Is it okay to just apply to one school?

[serpant55]

Although I have not personally visited the school, I really want to be in this region and it's the only private school in the region. So I am not a resident however it is private. I also love the school and it's philosophy and I have a great feeling that I will get along well there. So I would love to just apply to this one school so I could personalize my essay for it, but the old adage "don't put all of your eggs in one basket" may hurt me right? If I applied to another school, it'd be my safety nearby.

Any opinions?/ Thanks

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[WhiteSnows]

NO sir, it is not ok. It shows you lack interestes in pharmacy career.

 

[cycloketocaine]

NO sir, it is not ok. It shows you lack interestes in pharmacy career.

No it does not.

I only applied to one school, because it was the only one I wanted to go to. I had decent stats, experience and ECs. It all depends on what you want and are able to do. Personally, I have a family and was not able to apply to schools all over the country because it was not realistic.

 

[WhiteSnows]

No it does not.

I only applied to one school, because it was the only one I wanted to go to. I had decent stats, experience and ECs. It all depends on what you want and are able to do. Personally, I have a family and was not able to apply to schools all over the country because it was not realistic.

In general, schools look at how many school a student apply. Last year, I only applied to one school and it hurted me. I got decent score, and still was put in a waitlist. The school told me that they want to see student apply to more schools, not just 1 school that they like.

 

[cycloketocaine]

In general, schools look at how many school a student apply. Last year, I only applied to one school and it hurted me. I got decent score, and still was put in a waitlist. The school told me that they want to see student apply to more schools, not just 1 school that they like.

Well, then, it depends on the school, I guess. This year, I will be interviewing applicants for OU, and I will not hold how many schools they applied to against them.

I think it also depends on the students situation. I just don't think it's fair to make a blanket statement that ALL schools will hold it against you.

 

[confettiflyer]

1 school is fine. I applied to 3 (reach/dream, stats match, and back up). Got into 2.

But a personalized PharmCAS essay won't give you that much of an edge.

 

[mike36]

I only applied to one school and was accepted the first time around. I just wasn't interested in moving.

 

[kismet]

Although I have not personally visited the school, I really want to be in this region and it's the only private school in the region. So I am not a resident however it is private. I also love the school and it's philosophy and I have a great feeling that I will get along well there. So I would love to just apply to this one school so I could personalize my essay for it, but the old adage "don't put all of your eggs in one basket" may hurt me right? If I applied to another school, it'd be my safety nearby.

Any opinions?/ Thanks

Of course it's "ok" to apply to only one school, as long as you understand you're taking a big chance and you're okay with taking a year off if you don't get in.

However, if you're talking about personalizing your PharmCAS essay, you could actually hurt yourself by personalizing it to one school. The essay is about why you chose pharmacy and what a PharmD means to your goals - that has nothing to do with the school, and talking about something other than the prompt could be construed as not being able to follow directions.

 

[bluesickle]

In general, schools look at how many school a student apply. Last year, I only applied to one school and it hurted me. I got decent score, and still was put in a waitlist. The school told me that they want to see student apply to more schools, not just 1 school that they like.

Most schools don't ask if you've applied to other schools since they just assume you did. Even if they ask, I don't see why they'd hold it against you because that information is irrelevant. If someone has his or her geographical preferences due to family, weather, or whatever, I don't see why it matters if that person only applies to one school.

confetti, I had the same mindset when I started applying but I think I applied to way too many schools that were a reach with my stats.

 

[Hels2007]

It's very strange to hear that a school wants to see applicants apply to multiple schools... to me, that only shows that applicant lacks confidence and/or focus if I see someone applying to more than 3-5 schools.

I only applied to one schools, because I was absolutely sure I would get in. And I did. And had a great experience there. So if you know you really only want to get into one school, and you feel you have a pretty good chance of getting in, there is no reason to waste your (and other schools') time and money. Good luck!

 

[confettiflyer]

Most schools don't ask if you've applied to other schools since they just assume you did. Even if they ask, I don't see why they'd hold it against you because that information is irrelevant. If someone has his or her geographical preferences due to family, weather, or whatever, I don't see why it matters if that person only applies to one school.

confetti, I had the same mindset when I started applying but I think I applied to way too many schools that were a reach with my stats.

Yeah I technically submitted prelims to 2 other schools (Touro and Midwestern), but I got lazy and didn't send supplemental apps. PharmCAS makes it waaaay too easy to apply to multiple schools (I guess a good thing). I don't count those as "full" applications since I basically just clicked on impulse.

In retrospect, I should have just bit the bullet and spent the extra hour or two completing supplementals, BUT...had I gotten interviews, a trip to Chicago would have been $$$ on top of my other interviews. Touro would have required a weekday off. I think I was thinking of that when I declined supps.

 

[bananaface]

Once upon a time I was in your shoes. I wanted to go to my local state school, had a 99 PCAT and a 3.69 GPA (avg entering was like 3.5 at the time.) But I'd never interviewed before and didn't interview as well as some of the other candidates. I got in the second year I applied there.

Look at your stats relative to the avg entering stats published by AACP and ask yourself if you are likely to get in. Ask yourself if you'll kick yourself for not applying to a backup if you don't get in on the first try. Would you rather wait a year and retry or move someplace else and start down your career path next fall?

I don't think it hurts to apply to a backup school. That you are willing to go where you need to go to pursue pharmacy says something in and of itself. But, don't apply anyplace you won't go if accepted.

 

[tootoo30]

I applied to only one school this cycle because I did not want to leave home, but I did have a back up plan for next year just in case I didn't get in this year. I was offered an interview so we shall see how it goes.

If your dead set on getting into this school, do some research and find out what their admission stats are and their average GPA those will give you an indication of where you stand.

HTH

 

[pharmplz11]

I would think that unless your stats are rather exceptional, applying to one school would somewhat hinder your chances at acceptance and no one wants to wait a year to re-apply. But if you are an excellent candidate why waste your money on all the app. fees? Either way good luck.

 

[PacNWgrl]

To me, it seems like it could even be a plus to the school if you are so impressed by their program that it's the only one you want to apply to. I mean, what school doesn't want students who are excited and passionate to be a part of their program? Who really knows, but it seems like kind of an intuitive thing to me...

 

[confettiflyer]

To me, it seems like it could even be a plus to the school if you are so impressed by their program that it's the only one you want to apply to. I mean, what school doesn't want students who are excited and passionate to be a part of their program? Who really knows, but it seems like kind of an intuitive thing to me...

But if you've got a crap application, no amount of excitement will patch up a sub-par GPA and a junk PCAT score.

 

[AngelaCL]

I find it really interesting that you 100% know you want to go to this school, when you've never even visited it. I highly suggest visiting it, and looking into at least one other school. What's wrong with public schools? Some of the best pharmacy programs in the nation are public universities.

I really only wanted to go to one school, but it's a 0-6 program that only takes in 5-10 transfer students a year, so I knew it would be stupid to just count on getting in. I applied to two other schools - one that was somewhat local and I didn't know a whole lot about, and a school that I was fairly sure I could get into though I didn't care for the program much (I got my undergrad degree there). Once I got into my first choice I declined my interview to the safety school and didn't fill in the supplemental/withdrew my application for the second choice school. So, I didn't end up spending a lot of extra money or anything.

 

[PacNWgrl]

But if you've got a crap application, no amount of excitement will patch up a sub-par GPA and a junk PCAT score.

True, true... just a potential plus rather than a negative, certainly not a free ride onto the accepted list.

 

[confettiflyer]

So I poked around and found the data on the Fall 05 entering class and # of schools applied:

4994 students applied to only ONE school.
of these, 1634 received an offer (or 33%)
the remaining 3360 were not accepted (or 67%)

source: PharmCAS http://www.pharmcas.org/docs/Offers04-05.pdf

Man I'd love to go to town with the PharmCAS data and look at # of schools applied coupled with GPA and see where that is.


On the flip side, 2 people applied to 43 schools. 1 person didn't get into any, 1 person got into ONE school. Sucks for the other person!

The overall acceptance rate is about 32%, so really, if you apply to one school, statistically speaking, you're about on par with the rest of the pool in terms of your chances of getting in. Purely statistical though, doesn't take into account the strengths/weaknesses of each app.