I need some advice from everyone

[mnykr]

I want to start this year strong (as we all do). I had some major set backs in the last two years and I am ready to get back on the horse. Even though I lost some time.

A little info about me. I am 34 and live in GA. I have a masters in chemistry from UF and did most of my work for my phd (my heart just wasn't in it, I wanted to do more to help people).

After meeting a family who had several pharmacists, they showed me that pharmacy would interest me and so I set out to look at taking the pre reqs (for college of the south) and the PCAT.

I am not so much worried about the PCAT. Although I teach, I am still very active as a chemist. I am good at math and chemistry. I even run a free chemistry homework help website www.mychemistrytutor.com

So I began taking my classes to get in South. I need A&P I and II and Speech, maybe a World Lit. Now you might imagine this was tough for me , not because of the subject matter but simply because I have studied advanced thermo and quantum mechanics and do research in nanotechnology. It was an ego hit to go back and have to take a speech course (not to mention I have taught classes of 300 folks).

Well in the middle of taking a sememster course that would give me credit for A&P I&II , my colon tore. Out of no where. Just hanging out one night and the next morning a divertuculi burst (yes at age 34) and I was sepsis and in ICU etc. Then had to wait a few months to have surgery etc

OK all that is behind me it is a new year. Suffice it to say my thoughts of pharmacy school was on the back burner.

Now I am hoping you can give me some advice and inspiration.

If I want to get in the pharmacy school (I still have to take PCAT) as soon as possible what are my options?

I know some schools might have prereqs and some don't.

What are some good options?

What is the most direct material to study for the PCAT? Which materials will show me the type of math that will be asked so I can brush up on it.

What strategy would you take if you find yourself in my situation?

I am very excited about picking up where I left off. Ideally I would not like to take World Lit or speech.

I am open to pharm d programs or pharm d / phd programs.

I am looking for suggestions of a plan.

Thanks so much in advance. I hope to here some great responses and everyone have a great 2009!

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[WhiteSnows]

I am sorry to hear your condition. My advice for you is based on my own experience. I came to this country a few years ago with a high school knowledge. My english was very bad. I still remember I did not even know what the word "restroom" meaned at that time. I carried with me a burning of fire to change my life, an ambition to have a great job in this capitalism country. However, language barrier also pulled me back from talking to people. I was lonely, upset, and desperated. I barely lived in a small apartment with a small amount of money my parents gave me, not even enough to buy good toilet paper. Life seems to be a burden, full of obstacles, difficulties that prevent us from being successful. However, I have tried to keep my life going and motivation. I have kept telling myself a paid back future will come. I have accepted whatever life has given me. I sometimes enjoy it. I now got in 3 pharmacy schools at the age of 22.

Keep yourself motivation. Sometimes, you might need to accept whatever life has given you at this moment, enjoy living, being happy, and carry your dream of becomming a pharmacist. It will come, the day that you receive an acceptance letter. But first, you must not give up.

 

[purplepower]

First, go to pharmcas.org, click on schoolpages, and research all the schools you might want to go to, including their pre-reqs. Not all require pcat by the way but I bet you'll do fine. Get a study book for pcat (Kaplan).

In my opinion the math is the hardest part if you haven't had it in awhile. Take the official pcat practice test on the pcat website (the one you sign up to take the test on) I did shockingly worse on the quantitative part here than in the books I had been studying from. And I found that I could quit worrying about the other sections. You might want to take that now, and then sign up for Calculus (or audit it) if you don't do to well. I wish I had done that sooner.

From what I have heard speech is easy, don't fear it. Take it at a community college.

South is really tough to get into because they are a 3 year program. Don't put all your eggs in one basket there. UGA is a good option, and an excellent school. Also put a new school on your list. I recommend ETSU.

Enjoy being a student. Don't fear taking the freshman classes, this time you'll look at it in a different way. I always enjoyed learning, and talking to the professors. I had a masters degree and my own office as a counselor and gave it up to go back to school. There are a lot of people in our situation. It's no big deal. My instructor for A&P who had a masters in Bio from Duke was also taking micro (with a lot of her students) and applying to PA school.

Strategy? First rule out that you can't take pcat this jan. and have enough pre-reqs to apply anywhere. Then hit the classes this spring and summer, take pcat in June or October and make yourself as strong a candidate as possible. If you don't have volunteer or work experience as a pharm. tech then get it. Develop good relationships with your favorite profs for strong LORs.

Well that's about it!! Good luck It's definitely worth it when you get accepted.

 

[mnykr]

Thanks that was some very powerful advice.

Do you know of anyone selling a second hand kaplan book?

Is that the best resource to study from?

Does the calculus look at limits at all or is it mostly derivatives and integration?

Calc and chem are no problem.

I know NOTHING about biology.

 

[ValeRx]

My advice to you would be to be open to move anywhere you need to in order to attend a Pharm.D. program. I applied to several places in and out of my own state. The one thing that is very frustrating is the inconsistency of several programs. Some require A&P, others do not. Some require Physics, others do not.... go through the PharmCAS page as purplepower suggested and sort through locations and program pre-requisites. From there, eliminate the ones you cannot fulfill, or the ones you don't want to move to and narrow your list.

 

[dibango]

hey mnykr, i am in the same shoes as u. first i am also 34 and getting my PHD in chem this march. Along the line, my interest in research went south. I know how you feel about your ego and taking pharmacy prerequisite. can u imagine i had to take all the chemistry prereqs again, sitting in a class with a bunch of kids and being taught how to balance reactions. well the reason why i had to take all the prereqs again was that i had my BS more than 5 yrs ago and the schools that i was interested in told me my grad courses was not going to count towards meeting their reqmt. so for the past three years i have been doing research for my PHD graduation and taking a bunch of (sometimes silly) prereqs (71 credits). But the good news is that i have been admitted into a pharmacy school. Upon doing further research, i have come to realize that i can incoporate my research background into much of my future plans as far as working in any of the top pharmaceutical companies.
My advice to you is that never give up on your dreams if you honestly believe pharmacy is what you really desire. But i also want you to realize that there will be some challenges along the line because of your background. You need to psych your self because you will be bored to death sitting in some classes( imagine being asked what is the molecular mass of Nacl). But then agan, your maturity will see you through all the challenges. On the PCAT, i took it and did pretty well with my highest score of course being chemistry and maths. But i will advice that u really prepare well espercially with maths. make sure you take stats b4 you do the test. all the best