to promote a change.

Characteristics:
-Makes you suited for pharmacy
-Improves your success in the field
-Skills you poccess
-Lifestyle that you want
(remember not to literally write I'm a hardworker for example, but to explain it through your experiences aka show not tell)

Here's some words I found from a med-school PS website
-Treating patients: compassion, empathy, sensitivity, integrity, communication skills.

-Solving problems: creativity, initiative, independence, curiosity, critical thinking skills.

-General: perseverance, dedication, maturity, honesty, sincerity, motivation, energy, diversity.

I hope that helps someone 🙂

Doublehh03 - I don't think it matters if you have direct pharmacy experience, there has to be experiences that led you to decide pharmacy. Just be honest! Show them that you're sure you want to do pharmacy and you have the love/passion for it, even though you haven't worked behind the counter to confirm it 😛

Do you think i should mention in my PS that i applied to a program last year and did not get accepted and am trying again this yr...to show perserverance and dedication to completing my goal to become a pharmacist?

 

[Utterdevotion]

Do you think i should mention in my PS that i applied to a program last year and did not get accepted and am trying again this yr...to show perserverance and dedication to completing my goal to become a pharmacist?

There are pros and cons to that...But if it were me, I would only briefly state that I am applying again. I would instead focus on what I have been doing in the past year (in assumption you took this chance to get more pharmacy experience). I wouldn't say I am applying again TO show perserverance and dedication, but instead, I would SHOW what I have been doing/learned this past year that demonstrated perserverance and dedication.