Leaving pharmacy school and thinking about applying to DO schools.

[stroCP]

Hello fellow SDNers,

Due to a variety of reasons (bleak future of pharmacy, the itch to get more involved in overall patient care, unhappy with my specific pharmacy program and the field, limitations of the profession, etc), I'm leaving pharmacy school after completing 1 year and plan to apply to DO school in order to become a physician.

I'm going to have to take the MCAT and finish up my last year of my undergraduate degree before applying. I currently have a 3.48 undergraduate science gpa with a couple of grade replacement retakes factored in. My cumulative undergraduate gpa is around 3.48 as well. This is disregarding the +/- in my grades.

My main question is, would my grades during pharmacy school be factored in to my science gpa that DO schools will look at? I didn't do too great gradewise for various reasons and would hope those grades wouldn't be included in my science or cumulative gpa.

I still have 1 year of upperlevel science courses that I need to complete in order to complete my degree so hopefully, my undergraduate science gpa will increase a bit more. I just don't want schools to factor in my pharmacy school grades into my science or cumulative gpa or else my overall gpa would be lower.

I've done some research(no publications) and volunteered a few hundred hours at a hospital already. I've volunteered extensively for non-profit organizations as well and held a leadership position. I also will have 6 months of shadowing experience with a physician by the time I apply for next year's cycle.

If I obtain a 30+ MCAT score with an undergraduate gpa of ~3.5, would I be a competitive applicant for DO schools such as TCOM or NSU-COM? I'm just worried about adcoms looking at my pharmacy grades and not giving me an interview invite or including those grades in my science gpa.

Thanks for the help!

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[BestDoctorEver]

Any classes you take in college will be included in your GPAs (including pharmacy classes). Try to finish strong in your last year of undergrad so you can make up for your not so hot grades in pharm school. 3.4-3.5 c/sGPA and 30+ MCAT with good ECs will make you competitive at all DO schools.

 

[NeuroLAX]

Just as a heads up, my graduate courses were documented and factored into my GPA when applying to NSU-COM. You will need to provide transcripts for your pharmacy grades. That's part of the overall process that you simply can't ignore.

Plan on having a well thought-out response to your decision to change careers. The dean of NSU-COM, Dr. Silvagni, is a DO PharmD. I'm not sure how your situation will be looked at, but I'm just letting you know that you wouldn't be the first to change from pharmacy to medicine at NSU-COM. In addition to having a good response for your career change, it will serve you well to have a response to discuss your performance in pharmacy school.

Your ECs are decent. I would try and get involved in more community activities. NSU-COM is huge on community service (it is a required component to our curriculum), so having something significant to say about your experiences would be a plus. If you haven't already, shadow a DO. It can only help you to have some exposure and be able to talk about it.

 

[EMDO2018]

Any classes you take in college will be included in your GPAs (including pharmacy classes). Try to finish strong in your last year of undergrad so you can make up for your not so hot grades in pharm school. 3.4-3.5 c/sGPA and 30+ MCAT with good ECs will make you competitive at all DO schools.

Are you from America? Because American generally understand Pharmacy is a graduate program.

 

[brew]

Are you from America? Because American generally understand Pharmacy is a graduate program.

There are some 6 (prob also 7 and 8) year programs for Bachelor/PharmD from what I understand.

Also, TCOM is a state school so if you were from TX, your chances would be much better.

Your Pharmacy grades will also be included in AACOMAS and I wouldn't see why they wouldn't be a science course.

Good luck!

 

[costales]

Be aware TCOM doesn't use grade replacement because it's a member of TMDSAS, not AACOMAS.

 

[Mad Jack]

Are you from America? Because American generally understand Pharmacy is a graduate program.

As was noted previously, there are many 6 year Pharm programs out there where you start pharmacy courses after second year and end with a PharmD. Given that this guy didn't finish his B.S., I'm assuming he's in one of those.

How bad were your pharmacy grades anyway? And is that 3.48 including your pharmacy grades or not?

 

[Goro]

Yes.

My main question is, would my grades during pharmacy school be factored in to my science gpa that DO schools will look at? I didn't do too great gradewise for various reasons and would hope those grades wouldn't be included in my science or cumulative gpa.

What is your current cGPA? sGPA? Count every course you've taken. If > 3.2, you're fine.


If I obtain a 30+ MCAT score with an undergraduate gpa of ~3.5, would I be a competitive applicant for DO schools such as TCOM or NSU-COM? I'm just worried about adcoms looking at my pharmacy grades and not giving me an interview invite or including those grades in my science gpa.

 

[user3]

Hello fellow SDNers,

Due to a variety of reasons (bleak future of pharmacy, the itch to get more involved in overall patient care, unhappy with my specific pharmacy program and the field, limitations of the profession, etc), I'm leaving pharmacy school after completing 1 year and plan to apply to DO school in order to become a physician.

I'm going to have to take the MCAT and finish up my last year of my undergraduate degree before applying. I currently have a 3.48 undergraduate science gpa with a couple of grade replacement retakes factored in. My cumulative undergraduate gpa is around 3.48 as well. This is disregarding the +/- in my grades.

My main question is, would my grades during pharmacy school be factored in to my science gpa that DO schools will look at? I didn't do too great gradewise for various reasons and would hope those grades wouldn't be included in my science or cumulative gpa.

I still have 1 year of upperlevel science courses that I need to complete in order to complete my degree so hopefully, my undergraduate science gpa will increase a bit more. I just don't want schools to factor in my pharmacy school grades into my science or cumulative gpa or else my overall gpa would be lower.

I've done some research(no publications) and volunteered a few hundred hours at a hospital already. I've volunteered extensively for non-profit organizations as well and held a leadership position. I also will have 6 months of shadowing experience with a physician by the time I apply for next year's cycle.

If I obtain a 30+ MCAT score with an undergraduate gpa of ~3.5, would I be a competitive applicant for DO schools such as TCOM or NSU-COM? I'm just worried about adcoms looking at my pharmacy grades and not giving me an interview invite or including those grades in my science gpa.

Thanks for the help!

Even if your pharmacy school grades bring down your science GPA to 3.3, a 24 mcat should still get you in somewhere if you apply widely. A 27 would probably get you into an established school

 

[stroCP]

Thanks for the replies!

After taking into account my pharmacy grades as well as assuming I finish my last year of undergrad very strong, I come out to a 3.25 science gpa NOT using the grade replacement method. This is to check what my gpa would be if applying to TCOM. I am a Texas resident by the way. Otherwise, if using the grade replacement method on a couple of classes, I have a 3.35 science gpa. My cumulative would be slightly higher than that.

Would it be looked down upon that I left pharmacy school after a year and didn't do too great while I was there? There are some reasons behind that that I could explain.

My ideal situation would be getting in TCOM but that seems pretty tough since it's a highly regarded school. Would I have a chance with a 3.25 science gpa and a MCAT of 30-32 at TCOM? My physician rec's would be good, I would have plenty of shadowing experience, professor rec's won't be outstanding and OK at best, I've done some research in the past and volunteered a couple hundred hours in a hospital already.

If that's a long shot, what about schools like NSU-COM or others in the same regional area? With schools that take grade replacement, my science gpa would be 3.35.

I wouldn't be able to apply this next cycle, I would probably have to apply summer 2015.

Thanks!

 

[stroCP]

Thanks for the replies!

After taking into account my pharmacy grades as well as assuming I finish my last year of undergrad very strong, I come out to a 3.25 science gpa NOT using the grade replacement method. This is to check what my gpa would be if applying to TCOM. I am a Texas resident by the way. Otherwise, if using the grade replacement method on a couple of classes, I have a 3.35 science gpa. My cumulative would be slightly higher than that.

Would it be looked down upon that I left pharmacy school after a year and didn't do too great while I was there? There are some reasons behind that that I could explain.

My ideal situation would be getting in TCOM but that seems pretty tough since it's a highly regarded school. Would I have a chance with a 3.25 science gpa and a MCAT of 30-32 at TCOM? My physician rec's would be good, I would have plenty of shadowing experience, professor rec's won't be outstanding and OK at best, I've done some research in the past and volunteered a couple hundred hours in a hospital already.

If that's a long shot, what about schools like NSU-COM or others in the same regional area? With schools that take grade replacement, my science gpa would be 3.35.

I wouldn't be able to apply this next cycle, I would probably have to apply summer 2015.

Thanks!

Bump. Any opinions?

Thanks

 

[stroCP]

Thanks for the replies!

After taking into account my pharmacy grades as well as assuming I finish my last year of undergrad very strong, I come out to a 3.25 science gpa NOT using the grade replacement method. This is to check what my gpa would be if applying to TCOM. I am a Texas resident by the way. Otherwise, if using the grade replacement method on a couple of classes, I have a 3.35 science gpa. My cumulative would be slightly higher than that.

Would it be looked down upon that I left pharmacy school after a year and didn't do too great while I was there? There are some reasons behind that that I could explain.

My ideal situation would be getting in TCOM but that seems pretty tough since it's a highly regarded school. Would I have a chance with a 3.25 science gpa and a MCAT of 30-32 at TCOM? My physician rec's would be good, I would have plenty of shadowing experience, professor rec's won't be outstanding and OK at best, I've done some research in the past and volunteered a couple hundred hours in a hospital already.

If that's a long shot, what about schools like NSU-COM or others in the same regional area? With schools that take grade replacement, my science gpa would be 3.35.

I wouldn't be able to apply this next cycle, I would probably have to apply summer 2015.

Thanks!

Sorry for the bump again but just wondering if you guys have any opinions on my competitiveness for acceptance at DO schools with these stats and EC's.

Thanks!

 

[Lost Vagus]

No way to tell how competitive you are without an MCAT score. Your gpa seems fine, but you will probably need to score at least a 28 on the mcat to get in to a Texas school. Before you do this, make sure being a physician is 100% right for you. You could potentially be done with pharm school by the time you get accepted to medical school. However, you can't help what your heart wants. Tough way to learn a lesson but I wish you nothing but the best.

 

[superjock]

I think you

Sorry for the bump again but just wondering if you guys have any opinions on my competitiveness for acceptance at DO schools with these stats and EC's.

Thanks!

I think you will have a hard time at those schools, maybe a new school you might be able to with a super Mcat.

Why were you pharmacy grades so low?

Without a good reason, I think it would be hard to get in. When I went to pharmacy school I only studied 4 to 8 hours a week and got a 3.5 Without trying. 8 years later I applied to medical school, DO and I am currently attending. The main thing is I went from my lets say on the high end 8 hours weekly to 40 hours weekly outside of class.
These are all the same pharmacy classes plus extra classes. You have a lot more volume of work to accomplish in med school. I wouldn't recommend switching unless you are able to handle quadruple the work load. I honestly thought I would be doing the same 8 hours outside of class weekly for med school. I was wrong