not looking good....

[doctosan]

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I am a pre-med/pharm Biology major, planning to get a minor in Chemistry (it is just one more class). Currently I am taking:

Organic Chemistry II
Physics (non calc) I
Ecology
Precalculus

Precalculus and Ecology are doing fine, Organic Chem is manageable, but Physics is kicking my butt....

GPA: around 2.5....

My friend suggested I take Physics 2, Microbiology, and Calculus at a community college next semester, to boost my GPA up as well as save some money. Also next semester is the last semester for which this option is available, since after that all of the courses will not be available at community colleges. I told him that medical/pharm schools will take it negatively if I decide to go to a community college one semester after starting at a university (I took a course at the same college the summer before freshman year, as well as last summer, though last summer was for review purposes)

He then suggested that I take Microbio at the univ. but take Physics and Calculus at the community college, but I repeated the same...I don't want them to think I am taking the easy route....not that the community college here is steriotypically easier, I will just have the benefit of s better student to faculty ratio as well as tutoring services for free

Biology classes were fine, it was just Gen Chem 2, Organic Chem 1 and Genetics that killed me.... though I did retake them and do better....

The good: I am working as a lab technician at a top university, whose medical school is among the top 25

Medicine is more competitve, but I do plan on taking the MCAT. My brother is a Pharmacist and doing well, and my sister is graduating this year from Pharm school as well, so I thought I'd consider it.

Any suggestions?
What are my chances?

Thanks

 

[calisoca]

With a gpa of 2.5, unfortunatley the vast majority of pharmacy schools won't consider your application because you do not meet minimum requirements. Most schools set the minimum at a 2.7. You need to raise it to at least this minimum value to even be considered. It is possible, just depends on how badly you want it I suppose.

 

[dinoant]

I also found out from my schools "pre-health" adviser that professional schools really don't like community college pre-reqs.

 

[justtesting]

I've heard the same thing about CC credits not looking as good as a university. At this point though your gpa should be your priority since a 2.5 won't get you into med/pod or pharm school 🙁 I wish you luck but if your really struggling with the pre reqs here you might want to reconsider your specialty interests (i noticed you named derm and cardiology on your other threads) since the ones you named are extremely competitive and would require stellar grades

 

[doctosan]

That's what I've been thinking regarding community colleges, but what is worse, going to a community college and pulling A's, raising the GPA, or getting B's and C's at the university? Basically what hurts more, the community college factor, or the gpa factor?

 

[justtesting]

while CC credits may not look as good as university credits, plenty of people still get into grad program using them (a buddy of mine started pharm school this fall with nothing but CC credits) but I can tell you nobody gets into anything with a 2.5 gpa. Fixing that is definitely your priority. A lot will also depend on your entrance exam score so you'd need to do well on that also.

 

[xscpx]

That isn't true. Classes are class regardless of where they are taken. And if CC credits were an issue I'm sure you could answer about it in your interview. I dropped Organic at my university and am taking it at the local CC so that I actually LEARN something. As far as boosting your GPA, A's in two classes is not going to do much. I would suggest maybe picking up a second major or minor to boost it. Something like Public Health or Sociology would be quite easy, but also interesting and pertinent. Good luck.

 

[calisoca]

That isn't true. Classes are class regardless of where they are taken. .

I am going to respectfully disagree with you on the grounds that the 3 schools I interviewed at in California all get the majority of their students from the UC system. It really isn't a debatable issue. The admissions committees openly stated to us interviewees that they give more weight to students graduating from the UC system. They view the UC curriculum as being more vigorous (which it most certainly is); therefore, they feel these students make an easier transition into their school of pharmacy. Obviously people still gain acceptance with courses taken from CC's; however, students who complete their pre-reqs at a UC (provided they do well) have an advantage. So with this in mind, where one completes courses does have an impact on adcoms.

 

[xscpx]

I am going to respectfully disagree with you on the grounds that the 3 schools I interviewed at in California all get the majority of their students from the UC system. It really isn't a debatable issue. The admissions committees openly stated to us interviewees that they give more weight to students graduating from the UC system. They view the UC curriculum as being more vigorous (which it most certainly is); therefore, they feel these students make an easier transition into their school of pharmacy. Obviously people still gain acceptance with courses taken from CC's; however, students who complete their pre-reqs at a UC (provided they do well) have an advantage. So with this in mind, where one completes courses does have an impact on adcoms.

That is understandable given the caliber of the UC schools. I more so meant typical universities with cc's (like mine). My school's advisers told me that there is not really any difference and whether I take the class at the CC or there doesn't matter. They also said if I was pre-med it may look unfavorable, but for pharmacy it doesn't matter. They also said that if asked about it at an interview, just be honest and explain I wanted a smaller class size and no one can look negatively on me for that.

 

[lastmagus]

I also found out from my schools "pre-health" adviser that professional schools really don't like community college pre-reqs.

Lies, almost all my pre-reqs in my app last year were from CC.

Results below.

 

[justtesting]

that's stupid to say whats written are lies. We are only reporting what we have been told by advisors who probably are giving the best advice they can. Nobody said their advice was absolute truth.

 

[calisoca]

Lies, almost all my pre-reqs in my app last year were from CC.
.

I suppose I can only speak on the schools in CA but it DOES matter where you take your courses out here. Take it up with the adcoms if you continue to disagree. Glad you were accepted, but nobody is LYING.

 

[lastmagus]

that's stupid to say whats written are lies. We are only reporting what we have been told by advisors who probably are giving the best advice they can. Nobody said their advice was absolute truth.

Fine "misconception" feel better?

...and yes sometimes advisers will out and out lie to make someone else feel miserable. It happens.

BTW "lied to" and "lying" are different animals. I didnt mean to offend your sensitive nature.

 

[lastmagus]

I suppose I can only speak on the schools in CA but it DOES matter where you take your courses out here. Take it up with the adcoms if you continue to disagree. Glad you were accepted, but nobody is LYING.

I don't buy it for 2 reasons:
1) Anyone who teaches a college level course meets certain credentials in order to do so. Regardless of that person's age or current grant status, the class can be as easy or as difficult as they choose to make it.

2) These advisers, are agents of the large universities you guys attend. Do they want you taking your tuition and costly lab fees to another school? Of course not, and I think they are willing to say whatever it takes to prevent that even at your own expense. At the very least take what they say with a grain of salt.

Maybe CA is different but in my state, NY, and KY where friends applied: classes are classes.

Best of luck in the upcoming cycle-

 

[justtesting]

Fine "misconception" feel better?

...and yes sometimes advisers will out and out lie to make someone else feel miserable. It happens.

BTW "lied to" and "lying" are different animals. I didnt mean to offend your sensitive nature.

hey lastmagus,
no one here has a sensitive nature, but i think you need to realize you are not the leading authority in what every pharm program out there wants in their applicants and you are not qualified to say if posts are lies... this may be hard for you to grasp but (and i'm going to put this simple so you can understand) not every pharm program has the same admission standards. now dont go getting your panties in a twist just because you think you know everything and you dont.

 

[lastmagus]

hey lastmagus,
no one here has a sensitive nature, but i think you need to realize you are not the leading authority in what every pharm program out there wants in their applicants and you are not qualified to say if posts are lies... this may be hard for you to grasp but (and i'm going to put this simple so you can understand) not every pharm program has the same admission standards. now dont go getting your panties in a twist just because you think you know everything and you dont.

You're mad and I just laugh. I explained my position if you still don't get it there is nothing else I can do.

...and I am pretty sure SOMEONE here has an awfully sensitive nature

 

[zilko]

Not sure who is getting their panties in a twist here, but...

From my experience, having taken all of my prereqs at CCs here in California (changing careers from computer science, I really didn't have many of them from my undergrad, and taking them on the UC extension would have been a very overpriced option), I interviewed at all three of the schools I applied to last year.

Do I feel that adcoms look unfavorably on CC courses, not from my experience. In fact the flip side is that they may look more favorably on them since you can learn one hell of a lot more sitting in a class of 30 students at a CC than you can sitting in an auditorium with 180 students. Add to that the fact that your GPA is one of the first weeding factors, so having a higher GPA will help get you past that first hurdle (and if you got it taking classes at a CC, you are still ahead of the person that got Cs at a UC).
P-)

 

[Farmercyst]

The truth is it varies from state to state and institution to institution within states. USC didn't mind most of my prereqs coming from CC, but that doesn't mean UCSF or UCSD wouldn't.

 

[YiYaoYue]

To OP: You will need to really work on the PCAT and seriously aim for 90+ score. Anything less with 2.5 GPA just won't do at all and aim for schools outside CA that look at PCAT heavily once you get that 90+ (one school that comes to mind is maryland). In the long run, take classes at CC/CSUs and up your GPA as fast as you can. It's cheaper and you might do better in the small class atmosphere (i had a much easier time). If you can hit 3.0 with 1-2 years of 4.0 GPA, it will turn heads even if your cum GPA is still low.

 

[poisonivy]

I am going to respectfully disagree with you on the grounds that the 3 schools I interviewed at in California all get the majority of their students from the UC system. It really isn't a debatable issue. The admissions committees openly stated to us interviewees that they give more weight to students graduating from the UC system. They view the UC curriculum as being more vigorous (which it most certainly is); therefore, they feel these students make an easier transition into their school of pharmacy. Obviously people still gain acceptance with courses taken from CC's; however, students who complete their pre-reqs at a UC (provided they do well) have an advantage. So with this in mind, where one completes courses does have an impact on adcoms.

In all honesty it depends on the school. Some schools care only about students who apply with the most competitive GPA regardless of the institution the GPA was received and other more selective schools tend to weigh the school at which classes were taken more heavily. There is an unwritten rule of assigning different grade points depending on the caliber of the school. As long as there is some evidence to do well in a competitive setting it really should not matter.

 

[chibipinkbunny]

I don't know about the other states, or anything besides my example, but I did two years at a community college, and three years at UC Berkeley. I got a 4.0 in my community college, which really boosted my GPA. I got into UCSF so I guess it was okay in my situation. I don't really know what the adcoms thought about it though.

 

[YiYaoYue]

I don't know about the other states, or anything besides my example, but I did two years at a community college, and three years at UC Berkeley. I got a 4.0 in my community college, which really boosted my GPA. I got into UCSF so I guess it was okay in my situation. I don't really know what the adcoms thought about it though.

what was your UC Berkeley GPA? I think certain schools need to be judged differently from others. It really is the most fair method. I never hear of anyone who barely gets 3.0 at CC, but gets 4.0 at UCLA, UC Berkley, Stanford, USC, etc. In fact, I rarely even know anyone who gets 4.0s at those top schools, it is just insanely difficult. But I know there are like at least a good number of people who have 4.0s at CSU/CC, much more than those top schools and the total number of students is less than a third the size. I know transfer students who had 4.0s and are barely making above 3.0 at one of those top schools. This isn't a comparison of education, but more about the difficulty of competition and how curved classes make the level of difficulty in obtaining an A different.

 

[UNMorBUST]

Like some said, some schools look at CC credits as easier. If you do wish to pursue medicine and come across one of these schools, be prepared to explain why you went from Uni to CC back to Uni. That is is you choose to do that.

 

[chibipinkbunny]

what was your UC Berkeley GPA? I think certain schools need to be judged differently from others. It really is the most fair method. I never hear of anyone who barely gets 3.0 at CC, but gets 4.0 at UCLA, UC Berkley, Stanford, USC, etc. In fact, I rarely even know anyone who gets 4.0s at those top schools, it is just insanely difficult. But I know there are like at least a good number of people who have 4.0s at CSU/CC, much more than those top schools and the total number of students is less than a third the size. I know transfer students who had 4.0s and are barely making above 3.0 at one of those top schools. This isn't a comparison of education, but more about the difficulty of competition and how curved classes make the level of difficulty in obtaining an A different.

My UC Berkeley GPA was 3.4, and I worked 5 times harder for it than I did at community college. Lol, well I was a chemistry major, and it was very difficult for me. Pharmcas averaged them out though to something slightly higher than 3.6. They said that the average drop for Chemistry majors who transfer from community college to UC Berkeley is 1.0 so 4.0-->3.0

 

[YiYaoYue]

My UC Berkeley GPA was 3.4, and I worked 5 times harder for it than I did at community college. Lol, well I was a chemistry major, and it was very difficult for me. Pharmcas averaged them out though to something slightly higher than 3.6. They said that the average drop for Chemistry majors who transfer from community college to UC Berkeley is 1.0 so 4.0-->3.0

well no wonder you got into UCSF... imho that is still an excellent GPA 👍