Please Clarify

[jlanlu]

It seems from what I am hearing from these forums is that most of the applicants to a pharmacy school are not high school graduates. If this is true then would this mean my chances from being accepted is slim. I'm going to the 10th grade and I know for sure i want a career in pharmacy. I plan to to pursue a dual degree in a PharmD/MBA. I'm in the Honors program in all subjects and I get all A's. I also particapate in many extra-curricular activities such as volunteering in the local hospital. Do the Colleges of Pharmacy usually accept people just out of high school because that is what i plan to do. Please help me clarify this issue because it would be very unfortunate to not be accepted to UF (the school I intend to go) just beacause i have no experience due to fact that I would be a high school graduate when i would apply.

Also what would you reccomend to me to help me pave my way to pursue my goal?

Thanks

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[rxlynn]

It seems from what I am hearing from these forums is that most of the applicants to a pharmacy school are not high school graduates. If this is true then would this mean my chances from being accepted is slim. I'm going to the 10th grade and I know for sure i want a career in pharmacy. I plan to to pursue a dual degree in a PharmD/MBA. I'm in the Honors program in all subjects and I get all A's. I also particapate in many extra-curricular activities such as volunteering in the local hospital. Do the Colleges of Pharmacy usually accept people just out of high school because that is what i plan to do. Please help me clarify this issue because it would be very unfortunate to not be accepted to UF (the school I intend to go) just beacause i have no experience due to fact that I would be a high school graduate when i would apply.

Also what would you reccomend to me to help me pave my way to pursue my goal?

Thanks

Yes, most of the applicants are people who have at least 2 years of college work, because most of the pharmacy schools have a set list of college-level prerequisite courses that must be completed before you could start classes at their school. For example, at my state school (U of Georgia) you would have to apply and be accepted as an undergrad for pre-pharm, complete the 2 years for prereqs, and then reapply for admission to UGA's pharmacy school, at which point you would be competing with other applicants who are not currently at UGA.

There are some schools that have 0+6 programs, which are designed to accept students directly from high school. I am not familiar with them, but I'm sure somebody on the board is.

 

[DrBowtie]

The MBA part would be the hardest to get into. You have zero business classes and zero business experience.

 

[pharmwannebe2]

It seems from what I am hearing from these forums is that most of the applicants to a pharmacy school are not high school graduates. If this is true then would this mean my chances from being accepted is slim. I'm going to the 10th grade and I know for sure i want a career in pharmacy. I plan to to pursue a dual degree in a PharmD/MBA. I'm in the Honors program in all subjects and I get all A's. I also particapate in many extra-curricular activities such as volunteering in the local hospital. Do the Colleges of Pharmacy usually accept people just out of high school because that is what i plan to do. Please help me clarify this issue because it would be very unfortunate to not be accepted to UF (the school I intend to go) just beacause i have no experience due to fact that I would be a high school graduate when i would apply.

Also what would you reccomend to me to help me pave my way to pursue my goal?

Thanks

actually you are incorrect over the fact that your chances are slim. there are many schools that only operate on a out of high school acceptance. massachusetts college of pharmacy accepts people out of high school, philadelphia college of pharmacy only accepts people out of high school and no transfer students. Butler university (which does have a dual program for an MBA/PharmD.) has only limited spots for transfer kids to the professional years and usually only give admission to kids out of high school. my mom tried to make me apply to ohio state university's pharmacy program but the class was already full (yes i applied mid december...i am stupid). Ohio state offers admission to high school grads ( i don't know if they accept others to the pharm. program though)

plenty of school give admission to high school grads. and i believe it is slimmer to be accepted as someone who did pre-pharm and applied to a pharmacy school since a ton of people do that and you need a stellar gpa and PCAT score to get in.

i just graduated high school and i was accepted to USP and Butler with an ave sat score (1100 on the old scale) and about 4.5 gpa (people in my school were *****s). Both USP (philadelphia college of pharmacy) and butler are direct admission so i don't have to worry about being rejected from the pharmacy program.

so don't worry. if you have straight a's you are good.

 

[jlanlu]

Okay, so my chances aren't that slim. I was planning to start my undergrduate pre-pharm of 2 yrs. first. Thanks for the clarifacation.

 

[cdpiano27]

I know a pharmacist in Florida who talks with the people on the admission committee quite frequently.

He says and I know for sure that:

1. UF only looks at:

College-level
PHysics, O-Chem, General Chem, Biology, Anatomy, and Calc I

The grade-point average should be 3.6 or higher.

PCAT should be 90 or higher with no less than 50 in any section.

And extracurriculars/pharmacy experience is looked at third, after grades and PCAT in that order of importance.

Doing extremely well in high-school will not get you anywhere except getting into UF undergraduate itself, where you are given only a slight advantage. The slight advantage is really that you can volunteer at Shands since they have a program set up for the pre-pharm students to get experience, and there is a pre-pharm committe there.

I suggest you apply to schools such as the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, Albany College, MCPHS-Boston, and other 0-6 year schools that take people direclty out of high school. Philadelphia is probably the most selective of ALL OF THESE PROGRAMS since they are the FIRST PHARMCY SCHOOL THAT EVER OPENED UP.


But you would save a lot of money by doing well at UF and going there. I assume you are Florida resident (US citizen or permanent resident) and not CHinese citizen without green card. I think you are Chinese from your screen name.

If you are Chinese citizen without a green card, than you will be treated as an international student at every school which is out-of-state, and not eligible for the federal loans which is not good.

 

[cdpiano27]

Oh, and I forgot Physics is also looked at (you do not have to take calc-based).

 

[PolarBear21]

University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA also has a program for people like you, who want to go directly to pharmacy school after high school. They sort of combine your undergrad and pharmacy school education all in one. Seems like a great way to go if you're sure pharmacy is for you.

 

[senzabee]

University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA also has a program for people like you, who want to go directly to pharmacy school after high school. They sort of combine your undergrad and pharmacy school education all in one. Seems like a great way to go if you're sure pharmacy is for you.

You should try for UOP. From my experience, it was easy to get into their 2+3 or 3+3 program AND since you're smart, you can probably get their presidential scholarship (i think that's the name, though this was 4 years ago) of $20,000 (I got it with a 1340 old SAT and just made a 4.0 by graduation, but I know of someone who got it with a 3.7-ish GPA). Their 2+3 program is tough (I hear a lot of people switch to the 3+3, doing their prereqs in 3 years instead of 2 full years), but I think for you, you can definitely get in at least.

 

[pharmwannebe2]

The MBA part would be the hardest to get into. You have zero business classes and zero business experience.

there are many schools that offer a dual MBA/ PharmD. degree. i don't know how it would work if you did pre-pharm. in one school and pharmacy at another. cause i know that when you do it at a 0+6 year school they give you like one or two classes of business with your regular pharmacy classes...

i really have no idea how you tell the school of pharmacy (whichever one you decide) that you want to do a dual degree. you might have to put business admin. with pharmacy on your application for all i know. its a good idea to contact your school and ask if you find one that offers a dual degree.

ps- you really don't need any experience to get into business school out of high school. its kinda like pharmacy. you don't need experience to get into pharmacy school out of high school.

 

[DrBowtie]

there are many schools that offer a dual MBA/ PharmD. degree. i don't know how it would work if you did pre-pharm. in one school and pharmacy at another. cause i know that when you do it at a 0+6 year school they give you like one or two classes of business with your regular pharmacy classes...

i really have no idea how you tell the school of pharmacy (whichever one you decide) that you want to do a dual degree. you might have to put business admin. with pharmacy on your application for all i know. its a good idea to contact your school and ask if you find one that offers a dual degree.

ps- you really don't need any experience to get into business school out of high school. its kinda like pharmacy. you don't need experience to get into pharmacy school out of high school.

Not to get into an undergrad business school, but we are talking MBA.
I'd look into the MBA portion more since there are some other things to consider. Swing by the MD/MBA, DDS/MBA forum and take a look.

BTW: I took the two years experience directly from the UF PharmD/MBA factsheet.

 

[acetyl]

I agree with the Bachelor. I have undergraduate degree in business and have looked at MBA programs. However, if you have money and are not ******ed they might take you because they are part of the University which is a huge money grubbing business. They are a graduate program and I think the only reason you can do the dual degree is because you're considered in graduate school once accepted into the professional school. Most graduate programs require undergraduate degrees.

My concern is that you are wanting to move too fast. Why don't you want to enjoy a few years of hard science classes before starting a professional program? There are so many career options out there that you should at least look at. Pharmacy is a good one these days, though, and I hope you get into a school if that is what you want to do. But spend a few years at a university, because I don't care how smart you are the rate at which college classes move, and especially science classes, will challenge you.

 

[jlanlu]

Okay, so i realized now its impossible to get into UF with a dual degree in Pharmacy and MBA right out of high school even with my credentials. I'll work hard and enjoy my high school years and then when I'm a senior I'll worry about this issue. Well, thanks for all your input. It was much appreciated, as now my eyes are more open up to this issue.

 

[pharmwannebe2]

I agree with the Bachelor. I have undergraduate degree in business and have looked at MBA programs. However, if you have money and are not ******ed they might take you because they are part of the University which is a huge money grubbing business. They are a graduate program and I think the only reason you can do the dual degree is because you're considered in graduate school once accepted into the professional school. Most graduate programs require undergraduate degrees.

My concern is that you are wanting to move too fast. Why don't you want to enjoy a few years of hard science classes before starting a professional program? There are so many career options out there that you should at least look at. Pharmacy is a good one these days, though, and I hope you get into a school if that is what you want to do. But spend a few years at a university, because I don't care how smart you are the rate at which college classes move, and especially science classes, will challenge you.

amen

 

[BiOGoly]

It seems from what I am hearing from these forums is that most of the applicants to a pharmacy school are not high school graduates. If this is true then would this mean my chances from being accepted is slim. I'm going to the 10th grade and I know for sure i want a career in pharmacy. I plan to to pursue a dual degree in a PharmD/MBA. I'm in the Honors program in all subjects and I get all A's. I also particapate in many extra-curricular activities such as volunteering in the local hospital. Do the Colleges of Pharmacy usually accept people just out of high school because that is what i plan to do. Please help me clarify this issue because it would be very unfortunate to not be accepted to UF (the school I intend to go) just beacause i have no experience due to fact that I would be a high school graduate when i would apply.

Also what would you reccomend to me to help me pave my way to pursue my goal?

Thanks

The 10th grade? So you are what, 15...16 maybe?? It's great to have a goal in life, we need goals to keep ourselves focused, but honestly at your age it might be wise to concentrate a little more on the immediate future. After you've started undergrad and experienced a little bit more of life you might change your mind and decide you want to do something else, finish your BS/BA before pharm school, etc . Humans are fickle, the college freshman pre-med gunner who becomes completely disinterested in med by her junior year is almost cliche (I think at least a quarter of my freshman class classified themselves as pre-med). As far as the MBA is concerned, you're really putting the carriage in front of the horse. You need a baccalaureate degree for the MBA and any reputable program would want to see at least "some" form of business exposure, even in a pharmD/MBA dual program.

I hope I don't sound condescending, it's just that you have a lot more time ahead of you than you think. By not rushing things you can gain a better perspective on your motivations and hopefully wind up more satisfied in the end.