@jinhk93 @Dalteparin
I do respect your opinions. But you all gotta know that there are two types of students:
First, students who were not serious during their freshman and sophomore years and had very bad grades as a result of partying and not taking school seriously, sickness, etc and as they reached their junior and senior years they realized themselves, well matured and decided to get into a career of their choice and basically excelled in their upper division science courses but then the damage done during the senior and junior years cannot be changed.
Basically, such students have matured enough to know what they want and are determined and focus to reach their goals. Some come out on top and some don't, like the example I mentioned above which is very true I won't have to lie to substantiate my argument. So basically it's a risk, getting into medical field, dental field, or pharmacy is a risk which you have to be ready to pay the price.
On the other hand, younger and credulous students just get into the field prolly because of excitement and don't know what they are getting into.
I said your advice is unethical because you sounded very
harsh and insulting which is not right. When you want to advice someone look at both sides of the coin. There is a probability that you either get a head or a tail but you can't get both so it's a 50-50 per say. Like you said they are always "exceptions" but to be an exception you need to put in some work. Just because someone wasn't serious in their freshman or sophomore year of college doesn't mean they should be castigated or reprimanded for that.
If someone comes here and says they are "passionate" about pharmacy and really willing to work hard and turn their bad grades to good grades, ace the PCAT, volunteer etc why discourage that person? You can't force them to choose not to do it but tell them the pros and cons cuz basically you based your argument just about grades and loans but also you should be mindful that it's a risk, either you get in and excel or you are out. Look at both sides! But at the end of the day, the decision comes down to the individual. They won't do it just because you said they shouldn't.
In my opinion, if you are passionate about your field of interest whether pharmacy or whatever, you have matured enough, improved your grades and converted your struggles into success and you feel like you a competitive candidate, then go for it. On the other hand, if you are doing pharmacy because of the money or because you want to become " a doctor of pharmacy" and improving your grades just to get into the field, then I'll say it's not for you.
I'll try to make this short, because I still don't think you understand reality or how the world works, and I doubt you ever will.
1) The world does not function like a coin flip, 50-50. That is a very naive and ignorant view (this isn't being harsh, so try not to get your feelings hurt.) If you want to continue thinking that someone's path into pharmacy is just 50-50 based on their decision, then by all means go ahead. I can't really persuade a person out of their own skewed misconception.
2) Do you honestly believe that there's a huge difference between an 18 year old freshman and a 20 year old junior? People don't change that drastically. If someone wasn't mature enough when they were 18 (a full fledged adult), then they're not going to be mature at 20. If (and I mean a big fat
IF) there is someone who struggled their freshman and sophomore year of college due to partying, laziness, etc, and later "matured" and started working hard in pursuing their career and succeeded, that person is still a rare EXCEPTION. I don't know how many people you have actually met in your life that have miraculously turned their lives around, but that just doesn't happen often (and I'm talking MAYBE 1 out of 100 cases). And by the looks of not only this thread, but the vast number of other threads where people get F's in a science class, retake, and get a D, or they get a 23% on the PCAT, retake, and get a 43%,
most people are just not cut out for pharmacy school, no matter how "passionate" they are. Which leads me to my last point.
3) Passion is crap, so please just stop. You are spewing the same bull that these new money-hungry pharmacy schools are spewing.
Passion means nothing at all if you can't make it work. I have all the passion in the world to be the next Michael Jordan, but it doesn't matter how much I try to improve myself, it's not going to happen.
Change your passion to fit reality; don't try to change reality to fit your passion. People who have consistently done terrible in undergraduate classes or on the PCAT are NOT going to succeed in pharmacy school, no matter how much passion they have, or how many hours of extracurricular "experience" they gain. Again, if you want to continue to live in your little idealistic world where passion overcomes everything, then by all means, go ahead. But stop giving these gullible students your false view of the world; you are only doing them a disservice.
*Side note - the word "unethical" has nothing to do with being "mean" or "harsh" to people, so stop using it in that manner. Being unethical means being morally wrong. Advising people to face the harsh reality has nothing to do with morals. On the contrary, doing what
you are doing and leading people down a dangerous road by persuading them with your false encouragement and hopes could be considered "unethical."
