is it too late for me to get accepted to a pharmacy school in california?

[boxeleph123]

Hello, I hope everyone is having a wonderful day. My post is a little long but please give it a read.

I was originally a pre-pharamacy student at a 4-year university in California. I changed my major from pre-pharmacy to bio as a 2nd semester senior because with my low GPA, I wasn't guaranteed a spot in pharm school anymore.

I am taking a few bio electives right now, and will be done with undergrad with a BS degree in spring of 2020. By the time I graduate, I will have a cumulative GPA of 2.53 and science GPA of around 2.1 (I'm guessing on this one because I have retaken classes so not too sure how school calculates that, still trying to figure out).

I did terribly on gen bio, physio, micro and ochem2, so pretty much all pharmacy pre-reqs except gen chem. I have also retaken all these courses only to get the same grade (D) or go from F to D. I know this looks really bad, and I'm not going to try to make excuses. I just did not try very hard before. I was forced into pursing pharmacy, I hated my school, and I had bad study habits since I was still able to do well without putting in much effort in high school. I wasn't really driven so whenever something happened in my personal life, I let that get in my way of doing well in school. I know, very immature and stupid of me.

However, having to give up on a guaranteed spot in pharmacy school, I finally realized how much I want it. (and kind of need it) I am doing way better than before in all my upper division bio electives right now, cancer bio (looking towards B+ or A-). pharmacology (B), methods in field bio (B), and I hope to take another elective related to diseases and take a research course with a professor relating to diseases and drugs spring semester.

I was planning on going home after I graduate, and retaking all gen bio, physio/micro, ochem at a different 4-year institute (e.g. CSUN or a UC) for a year (so 3 courses per semester) and apply for pharmacy school in 2021. I also plan on working as a pharm tech starting next semester and continuing to work as a tech at home.

My question is,

1. Is it too late for me to try out for an accredited pharmacy school, esp in Cali? Meaning, do I even have a chance still?
2. If I do retake courses at a different 4-year institute, how would that calculate towards my undergraudate GPA?
3. Should I try to take the PCAT or is it not worth it? Because I saw that many schools do not accept PCAT scores.
4. If you think I have 0 chance of getting into a school, any job recommendations related to pharma companies or in that field that doesn't require a PharmD degree but require a BS degree?

any word of advice is much appreciated!! Thank you for taking your time to read my post.

I aspire to be working at a pharmaceutical company for medical affairs for one day.. I really hope things work out for me.

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[BC_89]

1. Is it too late for me to try out for an accredited pharmacy school, esp in Cali? Meaning, do I even have a chance still?

You're at the red clay under the bottom toward the bottom of the barrel. Applying now would be a waste of your money.

2. If I do retake courses at a different 4-year institute, how would that calculate towards my undergraudate GPA?

PharmCAS GPA is different than some universities in their calculations. Some schools will take the better grade of a retaken course while most others average the overall grade of all your retaken courses. PharmCAS does something similar of averaging out your retaken courses but it averages it out lower due to a calculated and inserted grade that gives points for a A/B grade (which to this day I have never heard of existing in any universities). To summarize, grade forgiveness is what some schools show on your student account, others average the scores, while PharmCAS averages the scores on a lower spectrum.

3. Should I try to take the PCAT or is it not worth it? Because I saw that many schools do not accept PCAT scores.

You don't have a choice. Nothing thus far shows your progression and success in pharmacy school. If you take the PCAT and score in the upper 90s, at least you have a short leg to stand on when doing remediated coursework.

4. If you think I have 0 chance of getting into a school, any job recommendations related to pharma companies or in that field that doesn't require a PharmD degree but require a BS degree?

I do not recommend nor believe your chances are great at an acceptance and/or passing any pharmacy program. With a Biology degree in the mid to low 2.0 range, you have limited your opportunities for specific jobs with a pharmaceutical company. My only strong advice is to remediate your GPA and see if you can get a masters in Healthcare Administration. You will work with folks within the companies you want, but your short term and long term goals will be oriented around company and department metrics and attaining set goals for each department. Another choice is to get a teaching certificate and teach biology in elementary / middle / high school.

In the end, despite where you are, the health field is not something you have to do. What are you passionate about? What sort of hobbies do you have? It may seem a waste with the degree you have, but your GPA is only going to cost you more $ if you chase down the rabbit hole of pharmacy or pharm. company related jobs. Write it off as a lost cause and see what gives you passion. I do wish you the best of luck in this.

 

[mentos]

Don't do it. Getting in is the easy part. There are new schools opening every year. Your chances of getting a job are low.

 

[Xarelto-10]

Do not worry about your GPA. You’ll get accepted.
But after 4 years of Rx school, the only guarantee most likely is your indebtedness.

 

[Sine Cura]

I finally realized how much I want it. (and kind of need it)

No you don't

As an example of something that doesn't require a PharmD, if you wanted to do statistical programming you don't need a PharmD for that and most PharmDs are statistical illiterates anyway

 

[PharmtoCS]

It's certainly not too late to reconsider going to pharmacy school. Just about anyone can get into pharmacy school as long as they qualify for $200k+ in student loans. The real hard part is finding a full time job in this saturated market that will help you pay your debt off. Even if you do manage to land a job, statistically 70% of the jobs are in retail.

There are other professions out there that give you a far better lifestyle and offer far better job prospects. Computer programming, finance, accounting, engineering, etc. usually gets you a decent paying job easily after graduating, and that is without you having to take out $200k+ in loans and spend an additional 4 years of your life in school.

 

[confettiflyer]

Are there any schools out there still doing academic forgiveness on a 10 year window, OP might do well in the matriculation process there.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN

 

[BidingMyTime]

You can certainly find an expensive for-profit school to take you. The Dean from Chapman used to hang out on these boards, you could hit him up.
Schools have empty seats, so they are literally taking anyone to fill them, at this point in time, grades do not matter (this is why many schools dropped the PCAT, they are going to take students regardless of how poorly they do on the PCAT, so they don't bother even messing with it.

The problem is actually graduating and then actually passing the NAPLEX (and in CA the hard "law" exam.) I think with your low grades and struggling you would have a very difficult time actually graduating. There lots of threads on this board from people who easily got accepted, but then flunked out of pharmacy school, or worse, graduated and couldn't pass the NAPLEX. Save your money, you do not want to be stuck with $200,000 or more college loans and still be unable to work as a pharmacist.

 

[spacecowgirl]

You're about 15 years too late, yes.

 

[spacecowgirl]

In all seriousness, the chances of getting into industry are not good. Better if you do a fellowship or residency. I can't speak to the competitiveness of fellowship but residency is fairly competitive and you having failed the basic sciences twice (D=F) is not a good sign. We may all sound like curmudgeons, but really, we just want you to save yourself the 200K or whatever tuition is in California especially, and find something else to do. The ship has sailed for you and right now for the profession. It is very likely you will end up in retail because that is where the vast majority of the jobs are/were, so see how you like being a tech before you consider pharmacy school any further.

Good luck to you in your future and may this be a cautionary tale for other pre-pharm people not to let your pre-pharm grades go to hell.

 

[AM77]

The question that you have to answer is why do you want to be a pharmacist? Have you looked at other career options? Are you okay with taking out $200,000+ in student loans? Will you be able to pass the California pharmacist license exam?

 

[Transformer]

Hello, I hope everyone is having a wonderful day. My post is a little long but please give it a read.

I was originally a pre-pharamacy student at a 4-year university in California. I changed my major from pre-pharmacy to bio as a 2nd semester senior because with my low GPA, I wasn't guaranteed a spot in pharm school anymore.

I am taking a few bio electives right now, and will be done with undergrad with a BS degree in spring of 2020. By the time I graduate, I will have a cumulative GPA of 2.53 and science GPA of around 2.1 (I'm guessing on this one because I have retaken classes so not too sure how school calculates that, still trying to figure out).

I did terribly on gen bio, physio, micro and ochem2, so pretty much all pharmacy pre-reqs except gen chem. I have also retaken all these courses only to get the same grade (D) or go from F to D. I know this looks really bad, and I'm not going to try to make excuses. I just did not try very hard before. I was forced into pursing pharmacy, I hated my school, and I had bad study habits since I was still able to do well without putting in much effort in high school. I wasn't really driven so whenever something happened in my personal life, I let that get in my way of doing well in school. I know, very immature and stupid of me.

However, having to give up on a guaranteed spot in pharmacy school, I finally realized how much I want it. (and kind of need it) I am doing way better than before in all my upper division bio electives right now, cancer bio (looking towards B+ or A-). pharmacology (B), methods in field bio (B), and I hope to take another elective related to diseases and take a research course with a professor relating to diseases and drugs spring semester.

I was planning on going home after I graduate, and retaking all gen bio, physio/micro, ochem at a different 4-year institute (e.g. CSUN or a UC) for a year (so 3 courses per semester) and apply for pharmacy school in 2021. I also plan on working as a pharm tech starting next semester and continuing to work as a tech at home.

My question is,

1. Is it too late for me to try out for an accredited pharmacy school, esp in Cali? Meaning, do I even have a chance still?
2. If I do retake courses at a different 4-year institute, how would that calculate towards my undergraudate GPA?
3. Should I try to take the PCAT or is it not worth it? Because I saw that many schools do not accept PCAT scores.
4. If you think I have 0 chance of getting into a school, any job recommendations related to pharma companies or in that field that doesn't require a PharmD degree but require a BS degree?

any word of advice is much appreciated!! Thank you for taking your time to read my post.

I aspire to be working at a pharmaceutical company for medical affairs for one day.. I really hope things work out for me.

1. It is not too late to apply to pharmacy schools in California AFTER you retake all your classes and aced them. I recommend applying broadly to all US pharmacy schools, not just California schools.

2. I recommend retaking classes at any college that has the lowest tuition and satisfy the pre-reqs for pharmacy school. PharmCAS will factor your retake classes and undergraduate classes and calculate a cumulative GPA and science GPA

3. PCAT is an additional opportunity for you to prove you're worthy of an interview if you score high on the PCAT exam. Many non-Cali schools do consider the PCAT.

4. At this moment, you have a very slim chance of getting into any pharmacy school. If you retake and ace your classes PLUS score high on your PCAT, you will have a good chance of getting into a non-Cali private school. You are looking at a 6 plus year of school PLUS 250-300K student loan PLUS extreme employment saturation in California (30hrs/week = full time retail pharmacy).


btw, you don't need to become a pharmacist to work in big pharma. Please take the time to volunteer or work at a pharmaceutical company and/or retail/hospital pharmacy BEFORE committing yourself to becoming a pharmacist. Good Luck!

 

[spacecowgirl]

OP already took the prerequisites a second time and got Ds.

 

[BidingMyTime]

4. At this moment, you have a very slim chance of getting into any pharmacy school. If you retake and ace your classes PLUS score high on your PCAT, you will have a good chance of getting into a non-Cali private school. You are looking at a 6 plus year of school PLUS 250-300K student loan PLUS extreme employment saturation in California (30hrs/week = full time retail pharmacy).

OP's chances of getting into pharmacy school are 99.999999%. You apparently aren't aware of the current state where schools have empty seats and are literally begging anyone to take them. However, OP's chances of actually graduating and passing the NAPLEX are extremely poor.

 

[VictorOfHungerGames]

Is there even a point of being a pharmacist or going to a pharmacy school in california at this point? haha market is super saturated, there are like a million pharmacy students graduating each year due to new school opening every month and cost of living is so high, you probably won't make that much more than a homeless person lol

 

[Transformer]

OP's chances of getting into pharmacy school are 99.999999%. You apparently aren't aware of the current state where schools have empty seats and are literally begging anyone to take them. However, OP's chances of actually graduating and passing the NAPLEX are extremely poor.

Thank you for the response.

You're right, admission to pharmacy school is a lot easier than it used to be, but OP still needs to retake his/her classes to satisfy prereqs for pharmacy school.

I don't know OP and what the person is capable of but I sure hope OP proves you wrong and succeed whether it's in pharmacy or in a different profession.

 

[MrBonita]

Back in the 90s, pharmacist were in high demand, jobs were easy to find and the pay was constantly going up. Now there is a pharmacist surplus, jobs are hard to find and the pay is decreasing.

Congratulations on your improvements in your grades. I am glad you are now an academic machine.

Try working in a pharmacy as a technician for a year and then let us know if you still want to apply.

Remember, you can only take out one loan which will be around 300k.

 

[BidingMyTime]

Thank you for the response.
You're right, admission to pharmacy school is a lot easier than it used to be, but OP still needs to retake his/her classes to satisfy prereqs for pharmacy school.
I don't know OP and what the person is capable of but I sure hope OP proves you wrong and succeed whether it's in pharmacy or in a different profession.

OP has passed he prereq, D is passing. Expensive private schools won't care the GPA or change of passing.

I'm sure OP has an excellent change of succeeding in a different profession (where did I say s/he didn't?) But OP is clearly struggling with the sciences, and that will make success in pharmacy school pretty impossible.