If you had to do it over again...

Applied early and LESS schools or should I say, to the right schools. I wasted a lot of money on Pharmcas and there are a few schools that I know I wasn't qualified after I started reading from their websites and from SDN, but according to pharmcas, it was a different story. But thank god that I don't have to do it all over again cause it was a pain.

 

I wish I could've decided on pharmacy earlier in my undergrad years. I had no intentions of going to grad school so maintaining a 3.0 gpa was good enough for me. Then when I needed to get a higher gpa, it was already too late.

I would've definitely aimed for at least a 3.5 gpa if I knew earlier about grad school.

As far as this year, I have no regrets because I learned how to play the admissions game the past few years. This year, I was on top of my game!

 

I'd have probably taken a greater role in campus organizations or some other volunteer activity. Right now all my volunteer time is either directly related to my church or 3 years old+. Most of this has to do with the fact I've been married for going on 4 years, have two kids and a full-time job in addition to going to school full-time. I'm not sure exactly what part would need to be cut out to accomplish building up the volunteer hours/EC, but in theory that's the only part lacking from my application.

 

take classes to boost up gpa. pharmacy schools are lying, they really do care about the gpa and any situation that might have affected your gpa.

 

I would have applied to more than one school.I was overconfident of my GPA and I forgot all other aspects. Also, I will apply to schools in my state and make sure to research the schools very well because a lot of schools will not tell you how many out-of-staters they take.

 

I would have started pre-pharm right out of high school. Can you imagine graduating at age 22-24? wow.

 

same here...only if i knew about the 6-year programs back then...

 

I would have started undergrad classes right after highschool instead of almost 4 years later

 

I tried to avoid using 20/20 hindsight on this question. For example, I think it is 20/20 hindsight for me not to take Human Anatomy because a few schools didn't require the class. However, I wasn't aware last semester that I would get as many interview offers so late in the application cycles so I would have taken it anyway even if I applied early. So, I would have...

1. Applied Early = not for Spring slacking-off's sake, but I would have had less stress had I been accepted earlier

2. Apply to more schools = I screwed up applications to good schools like Auburn and UF while missing the PharmCAS deadlines to other good schools.

3. Prepare better on my interviews = Though I think I did well on all of my interviews, I should have practiced my delivery more.

4. Get more pharmacy experience = My lack of pharmacy experience was the weak link in my application. Even if you had told me that I would get interviews, I felt that I could've screwed myself w/o pharmacy experience. Fortunately, it didn't make a huge difference.

On a side note, if you got into the school of your choice, then I wouldn't change anything at all. This comment comes from the Trekkie side of me where making changes in the past to better your future can backfire. I got into one of my top schools, and there were schools I would have strongly considered had I applied correctly, but changing the past could be disastrous if something weird happens and I don't get into any school.

 

I would have applied earlier to schools with rolling admissions, and not applied to so many out of state schools. I spent a lot of money on applications and travel and now I realize I don't even want to go to those places.