I didn't get in this year but I feel like I was sooo close

[jackal head]

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advice and/or criticisms welcomed! I've been thinking about this non-stop for nearly 24 hrs.

My admission gpa was decent and I'm a resident (the med schools for in province students recommend having something above 82 to be competitive, I had 83 (OMG SO MUCH BETTER 👎), the pharmacy school says most people that get in are above 75).

I even talked to them, they said my gpa was good.

OK so we can rule that out.

Admission GPA = 60%

Test of Critical Skills (TCS)= 40%

Written Interview (Personal Profile, PP) = 10%

NO PCAT

Test of Critical Skills
- I felt like I did OK.

Written Interview
- I'll admit, I didn't do too well on this one since I didn't have much to talk about.

In the end, I passed the TCS/PP but so did about 220 other people. I didn't get in.






Now, the next TCS/PP is 8 months away. ATM, I have zero experience that I could talk about. My writing skills are average at best.

I thought my gpa was better than 83 and that it would carry me through my weak points.

Even if I improve my:

- writing skills (practice, practice, practice + increase vocabulary)

- critical thinking skills (pay more attention to world news and get better at skeptical thinking)

- and get some volunteer experience (hospital and/or shadowing pharmacists)

do you think it would be enough? I just wonder, how far or how close was I this time?

I wish there was more to the admission process, like the PCAT, something that I could reallly sink my teeth into but all I can do is work on my persuasive essay writing skills.

This is for the University of Saskatchewan (UofS), a school in Northern Canada.

BACKUP PLAN (I will be doing this in addition to re-applying to UofS)
Take PCAT in Sept. If score >=85, take Gen Chem II + Calc II in Jan 2012 and also apply to University of British Columbia.

What do you guys think of my plan? Does it seem reasonable?

I even talked to the associate dean of the pharmacy school and she said

"If the admission average that you state below is correct, then you are right, you need to continue to develop your writing skills in order to increase your score on the test of critical skills."

I can't believe it, I didn't get into pharmacy school because of my...writing skills 😴

 

[chemguy79]

advice and/or criticisms welcomed! I've been thinking about this non-stop for nearly 24 hrs.

My admission gpa was decent and I'm a resident (the med schools for in province students recommend having something above 82 to be competitive, I had 83 (OMG SO MUCH BETTER 👎), the pharmacy school says most people that get in are above 75).

I even talked to them, they said my gpa was good.

OK so we can rule that out.

Admission GPA = 60%

Test of Critical Skills (TCS)= 40%

Written Interview (Personal Profile, PP) = 10%

NO PCAT

Test of Critical Skills
- I felt like I did OK.

Written Interview
- I'll admit, I didn't do too well on this one since I didn't have much to talk about.

In the end, I passed the TCS/PP but so did about 220 other people. I didn't get in.






Now, the next TCS/PP is 8 months away. ATM, I have zero experience that I could talk about. My writing skills are average at best.

I thought my gpa was better than 83 and that it would carry me through my weak points.

Even if I improve my:

- writing skills (practice, practice, practice + increase vocabulary)

- critical thinking skills (pay more attention to world news and get better at skeptical thinking)

- and get some volunteer experience (hospital and/or shadowing pharmacists)

do you think it would be enough? I just wonder, how far or how close was I this time?

I wish there was more to the admission process, like the PCAT, something that I could reallly sink my teeth into but all I can do is work on my persuasive essay writing skills.

This is for the University of Saskatchewan (UofS), a school in Northern Canada.

BACKUP PLAN (I will be doing this in addition to re-applying to UofS)
Take PCAT in Sept. If score >=85, take Gen Chem II + Calc II in Jan 2012 and also apply to University of British Columbia.

What do you guys think of my plan? Does it seem reasonable?

I even talked to the associate dean of the pharmacy school and she said

"If the admission average that you state below is correct, then you are right, you need to continue to develop your writing skills in order to increase your score on the test of critical skills."

I can't believe it, I didn't get into pharmacy school because of my...writing skills 😴

Hmmmmm ... I don't know why you're necessarily surprised that your writing skills hindered your admission when you say "Written Interview - I'll admit, I didn't do too well on this one since I didn't have much to talk about."

It seems like the written interview is the one chance for you to impress the committee and you believe that you performed poorly. Your GPA isn't amazing ... Meeting the cutoff doesn't mean anything if you bring little else to the table ... and your lackluster interview gave them a reason to deny you admissions. When there are only 3 requirements, you need to be spot on in each of them instead of having the mindset that "I thought my gpa was better than 83 and that it would carry me through my weak points."

An interview is like an audition, it's your chance to impress them. If you can't think of something to do to impress the admissions office, I don't know what to tell you. Your plan seems very reasonable for UBC, however, for U of S ... insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result. You can't expect them to tell you what you need to do to improve your interview skills and it's going to be hard for any of us to give you a plan for that either.

 

[jackal head]

Hmmmmm ... I don't know why you're necessarily surprised that your writing skills hindered your admission when you say "Written Interview - I'll admit, I didn't do too well on this one since I didn't have much to talk about."

It seems like the written interview is the one chance for you to impress the committee and you believe that you performed poorly. Your GPA isn't amazing ... Meeting the cutoff doesn't mean anything if you bring little else to the table ... and your lackluster interview gave them a reason to deny you admissions. When there are only 3 requirements, you need to be spot on in each of them instead of having the mindset that "I thought my gpa was better than 83 and that it would carry me through my weak points."

An interview is like an audition, it's your chance to impress them. If you can't think of something to do to impress the admissions office, I don't know what to tell you. Your plan seems very reasonable for UBC, however, for U of S ... insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result. You can't expect them to tell you what you need to do to improve your interview skills and it's going to be hard for any of us to give you a plan for that either.

Thanks for the reply, made me think.

You're right, I thought my gpa was much higher but I had confused my overall gpa (88) with my admission gpa (83). I suppose it shouldn't come as a surprise at all. I can honestly say that if I had known earlier that my admission gpa was an 83, I would have put more effort into the preparing for the TCS/PP.

I can do much better next time but that thought about insanity bothers me because it does feel like I'm simply doing the same thing again. 😕

I suppose the only way I can assure myself that things really will be different this time is by starting to volunteer and continuing to practice my writing skills.

 

[chemguy79]

Thanks for the reply, made me think.

You're right, I thought my gpa was much higher but I had confused my overall gpa (88) with my admission gpa (83). I suppose it shouldn't come as a surprise at all. I can honestly say that if I had known earlier that my admission gpa was an 83, I would have put more effort into the preparing for the TCS/PP.

I can do much better next time but that thought about insanity bothers me because it does feel like I'm simply doing the same thing again. 😕

I suppose the only way I can assure myself that things really will be different this time is by starting to volunteer and continuing to practice my writing skills.

You can definitely do it, jackal. My ex applied to medical school 3 times before finally getting accepted; Solid applicant, but didn't really do much to change his application until the final year of applying. I wouldn't want for you to be subjected to the same aggravation. You can surely do it, but it's going to take work to show the ad com that you're a different applicant than you were last year.

 

[WhiteSnows]

dude, you post this like 100 times. You should change to another profession if you dont get in by now.

 

[owlegrad]

jackle head,

Sorry for the tough break. I think your plan is perfect. First, take some time to enjoy yourself and get over the rejection. Then, attack every aspect of your application for next year. Get pharmacy experience, period. Make it your number one priority. Next, get yourself some kind of writing skills workbook. If your school has some kind of writing club, join it. Try writing articles and getting them published. Read, read read, write, write ,write.

And if possible, apply more broadly next cycle.

Getting pharmacy experience should be priority number one. 👍

 

[xtsukiyox]

Is the written interview taken in person, or is it more of a "take home test" sort of situation? If it's the latter, ask EVERYONE to read your interview. Your mom, your friends, your professors (English AND pre-pharm), your advisor, your FB list, your cats! While only you can write it, perhaps other people can help put the polish on it. Even someone with weak English skills can tell you if it holds their interest / makes sense / holds together. Don't let it delay your application, though - a few thoughtfully chosen reviewers can be just as good (or better) than the masses, but if you have time, great. What can it hurt?