Late starter looking for guidance

[kujo23]

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I am a 31 year old father of 2 with the goal of becoming a pharmacist. I am happily married and love my family very much. My family is the source of my greatest strength and joy. While I may have made some mistakes, my family is the most amazing and important thing in my life. I have traveled a long and difficult path to get to where I am and I am now looking for advice from those that might have any experience gleaned from similar experiences. (really any helpful advice is appreciated)

School was always difficult for me. Tests and material came relatively easy but my focus (lack of), anxiety, and poor personal habits prevented me from becoming who wanted to be. I have attended 3 community colleges and a university on and off since high school with little success. I have always been determined to become more than I was, but time and time again I failed. Two years ago I began to speak with my doctor concerning my academic frustrations and we came to the diagnosis of ADD and anxiety.

I have always been suspicious of such a diagnosis but I had let the prejudice of people around me influence my belief in a negative way. The idea was that ADD and ADHD are usually just excuses for the lazy and disorganized. I knew that it was a real problem for some people, but over-diagnoses made me think doctors and parents were diagnosing teens as an easy way to excuse poor performance and/or behavior. My ignorance made me think of it as an excuse, not a causative factor in my life. (I realize it is a real problem for many, and I always have known that; I just thought it was ALSO used as an excuse much of the time.)

I started changing my daily habits with diet and exercise, as well as a daily prescription. The result was immediate and powerful. It was like stumbling through the woods at night for years and then someone handing you a flashlight.

My habits aren't perfect, and I still have my struggles, but who doesn't? I have broken free of many chains that bound me, but there are more I can never be rid of. My academic past is a mess and I can't erase what was done.

Now time for the hard truth:

College 1: 10 W's, 7 F's, GPA less than 2
College 2: 24 W's, 3 F's GPA just over 2
College 3: 0 W's, 0 F's GPA 3.4
PCAT score: 81 composite

Cum GPA self calculating is just at 2.5 with a science cum GPA at 2.3.

The first schools I never took any loans, it was all out of my pocket. The last college I started attending was after my change in lifestyle. I was also working full time and taking 18-21 credits/sem. I am now attending a state university and doing well. I am not straight A's, but I don't ever get below a B. I have to work to support my family, otherwise I would have more time for better grades.

My problem is that my GPA can't change very fast. Even with straight A's it would take me years to move it above 2.5 cum science. I also don't have time to be involved in many extracurricular activities.

I have learned a lot about myself over the past 10 years. I have worked in sales, healthcare, IT, and construction. I know what I've liked and not liked in each setting. Through my trials I have come full circle to pharmacy (my original plan since high school). I have never been involved in any legal trouble aside from an occasional speeding ticket and I've never been involved with any drugs aside from the legal kinds.

I know I have given more information than many of you care to have, but I am hoping to give a clear picture of who I am. I am having a hard time finding many schools with academic forgiveness, so if you know any with very low GPA requirements please let me know.

I know there are many reasons not to continue and to just give up and do something else, but I am not ready to surrender. This post may come across a little like a pity party. If it does I am sorry, but please don't judge me too harshly. I am a happy person and happy to be on the path that I am on, but I also realize I have to be realistic.

Thank you for your time.

 

[JakeOgle]

My advice, fight for what you want and don't give up. If you get the opportunity to get into an interview you have to lay it all down and let them know that you desire to do this. It's will take you forever to boost the GPA even with retakes. Some schools might look at your PCAT and interview along with extra curricular activities and weigh less on the GPA. It all depends on the school you apply to. But don't give up just because the GPA is low because they consider other aspects than your GPA.
And remember this, even though your 31 it's better late than never. You seem like a guy who wants to give his family the world so do what's necessary to get there man. Best of Luck

 

[jackal head]

Have you looked into pharmcas? It's a good way to quickly check the requirements of every school in the states. Honestly, even at 2.5 it'll be practically impossible since many schools will have a minimum at 2.7. Do other schools really have to know about those early grades? You might want to see if there is anyway you can retake some of those classes and "forget" to send the earlier transcripts.

Cumulative gpa is important but doing well on the pre-requisite is usually the main thing so check to see what your pre-req gpa would be too.

 

[kujo23]

> JakeOgle, thank you for the response. The encouragement means a lot when I am staring down these facts.

>> jackal head, I have looked into pharmcas, but I didn't see a way to view schools by their GPA requirement. I'll probably just have to continue my search, eliminating each systematically. I am concerned that my integrity would come into question if I "forgot" my transcripts. But I won't say that I wasn't tempted. My 3rd college adviser told me to not transfer anything from the old schools and start over fresh, so everything from that school with the good grades is from the ground up. My original plan was to just use everything from that school, but then I read that pharmcas requires ALL previous coursework (complete with academic background checks to catch people). It is discouraging because I feel "damned if I do, damned if I don't." Thus the need for schools that don't have a minimum GPA requirement, like Hilo HI. I know I won't be attending top tier schools, which is a shame for me and them both, but I believe the person makes the pharmacist (or OD, MD, DDS etc.) not the school. (but admittedly a good school could make someone that is good, better)

 

[techniques]

I was in the same boat a few years ago. Whatever you do, you must get your cumulative PharmCAS GPA over 3.0. If you don't, don't even bother applying - the ADCOM computers will spit out your application before a person gets a chance to even look at it. I applied with similar stats a few years ago and was rejected a week after the schools had received my application. 10 Fs isn't that bad. I had 12 and still managed to get my cumulative GPA to a 3.2. It took me a while and I had to be damn near perfect academically but I have a few acceptances so far after applying this year. Good luck.

 

[PharmtoCS]

I was in the same boat a few years ago. Whatever you do, you must get your cumulative PharmCAS GPA over 3.0. If you don't, don't even bother applying - the ADCOM computers will spit out your application before a person gets a chance to even look at it. I applied with similar stats a few years ago and was rejected a week after the schools had received my application. 10 Fs isn't that bad. I had 12 and still managed to get my cumulative GPA to a 3.2. It took me a while and I had to be damn near perfect academically but I have a few acceptances so far after applying this year. Good luck.

It depends on the school. In my area, the cutoff is generally 2.8, whereas for other schools it is 2.5 or 3.0.

 

[velvet75]

I have been in a similar situation as well. I had some bad semesters with F's & W's but I just made sure to retake those courses. I know when I applied to TX Tech awhile back they told me they would not look at those bad grades if they were taken a certain number of years ago. I can't remember how many years but I want to say if those grades were older than 6 or 7 years then they did not calculate it into your GPA so essentially your GPA would be end ip being higher. So if I were you I would look up pharmacy schools that have similar policies.

My other advice is to NOT "forget" to send in all transcripts. I really did not want to send in my bad grades but I also did not want to be viewed as being dishonest. Instead, I remember sending in an explanation to the schools about my bad grades and what I learned from that experience and what changes I made to improve my grades. I do believe being honest is the best way. I held nothing back! I was even suspended from school for one semester due to those bad grades but did not hide it. I did end up getting accepted to TX Tech & Tx A&M. I chose TX A&M and now am currently in my 3rd year of pharmacy school.

I understand it is difficult to bring up your GPA but just keep trying! Don't give up! I have been there! I also have two kids and one on the way! It will be difficult but it can be done. Best of luck to you.