Pharmacy Is pharmacy still a possibility for me?

[BC_89]

Basically I am starting my fourth year with a CGPA of 3.00. I have 10 classes left and am planning to graduate after the fall 2020 semester. I recently became a lab technician a few months ago and am planning to continue. My goal for my last classes is to average a 3.4-3.5 GPA so I can bring my final gpa to around a 3.1-3.2 which for other systems is around a 77% average. Here’s the bad part of my education that makes me think I don’t have a chance. In total, I’ve failed 5 classes throughout my 3 years at university. I’ve retaken them all and got much better grades which is why my gpa is not terrible right now (3gpa). I honestly didn’t take university seriously the first 2 years cause I thought I’d stop at a bachelors. But ever since becoming a lab tech, I’ve grown to really enjoy pharmacy. I know I can finish really strong and demonstrate an upward trend. I’m going to start studying for the pact soon and try to get a very good score. By the time I apply, I will have around 2 years of lab tech pharmacy experience. I want to apply to University of Toronto and university of Waterloo

So basically I have a few questions

Does repeating courses that I failed to increase my gpa look really bad?

If I finish my degree very well and do amazing on my high level courses, will my past failures on entry level courses be negated or at least not frowned upon as much?

Do I have any chance at getting into pharmacy school or should I just focus on something else?

Sorry if this is long but thank you very much for reading and replying. It feels very demotivating to see all these high gpa applicants with no course repetitions while I’m here as a lacklust package. I know my best bet is to kill my final high level courses and do well on the pcat. Along with some lab technician experience, is it possible for admissions to overlook my 5 failed courses in the past?

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After your own assessment as to what is offered, the next question is what 5 courses did you fail? General Education courses or science courses? If your GPA is calculated using grade-forgiveness, what is your cGPA and sGPA without grade forgiveness (ie average grade of your repeated courses being calculated instead of the best grade of each course)?

If it was pertinent prerequisite courses, what was the grade the second time you took the classes? Pharmacy school (despite the hype of a limited job market and decreased salaries) is not easy and will require more time and dedication when you get to medicinal chemistry and therapeutics. For one thing you need to score your best on the PCAT and cast a wide net when looking at specific schools. I don't know your whole background to assess what chance you may or may not have, but you are at a disadvantage compared to other applicants when it comes to your GPA history. Focus on your experiences and turn-around statement for your (hopeful) now upward GPA trend.

In short, yes its possible to land an interview. Just be cautious and understand what that may mean for you if you fail out of school or if "life events" happen... Admins will need to know if you are able to recover.

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