PharmCAS

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It took 2 weeks for them to send mine. E-submitted on 8/4. Last transcripted received on 8/15. Completed on 8/16. Mailed on 8/27.
 
I submitted my SOP's supplemental application on 6/01, the day it came out and my PharmCAS application just the other day. It didn't seem to bother them at all because I received an email saying they have everything they need from me. It didn't state any problems with the order in which things were sent. I would think the faster you could get anything in, the better. Best of luck.
 
I applied to Howard too. I talked to someone over there some time last week. She said that they should start reviewing applications. I'm not expecting to hear from them anytime soon though coz I submitted my application late.
 
Trackster said:
I will think its not a bad thing.This is funny cos since morning that I saw it,I've been trying to formulate a word that goes with WAS and I could not find any.At one point,I was guessing maybe it means "WAITING on ADMISSION STATUS" hahahha!!!!.
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HAHA...i was thinking to same thing.
 
hold on.....i think their messing with me!!!! Now it says "YES"!! I have no clue whats going on. I cant go to class like this, its going to drive me crazy😕
 
my mailing date now shows at 9/4, status new, I'm guessing this means it got sent today? yay!?
 
Mine likewise changed to YES this morning. Uh, I guess that's a good thing.
 
Heyyou....I've been on the end of reading applications & personally, I don't think putting this down is a good idea. As Farmer pointed out, this is an anonymous board so your input will automatically be discounted because no one knows you, how you're regarded, if you ask questions only or offer answers or pathways. Volunteering implies giving your time for a purpose for a cause or for other people. If the only purpose is for you to ask questions or read others thoughts, then there is no purpose other than your own.

Additionally, spending too much time here is similar to spending too much time on any online activity - it is isolating & singular. I know you think we are a big community of folks - but we don't know each other anymore than what we want to portray or "give out". Within the professional community, this is not regarded as a particularly good place to go for professional interaction so you take a risk when even mentioning a "position". For Farmer it worked out.

Pharmacy is a profession which relies so much on communication. Although we write back and forth here, that is far, far less important than being able to communicate verbally with our colleagues. Look at some of the threads on the Pharmacy forum....there is one where some students are denied rotations because they could not pass a cumulative exam which was oral. They might have known the material, but could not bring it all together cohesively in a limited time frame.

As for the writing part of this forum, this is much closer to instant messaging than it is to professional writing. So, even that is to be discounted. If you had written for a newsletter, even an online newsletter - that would be different.

Now, if you were involved with a pharmacy organization in which you organized via online networking a group project, or even individual projects which were all done at the same time - that would be a valid use of this as a reference. But, all by itself, I feel using SDN as an EC would backfire on you.

As for the heated responses when "these" questions come up, I think Hels had a point, although it might have not been delivered quite as well as it could have been. That point is - when you ask the question, offer what you think the solution should be then ask what others think of that idea. When you ask for open ended answers to application questions, it comes across that you want to know what others ideas are without offering your own. Somewhat like using others references for a paper you wrote. That might not have been what you intended & is probably not, but to others, that is how it comes across.

Also....many students don't use the search function (yes - its a terrible search function, but if you're patient enough, it will lead you to older threads on the same topic). As Farmer pointed out, this was discussed a few months back as have most of these application questions. We do get tired of answering the same question all the time & as pharmacists, preceptors, instructors, etc......we like to see individual initiative.

We are willing to help guide you in this whole application process, but hopefully, you'll take from the responses that you might want to change the way you ask the question. That in itself was helpful, although perhaps not in the way you expected.

But - each of us makes our own choices. There is no one "right" answer.

Good luck!
 
pharmster said:
hold on.....i think their messing with me!!!! Now it says "YES"!! I have no clue whats going on. I cant go to class like this, its going to drive me crazy😕
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Don't let it drive you crazy at all because a lot of things will still happen before next August rolls around.I'm pretty sure of that.From the interview process,to interview itself,to waiting for admission,to being admitted,financial aids and all that.


If this drives you crazy,I wonder what those other aforementioned factors will do to you later on.

Just relax, its too early to stress yourself out on this..........
This is just the beginniing. We are all together in this.
 
Does anyone know if we can submit the Pharmcas application before even taking the pcat? Up until today I was thinking that the Pcat scores can be sent to the schools at a later time. But today one of my friends was saying that we can't submit the pharmcas until we enter the pcat scores😱. Is this right??? I am gonna be taking the Pcat on oct 20; isn't taht gonna be too late to apply to schools🙁

one more question...Is it possible for me to first see how i do on my pcat and then mail the schools my scores?
 
You can e-submit before your scores are sent. They just send in the scores later. If you wait until you get the scores to send in your app, you'll be really late. I took to October PCAT, and had no problems with submitting.

And you don't see your scores before they are sent to the school. You choose the schools when you sign up for the test, and scores are just sent as soon as they are determined (someone correct me if im wrong). good luck on the PCAT, it'll come sooner than you think/want.
 
I actually didnt designate any schools when I took the June PCAT and waited until later to designate. It took much longer to get my scores sent so its a risk, especially because you're taking them in October. Also, when you finally do send the scores, they have all previous scores written on every form, so no matter how you do, schools see all scores you have.


Asrai said:
You can e-submit before your scores are sent. They just send in the scores later. If you wait until you get the scores to send in your app, you'll be really late. I took to October PCAT, and had no problems with submitting.

And you don't see your scores before they are sent to the school. You choose the schools when you sign up for the test, and scores are just sent as soon as they are determined (someone correct me if im wrong). good luck on the PCAT, it'll come sooner than you think/want.
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does anybody know how long it takes from the time you submit and it is sent
 
prefarmstu786 said:
Does anyone know if we can submit the Pharmcas application before even taking the pcat? Up until today I was thinking that the Pcat scores can be sent to the schools at a later time. But today one of my friends was saying that we can't submit the pharmcas until we enter the pcat scores😱. Is this right??? I am gonna be taking the Pcat on oct 20; isn't taht gonna be too late to apply to schools🙁

one more question...Is it possible for me to first see how i do on my pcat and then mail the schools my scores?
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Yes, I submitted my Pharmcas before I take my PCAT (also in October) and two schools (Midwestern, Glendale and Hilo, Hawaii) already invited me to submit their supplemental applications. Don't worry!!!🙂
 
Hey folks, I am now confused about whether I should get my volunteer experience before esubmitting. I am getting a volunteer two weeks away from now and I wonder if I should put that experience in my personal statement and extracurricular activities. The frustrating thing is the pharmcas doesn't let you edit ANYTHING after esubmitting

Note: I have already had experience in clinical pharmacy. I'm getting the community pharmacy experience two weeks away from now
 
The simple answer is no - you cannot submit anything you have not done yet unless you are able to explain that it is planned in the future.

But....while you are waiting to submit & to start your volunteering in a community pharmacy, you might want to read up on the actual practice of pharmacy.

There is an "old school" notion that "clinical pharmacy" equates to hospital pharmacy. Is that perhaps what you meant? If so, I'd suggest you refrain from using that term to describe acute care pharmacy because community pharmacists consider themselves "clinical" as well. Likewise, if you use that term in secondary essays or interviews for some schools, you might offend some in the school who are interested in pursuing the many clinical opportunities available currently for community pharmacists.
 
I am a 4th year in college filling out my pharmcas. should/do i put my ap/ib scores from 5 years ago (in college) which transferred over as units to my university?
 
koercive said:
I am a 4th year in college filling out my pharmcas. should/do i put my ap/ib scores from 5 years ago (in college) which transferred over as units to my university?
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If those units showed up on your college transcript and you got credit for it, then yes. Alternatively, if you know for a fact that the college of pharmacy accepts AP/IB for credit for prereqs (check with them to be sure), then you should include them as well.
 
I'm kind of confused. I just registered to take the PCATs in October, but found the part where you choose which schools you want it sent to to be confusing. I selected Pharmcas, but then do I also need to choose schools that go through Pharmcas because they are listed on there. I only put Pharmcas and Rutgers but was I supposed to choose all the schools I plan to apply to that use Pharmcas?
 
sdn1977 said:
The simple answer is no - you cannot submit anything you have not done yet unless you are able to explain that it is planned in the future.

But....while you are waiting to submit & to start your volunteering in a community pharmacy, you might want to read up on the actual practice of pharmacy.

There is an "old school" notion that "clinical pharmacy" equates to hospital pharmacy. Is that perhaps what you meant? If so, I'd suggest you refrain from using that term to describe acute care pharmacy because community pharmacists consider themselves "clinical" as well. Likewise, if you use that term in secondary essays or interviews for some schools, you might offend some in the school who are interested in pursuing the many clinical opportunities available currently for community pharmacists.
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Okay thank you very much for your explanation about the types of pharmacy. So just to clear this up...

Does clinical = community + hospital pharmacy?
Does community pharmacy = retail pharmacy and thats it?
 
For all the schools that uses pharmcas just send it to pharmcas unless it says it on their website that they want it directly to their school but most wants it straight from pharmcas so check to make sure. otherwise if they don't use pharmcas, then send it directly to each school.
 
Thank you! That's what I thought but I just wanted to be sure 🙂
 
Also, just to clarify my question is that would I have a better chance if I esubmit now because the schools I will be applying will have rolling admissions, or should I wait until I have gotten my volunteer experience.
 
Be very careful with your IB scores!! I've called schools in which one lady will tell me that they accept them as long as it's on my transcript, and another lady FROM THE SAME SCHOOL tell me that they don't. A lot of schools don't know about IB. So make sure you ask the person in charge of admissions.
 
Does the status remain as "new" or does it ever change?
 
thanks i go to a UC so IB didn't count

would i put my ap scores for the summer of the year i came into college? man inputting these classes/grades are 👎mad:

i won't need the ap scores transcript though correct? i haven't seen in it for over 6 years


ALSO

i took a class at CSUF during my high school years. it shows up on my UC transcript. do i need to order a transcript? it's not a pre-req or anything. i hope i don't have to go thru all that trouble for just 1 class...
 
You have to send transcripts from all colleges you attended even if it was in hs and shows up as a transfer credit. I had to send three transcripts in! It wasn't too much of a hassle though.
 
ahh why would schools do this?? lol
Now I look lazy if I use parts of my pharmcas essay, but how do you write a whole different essay on the same topic??
(It's the 'why do you want to be a pharmacist question')
sooo tired of writing these application essays!! 3 more to go...
 
I put my IB scores on there. I hope schools accept English credits from them b/c I never took any English in college. Anyone have any problems w/ schools accepting IB english scores?
 
PharmHopeful3 said:
I put my IB scores on there. I hope schools accept English credits from them b/c I never took any English in college. Anyone have any problems w/ schools accepting IB english scores?
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You should probably check for each school you are applying to. Some schools don't except these credits.
 
I had a short essay published in a textbook, but I'm not sure where I would put this on pharmcas application. Do I put it under scholarships/honors or extracurriulars? I was thinking extracurriculars but there is no starting and ending date or anything and no location.
 
Hi,

I talked to pharmcas about this type of thing and they recommended putting it under extracurriculars, mainly due to the space/character constraints. In my case it was a publication, some posters and a patent and I found that if I put them under 'honors/awards' the space constraint made it extremely cryptic and hard to look them up on pubmed or anything. For dates I used to start and end date associated with the time I spent working on the research and preparing the submission or poster.

In terms of location I put what it was related to i.e. ‘biochemistry’ and setting as the location i.e. ‘pharmaceutical industry’


Hope that helps and definitely email pharmCAS for more clarification, they got back to me quickly on this and were helpful.
 
I'm having trouble understanding what the PharmCAS prompt means when it asks about "personal background" and how that will help you achieve your goals.

Are they asking about how if you suffered the loss of a parent will help you be more determined, etc. or are they asking about your personality and how that will help you?

Thank you!
 
....anyone have to write a supplemental thats the same question as pharmcas? are you writing a whole new essay?...anyone....lol
 
I hear ya about this... my wife is tired of me bitching about it too. Anways, I wrote new essays that complemented the PharmCAS PS but provided more reasons and highlighted more personal experiences.

It's a pain to do all this, but i look at as a way to really show them you know what you're doing and why. And it's another opporunity to share more personal info so that they might actually start to feel like they are getting to know you.
 
yeah, I guess..but it's not like the reasons/explanations are going to change.
I wrote half of a new one tonight. I'll sleep on it and maybe divine inspiration will hit and I'll think of something brilliant to add tomorrow. lol
 
Pfizer Lab Rat said:
I'm having trouble understanding what the PharmCAS prompt means when it asks about "personal background" and how that will help you achieve your goals.

Are they asking about how if you suffered the loss of a parent will help you be more determined, etc. or are they asking about your personality and how that will help you?

Thank you!
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Well, I'm not sure since you haven't given the whole question. So, I'll give my answer, but it may be out of context.

If you have suffered the loss of a parent (my condolences if you have!), then yes, it could make you more determined. But, to put it more in the context of a pharmacy application, you might describe how much a pharmacist was involved in your parent's life, perhaps during chemotherapy explaing antinausea medications, or in helping with pain control. Perhaps a pharmacist helped when said parent could no longer swallow & then help facilitate changing medictions for this change in condition. Finally, when there is an imminent death, the pharmacist is often very empathetic to the family & tries to help with any needs they have. So, you show not just determination, but you might have seen & developed a respect for the variety of work & the empathy the pharmacist showed in dealing with your parent's illness. You might have seen how the pharmacist was flexible in realizing your parent's need & finding what will fill that need.

Now - another example. Perhaps your background is that of a family whose primary language is not English. You've gone through the American school system, but at home you speak the language & are actively involved in the culture of whatever ethnicity you belong to. Many of the folks of different ethnicities have reservations about western medicine & prefer their own traditional therapies. But, sometimes, they are thrust into western medicine. Because of your role as being an American educated health professional, but a part of a culture which doesn't embrace that without question - you are in a unique role as one who can bridge that understanding gap. Once patients understand the "why" of what they are supposed to take, their compliance goes up.

We could go on and on with backgrounds - low income, immigrant, middle to upper middle class, but suddenly a parent loses a job....lots of situations. They want to know what you have gained from the background of your life & how will you use that to better serve the profession.

One tip - when an application is all about "what pharmacy will do for me"....it will get less attention than one that brings in "what makes me know I can give something to pharmacy". Can you see the difference?

That's just my take on it. Others may have other input on ways to look at the question.

Good luck!
 
sdn1977 said:
Well, I'm not sure since you haven't given the whole question. So, I'll give my answer, but it may be out of context.

If you have suffered the loss of a parent (my condolences if you have!), then yes, it could make you more determined. But, to put it more in the context of a pharmacy application, you might describe how much a pharmacist was involved in your parent's life, perhaps during chemotherapy explaing antinausea medications, or in helping with pain control. Perhaps a pharmacist helped when said parent could no longer swallow & then help facilitate changing medictions for this change in condition. Finally, when there is an imminent death, the pharmacist is often very empathetic to the family & tries to help with any needs they have. So, you show not just determination, but you might have seen & developed a respect for the variety of work & the empathy the pharmacist showed in dealing with your parent's illness. You might have seen how the pharmacist was flexible in realizing your parent's need & finding what will fill that need.

Now - another example. Perhaps your background is that of a family whose primary language is not English. You've gone through the American school system, but at home you speak the language & are actively involved in the culture of whatever ethnicity you belong to. Many of the folks of different ethnicities have reservations about western medicine & prefer their own traditional therapies. But, sometimes, they are thrust into western medicine. Because of your role as being an American educated health professional, but a part of a culture which doesn't embrace that without question - you are in a unique role as one who can bridge that understanding gap. Once patients understand the "why" of what they are supposed to take, their compliance goes up.

We could go on and on with backgrounds - low income, immigrant, middle to upper middle class, but suddenly a parent loses a job....lots of situations. They want to know what you have gained from the background of your life & how will you use that to better serve the profession.

One tip - when an application is all about "what pharmacy will do for me"....it will get less attention than one that brings in "what makes me know I can give something to pharmacy". Can you see the difference?

That's just my take on it. Others may have other input on ways to look at the question.

Good luck!
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Bravo.👍
 
binghamkid said:
If those units showed up on your college transcript and you got credit for it, then yes. Alternatively, if you know for a fact that the college of pharmacy accepts AP/IB for credit for prereqs (check with them to be sure), then you should include them as well.
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It shows up on my transcript, but I am not using any of the AP credits for any pre-pharm pre-reqs. I'm confused on whether or not I would still have to send these bad boys into pharmCAS or pharm schools
 
Does anyone else's Pharmcas say revised where it says mailing status?? What does that mean??
 
nope mine still says "new"
 
where do you check mailing status? on designations its blank
 
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