lost and confused...

[kittygirl]

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so i am kinda panicking right now, because i have no idea how the pharmacy application process works. my pre-health advisor is totally incompetent... when i went to see him, all he did was print the pharmcas checklist out for me and told me that was all he could do. ugh. well im planning to apply to schools during summer 08 and enter pharm school in fall 09... so can anyone tell me what im supposed to do at this point? should i take the pcat in january or june? (i have to decide soon!)... and am i supposed to send my scores out to the schools before I take the PCAT? i just dont know much about the process at all, so Im wondering if i can get some clarification.

i haven't met any pre-pharm students at my school yet. most of my friends are pre-med, and they're already going through the committee process... and here i am wondering why I havent done anything yet regarding getting into pharmacy school. please help!!

 

[DreamSeller]

I don't know if they still offer the PCAT in January, but I recommend you to take it in June, that way if you don't do well, you can always retake it in August and still have your score sent to Pharmcas. The code for Pharmcas is 104. Some schools might want you to send the score directly to them and the PCAT allows 3 places that you can send the score to, after that I believe it's $20 a school. I might be wrong on how much they charge for that.

You need to go to the Pharmcas website and play around with it a little bit. Pick out the schools that you want to apply. Then see if you meet their requirements. See what other classes you need to take. What recommendations do they need. Some schools require letters from pharmacist, some require from a science professor and some will require both. So make sure you ask them in advance and give them time to write the letters.

You won't be able to do anything with Pharmcas now. You have to wait until June 1st to register, then you can enter all of your information in there. You have to enter all of the courses that you've taken and Pharmcas will calculate your GPA. You will also need to send in your transcripts to Pharmcas. Almost all of the school have supp. application that you have to fill out and send the application directly to the school and they can cost anywhere from $25 to $100. It is going to be very expensive depending on how many schools you want to apply to.

If you don't have any pharmacy experience, then you need to work on that too.

 

[ADN1226]

First off - dont panic! you've found a great place with lots of info so feel free to look around.

Since you're planning to apply during summer 08 - i'm assuming you will finish most of the pre-reqs by that time right?

First off -- research the schools you're interest in. Look to see if they use PharmCAS and require PCATs -- if a few of the schools you're interested in uses the PharmCAS application, you can just fill out that application and designate all of those schools - pay pharmcas and they will send the application to each school themselves.

Now if these schools use pharmcas and requires PCAT - look at each schools' website to see where they want these scores sent - usually its to pharmcas only - but sometimes they want it sent to their school directly so check that out. If they want you to use pharmcas, on the PCAT application you will send only to pharmcas. (ex: say you're applying to Midwestern ccp - they require PCAT scores from pharmcas - so on the PCAT app you only need to send to pharmcas, NOT both!)

If the school you're applying to uses their own application then you will have to use that and send the PCAT scores directly to each of these schools.

As to when to take the PCAT its on you. If you've finished the general pre-reqs, bio, chem, orgo, then you should be prepared to take the PCAT however, A&P, microbio will be even better preparation.... so if you will finish these classes in May 08 -- I would take the PCAT in june 08. that way you also have the summer to study -- and your scores will be in very early.

You can take it in jan 08 if you feel that you are prepared; that way you get it done with and you'll only have applications to worry about come june.

So you've got options - do research this website to get more info, read the FAQ, use the search option. - i hope my answers were clear. Good luck!

 

[kittygirl]

wow thank you so much. i wasnt expecting any responses this early! hmm, so there will be microbiology on the pcat? i am enrolled in anatomy in the spring, but i didnt know microbiology was a pre-req. i guess ill be taking that course in the fall then! and oh, we don't have to finish our pre-reqs before we apply right? i have yet to take public speaking..

 

[ADN1226]

Microbio is a pre-req for some schools - very few. but there are some questions about microbio on the PCAT - but i'm sure if you focus on bacteria / viruses from biology that should be enough.

PS a lot of us are addicted to SDN - its like the new facebook hehe. but more useful!

 

[Milk Man]

All of the micro is very basic, and it seems to be without fail that in some form or another, the question "What is the difference between a gram positive and a gram negative organism" always comes up.


If you know that, along with all the basics of micro, that should suffice.

 

[DrKKG]

I know microbio is required for USC and the lab too....