Prospective high school pharmacy student

[Sgriz97]

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Hi, I am a senior in high school, and I am interested in becoming a pharmacist. A little bit about myself is that I have a 3.7 GPA on a 4.0 scale, and I am a member of the numerous clubs at my school. I enrolled in the Post Secondary program at the community college near my high school where I am taking most of my pre-requisities. I have passed my AP Physics B test with a 3, and I should have a total of 45 college credits by the end of my senior year. I have also just started shadowing at local pharmacies.

That being said, I was wondering if anyone had any tips or advice for me to use? I was also wondering if you recommended pharmacy as a good career to pursue and why or why not?

 

[Leapyear0208]

Only your college course GPA will be used when it comes time to apply, I too was a dual enrollment student and did many of my prereqs during high school (thinking I would go to pharm school as soon as I finished prereqs). I now have a bachelors and will have a masters before I apply but am finishing off prereqs (was going to get my doctorate in psych). There should be at least a pre-med if not also a pre-pharm club at your community college, I would look into that. Extracurriculars should be strong, especially with community involvement. Most schools don't care about previous pharmacy experience, I am taking the tech exam to be certified even though I am not working. 1st because I know most of the info as my dad is a pharmacist and I shadowed him in HS and 2nd because I have a part time position open for me once my youngest is in school next year but he wants me to be certified. You really need to consider what type of work environment you want, retail can be grueling (especially with patients that don't understand their insurance or how that works), my dad now works mail order from home and while it is easier in the aspect of no patient contact, there is no human contact and he tends to fall asleep a lot (but to be fair, he is old ), hospital, ect. Check the different career options after as there are some outside of retail/hospitals but can be harder to come by in some places.

 

[Sgriz97]

Only your college course GPA will be used when it comes time to apply, I too was a dual enrollment student and did many of my prereqs during high school (thinking I would go to pharm school as soon as I finished prereqs). I now have a bachelors and will have a masters before I apply but am finishing off prereqs (was going to get my doctorate in psych). There should be at least a pre-med if not also a pre-pharm club at your community college, I would look into that. Extracurriculars should be strong, especially with community involvement. Most schools don't care about previous pharmacy experience, I am taking the tech exam to be certified even though I am not working. 1st because I know most of the info as my dad is a pharmacist and I shadowed him in HS and 2nd because I have a part time position open for me once my youngest is in school next year but he wants me to be certified. You really need to consider what type of work environment you want, retail can be grueling (especially with patients that don't understand their insurance or how that works), my dad now works mail order from home and while it is easier in the aspect of no patient contact, there is no human contact and he tends to fall asleep a lot (but to be fair, he is old ), hospital, ect. Check the different career options after as there are some outside of retail/hospitals but can be harder to come by in some places.

Thanks for advice, it is good to hear what someone else's thoughts were on the subject. I will definitely join the pre-pharm club.