Keep or revise original plan?

[pharmula]

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Hey guys, so I feel as though I had everything all planned out to apply to pharm school but now am stuck & the more I think about it, the more confusing this becomes. So I desperately need all of your insights.

Original plan:
-take pcats in Jan
-take anatomy & re-take organic chem 1 this spring semester at the college where I got my BS degree.
-finish up personal statement & apply for fall 2013 once pharmcas opens in June
-wait for interviews but keep retaking classes in the fall at the community college in case I don't get in (gpa is a 2.88).

Now, because I took prereq's at a community college over the summer & this sem since I've graduated, I must reapply as a transfer student, get no
financial aid, and register in Jan when those 2 classes..anatomy & organic 1.. will most definitely be full. The point of taking it at the college was that I could just take one sem of anatomy since I've already taken physiology during undergrad where as at a community college I'd have to take 2 semesters of anatomy & physiology. Also, at the college I can take just the organic lecture (since I did fine in lab) but at the cc I'd need to retake the lab as well. But now I'm wondering if I should just do everything at the cc because the adcoms will see this jumping around and also it's more financially affordable. But I don't want to do it to take the easy way out; I know cc classes are less favorable. I just can't retake them all at the college again it's too expensive and I'm in enough loan debt. What do you guys think?

If I'm just retaking these classes, why not apply in Jan if I do well on the pcats? Or apply now, and just send my pcats in Jan? But is that unwise given my gpa? I know it's best to apply early hence the original plan. I hope I laid this out well & it's easy to understand... I know in my head it's all a jumbled mess of thoughts..

 

[pharmula]

Anyone please?

 

[xtsukiyox]

I think I'm a little confused by your post. Also, don't take it personal that you didn't receive any response over the weekend... a lot of people went out for the holiday instead of spending the weekend at SDN. 😀

With a 2.88 GPA, it will help an awful lot if you can kill the PCAT. If you do poorly in January, applying during the 2012 cycle (for Fall 2013) will allow you the chance to retake in July & still be early in the game. I took the July PCAT this year & had my app completed by mid-September.

I will hazard that you will need to apply widely to be accepted to a CoP, not knowing the rest of your stats.

At first blush, another suggestion I'd make is to make sure you're hitting those ECs hard - volunteer, find pharmacy experience, make the connections for your recommendations. Good recommendations & ECs can really make an app stand out.

As I see it, if you apply for 2012 matriculation, you have one semester to get all your classes in line (well, maybe summer). If you apply for 2013, you have three (plus 2 summers).

Information that will help give a better answer:
- What were your grades in the classes you are proposing retaking?
- Do you need to take Anatomy either way, or is it a retake? Do you have any other prereqs to finish?
- Can you actually afford to take the classes you need at Uni? If not, it kills that option anyway.
- If you're willing to share, which state are you in? (Someone might have more applicable information if we know where you are.) Are you willing to apply widely / move for pharma school?
- Why is your GPA the way it is? What is your recent GPA? Or, is the GPA a result of freshman mistakes or is it a trend? If it's a trend, how will that trend change? What is your science GPA?
- What sort of ECs do you have? Pharmacy experience?

 

[pharmula]

thanks for replying xtsukiyox! Haha this is true about the holiday. Sorry about the confusing post. I've decided what to do about classes. I'll take them at a cc nearby and have planned when to retake the pre-req's. So the only question is whether to apply NOW or for fall 2013.

I didnt do well my first 2 years due to very little motivation and no focus on what I wanted to do..so my grades reflected that.
PreCalc: C+
Calc: W, W, D, C
Biostats: B+
Gen Bio 1: C. Lab W, C
Gen Bio 2: W,C. Lab A-
Gen Chem 1: D- (on transcript it says course repeated, hours excluded, so would this get averaged into the GPA?), C. Lab A-
Gen Chem 2: C. Lab B+
Org Chem 1: C-. Lab B
Org Chem 2: B-. Lab B
Adv Org Chem: C+
Biochem: B-
Adv Biochem: D
Physics 1: W, A-. Lab B+
Physics 2: C. Lab B+
Physiology: C. Lab A
Microbio: B-
Intermediate Cell bio: A

Retakes will be:
-Anatomy (took physiology though, not anatomy)
-Organic I
-gen chem 1&2
-bio 1&2
Currently taking macro.

All electives are A's and B's. There is an overall upward trend in grades, but I hit the occasional C and then got a D in adv biochem my last semester of college..ugh. So i'm aiming to earn A's when retaking classes and make that trend much stronger.
You asked where I live, I live in NJ. I'm planning to apply to about 12 schools.. all i need is one 1 acceptance. Will it help to tell you which schools? Yes, I'm willing to move out everywhere and anywhere for 4 yrs, as long as I earn a pharmD.
-I have a BS in biochem & molecular bio, two minors in public health and writing. The only weak part about my app is my grades. I've held student leadership positions in clubs, I've volunteered in health fields for years, I worked in a rehabilitation hospital for 5 yrs, I recently got a job as a pharm tech at our regional hospital. I performed undergrad research in bio for a yr & presented it twice. I have good, solid recommendations and am working on getting to know the pharmacists at work as well

 

[xtsukiyox]

With the caveat that I'm also a 2012 applicant, your application does sound solid to me, besides the GPA.

What is your max PharmCAS GPA you could achieve with these retakes? Whether to apply for 2012 really depends on how much you can improve your application between now & next cycle. PS, to answer your question about the D-: yes, I believe it will be averaged in with the other attempts for PharmCAS's standard formula.

Not all schools calculate GPAs the same - make sure you do your research & find schools with policies favorable to your situation.

While I have very limited exposure to the admissions process with different schools, it might help others who have more direct experience with those schools if you list the ones you are planning to apply to (for 2013). Others might also have suggestions you hadn't looked at yet. 🙂

Here's what I'd suggest:
- Take the PCAT in January. Study hard & set yourself up to score the best you can. In fact, start studying now.

- Start writing & polishing your personal statement, if you haven't already.

- Reevaluate based on your preliminary score report. If you did very well, you may consider applying to PCAT schools with late deadlines (February 1, I think there is at least one with a March deadline), as long as those schools don't have rolling admissions. Bonus points if the late deadline schools have favorable GPA policies.

- Prior to deciding to apply or not for 2012, make sure to have a serious think about whether you will regret not applying. It sounds like you might. What are the pros & cons? One con is that since some schools may have already seen your app, you'll have to work that much harder in 2013 to improve / overcome weaknesses identified in 2012.

- If you decide to apply for 2012 & get denied, contact the adcoms for those schools & ask if you can make an appointment to go over your application weaknesses. Evaluate which can be strengthened most effectively.

- Continue to do your excellent ECs.

- If you didn't score exceptionally, retake the PCAT in July & don't apply for 2012. Be prepared to begin PharmCAS as early as possible (it opens in June), & make sure your personal statement drafted now is applicable then. Click that submit button just as soon as you can.

 

[mbpuffer]

With a 2.88 GPA, it will help an awful lot if you can kill the PCAT. If you do poorly in January, applying during the 2012 cycle (for Fall 2013) will allow you the chance to retake in July & still be early in the game. I took the July PCAT this year & had my app completed by mid-September.

In your opinion, what score would you consider to 'kill' the PCAT? 70+ Composite with a high (ie 80+ score) in Chemistry?

 

[xtsukiyox]

In your opinion, what score would you consider to 'kill' the PCAT? 70+ Composite with a high (ie 80+ score) in Chemistry?

As high as you can get. While a 70 is a good score, it's the average for many schools' matriculating classes I've seen (MWU-CPG is a 77 for 2010 I think, or at least that neighborhood). You'll need to use the PCAT to demonstrate that you can perform well using the information from your prereq classes, since your GPA doesn't exactly demonstrate that for you at first blush.

Strictly speaking, I'd consider a 90+ "killing" the PCAT. 😎 I hesitate to make that recommendation on an anonymous board, because I realize some people are just not able to perform that well on a standardized test & I don't want to discourage. I guess what I'm trying to say is set your sights high.

 

[mbpuffer]

As high as you can get. While a 70 is a good score, it's the average for many schools' matriculating classes I've seen (MWU-CPG is a 77 for 2010 I think, or at least that neighborhood). You'll need to use the PCAT to demonstrate that you can perform well using the information from your prereq classes, since your GPA doesn't exactly demonstrate that for you at first blush.

Strictly speaking, I'd consider a 90+ "killing" the PCAT. 😎 I hesitate to make that recommendation on an anonymous board, because I realize some people are just not able to perform that well on a standardized test & I don't want to discourage. I guess what I'm trying to say is set your sights high.

Thanks for your feedback. I took the PCAT for the first time and got a 73 composite. I don't know how likely it would be to raise that to a 80+ composite because I have been out of school for 6 years and studied for a quarter of the year before taking the PCAT for the first time. Also, I need to convince myself that the $200 registration fee would be worth it to attempt at getting a higher score. #frustrating

 

[xtsukiyox]

Thanks for your feedback. I took the PCAT for the first time and got a 73 composite. I don't know how likely it would be to raise that to a 80+ composite because I have been out of school for 6 years and studied for a quarter of the year before taking the PCAT for the first time. Also, I need to convince myself that the $200 registration fee would be worth it to attempt at getting a higher score. #frustrating

Is there something specific you can target that might impact your score? A low quantitative score or something?

I must have I mixed these posts up & thought you'd said you have a low GPA (OP has 2.88). I guess the point is that you'd be in a stronger position with an outstanding score to offset a low GPA. What is your situation? 73 is relatively competitive, if the rest of your application is there.

 

[mbpuffer]

Is there something specific you can target that might impact your score? A low quantitative score or something?

I must have I mixed these posts up & thought you'd said you have a low GPA (OP has 2.88). I guess the point is that you'd be in a stronger position with an outstanding score to offset a low GPA. What is your situation? 73 is relatively competitive, if the rest of your application is there.

Verbal 53
Bio 71
RC 52
QA 75
Chem 88
Comp 73

 

[xtsukiyox]

Verbal 53
Bio 71
RC 52
QA 75
Chem 88
Comp 73

That seems like a relatively solid performance. What does the rest of your app look like?