Pre-Pharmacy 2020

[pgallos]

I need some advice and a straight conversation on my future plans:

-I am a 23 year old post undergraduate (kinesiology and health) currently applying to medical School (DO) for the 2019 term But I am considering pharmacy school for fall of 2020.

-My accumulative GPA is a 3.05 with my science GPA also a 3.05.

- I have 3 out of 4 years kinesiology based research experience with Iowa state university kinesiology and health department (worked on two publications)

-I have 100's of hours of community service, volunteer, philanthropy, and leader ship positions within my the Greek system (fraternities and local community)

-100's of clinical hours working as a CNA. Shadowing APN, RN's, LPN's, doctors and administrators.

-I worked one job all through college, in between classes, and worked two jobs my last year in school. Devoting all my weekends to health care.

-Over 100 hours of shadowing a DO-Wound surgeon from my college of choice (he is writing my letter of rec for medical school) I have a pharmacist ready take me under my wing as a Pharm tech and write on my behalf and allow me to shadow.

-a ton of on campus involvement one being a nationally titled judo athlete (practiced 4 times a week 3 hours a day to achieve this) plus much more I just don't want to toot my horn.

-I have yet to take the MCAT. I am scheduled to do so this august. My last diagnostic after studying for one month was a 486 which I know is a low score but I am on the up rise. The schools I contacted are willing to take my mcat score instead of the PCAT


I would like to know what more I can do to better myself as an applicant.


This is a very stressful time as we all know and I just want a little guidance, I want a chance I just don’t want someone to decide failure for me. My whole life has lead up to this and being the 1st of my name born in America I all my motivation has been from myself. What advice can anyone give me I would greatly appreciate any guidance?


PS: I hope I did not offend anyone with anything I said above. I am in no way shape or form trying to be rude or condescending. I am genuinely and respectfully seeking help J

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[dreamer122]

Your extracurricular activities are impressive so I am sure they will help you a lot with med school and pharmacy school admission. However, your GPA might be on the weak side but it's understandable since I can tell you have dedicated a lot of your time for those above activities so I would say try your best to get a >85% percentile on the MCAT and the PCAT and I am sure you would be a very competitive candidate

 

[NextStepTutor_4]

Hi @pgallos! You have a rather impressive amount of volunteering and shadowing experience. Given you have an extensive resume of extracurricular activities, you could consider on honing in on exactly what you want to do. You mentioned that you are looking into both DO and pharmacy schools but it may be best to start thinking about the exact career pathway you would like to take.

In addition, schools may ask you why you chose pharmacy or medical as your preferred route during the interview phase. Schools want to see that you are committed to a specific profession. In that case, you would want to give a solid answer as to why you chose pharmacy or medical.

As an applicant, I think you have a solid background. Depending on which career pathway you decide to take and which schools you are applying to, you could consider taking classes to boost your GPA. But that is just one piece which may or may not be significant given all the options you are considering.

I hope this helps in your future endeavors!

 

[pgallos]

Your extracurricular activities are impressive so I am sure they will help you a lot with med school and pharmacy school admission. However, your GPA might be on the weak side but it's understandable since I can tell you have dedicated a lot of your time for those above activities so I would say try your best to get a >85% percentile on the MCAT and the PCAT and I am sure you would be a very competitive candidate

thank you dreamer122 for replying. that is very reassuring. I am in the studying phase right now.

 

[pgallos]

Hi @pgallos! You have a rather impressive amount of volunteering and shadowing experience. Given you have an extensive resume of extracurricular activities, you could consider on honing in on exactly what you want to do. You mentioned that you are looking into both DO and pharmacy schools but it may be best to start thinking about the exact career pathway you would like to take.

In addition, schools may ask you why you chose pharmacy or medical as your preferred route during the interview phase. Schools want to see that you are committed to a specific profession. In that case, you would want to give a solid answer as to why you chose pharmacy or medical.

As an applicant, I think you have a solid background. Depending on which career pathway you decide to take and which schools you are applying to, you could consider taking classes to boost your GPA. But that is just one piece which may or may not be significant given all the options you are considering.

I hope this helps in your future endeavors!

thank you next step tutor 4. One of my schools i am applying to for both DO and pharmacy school told me i am in the ballpark for GPA for their program. I just want to do anything else i can to add more to my application package.

 

[FinallyOnTrack]

I’m just curious as to why you decided to apply to Med school for 2019 and not both?

I would honestly ask yourself if you want to be hands on with patients or not... if you don’t really want to be hands on then go to pharmacy - if you want to be hands on then go to Med school... don’t settle for the other because you didn’t get into the one you wanted..

Pharmacy isn’t a rainbow road to a $1xx,xxx salary..

Be passionate about the field you decide to pursue.


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[pgallos]

I’m just curious as to why you decided to apply to Med school for 2019 and not both?

I would honestly ask yourself if you want to be hands on with patients or not... if you don’t really want to be hands on then go to pharmacy - if you want to be hands on then go to Med school... don’t settle for the other because you didn’t get into the one you wanted..

Pharmacy isn’t a rainbow road to a $1xx,xxx salary..

Be passionate about the field you decide to pursue.


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Believe me I would love to apply to both concurrently, but unfortunately if i decide the pharmacy route I will need to take two more classes. Econ and Calculus to have all the prerequisites completed. One of my schools i am interested in for pharmacy will only take my mcat score if i apply to one of their programs first. I will be applying to their medical school this term and if it does not work out and am denied then that sets me up for the next term. It saves me the time and money to prepare and fund a new exam. Given i am not planning on failure but its a smooth path to stay on track.

 

[FinallyOnTrack]

Believe me I would love to apply to both concurrently, but unfortunately if i decide the pharmacy route I will need to take two more classes. Econ and Calculus to have all the prerequisites completed. One of my schools i am interested in for pharmacy will only take my mcat score if i apply to one of their programs first. I will be applying to their medical school this term and if it does not work out and am denied then that sets me up for the next term. It saves me the time and money to prepare and fund a new exam. Given i am not planning on failure but its a smooth path to stay on track.

So essentially, since you’re not ready (you still need 2 prerequisites) then I would do what you’re doing - apply for Med School - but I would go ahead and schedule your classes (for Econ and Cal) and register for the PCAT (if you got rejected for med school).. that way, come the spring of 2019 you’re finished with prerequisites for both med school and pharmacy school..

Now you can apply to both and hopefully begin in the fall of 2019..

[Edit] if you haven’t taken all of the pre reqs yet, then I would try to add calculus or economics to your future schedule to prevent yourself from starting a whole year later on a worse case scenario... Time Is Money.

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[pgallos]

So essentially, since you’re not ready (you still need 2 prerequisites) then I would do what you’re doing - apply for Med School - but I would go ahead and schedule your classes (for Econ and Cal) and register for the PCAT (if you got rejected for med school).. that way, come the spring of 2019 you’re finished with prerequisites for both med school and pharmacy school..

Now you can apply to both and hopefully begin in the fall of 2019..


but isn't the deadline for pharmacy school roughly January 1st for class starting fall 2019? I also avoiding the pcat and strictly looking at schools that will take my mcat score and convert it to a pcat score. I feel i would be cutting it to close to the application deadline then.

 

[FinallyOnTrack]

Not all schools have a hard deadline... some schools actually extend their deadline to get more quality students.. If you took the MCAT and did well - you shouldn’t have a problem with the PCAT. I wouldn’t limit myself to only those schools..


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[pgallos]

That is excellent news! thanks finallyontrack! I am going to look into it. I have been so focused on medical school and the financial commitment just to apply i thought it would be easier to break it up. My original plan was to apply to medical school this term. If that did not work out I would re-apply the next term while then applying concurrently to pharmacy school. That way it would give me another year to build more experience i may need. only downside it takes a year longer but that year would only be used to better my self as an applicant.

 

[FinallyOnTrack]

Either way, you’re looking at a career with the potential to make $100,000+ per year... the longer you wait, the more money you’ll end up not making..

That’s why I said - find the career you’re passionate about and follow that career.. TRUST ME - do not settle for pharmacy because you couldn’t get into med school... you’ll end up hating it and regretting not going to Med school..

Again, be passionate about it.. Good luck!


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[pgallos]

I like the way you think. Thanks for the advice finallyontrack. I appreciate it.

 

[Modest_anteater]

I like the way you think. Thanks for the advice finallyontrack. I appreciate it.

Avoid pharmacy.

Apply to DO schools too.

 

[pgallos]

Avoid pharmacy.

Apply to DO schools too.

That is a pretty firm no against pharmacy. Are you not a fan? I am also applying to D.O Schools currently

 

[Modest_anteater]

That is a pretty firm no against pharmacy. Are you not a fan? I am also applying to D.O Schools currently

This is how it is.

You need to put in hard work.

DO school = hard work to get into school and pass, easy to get a job
pharm school = easy to get into school and pass school, hard to get a job

would'nt you rather have the hard part over with first?

 

[pgallos]

This is how it is.

You need to put in hard work.

DO school = hard work to get into school and pass, easy to get a job
pharm school = easy to get into school and pass school, hard to get a job

would'nt you rather have the hard part over with first?

I did not know that I appreciate the feedback. I didn't think of it like that.

 

[Apothecary Aquinas]

Your GPA is a bit low but not out of range for DO and your EC’s are great for DO. Make a decent score on the MCAT and DO will definitely be obtainable. Post in the DO forums to make a good school list to apply to and to gather more advice for applying.

I respect pharmacy greatly as a profession (I applied myself and was accepted to a couple schools in the past) but the job market is not good. As a DO the job market will be much better and your earning potential will be 2 to 3 times greater, depending on your specialty, than as a pharmacist. I do not mean to talk bad about pharmacy but this is simply the reality of it.

You have a good shot at DO! Focus, focus, focus and score well on the MCAT, make a good list of DO schools to apply to and you will have a good chance I believe.

PS - if you’re not scoring well on the MCAT practice tests when you’re about to take the real MCAT, push it back! Take the financial loss and prepare more. Taking the MCAT multiple times will not look good if you keep making bad scores. Prepare well once, use the AAMC question banks, take at least 5 full length tests or more of you’re not scoring well yet, do everything you can very well one time and kill the test!