Pharmacy School Help

[stevems93]

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Hi, i am a undergraduate student at UCR and I wanted to become a pharmacist in the future.
I know about all aspects needed for my process to apply to these schools but, I am worried that i will not be able to make it to pharmacy school due to my grades or various other reasons.
So, i wanted to know what are some recommended majors that i could possible major in and finish my prerequisites at the same time just in case i fail one making it into pharmacy school.

This is urgent
I am quiet worried about my success in the future.

 

[PharmD for Me]

Most people do some sort of biology or chemistry degree, but others go with a variety of others. Could you provide more information, like are you interested in a sciencey degree or something different? Your post is a bit vague as to what you're asking.

Could others that are pursuing non-biology or chemistry degrees comment, or point him in the direction of a thread that discusses alterntive pre-pharm majors?

 

[stevems93]

I want to major in something which is not science based at least if i can because, i feel that if i don't end up making it into pharmacy school I could have some sort of backup plan for myself in order for me to work a job which i want.
with many of the science degree you really cant no do anything with them and therefore they become pointless unless you go to a graduate school

 

[danderson]

with many of the science degree you really cant no do anything with them and therefore they become pointless unless you go to a graduate school

This is fairly true, sadly. If you do research at your school while you get your degree, you might be able to get a lab job after you graduate. Pay range is usually around 30-50k I think.

 

[PharmD for Me]

Unsolitcited advice

Majors


The majors thread doesn't really have much information except for listing the majors, but it shows that people do non-bio/chem majors.

 

[owlegrad]

Unsolitcited advice

Majors


The majors thread doesn't really have much information except for listing the majors, but it shows that people do non-bio/chem majors.

😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

 

[stevems93]

Oh okay, what are some of the pharmacy schools which just opened or are going to open in the next upcoming years
Also which pharmacy schools do not have a large amount of prerequisites courses need to get in to pharmacy school
for example i know TOURO university if California does not have many requirements( course wise) to get acknowledged for admission.

 

[PharmD for Me]

You should be able to find that information out just by surfing the web and looking on SDN forums. The PharmCAS website also has a good breakdown of the different pharmacy schools:

http://www.pharmcas.org/collegesschools/schoolpages.htm

 

[kcwang]

Hey stevems93,
Have you thought of double major option or a science minor? You should explore those options with your school. For my undergrad, we are allowed up to 10 courses overlap, which significantly reduce the amount of time to finish both majors. Since you are going to take pre pharm courses, you can also consider making it a minor.

I don't know if your school offers computational biology major, it combines computer science with biology. Having computer programming skill could help you become a web designer or programmer if you decide not to pursue pharmacy.

 

[Jessica1988]

I had a wonderful time here.😍

 

[Jessica1988]

WOW...😍

 

[stevems93]

I have kinda decided what I want to major in
But, i don't know if by doing so all my prerequisites for pharmacy school with be fulfilled
I want to Touro University in California- does anyone else know what other university has a very low amount of prerequisites courses needed to apply to pharmacy school?

I am going to major in Political Science
and take my prerequisites during this time frame.

 

[stevems93]

I also want to know what is the other universities out of state or in the state of California which are opening up soon

 

[wanttobepharm]

hi, I dont know about UCR system but I went to UCI and non bio majors cannot take certain biology courses unless you are of the major. Okay, correction, you can but extremely difficult.

For example, at UCI, you cannot take upper division labs unless you are a bio majors or be cleared by the bio counselor or some sort. I have never met anyone that is a non science major get into upper division biology courses because it's competitive and enrollment window just at a disadvantage. So you will have to find out about specific policy for UCR since it might be different from UCI.

If you are not dedicated to pharmacy, but I would say don't bother and seek another profession. But if you want to pursue science and consider multiple health care professional careers, bio medical engineering seem like a very versatile major since you can get prepped for med school, pharmacy, dentistry, and engineering. If you want to do undergrad political science and take pre reqs...I don't see how there is a dedication in science at all. 🙄

 

[wanttobepharm]

and to address the point about being a science major has not much option unless you go to grad school. that is completely untrue.

I was a bio major and will have taken 2 years off when I go back to pharmacy school June 2012. My current and past job have been very good positions and require biology background. There are many jobs out there, you just have to go explore more. I honestly have no idea there is such job position until I started job hunting before I graduated.

 

[danderson]

Yea political science might pad your gpa but part of the reason you're going to school is to get an education.. political science is very easy and isn't remotely related to science. One downside would be that less of your peers will be science students.

 

[Ayuka001]

I am a 4th year at UCR. I wouldn't recommend majoring in anything other science if you really wanted to go to pharmacy school. It'll be very hard to get into the Bio/Chem/ other classes unless you are a science major, b/c it's priority seats for science majors first then if there's any open space THEN other majors can sign up for the class. Also for example, Touro CA might not require Bio series but they do require Microbio which at UCR you have to take the whole year of Bio to be able to sign up for microbio. So don't think you can get away with not taking a lot of science b/c u'll end up having to anyways lol. research carefully !

 

[wanttobepharm]

I am a 4th year at UCR. I wouldn't recommend majoring in anything other science if you really wanted to go to pharmacy school. It'll be very hard to get into the Bio/Chem/ other classes unless you are a science major, b/c it's priority seats for science majors first then if there's any open space THEN other majors can sign up for the class. Also for example, Touro CA might not require Bio series but they do require Microbio which at UCR you have to take the whole year of Bio to be able to sign up for microbio. So don't think you can get away with not taking a lot of science b/c u'll end up having to anyways lol. research carefully !

thanks for the back up!

 

[headortail]

If you want to do undergrad political science and take pre reqs...I don't see how there is a dedication in science at all.

I would beg to differ. At some point during undergrad. I wanted to major in Spanish or some other foreign language (didn't end up doing it b/c they would take away my major-dependent scholarship 😀), but I always wanted to be a pharmacist and knew I would go to pharmacy school one day. Some of my current classmates were English or History majors as well, which makes sense to me because once you're in pharmacy school, you can't really take humanities classes on top of this curriculum. I miss them 🙁

That being said, with the OP insisting on applying to schools with the least pre-req, he/she doesn't sound very excited about the field at all, but who am I to judge 🙄

 

[danderson]

and to address the point about being a science major has not much option unless you go to grad school. that is completely untrue.

It is much more limited than many people would think for the difficulty of the major. I'm not saying there aren't any jobs, but there are not very many of them (especially decent paying ones). Often in this field the people that get good jobs right after undergrad are those who know people and are connected, or those who have excelled in research and already have lots of experience and training in advanced science settings. The latter is also often well connected because of this, and can also get great recommendation from the those that they worked with.

It's nothing like majoring in something like engineering. 🙁 I know many, many, many more people with science degrees who haven't used their degrees, versus people who did. (This is not counting those who went to grad school).

 

[stevems93]

ohh!
well thank you everybody for the advice you gave me
i wanted to know what other medical field related jobs are there and do not require so many prerequisites courses in order for you to apply to professional school.

 

[stevems93]

i was wondering if i major in chemistry will i still be able to go to pharmacy school

 

[Jogbe001]

i was wondering if i major in chemistry will i still be able to go to pharmacy school

absolutely, you could virtually major in anything, as long as you finish all the pre-req courses.

oh and i go to UCR too and am applying to pharmacy school right now 🙂

 

[stevems93]

oh serious
haah wow
what did you major in?
where are you applying?

 

[Jogbe001]

yup, im a senior right now
I majored in Biology, because biological sciences had too many requirements for the degree.

I applied to about 3 in state schools (touro, loma linda, northstate) and than out of states like arizona, chicago, colorado

 

[Selladore]

absolutely, you could virtually major in anything, as long as you finish all the pre-req courses.

oh and i go to UCR too and am applying to pharmacy school right now 🙂

Looks like a lot of UCR people here! I went to UCR as well!

 

[stevems93]

Did you finish all your prerequietes courses before you applied to pharmacy schools in 4 years or you took more then 4 years
@jogbe001
What did you major in at ucr
And what pharmacy school did you go to?

 

[Jogbe001]

Did you finish all your prerequietes courses before you applied to pharmacy schools in 4 years or you took more then 4 years
@jogbe001
What did you major in at ucr
And what pharmacy school did you go to?

Oh my bad, I must have used past tense. I'm still going to ucr in my final year, but im gonna be done in fall quarter. I'm majoring in biology. As for pharmacy schools, I just had my 1st interview last week, and then I have 2 more next month.

 

[stevems93]

I see I see
Goodluck
Where did you apply to?
And did finish all your prequiestes all on time and all those stuff?
What process did you take
I need some guidance and help

 

[Jogbe001]

Thanks!
I applied to Touro, Loma Linda and Northstate (in-state)
Then for out state, picked schools in arizona, chicago and colorado
For when i finished prereqs, I have them all done except for physiology, which im gonna take at a cc.
however, some schools requirements are different like some schools require biochem while others recommend it, it just depends on what school your looking at.
The process, i just took classes that were on my degree plan to graduate and it eventually works out.

Send me a private message if you want some more specific answers, dont wanna type huge paragraphs here

 

[Selladore]

Thanks!
I applied to Touro, Loma Linda and Northstate (in-state)
Then for out state, picked schools in arizona, chicago and colorado
For when i finished prereqs, I have them all done except for physiology, which im gonna take at a cc.
however, some schools requirements are different like some schools require biochem while others recommend it, it just depends on what school your looking at.
The process, i just took classes that were on my degree plan to graduate and it eventually works out.

Send me a private message if you want some more specific answers, dont wanna type huge paragraphs here

If I may ask, how come you arent taking physio at Ucr? Its really hard to enroll into physio at a cc.

 

[lilsweetpea01]

Hi, i am a undergraduate student at UCR and I wanted to become a pharmacist in the future.
I know about all aspects needed for my process to apply to these schools but, I am worried that i will not be able to make it to pharmacy school due to my grades or various other reasons.
So, i wanted to know what are some recommended majors that i could possible major in and finish my prerequisites at the same time just in case i fail one making it into pharmacy school.

This is urgent
I am quiet worried about my success in the future.

Major in what you enjoy as an undergrad. Don't let ******s tell you to major in bio/chem if you don't even like it. You can major in something completely different and still do well in pharm school. And for whatever reason if you don't get in the year you apply, keep trying while finishing up your major.

I'd suggest poly sci like you said or business.

 

[Jogbe001]

If I may ask, how come you arent taking physio at Ucr? Its really hard to enroll into physio at a cc.

Physio is the only class I need and they only offer it during spring quarter. Don't wanna waste about 8,000 dollars for winter quarter. then another 8000 for spring quarter when im only taking 1 class

 

[wanttobepharm]

It is much more limited than many people would think for the difficulty of the major. I'm not saying there aren't any jobs, but there are not very many of them (especially decent paying ones). Often in this field the people that get good jobs right after undergrad are those who know people and are connected, or those who have excelled in research and already have lots of experience and training in advanced science settings. The latter is also often well connected because of this, and can also get great recommendation from the those that they worked with.

It's nothing like majoring in something like engineering. 🙁 I know many, many, many more people with science degrees who haven't used their degrees, versus people who did. (This is not counting those who went to grad school).

If the OP is worried about job market out of college in case he doesnt get accepted into pharmacy school (or any professional school) being a biology major is actually one of the most versatile major you can have. I'm not discrediting other majors as being inferior, I'm just simply pointing out there are alot more jobs in biology field than most majors. I agree engineering does have perks, but in this economy, you want a decent paying job in engineering doing actual engineering workis rare. I would say my job is as close to utilizing medical knowledge and science background as a non health care professional you can get. There are jobs in FBI, NIH, CDC, hospitals, clinics, CRO, Pharma, etc. Jobs are hard to get, but unemployment is just not enough effort.

Whichever major you choose, jobs will be there, and plenty, as long as you put the effort in job hunting. Even as a pharmacists you have to job hunt sometimes. Hope I don't get flamed for this. But sometimes I feel like getting jobs out of college is about personality and confidence, not solely on education.