Pharmacy School Dilemma

[Trashman]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

I am a Freshman attending the University of Georgia this fall. For my entire Senior year I took all of my classes at a local community college for both High School and College credit. I am entering with a whopping 34 Credit hours. My dilemma is that I was recommended to apply for Pharmacy School this next fall. If I did so I would have to take Organic Chem, Biology, and 2 electives in the fall then Organic Chem 2 and Bio 2 with a Communications class and 2 more electives in the Spring. I would then take Statistics and Psychology in the summer at a local community college. My other option is to spread these classes out over 2 years along with 4 more Biochem classes that won't be required for Pharmacy school until after next year. From what I understand O-Chem is supposed to be one of the most rigorous undergraduate classes you can take, and I am wondering how wise it would be to go with the one year route. It will save me money since I won't be required to take the 4 Biochem classes, however I am worried about how well I will do with those classes while making the transition to college. I am also trying to become a certified Technician to get some experience on an application, I have a girlfriend, and would like to join a fraternity. Is it possible to balance all of these elements when taking that route? Or should I bite the bullet and have my HOPE scholarship pay for another year in order to have a less rigorous and more balanced college experience?

 

[Trashman]

1 Year Schedule (hours)
Fall
CHEM 2211L (4)
BIOL 1107L (4)
Freshman Odyssey Class (1)
Latin 1101 (3)

Spring
CHEM 2212L (4)
BIOL 1108L (4)
RELI 1101 (3)
PE (1)
COMM 1100 (3)

Summer
STAT 2000 (4)
PSYCH 1101 (3)

 

[Jibby321]

I am a Freshman attending the University of Georgia this fall. For my entire Senior year I took all of my classes at a local community college for both High School and College credit. I am entering with a whopping 34 Credit hours. My dilemma is that I was recommended to apply for Pharmacy School this next fall. If I did so I would have to take Organic Chem, Biology, and 2 electives in the fall then Organic Chem 2 and Bio 2 with a Communications class and 2 more electives in the Spring. I would then take Statistics and Psychology in the summer at a local community college. My other option is to spread these classes out over 2 years along with 4 more Biochem classes that won't be required for Pharmacy school until after next year. From what I understand O-Chem is supposed to be one of the most rigorous undergraduate classes you can take, and I am wondering how wise it would be to go with the one year route. It will save me money since I won't be required to take the 4 Biochem classes, however I am worried about how well I will do with those classes while making the transition to college. I am also trying to become a certified Technician to get some experience on an application, I have a girlfriend, and would like to join a fraternity. Is it possible to balance all of these elements when taking that route? Or should I bite the bullet and have my HOPE scholarship pay for another year in order to have a less rigorous and more balanced college experience?

That is a very reasonable schedule. In my opinion the earlier you can get in the better. Don't forget you have to take the PCAT too. But good luck regardless.

 

[Trashman]

That is a very reasonable schedule. In my opinion the earlier you can get in the better. Don't forget you have to take the PCAT too. But good luck regardless.

I guess I'm mainly wondering if it will fit well with a fraternity, football games, a girlfriend, and a job as a Pharmacy technician. I haven't had much experience with any of those except the games and girlfriend and am not sure how it will be in college. Prior to realizing I could do the summer courses it seemed much more stressful with 16 and 18 hour semesters.

 

[GatorPharm]

I guess I'm mainly wondering if it will fit well with a fraternity, football games, a girlfriend, and a job as a Pharmacy technician. I haven't had much experience with any of those except the games and girlfriend and am not sure how it will be in college. Prior to realizing I could do the summer courses it seemed much more stressful with 16 and 18 hour semesters.

It should be manageable. If you know pharmacy is what you want to do, I say do what you need to do to apply earlier. Greek life can be time-consuming, but you should be able to balance everything if you have/can develop good study habits and time management skills. If you do get a job, just make sure you're not working so many hours that it will impact your grades.

I came into college with 33 credits, and while I graduated in 3 years, it definitely would have been smarter to take more credits per semester and apply to pharm school sooner. Cheaper too.

 

[Corpseman]

I guess I'm mainly wondering if it will fit well with a fraternity, football games, a girlfriend, and a job as a Pharmacy technician. I haven't had much experience with any of those except the games and girlfriend and am not sure how it will be in college. Prior to realizing I could do the summer courses it seemed much more stressful with 16 and 18 hour semesters.

Most semesters in pharmacy school are at least 16 credits.


Those semesters look pretty easy, no reason you should spread it out.

 

[Kat3445]

In addition to doing well (3.5 ish) in your classes I would definitely recommend getting some experience in a retail/hospital pharmacy, whether it's volunteering or working as a tech/cashier. Being able to cite examples of why you are passionate about pharmacy and having a letter of rec from a pharmacist will be a huge boost to your application (and test to see if this is really what you want to do).

Sidenote - I would also argue that this is more important than joining a fraternity (I get the vibe you are also wondering which activity is "least" important). Clubs and extracurrics are great, but pledging is like a club^(10) both time-wise and required-alcohol-consumption-time. That on top of 1st semester ochem would not be something I would recommend to anyone, unless you could guarantee a good TA/professor who is willing to help during office hours.

 

[BenJammin]

1 Year Schedule (hours)
Fall
CHEM 2211L (4)
BIOL 1107L (4)
Freshman Odyssey Class (1)
Latin 1101 (3)

Spring
CHEM 2212L (4)
BIOL 1108L (4)
RELI 1101 (3)
PE (1)
COMM 1100 (3)

Summer
STAT 2000 (4)
PSYCH 1101 (3)

Overall it looks pretty good but I don't know what RELI 1101 and the freshman odyssey class are all about. The latter sounds like a pow wow where everyone takes a bong hit lol. I'm anti-latin but that's your prerogative.

 

[smercer]

Overall it looks pretty good but I don't know what RELI 1101 and the freshman odyssey class are all about. The latter sounds like a pow wow where everyone takes a bong hit lol. I'm anti-latin but that's your prerogative.

What? You do not see the benefit of learning a dead language?

Seriously though, if you are going to learn a 2nd language then Spanish is probably a better choice.

 

[KasHfg]

I am a Freshman attending the University of Georgia this fall. For my entire Senior year I took all of my classes at a local community college for both High School and College credit. I am entering with a whopping 34 Credit hours. My dilemma is that I was recommended to apply for Pharmacy School this next fall. If I did so I would have to take Organic Chem, Biology, and 2 electives in the fall then Organic Chem 2 and Bio 2 with a Communications class and 2 more electives in the Spring. I would then take Statistics and Psychology in the summer at a local community college. My other option is to spread these classes out over 2 years along with 4 more Biochem classes that won't be required for Pharmacy school until after next year. From what I understand O-Chem is supposed to be one of the most rigorous undergraduate classes you can take, and I am wondering how wise it would be to go with the one year route. It will save me money since I won't be required to take the 4 Biochem classes, however I am worried about how well I will do with those classes while making the transition to college. I am also trying to become a certified Technician to get some experience on an application, I have a girlfriend, and would like to join a fraternity. Is it possible to balance all of these elements when taking that route? Or should I bite the bullet and have my HOPE scholarship pay for another year in order to have a less rigorous and more balanced college experience?

You can do it! Don't waste a year. I took Ochem, physics, bio, archaeology, and did research in one semester and still got A's... oh and I am married. So it is doable. 🙂
I am not a genius or anything even close 😛
There were people taking even more at that time.