Opinions please!

[Mom2kids]

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Hi all! I hope you all can give me some feedback. My situation is I graduated with a degree in Biochemistry 7 years ago and worked in a lab for two years then I stayed home for 4 years to take care of my two kids. The thing is last year I went back to school to study pharmacy tech at a community college and got a full time job as a pharm tech. I have been working for 3 months now. As it right now I really want to apply to pharmacy so I looked over at the prequisites for pharmacy at the University of Washington and I had all of the classes. Now I want to apply but do you guys think that all my classes are old now??? what do you all think about my situation? Thank you very much for your help!

 

[rxlea]

Hi all! I hope you all can give me some feedback. My situation is I graduated with a degree in Biochemistry 7 years ago and worked in a lab for two years then I stayed home for 4 years to take care of my two kids. The thing is last year I went back to school to study pharmacy tech at a community college and got a full time job as a pharm tech. I have been working for 3 months now. As it right now I really want to apply to pharmacy so I looked over at the prequisites for pharmacy at the University of Washington and I had all of the classes. Now I want to apply but do you guys think that all my classes are old now??? what do you all think about my situation? Thank you very much for your help!

Most schools say that pre-reqs are valid for between 5-10 years depending on the school. I am not familiar with the requirement of UWash, so I suggest you contact the school admissions directly and ask them if you can apply next cycle with the classes you already have or if you need to retake any courses. Have your transcript ready!

 

[Endospore]

Most schools say that pre-reqs are valid for between 5-10 years depending on the school. I am not familiar with the requirement of UWash, so I suggest you contact the school admissions directly and ask them if you can apply next cycle with the classes you already have or if you need to retake any courses. Have your transcript ready!

7 years? I was in a similar situation and had to retake classes. I do not know of a pharmacy program that takes older pre-req's other than Creighton Distance Pathway. You are right on the edge. At least if you had to retake some it would only be the oldest like Gen Chem. I would find out right now. Is your GPA competitive?

 

[Mom2kids]

thank you rxlea! hopefully I don't have to take them all again. I have to review all the materials to take PCAT anyway.

Endospore,

Oh, you had to retake all the classes 🙁 My overall GPA is 3.1 but I guess my science GPA is a little bit higher though about 3.2 I guess. Did you get into pharmacy school?

 

[ecuagallo]

Hi all! I hope you all can give me some feedback. My situation is I graduated with a degree in Biochemistry 7 years ago and worked in a lab for two years then I stayed home for 4 years to take care of my two kids. The thing is last year I went back to school to study pharmacy tech at a community college and got a full time job as a pharm tech. I have been working for 3 months now. As it right now I really want to apply to pharmacy so I looked over at the prequisites for pharmacy at the University of Washington and I had all of the classes. Now I want to apply but do you guys think that all my classes are old now??? what do you all think about my situation? Thank you very much for your help!

For the most part I think you should be ok to apply. Find out for sure about if there is a time stipulation for your classes for the University of Washington. I know most of the schools I saw, if they did have a time stipulation it seemed that it was 10 years or so. If it is what you really want to do, I say you should go for it!! Good Luck!

 

[Mom2kids]

Thank you for the encouragement ecuagallo! I'm thinking of looking out for some out of state schools too.

 

[PharmOl]

Seriously, how much new stuff can you discover in Gen. Chem and Intro to Microbio in 10 years? Probably not much. I think you are good to go. But, first thing tomorrow morning I'd call the schools you are interested in and ask them directly so you can sketch you course of action.

 

[Passion4Sci]

As everyone else has said, you'll need to check with every school to ensure that, indeed, 7 years is fine.

For example, with UoP, we had to re-take any class older than 5-7 years, case by case basis on whether it's 5 or 7... although some classes, you could "refresh" the entire series with a post-bacc. at either a CC or Uni.

Long story short, a degree in Biochem @ ~3.2 +/- GPA will be just fine, as you have good work experience. Call each school to make absolutely sure.

Seems like you might be lacking in academic ECs, such as volunteering and club leadership, but shouldn't be a nail in the coffin.

Take the PCAT, score ~80 percentile composite (this can be used to say hey look guys, it's been 7 years but I still have what it takes to compete in rigorous academics) and you'll have a great shot.

 

[Endospore]

thank you rxlea! hopefully I don't have to take them all again. I have to review all the materials to take PCAT anyway.

Endospore,

Oh, you had to retake all the classes 🙁 My overall GPA is 3.1 but I guess my science GPA is a little bit higher though about 3.2 I guess. Did you get into pharmacy school?

I did not have to retake all, just the science pre-req's. Your GPA is fine if you do well on the PCAT! Yes, I will be a P1 this fall. Good luck!!! 🙂

 

[phathead]

Even if you have to retake classes, I still say go for it. I have an immense appreciation for people who go back to school and choose to do something like this.