Pre-pharm help.... where should I go?

[L1n]

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Hi
Due to my parents decision, my whole family will be moving to the US really soon. Sounds like a great opportunity, but right now what really bothers me is that I will have to throw away 4 years of my academic life since most of my credits aren’t transferable. I’ll be starting my new life as a first year pre-pharmacy student this fall but I am still undecided about where to go.

I got accepted at The University of Arizona and the University at Buffalo. I applied to these schools because they are International-student friendly and they have a pharmacy school (so if I were to apply to their grad school they wouldn’t reject my credits >.<) I have to admit that it was pretty silly to think like that hehe
The weather isn’t an issue. I am more concern about the education I’ll be getting. Right now, I am not sure which is the best place to spend my undergrad years…
Any kind of help or advice will be greatly appreciated!

 

[Farmercyst]

Hi
Due to my parents decision, my whole family will be moving to the US really soon. Sounds like a great opportunity, but right now what really bothers me is that I will have to throw away 4 years of my academic life since most of my credits aren't transferable. I'll be starting my new life as a first year pre-pharmacy student this fall but I am still undecided about where to go.

I got accepted at The University of Arizona and the University at Buffalo. I applied to these schools because they are International-student friendly and they have a pharmacy school (so if I were to apply to their grad school they wouldn't reject my credits >.<) I have to admit that it was pretty silly to think like that hehe
The weather isn't an issue. I am more concern about the education I'll be getting. Right now, I am not sure which is the best place to spend my undergrad years&#8230;
Any kind of help or advice will be greatly appreciated!

Why won't they take your credits that you already have? My understanding (and of course I'm the farthest thing from an international student) is that you just had to provide them with transcripts (translated through school specified translation service) and course descriptions for you prereqs. Now I may be wrong, but it seems to me that's what I've read.

 

[L1n]

Thanks for the replay ^^
I am not sure why. I think it is probably because they can’t assure if a subject taken outside the US can be equivalent to the one taken within the US. In addition, I toke all my classes in Spanish hehe so there is the language barrier issue. I have already submitted my transcript and I will probably bring all sorts of documents regarding all the subjects that I have taken when I meet up with my counselor. So far, it seems that I will be able to transfer some humanities and probably calculus (it’s up to my placement test). Most of my credits were transferred as extra-credits. I don’t think I will be lucky transferring my chemistry courses… I may be able to make them acknowledge my general chemistry I, but that is it…
Somehow, I think it is better to retake most of my subjects since most of the pharmacy schools wont accept courses in the pre-pharmacy curriculum taken outside the US.

 

[aboveliquidice]

I have seen this happen here at UF - where students from China were not able to transfer over sciences. There are ways to CLEP courses - ie the SAT II or what not. Is there a way to "Test out" of chemistry at those institutions? Aside from that and weather - both schools are generally equal - UofA is bigger I believe.

Emailing current students at those institutions also may be useful.

~above~

 

[L1n]

Emailing current students? I didn't though about that but I think that might be annoying to most. If both schools are generally equal then I think I'll be leaning towards UofA. Thanks for the input ^^
I was having a small break down when I made this thread hehe since dealing with midterms and my student visa on the same week stressed me out.

 

[UMichFinn]

If you are still considering other schools, you should look into Northeastern University's graduate entry program http://www.bouve.neu.edu/programs/pharmacy/gradentryinfo/

People who have BS/BA degrees can enter as graduate students into their PharmD program, so all of your previous education wouldn't go to waste. It is however, very competitive. I think they only take around 20 people out of 350.

 

[L1n]

Thanks for the info
Too bad I haven't get a degree yet hehehe
In my country, once you apply for school as an undergrad you get automatically accepted to your graduate program that's why I haven't got a degree yet ^^;;