Pharmacy school GPA calculations

[YourMD]

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While watching a YouTube video about pharmacy school admissions I heard some rather interesting information. Do pharmacy schools only use pre-req classes when calculating application GPA? If not, Do these classes simply hold more weight than others?

 

[88888888]

While watching a YouTube video about pharmacy school admissions I heard some rather interesting information. Do pharmacy schools only use pre-req classes when calculating application GPA? If not, Do these classes simply hold more weight than others?

Depends on the school. Some look at whole GPA and others look at only prereqs. Some schools look at science classes more heavily. Got to inquire each school.

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[PharmerInPNW]

My school uses a "core class" system, meaning they have a set of core classes that they use to determine your GPA. Other schools that I applied to did not do this, so it definitely depends on the school as 8888.. said!

 

[YourMD]

^^^^^ If you don't mind, what school do you go to?? Thanks for the responses guys, please keep them coming!!

 

[billsauce]

h

 

[Skrumpy]

most schools will make their decision based off pre-req gpa. it only makes sense cuz theyre the "pre-reqs" they dont care about history classes

I have never heard of this and I personally believe "good" schools will take everything into account. While of course they will look at the hard science courses, how do you think an F in that history class will look to them? It will look as if you couldn't handle the "easy" history course because you had to devote all of your time on those "pre-req" courses. I don't think it is as cut and dry as some of you are making it out to be.

 

[owlegrad]

I have never heard of this and I personally believe "good" schools will take everything into account. While of course they will look at the hard science courses, how do you think an F in that history class will look to them? It will look as if you couldn't handle the "easy" history course because you had to devote all of your time on those "pre-req" courses. I don't think it is as cut and dry as some of you are making it out to be.

Every school I applied to explicitly stated on their website which GPA they used for admissions. They were all science/math or prereq GPA. I do not recall any school using cumulative GPA.

 

[Skrumpy]

Every school I applied to explicitly stated on their website which GPA they used for admissions. They were all science/math or prereq GPA. I do not recall any school using cumulative GPA.

Could you provide a link to 1 school that specifically said they, being the ad com, only look at science/math prereq GPA as part of the basis of their determination of student selection? I wasn't aware ad coms shared selection criteria.

As far as general eligibility, here is a copy-paste from one of the schools I applied (and the link):

Average PharmCAS GPA: 3.52
Average Science GPA: 3.45

The PharmCAS GPA includes all college courses you have taken, including original and repeated grades.

Since they track both the PharmCAS GPA and the Science GPA separately that leads me to assume that they take both of them into account. The regular PharmCAS GPA takes ALL courses into account. Also I'd be careful of assuming anything at all from admissions pages and wouldn't believe it unless they specifically state that: "The ad com will only look at X, Y, Z components of your cGPA as part of the decision making process". Even if they post certain averages that doesn't necessarily mean that is all they look at. Also note that this is VERY different from merely determining eligibility to the program, in which case, yes the only thing that is looked at are the prereqs. I don't believe that was the question the OP was asking, however, and statements to the contrary could be misleading and confusing.

 

[y0ssarian87]

Could you provide a link to 1 school that specifically said they, being the ad com, only look at science/math prereq GPA as part of the basis of their determination of student selection? I wasn't aware ad coms shared selection criteria.

As far as general eligibility, here is a copy-paste from one of the schools I applied (and the link):



Since they track both the PharmCAS GPA and the Science GPA separately that leads me to assume that they take both of them into account. The regular PharmCAS GPA takes ALL courses into account. Also I'd be careful of assuming anything at all from admissions pages and wouldn't believe it unless they specifically state that: "The ad com will only look at X, Y, Z components of your cGPA as part of the decision making process". Even if they post certain averages that doesn't necessarily mean that is all they look at. Also note that this is VERY different from merely determining eligibility to the program, in which case, yes the only thing that is looked at are the prereqs. I don't believe that was the question the OP was asking, however, and statements to the contrary could be misleading and confusing.

Just off the top of my head, Texas Tech and UGA recalculate GPA and do not use the PharmCAS GPA.

TTUHSC:
http://www.ttuhsc.edu/sop/prospective/calculator.aspx

http://www.ttuhsc.edu/sop/academicinfo/docs/currentcatalog/Catalog_2011-2012_version_2.pdf (see page 27)

I believe UGA calculates GPA similarly, but I'm on my phone and don't want to look up the info. My horrid 2.70 PharmCAS GPA was neglected at both schools. My pre-pharm GPA at TTUHSC was > 3.5. The handbook link explains how they use GPA and PCAT scores. If I have time tonight, I'll search for the email from the admissions counselor that shows that they do not look at PharmCAS GPA. 🙂

Each pharmacy school handles things differently. It's so important to not make any assumptions when applying and to gather all the information for each school.

 

[owlegrad]

Could you provide a link to 1 school that specifically said they, being the ad com, only look at science/math prereq GPA as part of the basis of their determination of student selection? I wasn't aware ad coms shared selection criteria.
I don't believe that was the question the OP was asking, however, and statements to the contrary could be misleading and confusing.

http://pharmacy.ufl.edu/education/student-affairs/admissions/admission-requirements/

I am sorry but you are the one providing misleading information. Schools DO share the selection criteria. It is right on the website. Unless you are claiming that adcoms have some secret criteria they use besides what is posted on the website? That is borderline fear-mongering to prepharmacy students who are already stressed enough (IMO).

Each pharmacy school handles things differently. It's so important to not make any assumptions when applying and to gather all the information for each school.

Well said. 👍

 

[Skrumpy]

http://pharmacy.ufl.edu/education/student-affairs/admissions/admission-requirements/

I am sorry but you are the one providing misleading information. Schools DO share the selection criteria. It is right on the website. Unless you are claiming that adcoms have some secret criteria they use besides what is posted on the website? That is borderline fear-mongering to prepharmacy students who are already stressed enough (IMO).

Fear-mongering? Come on now.. let's not be overly dramatic. There is no exacting rubric for what the ad coms do or do not use in their decision making process. There is a listing of requirements and some statistics. Who knows exactly how they weigh certain things? It is all a guessing game and as y0ssarian87 says it is likely to vary widely from school to school. My school lists the GPA selection criteria below:

GPA - includes review of all college-level grades. If a course was repeated, both grades count. Breakdown of GPA review: Overall PharmCAS GPA, science GPA and non-science GPA.

TBH I didn't know that other schools didn't take certain courses into consideration. I find it odd to say the least. Why wouldn't they look it all over? I just couldn't fathom being on an ad com and seeing someone with a horrible course outcome for everything other than science courses and then still letting them in.. maybe they have their reasons, I just can't guess as to what the reasoning behind that would be.

 

[y0ssarian87]

Fear-mongering? Come on now.. let's not be overly dramatic. There is no exacting rubric for what the ad coms do or do not use in their decision making process. There is a listing of requirements and some statistics. Who knows exactly how they weigh certain things? It is all a guessing game and as y0ssarian87 says it is likely to vary widely from school to school. My school lists the GPA selection criteria below:



TBH I didn't know that other schools didn't take certain courses into consideration. I find it odd to say the least. Why wouldn't they look it all over? I just couldn't fathom being on an ad com and seeing someone with a horrible course outcome for everything other than science courses and then still letting them in.. maybe they have their reasons, I just can't guess as to what the reasoning behind that would be.

I have to admit, while the process was in my favor, I don't really get it either. According to TTU, they derived a regression formula to determine probability of success, and the prereq GPA was more indicative of success in their program than PharmCAS GPA. I don't know any more than that, and I intuitively find it difficult to believe. I wonder if they validate that regression formula each year.

It's interesting to see all the different processes each school uses. I think each school's process reflects a bit about the school and its values.