If you had to do it over again...

[jun99]

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What would you do differently?

 

[KellyBean]

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.

 

[eddie269]

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! 😎

 

[Farmercyst]

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.

 

[davyjone96431]

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.

 

[Trackster]

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.

 

[PrePharm1980]

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

 

[emkobiet]

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...😎

 

[sputnik25]

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

 

[omnione]

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.

 

[alicek]

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.