Need some perspective

[MaximBrutii]

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Hey, I just needed a bit of perspective from all you wonderful people. Now please be honest. I just recently graduated from The University of Kansas with a B.S. in Microbiology. Having said that, it took me a good 7 years to complete. The first 4 years (haha) I took a bunch of random courses and had my GPA dip to a low of about 2.5. After a brief 1 semester off, I did alot of soul searching and re-enrolled to finish out my school career. For the next three years, I raised my GPA up to a 3.17 with a science GPA of 3.38. (It was gonna be a lot higher but my last semester, I recieved all A's except for a D in Biochemestry II, douche bag teacher IMO) So, after I graduated, I moved out to Northern California because my aunt hooked me up with a job at Walgreens in the Pharmacy. So I've been working in the pharmacy for about 2 weeks now. That brings me up to now.

Now, for the future, I've enrolled in a volunteer service called Mobile Food Corp, and plan on volunteering for a sustantial amount of time; I plan on getting my PTCB certification and my Pharm Tech licsense. I'm pretty sure I can score a decent letter of rec from the supervising pharmacists and hopefully can get one from my anatomy teacher that I taught for. For the PCAT, I don't know if I should take it or not since I'll be applying to schools mostly in California. I am also thinking about applying to Pacific Oregon so I dont' think I should have to take the PCAT.

Given my current situation, do you guys think that I have a decent chance of being competitive for Pharmacy school by the time the deadlines roll around for Fall of 10? Feedback with honest perspectives are greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

 

[Passion4Sci]

Your overall "look" seems OK.

You had a hard time adjusting to college and you didn't take it seriously at first, but then you wisened up and there's a significant upward trend in your grades. You'll be applying with solid LoRs (I assume... How about academic ones? UCSF, for example, wants at least one person familiar with you as a student), pharmacy experience, and volunteerism. If you volunteer for a year, that'd look great.

An sGPA of 3.38 is plenty fine, and your cum. isn't bad either. I applaud your ability to go from a sub-3 to a B+ average, that's pretty impressive and does show a definite turn-around in your mentality. I'm sure I won't be the only one that sees that.

For the PCAT? Well, I took it in the event that I would apply to OOS schools, but I didn't end up needing to (Which might end up coming back to bite me in a few mos. but oh well). If you're pretty sure you only want to do pharm. school in CA and are OK applying to all the schools, I'd skip the PCAT, unless you really want to do it. And if you did, you could always go "no score" and just count it as a really expensive practice test 👍

I dunno, I don't usually say this very much on these types of threads, usually because the people are thinly veiled in their declarations that they truly are ready to step up to the plate and apply for pharmacy school, but you really do look like you've changed for the better. I think, if you continue doing what you're doing and maybe look into a hospital (Sutter and Mercy are good places to start, but I am generalizing your "northern california" location), even if it's the gift shop volunteering. Since you're not in school (right?) and probably have low expenses, if you can afford to volunteer at two places and work, I'd go for it. You did mention volunteering a good deal of time, so I'd spread it around. Definitely get some face-time in a clinical setting if at all possible, and a year allows you a great opportunity to even work your way into the ability to shadow a clin.pharm., which would sweeten the deal even further.

Shore up your LoRs and start writing your PS now. It's never too early to start doing that, if you ask me. You're a come-back kid, and everyone loves the "bootstraps" mentality a 2.5--->3.38 demonstrates.

Welcome to SDN!

 

[delano2000]

Very well put P4Sci. Welcome OP and your stats are indeed impressive. 👍

 

[pharm B]

I gotta admit:

If you aren't a nimrod with a complete lack of a grasp on the English language and a terrible GPA, you have a chance at getting into pharmacy school.

That's a general statement.

In your case, you have advanced chemistry and biology courses that your average 2nd year college student lacks. I think you'd be competitive and your interview would be your chance to lock in that position in the entering class.

 

[MaximBrutii]

Thank you all for your feedback. This was definitely what I was hoping to hear. I don't really believe in redemption, because it implies a selfish connotation, I do, however, believe in second chances and I really think that this may be my second chance. Thanks again 🙂.