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I kind of feel compelled to write this post because from what I gather on various thread regarding the Tulane Pharm program. I hope this helps some of you pre-meders because I was in the same boat.
I entered this program in 2008, completed in 2009.
First a little background.....
My undergrad GPA wasnt very hot, 2.97....graduated in 2006, but I did a bunch of post-bac work at a local university. I took the MCAT twice previous to this program, with a 25 & 26. I applied to the Pharm program, thinking that I wouldn't get into it because of the minimum GPA requirements, but i figured what the hell, and sure enough I got accepted.
The Pharm program has changed a bit in course structure since my completion of the program. During my time there, a thesis was required and there were only 28 hours i believed that were required for completion. Now I believe that the thesis is optional by taking additional coursework and it is 32 hours required for completion. As I'm sure others have stated in this course, that the strength of the course lies in the Medical Pharmacology course taken with 2nd year medical students. This is the truth, but in all honesty it wasn't very hard to do well, as long as you put the time and effort into it.
The pharm professors kept mentioning this over and over throughout the program that they want you to develop, "a different way of thinking." I didn't really understand what they meant at the time. I realized what they meant after I took the MCAT (post-pharm program) where I managed a score of a 31. It really helped my analytical skills which proved crucial in the Bio section of the MCAT where I placed in the 95 percentile.
The year after the pharm program, I mainly worked on improving my MCAT score, putting in 6-8 hours a day, 5 days a week....for a good 5 months. I solely attribute my success on the MCAT due to the pharm program, which I can't stress enough to prospective students.
This past cycle I applied Early decision to Tulane, due to the encouragement of Dr. Beckman (the associate Dean of admissions, who teaches in the pharmacology department). Sure enough, I was in the 1st group of students being interviewed for the 2011 school year. During my interview with Father Don, I was asked my undergrad GPA, and after I replied, along with my pharm grades, the interviewer stated, "Don't worry about your undergraduate grades, you fixed that through the pharmacology program." Hearing this in a medical school interview, I really thought I was day-dreaming, I was just simply shocked by those words coming from him. I thought i was going to get grilled left and right for my mediocre performance in undergrad. The rest of the interview could not have gone any better and I got accepted October 1st. So this program gave me exactly what I needed, an improvement (fixing) my GPA.
The Tulane Pharmacology program (sounds cliche), changed my life in a way I could not have even imagined. Looking at my stats before the pharmacology program, I was just hoping for a lower tiered DO school.....and through this program I achieved the unthinkable in my eyes, getting accepted to an Allopathic institution. I hope my story can give others a little inspiration through enough determination, perseverance, and sheer hard-work, that anything is possible no matter where you stand at.
Note: Speaking with professors in the pharm program in Sept 2010, they said that the program is getting harder to get into, they didnt mention how. Overall the program has a success rate of 80%, where 80% of the students completing the program are accepted into a medical school. My class, the success rate was 60% (out of 33 people if i recall correctly).
-Some of you are going to ask me what the specific linkage rates are to Tulane Med, and I simply don't know.
-To even be considered for Tulane Med, you need an MCAT at the very least of 30, something to keep in mind.
Hope this helps someone....
I entered this program in 2008, completed in 2009.
First a little background.....
My undergrad GPA wasnt very hot, 2.97....graduated in 2006, but I did a bunch of post-bac work at a local university. I took the MCAT twice previous to this program, with a 25 & 26. I applied to the Pharm program, thinking that I wouldn't get into it because of the minimum GPA requirements, but i figured what the hell, and sure enough I got accepted.
The Pharm program has changed a bit in course structure since my completion of the program. During my time there, a thesis was required and there were only 28 hours i believed that were required for completion. Now I believe that the thesis is optional by taking additional coursework and it is 32 hours required for completion. As I'm sure others have stated in this course, that the strength of the course lies in the Medical Pharmacology course taken with 2nd year medical students. This is the truth, but in all honesty it wasn't very hard to do well, as long as you put the time and effort into it.
The pharm professors kept mentioning this over and over throughout the program that they want you to develop, "a different way of thinking." I didn't really understand what they meant at the time. I realized what they meant after I took the MCAT (post-pharm program) where I managed a score of a 31. It really helped my analytical skills which proved crucial in the Bio section of the MCAT where I placed in the 95 percentile.
The year after the pharm program, I mainly worked on improving my MCAT score, putting in 6-8 hours a day, 5 days a week....for a good 5 months. I solely attribute my success on the MCAT due to the pharm program, which I can't stress enough to prospective students.
This past cycle I applied Early decision to Tulane, due to the encouragement of Dr. Beckman (the associate Dean of admissions, who teaches in the pharmacology department). Sure enough, I was in the 1st group of students being interviewed for the 2011 school year. During my interview with Father Don, I was asked my undergrad GPA, and after I replied, along with my pharm grades, the interviewer stated, "Don't worry about your undergraduate grades, you fixed that through the pharmacology program." Hearing this in a medical school interview, I really thought I was day-dreaming, I was just simply shocked by those words coming from him. I thought i was going to get grilled left and right for my mediocre performance in undergrad. The rest of the interview could not have gone any better and I got accepted October 1st. So this program gave me exactly what I needed, an improvement (fixing) my GPA.
The Tulane Pharmacology program (sounds cliche), changed my life in a way I could not have even imagined. Looking at my stats before the pharmacology program, I was just hoping for a lower tiered DO school.....and through this program I achieved the unthinkable in my eyes, getting accepted to an Allopathic institution. I hope my story can give others a little inspiration through enough determination, perseverance, and sheer hard-work, that anything is possible no matter where you stand at.
Note: Speaking with professors in the pharm program in Sept 2010, they said that the program is getting harder to get into, they didnt mention how. Overall the program has a success rate of 80%, where 80% of the students completing the program are accepted into a medical school. My class, the success rate was 60% (out of 33 people if i recall correctly).
-Some of you are going to ask me what the specific linkage rates are to Tulane Med, and I simply don't know.
-To even be considered for Tulane Med, you need an MCAT at the very least of 30, something to keep in mind.
Hope this helps someone....
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