I'm frightened that by cramming my courses...

[SoulsofBlack]

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I will do poorly, won't even get into one school and end up saying,"What the hell was the point of doing all that work in a Bio degree?" To make the story short, I'm a Junior in college who switched over from IIT to Bio in the beginning of the year (Sept 2k6). Almost all of my liberal arts courses are complete but the end result is I'm doing 2 bio labs/classes per semester + chems + other. I have to take all the usual Bio reqs but have left gen chem II, Orgo I/II, phy I/II, Calc I/II, then do a PCAT coming very soon even though I've barely gone far into my classes. I am designing it so I take orgo in the summer but if I get a bad grade, I'm basically screwed as I have little to no time to retake it so that makes things even worse. In terms of grades I got, I got all A's however what scares me a bit is I did kinda shoddy in Calc (C+) and in Physics (C+) in High School so if I screw those up, no time to retake those either! In addition, having no experience is a blow to me. Yippee for being an idiot and not knowing what I wanted to do later!

So now I'm kinda getting anxiety and considering getting a BA in Bio and just using it Law school (patent attorney) which I really don't want to do but it kinda feels like I'm screwed.

 

[NexusMD]

Relax, and dont stress. Dont feel bad if you dont finish in 4 years. Changing to a bio major your junior year can slow you down. I am a sophmore and I just changed to microbio, so I know your situation somewhat. Dont worry if you have to take an extra year, or even take a year off after you graduate. If pharmacy is what you want to do, dont "settle" for law school.

 

[SoulsofBlack]

Relax, and dont stress. Dont feel bad if you dont finish in 4 years. Changing to a bio major your junior year can slow you down. I am a sophmore and I just changed to microbio, so I know your situation somewhat. Dont worry if you have to take an extra year, or even take a year off after you graduate. If pharmacy is what you want to do, dont "settle" for law school.

My parents pay for college however I'm not spoiled, I do work for my other luxaries and do appreciate what they give me. However, I am being kinda "nudged" to graduate within the year. I kinda brought up the extra time and happiness was not in the air heh.

 

[2bpharmD]

I think u just give some time to yourself...........If u think pharmacy is what u want to do then take it step by step and don't rush. I am also thinking of taking orgo in the summer, but I am just not sure if I should audit it or just take it. But, I think u should do whatever works best for u and not do law if u don't want too. I know it's hard sometimes when ur parents are paying, but at the end if u end up with the job u love u won't regret it!!! GOOD LUCK

 

[ilovepharm]

Try not to feel like you have to finish as quickly as everyone else. My cousin finished her BS Biology in 3 years flat and got into UOP, so I used to think that I had to finish everything as fast as possible---otherwise you'd look less appealing to the adcoms. But now, I think it's impressive if you finish super fast with good grades, but if it's going to hurt your grades, it's not worth it. You'd might as well take your time to master your pre-reqs, fit in pharmacy experience, extracurriculars, research, or whatever else that can really strengthen your application. From the stats that I've seen, the average age for students that get into many pharm schools is around 25ish! It seems that experience and maturity can go a long way, so don't worry!

 

[Farmercyst]

Depending on the school, you might try to see which instructors are teaching the courses you want to take to get an idea of what you need to prepare for. If you meet with them the quarter/semester before your next cramming session you can guage the overall expectations of the instructors. If you're in a research college, good luck, but if you're at a teaching college, you'll probably make a good impression on the instructor. Then they'll see you're dedicated and could make future interactions easier if you do end up struggling. I've been really lucky in that most of my instructors know my background (full-time work+school+toddlers) and are more willing to meet with me if I have trouble with concepts, homework, etc. It is one of the benefits of going to Cal State system versus UC (for those that have to make a decision)

In terms of timing. You might advise your parents of the pharmacy decision, how important GPA is and that you're willing to work your butt off to not waste their money, but it would be in their best interest to have you do well now rather than getting C's and having to take classes over again. If they don't like that as an option, depending on cost, time constraints etc, you may wish to re-evaluate how badly you want pharmacy and decide that slowing down is worth it even if it means paying for some of your own schooling.