Pharmacy Admissions

[PharmD0412]

Hello,
I’m pre-pharmacy student and I’m planning to apply to pharmacy school in January.My overall GPA is 3.0 (as Pharmcas calculated it and it includes classes that are not required for pharmacy school which brought my GPA down). I took the PCAT this month and I got 20%. I’m planning to retake it in January after i finish calculus and microbiology this semester.can you please suggest me a good study prep. I have kaplan book and pearson exams.i’m planning to study for an hour everyday and full 2 Weeks during Christmas.also, which 3 or 4 year schools do u recommend that do not need high PCAT score and a GPA of 3.0?
Thanks in advance

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[Ladyg228]

If you have your bachelors there are some schools that will overlook your PCAT score. There are many CA schools that don't require PCAT but be prepared to pay high tuition.

 

[GrapePropel]

Hello,
I’m pre-pharmacy student and I’m planning to apply to pharmacy school in January.My overall GPA is 3.0 (as Pharmcas calculated it and it includes classes that are not required for pharmacy school which brought my GPA down). I took the PCAT this month and I got 20%. I’m planning to retake it in January after i finish calculus and microbiology this semester.can you please suggest me a good study prep. I have kaplan book and pearson exams.i’m planning to study for an hour everyday and full 2 Weeks during Christmas.also, which 3 or 4 year schools do u recommend that do not need high PCAT score and a GPA of 3.0?
Thanks in advance

20%?! holy crap. Did not know you could score that low. Have you considered nursing?

 

[deleted727644]

20%?! holy crap. Did not know you could score that low. Have you considered nursing?

Pharmacy schools mainly focus on gpa it seems. you could be coming from a community college wth a 3.7 and they'll accept you

 

[NextStepTutor_4]

You know, you'd be surprised by how much improvement you can make in your percentile rank (especially once you take microbiology and calculus - a whole 20% of the biology section and 14% of the math section!). Even one more question answered correctly on each section could bring you up another 4-6%ile points. Pearson actually publishes a table with how much your percentile rank changes for every additional question you answer correctly. So don't throw in the towel! Just 5 more questions correct on each section could bring you up a full 20%ile or more.

You might want to look at your most recent practice test (or take a new practice test) to see how you fare on each section - and don't just pay attention to your section scores, but also to what questions you missed and why. For example, maybe you scored 70%ile in Biological Processes but 10%ile in Quantitative Reasoning, and half the problems you missed had to do with calculus, or probability, or because of silly mistakes. That means you have a lot of point potential in those areas, and a little studying can go a long way. You might even be surprised at what you find when you analyze your exam: it could be that you need more passage practice, or need to improve your timing on the math section, or something completely different!

Also don't neglect Critical Reading or science passages - doing a passage or two a week could add up to 20 or more passages easily by January, and all of this will boost your composite score just by improving your timing and passage strategy.

I also have found it really helpful to make a study plan, both to stay motivated and make sure you're hitting your goals with plenty of time to spare. Especially when winter break rolls around, it can help to have a schedule so that you can be really productive during your study hours...and then enjoy the free time with your friends and family that you deserve.

 

[GrapePropel]

Pharmacy schools mainly focus on gpa it seems. you could be coming from a community college wth a 3.7 and they'll accept you

oh. it's actually a lot worse than you even realize. I am friends with two deans of pharmacy school. Admissions is WAY down. Many schools are dropping their PCAT requirements for this reason. You could have a 20% PCAT and a 2.4 GPA and still get into many pharmacy schools. They are willing to take literally almost everyone except blatant drug dealers that have felony convictions for selling heroin.

 

[deleted727644]

oh. it's actually a lot worse than you even realize. I am friends with two deans of pharmacy school. Admissions is WAY down. Many schools are dropping their PCAT requirements for this reason. You could have a 20% PCAT and a 2.4 GPA and still get into many pharmacy schools. They are willing to take literally almost everyone except blatant drug dealers that have felony convictions for selling heroin.

Why though? How are these schools getting away with it? How are they even accredited. There's people who genuinely work hard in their classes and for the PCAT. If people with such low gpa or pcat keeps getting in, that makes pharmacy a joke. its so sad that this career won't even have any value anymore.

 

[GrapePropel]

Why though? How are these schools getting away with it? How are they even accredited. There's people who genuinely work hard in their classes and for the PCAT. If people with such low gpa or pcat keeps getting in, that makes pharmacy a joke. its so sad that this career won't even have any value anymore.

What you mean how they are getting away with it? It's EASY fed money. The schools don't care they are greedy and want money to build new stadiums and dorms and to advertise to keep the ponzi scheme going. They just want as many warm bodies in the class as possible so they can get 50,000 USD + a year for each of them from the federal government guaranteed loan money. The federal audits are a joke and the school pays a few fed employees to go out to lunch at a very expensive and nice reasturant to talk to the best preforming pharmacy students from the college. The students are coached by the dean on exactly what to say.