Pre-Reqs > 10 years old

[Sirenna]

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I took some of my pre-reqs, such as College Comp I and II and some Humanities courses, back in 1994-1995. Will I have to re-take these for most schools or should it be ok? I earned A's in these classes, retaking them won't be a problem, I just need to know what to plan for. What do you guys think?

 

[highlyfavored]

I took some of my pre-reqs, such as College Comp I and II and some Humanities courses, back in 2004-2005. Will I have to re-take these for most schools or should it be ok? I earned A's in these classes, retaking them won't be a problem, I just need to know what to plan for. What do you guys think?

Did you mean 1994-1995? If you just took them in '04 of course they are good. If you took them in 94-95, then you'd have to call or email the school and see what they say. Some schools are okay with it, depending on what you've been doing since then.

 

[Sirenna]

Bleh, yea, I meant 1994-1995. I'm sick and not thinking straight ;(

 

[All4MyDaughter]

I had pre-reqs from 1993. In fact, I had several pre-reqs met by credits that were earned from high school AP courses that I took as long ago as 1990. I applied only to the University of Kentucky this fall, and they accepted all of them. I think it's something you will find varies from school to school.

 

[dreaminpharmd]

I would contact the schools individually...unless you find something written on their website stating acceptance of pre-requisites are good for the last 7-10 years. On the other hand, I have found that some schools are more concerned with the basic science courses. So, if your science pre-requisites are older than 7 (or 10) years old, you may have to take a refresher course. I recently got an e-mail from UOP to take the 2nd half of o-chem as a refresher. 😡

Good luck!

 

[PharmEng]

I took some of my pre-reqs, such as College Comp I and II and some Humanities courses, back in 1994-1995. Will I have to re-take these for most schools or should it be ok? I earned A's in these classes, retaking them won't be a problem, I just need to know what to plan for. What do you guys think?

From my experience a lot of schools I contacted didn't care about when the pre-reqs were completed if you had high grades and PCAT scores. So far I have gotten one acceptance (Mercer) and 3 other interview invites (UNC, Campbell, Wingate) and all of my pre-reqs (including sciences) were taken between 1993 and 1997. Now that being said, as others have reccommended you still need to contact the specific schools you are interested in to be certain of their requirements.

 

[usi]

I graduated in 1997, so all my prereqs are pretty old.
I emailed the school I am interested to attend, and some anonymous pre health advisor said I have to re take all of them.
I think is B#ll ****! So I am applying anyway, because I know that there are many non-traditional students accepted with old credits.
I have a good GPA and a 93 in the PCAT and I am applying.
I refuse to retake anything. I am an organic chemist, so I would be very upset if I have to retake a class that I could be teaching at this point.
I'll let you know if I get accepted.

 

[cosmicstarr]

I have the same problem. I graduated in 1994 with a Bio degree, so most of my prereqs. are OLD. Here is the feedback I received from California schools:

UCSF - the age of the prereqs. is not an issue, but they encouraged me to take more recent science courses.
UCSD - they would not accept any science prereq. older than 7 years.
USC - they would not accept any course older than 10 years.
Western - there is no time limit on prereqs.
UOP - I would have to take a core bio class and the 2nd semester of organic chemistry
Touro - no time limit on prereqs, but more recent courses are encouraged.

I recently finished Microbio and plan to take Anatomy, Physio, and possibly the 2nd semester of O-chem again. Hopefully, this will be enough to apply to UCSF, Western, and Touro. If I take a core bio course again, I can also apply to UOP.

 

[usi]

I have the same problem. I graduated in 1994 with a Bio degree, so most of my prereqs. are OLD. Here is the feedback I received from California schools:

UCSF - the age of the prereqs. is not an issue, but they encouraged me to take more recent science courses.
UCSD - they would not accept any science prereq. older than 7 years.
USC - they would not accept any course older than 10 years.
Western - there is no time limit on prereqs.
UOP - I would have to take a core bio class and the 2nd semester of organic chemistry
Touro - no time limit on prereqs, but more recent courses are encouraged.

I recently finished Microbio and plan to take Anatomy, Physio, and possibly the 2nd semester of O-chem again. Hopefully, this will be enough to apply to UCSF, Western, and Touro. If I take a core bio course again, I can also apply to UOP.

What if you are a scientist? Yeap, the same people that are at the front lines of scientific changes that are shaping what is being taught in the textbooks?
I think this shouldn't apply if your job had something to do with health and science. That is my opinion!
What if you are a professor?

 

[cosmicstarr]

What if you are a scientist? Yeap, the same people that are at the front lines of scientific changes that are shaping what is being taught in the textbooks?
I think this shouldn't apply if your job had something to do with health and science. That is my opinion!
What if you are a professor?

I agree with you. If you are a chemist, it's ridiculous that you would have to do Gen. Chem or O-Chem again because the prereq. is over 10 years old. As a bio major, it's time consuming to have to retake a core, freshman bio class. If needed, I can review the material on my own.

I don't know why the age of prereqs. is such a big issue, esp. if you do well in the PCAT. I would think that a good PCAT score would demonstrate the necessary proficiency in the prereqs. Most other health sciences programs, such as Medical or Dental schools do not have such stringent requirements with the age of prereqs.

These requirements just make it more difficult for us nontrads who do not immediately decide to apply to pharm school after undergrad.

 

[usi]

I agree with you. If you are a chemist, it's ridiculous that you would have to do Gen. Chem or O-Chem again because the prereq. is over 10 years old. As a bio major, it's time consuming to have to retake a core, freshman bio class. If needed, I can review the material on my own.

I don't know why the age of prereqs. is such a big issue, esp. if you do well in the PCAT. I would think that a good PCAT score would demonstrate the necessary proficiency in the prereqs. Most other health sciences programs, such as Medical or Dental schools do not have such stringent requirements with the age of prereqs.

These requirements just make it more difficult for us nontrads who do not immediately decide to apply to pharm school after undergrad.

I have a feeling is not such a big issue to have old classes if all else is OK.
Now I wish somebody who actually was told point blank to repeat a class when they have a great GPA and PCAT score, only because the class is > 10 years old, would reply to this post.
Anybody out there?

 

[Reclusive]

I have some non-science courses I am looking to apply as prerequisite coursework. I took the classes between 95-99. I contacted a couple of pharm schools by e-mail in Georgia.

Mercer - Accepted them
UGA - Accepted them

 

[rxlynn]

Wow - now you all have me scared - it never occurred to me to ask if they would still take my prereqs. Creighton's office did an unofficial look at my transcripts and didn't say anything about dates. And, mine are REALLY old (1984-1988)! However, I do have a master's degree in chemistry, so I would be more than upset if somebody told me I needed to retake o-chem or general chem.

 

[usi]

Wow - now you all have me scared - it never occurred to me to ask if they would still take my prereqs. Creighton's office did an unofficial look at my transcripts and didn't say anything about dates. And, mine are REALLY old (1984-1988)! However, I do have a master's degree in chemistry, so I would be more than upset if somebody told me I needed to retake o-chem or general chem.

Don't sweat it!
If they looked and didn't find, then dont bring attention to it.

 

[bananaface]

Typically schools care only about how long ago a course was taken if the content changed alot, as happens in some science courses. Of course, every school sets their own policies. My guess is that you won't run into any problems with those courses being accepted. 🙂

 

[pinkyrx]

I took some of my pre-reqs, such as College Comp I and II and some Humanities courses, back in 1994-1995. Will I have to re-take these for most schools or should it be ok? I earned A's in these classes, retaking them won't be a problem, I just need to know what to plan for. What do you guys think?

This really varies from school to school. I'd call the school your interested in and ask them directly.

I had classes that were over 10 years old and they did not make me retake them because I had a BS in a science field as well as the fact I had current graduate course loads with good grades. I think lots of schools probably look at the big picture.