I need some advice

[kickingofthedee]

I recently graduated with a BS and just realized I don't have the stats to get in currently. My GPA is sub 3.0 and my PCAT score is 71. I do have almost a years worth of pharmacy volunteering in a hospital setting but I doubt that would help much.

What I'm asking for is what my next course of action should be. Should I retake math/sciences at a community college and try to do better on the PCAT? Should I attempt some sort of Post-bac program? Or should I take more upper level science courses? I am seriously lost and just wish to be better prepared next time.

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[1TB4RKSB4CK]

I hear post-bac is bad to do for some reason.
I'd say go ahead and apply and see what happens. I've seen people with worse scores that you get in to Pharm School

 

[pinksparkly]

I hear post-bac is bad to do for some reason.

I think it is because if you get into one and wind up over your head, it is hard to get out without repercussions. I have heard that the environment can be super-competitive, which some people thrive on, but others do not. It think that it is easier to fix a poor GPA when you have the flexibility to choose which professors you take classes from and optimize your schedule.

 

[kidkay]

I recently graduated with a BS and just realized I don't have the stats to get in currently. My GPA is sub 3.0 and my PCAT score is 71. I do have almost a years worth of pharmacy volunteering in a hospital setting but I doubt that would help much.

What I'm asking for is what my next course of action should be. Should I retake math/sciences at a community college and try to do better on the PCAT? Should I attempt some sort of Post-bac program? Or should I take more upper level science courses? I am seriously lost and just wish to be better prepared next time.

I suggest you still apply. You may not meet the requirements of your first choice, but there are other schools that you will...And, some of these schools only look at your pre-req grades as well. Try some newer schools. If you really want to be a pharmacist, go for it...good luck!

 

[goheels211]

I recently graduated with a BS and just realized I don't have the stats to get in currently. My GPA is sub 3.0 and my PCAT score is 71. I do have almost a years worth of pharmacy volunteering in a hospital setting but I doubt that would help much.

What I'm asking for is what my next course of action should be. Should I retake math/sciences at a community college and try to do better on the PCAT? Should I attempt some sort of Post-bac program? Or should I take more upper level science courses? I am seriously lost and just wish to be better prepared next time.

It's hard to tell simply based on what you have mentioned in your post. If your overall GPA is below 3.0, you might not be too bad off as you can boost that with a few mid-difficulty rudimentary courses. If you're just talking about your science/math GPA, how low under 3.0 can be the biggest area for improvement. You have an somewhat competitive PCAT, but some schools might look at it differently depending on what you made in the different catagories (mainly chem and bio) of the PCAT. For example, getting a 94% percentile in Verbal doesn't mean too terribly much if you got, say a 50 for chemistry. My suggestion would be that if your science GPA is below a 3.0 and you made less than a 70th percentile in either Chemistry or Bio, then you might want to look into taking a few upper level science courses at a local 4 year university and maybe boost up your PCAT score in those areas.

Like the other posts have mentioned, I don't know if doing a whole post-bac degree is worth it, just try to raise your science GPA with a few graduate level courses and then show your growth in those areas by raising those parts of your PCAT and you will get schools to take notice of you. Your pharmacy experience is always a plus, so don't discount that too much as that is a strong piece to bolster your resume...I'd still apply and just keep improving in the meantime...good luck!

 

[kickingofthedee]

Thanks for the answers so far guys. My math/science is higher than my overall. I think it's around 2.7. These are my PCAT scores:

Verbal: 50
Biology: 80
Reading: 42
Chemistry: 77
Quantitative: 77
Comp: 71
Writing: 3 on both

I was really hoping for 80+ to have a chance but as you can see my verbal scores are extremely low.

I've read through several topics and noticed that people with sub 3.0 only get in with 90+ PCAT scores. Maybe I should study more and take it one more time? I really think I can score above 80 with a little more verbal practice.

As for taking courses, should I just do it at my university where I graduated from or at a local community college? And just keep taking upper level undergrad science courses? Is it a good idea to take some math courses too? I've only taken Calc I and Stats but I should be able to take a few more.

Thanks for the responses so far.