No professional experience..

[Qqdog]

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For the portion of the personal essay about professional background contributing to my goals, I have absolutely nothing to write. The only "professional" background if that even, is working as a cashier. I have never done any extracurricular activities before so it seems like a blank for that section…

Would there be any other material that would be considered professional?
I do plan to find a job at a pharmacy but that would be after my application is submitted.

Please help! Thank you.

 

[kies89]

do u have any volunteering experience?

 

[Qqdog]

do u have any volunteering experience?

Unfortunately, no. Only thing I have going for me is my grades

 

[Thestrugglez]

Not gonna lie. with your current PCAT score, it'll be tough if you have no ECs.

However... If you are an EXCELLENT writer, you could write about your experiences as a cashier and somehow work that into your interest in pharmacy (it would be unique, that's for sure).

Otherwise, you could just apply late like your original plan.

 

[kies89]

honestly without any experiences i dont know whether u can get accepted. i dont know ur gpa and pcat but i guess u can give it a shot by writing a perfect personal statement on pharmcas. but i dont think schools will select applicants with any experience.
correct me if im wrong but its just my opinion

 

[Qqdog]

My Gpa right now is 3.9. My PCAT was in the 50th percentile but I do plan on retaking it. The school I'm applying to said their applicants for the past 5 years PCAT scores were averaged in the 50th percentile as well. This is what gives me hope. If I get at least 80th percentile I feel like my chances are much higher even without any experience. Then again I don't know if that's just wishful thinking.

 

[KidPharmD]

Plenty of schools will accept applicants who are otherwise strong with no "pharmacy" experience. Re-think how being a cashier might have contributed to the skills you need to be a pharmacist. Multi-tasking, dealing with the public, problem solving, and teamwork all come to mind depending on where you worked.

 

[Qqdog]

Okay thanks a lot. I just thought it wasn't prestigious enough to be mentioned in my essay but I'll try to find ways to extract some skills from that job 🙂

 

[ashleylh]

I know someone who was accepted last cycle and he had no pharm experience. He's a good student though I'm not exactly sure what his stats were... he did have tons of volunteering hours. I think that schools want to see pharmacy experience so that you really know what the duties of a pharmacist entail and that you're certain/passionate about the field. I don't know what made you choose pharmacy as a profession, but if you're able to somehow convey that in your application maybe in your personal statement I would at least do that.