No experience, but good grades

[UCFGrad]

I am applying only to the University of Florida College of Pharmacy for admission next Fall. How important is Pharmacy experience in getting accepted? I have no experience because the area I live in is already saturated with pharmacy techs. However, my GPA is 3.97 and I am pretty confident that I will do well on the PCAT. Does anyone know how important having pharm. experience is? I plan to have some within the next year, before school starts, but that won't help my application. Thanks for your advice!

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[npp71681]

Hi!
UCFGrad,

From what I have heard is Pharmacy experience is not required for the admissions, but it is recommonded so that you can do better in your Interview.

If you're applying next Fall, then you've 1 year to get some pharmacy related experience. If you can't find a job as a Pharmacy Clerk or Pharmacy Technician, then start volunteering at Hospitals in Pharmacy Department. I think that Pharmacy schools want to see how much you know about the profession before starting the program(PharmD).

I hope this helps!

 

[bananaface]

Your gpa will be a great asset.

I would recommend at least job shadowing pharmacists in a few different practice areas so that you can show the admissions committee that you have taken the time to go out and decide that pharmacy is the health profession that best suits your talents and interests. This could go on the application if you did it in the next few weeks.

As long as you have pharmacy experience before the interview, you can have that considered by the admissions committee. UF does interviews, right?

 

[dgroulx]

UF does not have interviews. They weed out by PCAT and math/science GPA. Then they look at personal statements and essays. I'd say you have really good chance of being accepted by UF, especially coming from a good school like UCF. About 1/2 of my class had never worked in a pharmacy before being accepted. I had no pharmacy experience myself, either.

Good Luck!

 

[UCFGrad]

Thanks to both for the advice. UF does not have an interview and I have finished with the application process. So I can only hope that my lack of experience right now does not ruin my chances!

 

[Trancelucent1]

UCFGrad...check your PM's

 

[crossurfingers]

I didn't have any pharmacy experience and I was accepted to Midwestern. You should try to volunteer and learn more about the different career paths pharmacists can take (ie clinical vs retail) because they did ask me why I wanted to be in the pharmacy profession.

 

[bananaface]

I guess you just have to sit and wait then. If you can get a 3.97 gpa you can probably write a good personal essay. I think you have a pretty good shot.

 

[OSURxgirl]

Another thing you might want to thing about...you are devoting yourself to a 3-4 year expensive and difficult program. How can you truly know you want pharmacy if you haven't had any real experience? Trust me, my perceptions of what a pharmacist does changed dramatically once I worked in a pharmacy. So you shouldn't ultimately be as concerned about getting in without experience (because you probably will) as you should be with making sure you know what you are getting in to and that you won't be miserable as a pharmacist (as many are).

 

[UCFGrad]

Thanks everyone for the good advice. I know that retail pharmacists get a lot of headache from the consumer. Check out this link, it is the Eckerd complaint log. Most are directed to the pharmacy department. I also know a pharm. tech who works at Eckerd and he says he would NEVER become a pharmacist, because of the way they are treated by everyone. Still, I've been in retail myself for many years, and I know just how the general public acts to anyone who works in retail. It can be very degrading. But, for the income pharmacists make, I can deal with that!

http://www.thecomplaintstation.com/e/eckerd_toc.htm

 

[dgroulx]

I agree UCF grad. Retail is retail. Last year I was a concessions volunteer at Buc games. I've dealt with drunk Buc fans for free. I can handle crabby old ladies for 90K a year. We had some really screamers over the summer. "That better not be generic!" We would just laugh at them when they leave. It was really kind of fun. It will be even more fun when I am paid gobs of money.

 

[imperial frog]

My best friend has been a retail pharmacist going on 15 years now and he would always tell me stories about the horror known as customers. However, I could easily top any story that he came up with from my experiences in non-pharmacy retail and the service industry. Customers are customers. As long as the mindset is "the customer is always right" you are gonna have a-holes out there complaining just because they feel they are god.

 

[Lysine]

hey UCF grad.... that website is great! i just recently started working for a retail pharmacy and i found that website so funny! I decided that not only is it great experience and a great learning tool, but getting this tech job let me know that retail pharm. is just not for me. Cool website! GO KNIGHTS!!!

 

[gatorjoe]

I just wanted to add something about UF interviews for pharmacy. They do indeed exist, because I had one about three months ago. I believe that if you are impressive enough, then you are not called for an interview, and similarly, if you do not impress with grades or test scores, you are not called either. Anyway, I guess I was borderline, because I interviewed with two professors in May, and that was my ticket in. By the way, I have no pharmacy experience, but extensive retail experience.

Joe, UF 1PD - Orlando campus

 

[dgroulx]

I just wanted to add something about UF interviews for pharmacy. They do indeed exist, because I had one about three months ago. I believe that if you are impressive enough, then you are not called for an interview, and similarly, if you do not impress with grades or test scores, you are not called either. Anyway, I guess I was borderline, because I interviewed with two professors in May, and that was my ticket in. By the way, I have no pharmacy experience, but extensive retail experience.

Joe, UF 1PD - Orlando campus

Hi Joe,

Welcome to UF! I also had an interview with UF and so did one other person from my class. During my interview, I asked why I was being interviewed since they don't require interviews. They said that I came across as arrogant in my personal statement and just wanted to talk to me in person. My interview was in February and I got my acceptance letter a week later.

After talking with some other students, I found out that some people had pharmacist friends write their essays and they got accepted without an interview. That kind of sucks.

 

[Trancelucent1]

After talking with some other students, I found out that some people had pharmacist friends write their essays and they got accepted without an interview. That kind of sucks.

I find that extremely unprofessional!!! That is one reason why I wish they required interviews. Sometimes I think it's much more important to have students with the drive and a personality to go along with it than just grades (not that the two are mutually exclusive in anyway). I noticed as an undergrad many of the people had the grades but not much common sense to go along with it. My friend also got interviewed last year, they said it was because something that she said in her essay struck them the wrong way and they wanted to meet with her in person. She was also accepted a week later.