Pharmacy admission possibility and application advice!

[ZKpharm]

Hey guys!

I plan on applying to pharmacy schools for the 2018-2019 cycle on the east coast. I'm also studying for the PCAT and taking it this coming July. I screwed up my GPA during my first year and a half of college not knowing what i was doing and had a 2.67 cum GPA. After that, I worked hard and brought it up to where it is now which is a 3.219 where I got A's in classes such as Biochemistry, anatomy & physiology, Gen Chem 1, and more. I really would like to work in clinical pharmacy and to gain experience I've been volunteering at a pharmacy in a hospital for a year and recently also got a job as an emergency room medical scribe to really show my interest in the clinical aspect of the career. In addition to this, I have my two science professors and a pharmacist writing me LOR's. My goal is to focus in on the PCAT and apply as early as possible in order to have a chance with interviews.

Do any of you guys have any advice on how this looks or what I should really focus in on during my application process? Or even if there are schools that may be better for me to check out and apply to in order to greater my chances to get in.

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[DailyDaisies]

Hey guys!

I plan on applying to pharmacy schools for the 2018-2019 cycle on the east coast. I'm also studying for the PCAT and taking it this coming July. I screwed up my GPA during my first year and a half of college not knowing what i was doing and had a 2.67 cum GPA. After that, I worked hard and brought it up to where it is now which is a 3.219 where I got A's in classes such as Biochemistry, anatomy & physiology, Gen Chem 1, and more. I really would like to work in clinical pharmacy and to gain experience I've been volunteering at a pharmacy in a hospital for a year and recently also got a job as an emergency room medical scribe to really show my interest in the clinical aspect of the career. In addition to this, I have my two science professors and a pharmacist writing me LOR's. My goal is to focus in on the PCAT and apply as early as possible in order to have a chance with interviews.

Do any of you guys have any advice on how this looks or what I should really focus in on during my application process? Or even if there are schools that may be better for me to check out and apply to in order to greater my chances to get in.

I think you have a really great chance at standing out as long as you can explain in your personal statement why your GPA was so low in the beginning and then explain how you got them to improve so drastically. You can also note at the end that you ended up graduating on the Dean's Scholar List (assuming you did). I would also check with the school's minimum GPA requirements to see if you'll even be considered during their application process but if you haven't checked already, you'll find many of them are quite forgiving.

 

[OPAL123]

Hey guys!

I plan on applying to pharmacy schools for the 2018-2019 cycle on the east coast. I'm also studying for the PCAT and taking it this coming July. I screwed up my GPA during my first year and a half of college not knowing what i was doing and had a 2.67 cum GPA. After that, I worked hard and brought it up to where it is now which is a 3.219 where I got A's in classes such as Biochemistry, anatomy & physiology, Gen Chem 1, and more. I really would like to work in clinical pharmacy and to gain experience I've been volunteering at a pharmacy in a hospital for a year and recently also got a job as an emergency room medical scribe to really show my interest in the clinical aspect of the career. In addition to this, I have my two science professors and a pharmacist writing me LOR's. My goal is to focus in on the PCAT and apply as early as possible in order to have a chance with interviews.

Do any of you guys have any advice on how this looks or what I should really focus in on during my application process? Or even if there are schools that may be better for me to check out and apply to in order to greater my chances to get in.

great post

 

[lalaland33]

Get some work experience outside of hospital as well like retail pharmacy. Applying early as possible is a good idea.

 

[NextStepTutor_4]

Hey @ZKpharm - I think you offer some excellent questions and you have a great start so far! Having volunteer, work experience, and recommendation letters certainly will help you stand out when you start applying for your schools. During the admissions process, the schools may look at your GPA and how it has been trending so it does reflect better now that you have brought your GPA up. In addition, because you have clinical experience at a pharmacy and as a medical scribe, you might be able to incorporate that experience in admission essays and/or the interview process which lets you stand out from other candidates.

Some factors when deciding to choose the pharmacy school can be the quality or ranking of the program itself, its prerequisite requirements, its location, or where students get jobs after they graduate. Each pharmacy school will be different so it is important to take time to look into the schools and get started early!

I hope this helps! 🙂

 

[Sincerely Sapphire]

Yes you have the volunteer experience that will allow you to actually speak on the pharmacy world in your interview and scrining is a great way to show clinical interest. A mistake ppl make is thinking that becoming a pharm tech is the end all be all to getting 'experience' and trust me... once you enter pharmacy school... that dont mean shiiih. Pharm tech is like 5% of what you could know about pharmacy.
That letter of intent needs to be amazing and telling, that whole working hard and bringing your gpa up is Gold. Show off your ambition. And if you get a 70 or higher on your pcat you should be okay.
You're very ambitious, and the pharm schools will see taht and appreciate that.
Applying early is a good strategy as well.
I think you have a great shot. Be sure to look on youtube there are some pharmacy students that talk about how they got in. Let me know whether you want some specific names.
Good luck!

 

[BidingMyTime]

OP, your GPA will be far better than probably half your class. In case you hadn't heard, many pharmacy schools have extended their 2018 deadline to June, because of the lack of applicants, my guess is you will be easily admitted to almost any pharmacy school you apply to.