I need some opinions

[Noye1337]

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Hello all!

I am in my senior year and I really messed up my first three years of high school. I got a 75.00 GPA, but I applied to be in a program called New Visions Health. This program gave me a jump start by giving me courses like anatomy and physiology, medical terminology, and college level English. I also got to internship around the entire hospital going on all sorts of rotations. When I got to the pharmacy department, they let me pull meds, restock omnicells, run meds, count narcotics, make medicines via IV, and all sorts of other things. This was a great experience and I'm currently averaging an 89 average this year with my pre-calc grade included. I was wondering if my first three years would affect my chances of getting in despite my experiences in my senior year while holding a decent average. I'm applying to colleges like St. John's University at Brooklyn and Albany College of Pharmacy. What do you guys think my chances are of getting in to such programs. I did have my first quarter grades of my senior year sent in with my college applications.

Thanks in advance,
Tim

 

[charfdorn]

Hello all!

I am in my senior year and I really messed up my first three years of high school. I got a 75.00 GPA, but I applied to be in a program called New Visions Health. This program gave me a jump start by giving me courses like anatomy and physiology, medical terminology, and college level English. I also got to internship around the entire hospital going on all sorts of rotations. When I got to the pharmacy department, they let me pull meds, restock omnicells, run meds, count narcotics, make medicines via IV, and all sorts of other things. This was a great experience and I'm currently averaging an 89 average this year with my pre-calc grade included. I was wondering if my first three years would affect my chances of getting in despite my experiences in my senior year while holding a decent average. I'm applying to colleges like St. John's University at Brooklyn and Albany College of Pharmacy. What do you guys think my chances are of getting in to such programs. I did have my first quarter grades of my senior year sent in with my college applications.

Thanks in advance,
Tim

OK, I can't resist... 75.00 is a GREAT GPA. Mine was, like, 3.55....

What do you mean by that?

 

[type b pharmD]

Hello all!

I am in my senior year and I really messed up my first three years of high school. I got a 75.00 GPA, but I applied to be in a program called New Visions Health. This program gave me a jump start by giving me courses like anatomy and physiology, medical terminology, and college level English. I also got to internship around the entire hospital going on all sorts of rotations. When I got to the pharmacy department, they let me pull meds, restock omnicells, run meds, count narcotics, make medicines via IV, and all sorts of other things. This was a great experience and I'm currently averaging an 89 average this year with my pre-calc grade included. I was wondering if my first three years would affect my chances of getting in despite my experiences in my senior year while holding a decent average. I'm applying to colleges like St. John's University at Brooklyn and Albany College of Pharmacy. What do you guys think my chances are of getting in to such programs. I did have my first quarter grades of my senior year sent in with my college applications.

Thanks in advance,
Tim

give it a try! it sounds like you have great experience. and if you fail, you can always take more college courses to improve your gpa and try again later. there's no need to WORRY about it.. just do your best, and if you fail, retry or look at other options.

charfdorn, i believe the OP is probably referrng to a C average.

 

[Noye1337]

OK, I can't resist... 75.00 is a GREAT GPA. Mine was, like, 3.55....

What do you mean by that?

Yeah my school is incredibly ******ed... It's like a 2.5ish and in my senior year I ascertained a 3.5 GPA.

 

[charfdorn]

Yeah my school is incredibly ******ed... It's like a 2.5ish and in my senior year I ascertained a 3.5 GPA.

I figured as much, but I wanted to make sure. I think type B is on the right track.

 

[297point1]

Yeah my school is incredibly ******ed... It's like a 2.5ish and in my senior year I ascertained a 3.5 GPA.

What is with everyone on SDN using '******ed' all of the sudden?

That is an incredibly offensive term!

 

[type b pharmD]

be sure to play up your experiences a lot , since that's the major thing you have going for you.

and by this i mean, think about how they have benefited you (spend a lot of time on this ideally), how they've increased your knowledge and desire to pursue pharmacy, how they will help you be a better pharmacy school participant, help you in the job market, etc. you're not gonna really have a chance based on numbers. you could get some interviews, and if you can convince them you're awesome in your interview, you stand a chance of admission.

So do some brainstorming sessions, jot down ideas as they come to you. Then later, write up some sentences and statements you feel could best reflect your talents and motivations, and be ready to elaborate on those ideas during your interview and in your personal statement.

in short, be ready to sell yourself. so come up with strengths, think about interview questions and be ready to have some good answers.

emphasize your extensive experience!! it's more than most prepharm applicants have, and more than a lot of pharmacy students have (not many pharm students get hospital or have hospital experience) and that is a big plus. think of ways you can get yourself excited and motivated, and then your enthusiasm should come across well during your interviews. i've gotten more than one important and competitive job by being enthusiastic and informed, and being able to share your experiences flawlessly will inspire the confidence of the admissions people and will help them believe in you. if you can infect them with a sense of your competence, enthusiasm, and dedication, they will be excited about admitting you.

getting the interview invites? now that's just a crapshoot. you may need to spend a year taking additional college classes at whatever your cheapest local institution is, and bring up your GPA. you may find you'll be cutoff by computerized stats screening. however, there are probably some schools that will give you that interview chance if you write a good personal statement.

in your situation (and in most situations) , it's gonna be impossible to be overprepared for the interview. It's my belief that any interview, whether for job or school, can be ACED if you put enough time and effort into yourself, self knowledge and discovery, and if you've practiced talking about it (prepare like you would if you were writing a speech, but dont actually write a speech or memorize anything more than buzzwords and ideas). It also really helps if you have a lot of knowledge about the interviewers (know your enemy) -- ie the school, workplace, or environment you're seeking admission into. You should be able to turn every question you could receive around on your interviewer and be able to use it as an opportunity to share some key info about yourself and your level of qualification, so practice practice practice!. In your case just doing okay at the interview is not going to get you admitted , cause of your low gpa. But if you go above and beyond and surprise your interviewer, you may have a chance.

Get ready to turn every question around! Ie: what are your weaknesss? a ****ty interviewee will put out a cheap canned answer. an average interviewee will have a canned answer and maybe elaborate on it a bit, a great interviewee would be able to turn the question around to talk about self improvement, continuous learning, even the value of teamwork and working well with peers!. at this point the content of your weaknesses wouldnt even matter as much, because you'd be able to get the interviewer enthused about your self improvement goals (a characteristic of a professional) and your desire to work with peers so everyone's strengths and weaknesses can work together (will show you're a team player), they will forget about whatever original answer you gave and you will leave them with the idea that you are going to be a valued and dedicated member of their class!

remember some buzzwords: professionalism, professional education, outreach, community health, underserved, patient outcomes, efficient team player, cooperative learning and working style, openness to new ideas, self improvement, proactive, problem solver, innovation, future of the pharmacy profession. etc, etc. these arent just things you should spout off or work into your interview as phrases.. theyre concepts you need to think about as an applicant and figure out how you can use them to show yourself in the best possible light. learn, and ponder.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

What is with everyone on SDN using '******ed' all of the sudden?

That is an incredibly offensive term!

He means to say that his school was mentally handicapped.

 

[type b pharmD]

He means to say that his school was mentally handicapped.

hahahaha

 

[Noye1337]

be sure to play up your experiences a lot , since that's the major thing you have going for you.

and by this i mean, think about how they have benefited you (spend a lot of time on this ideally), how they've increased your knowledge and desire to pursue pharmacy, how they will help you be a better pharmacy school participant, help you in the job market, etc. you're not gonna really have a chance based on numbers. you could get some interviews, and if you can convince them you're awesome in your interview, you stand a chance of admission.

So do some brainstorming sessions, jot down ideas as they come to you. Then later, write up some sentences and statements you feel could best reflect your talents and motivations, and be ready to elaborate on those ideas during your interview and in your personal statement.

in short, be ready to sell yourself. so come up with strengths, think about interview questions and be ready to have some good answers.

emphasize your extensive experience!! it's more than most prepharm applicants have, and more than a lot of pharmacy students have (not many pharm students get hospital or have hospital experience) and that is a big plus. think of ways you can get yourself excited and motivated, and then your enthusiasm should come across well during your interviews. i've gotten more than one important and competitive job by being enthusiastic and informed, and being able to share your experiences flawlessly will inspire the confidence of the admissions people and will help them believe in you. if you can infect them with a sense of your competence, enthusiasm, and dedication, they will be excited about admitting you.

getting the interview invites? now that's just a crapshoot. you may need to spend a year taking additional college classes at whatever your cheapest local institution is, and bring up your GPA. you may find you'll be cutoff by computerized stats screening. however, there are probably some schools that will give you that interview chance if you write a good personal statement.

in your situation (and in most situations) , it's gonna be impossible to be overprepared for the interview. It's my belief that any interview, whether for job or school, can be ACED if you put enough time and effort into yourself, self knowledge and discovery, and if you've practiced talking about it (prepare like you would if you were writing a speech, but dont actually write a speech or memorize anything more than buzzwords and ideas). It also really helps if you have a lot of knowledge about the interviewers (know your enemy) -- ie the school, workplace, or environment you're seeking admission into. You should be able to turn every question you could receive around on your interviewer and be able to use it as an opportunity to share some key info about yourself and your level of qualification, so practice practice practice!. In your case just doing okay at the interview is not going to get you admitted , cause of your low gpa. But if you go above and beyond and surprise your interviewer, you may have a chance.

Get ready to turn every question around! Ie: what are your weaknesss? a ****ty interviewee will put out a cheap canned answer. an average interviewee will have a canned answer and maybe elaborate on it a bit, a great interviewee would be able to turn the question around to talk about self improvement, continuous learning, even the value of teamwork and working well with peers!. at this point the content of your weaknesses wouldnt even matter as much, because you'd be able to get the interviewer enthused about your self improvement goals (a characteristic of a professional) and your desire to work with peers so everyone's strengths and weaknesses can work together (will show you're a team player), they will forget about whatever original answer you gave and you will leave them with the idea that you are going to be a valued and dedicated member of their class!

remember some buzzwords: professionalism, professional education, outreach, community health, underserved, patient outcomes, efficient team player, cooperative learning and working style, openness to new ideas, self improvement, proactive, problem solver, innovation, future of the pharmacy profession. etc, etc. these arent just things you should spout off or work into your interview as phrases.. theyre concepts you need to think about as an applicant and figure out how you can use them to show yourself in the best possible light. learn, and ponder.

Holy wow! Thanks so much for the response and the information. You're putting me on the right tract and that is exactly what I need in this part. I find out from St. John's University in a few weeks and Albany College of Pharmacy in a few also. You're helping me prepare in the areas I'm unprepared for. I have the clinical experience, now I just need to nail my interview! Thanks again for the helpful response.