Im am applying for the class of 2013, and the PharmCas opens up in June. People say that you should complete the Application as early as possible. The thing is I am taking the PCAT in October, so if I complete the whole Application except for the PCAT would that be considered Complete? And i will send in the PCAT scores as soon as I get them which would be around The 3rd week of October. By the way my Schools deadline to Apply is Jan. 6th, 2009.
Question about applying Early!!!!
- Thread starter STAR3URY
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definitely apply as early as possible, saves you a lot of stress and can also improve your chances of getting an interview. you do not need to worry about having LOR's, test scores, or official transcripts for submission purposes. as long as you have completed your coursework lists, ec lists, ps, basically all your personal info then you are good to go. since your school requires the pcat score then they might not fully consider you until the score is received but at least you will have all your stuff into them so that when they do get the score they can jump on it immediately. goodluck!!!!
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don't you need to have ur official transcripts in to pharmcas before they send it out? Because they need to verify it. What sucks is if ur taking summer course work while you are submitting your app, they don't add your grades until after you sent them fall transcripts too...so i got screwed over.
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Your app is considered complete according to Pharmcas, if all you are waiting on is PCAT scores. Those are generally forwarded when they receive them.
If you are taking summer courses, you would need to submit after your transcripts after your summer grades are out. You do NOT need to wait until after your fall term or semester.
Hope I helped...BTW they don't send out apps until Aug or Sep anyway, even if you submit in June
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This is how it works. I wish I read the whole thing before starting it (would have probably gotten in if I read the whole thing).
You list on the PCAT section that you are going to take it in October 2008. Finish up your coursework section and add the courses for the Fall Semester.
If you submit early enough, you will be allowed to do an Academic Update in December and January, because these buggers take 4 weeks to calculate GPAs after you E-Submit.
If the school's deadline is January 6th, 2009, you want to E-Submit by the mid-November.
You list on the PCAT section that you are going to take it in October 2008. Finish up your coursework section and add the courses for the Fall Semester.
If you submit early enough, you will be allowed to do an Academic Update in December and January, because these buggers take 4 weeks to calculate GPAs after you E-Submit.
If the school's deadline is January 6th, 2009, you want to E-Submit by the mid-November.
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This is a good post - Glad to see your attitude is turning in the positive direction... This is what makes this forum such a good community.
~above~
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To add, even if PharmCAS sends out your application w/o the PCAT score schools will consider your application incomplete and put it on hold until they get. Also did you mean 3rd week of November for the PCAT score? The Oct test isn't until Oct 18, so expect about 4 weeks to get your score. But that still gives you plenty of time before the deadline.
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I will be applying to a school with early and rolling admissions, and I want to get in my stuff asap. But I will take my first PCAT in August and again in October.
So just to go over, all I have to do is complete my course lists, personal information, and PS on the PharmCas and send it in to be "accounted for", and then my school will just have to wait for my PCAT scores, Summer transcript, Fall update, and LORs to make a decision. And I am assuming that I won't officially be an applicant until I have all of my stuff in...does all this sound right?
Also, this may sound stupid, but can I have a specific overview of what is in the PharmCas? A personal statement, information....and what else? Is there a writing prompt and word limit for the PS?
June 1st isn't even here and I'm already stressing!
So just to go over, all I have to do is complete my course lists, personal information, and PS on the PharmCas and send it in to be "accounted for", and then my school will just have to wait for my PCAT scores, Summer transcript, Fall update, and LORs to make a decision. And I am assuming that I won't officially be an applicant until I have all of my stuff in...does all this sound right?
Also, this may sound stupid, but can I have a specific overview of what is in the PharmCas? A personal statement, information....and what else? Is there a writing prompt and word limit for the PS?
June 1st isn't even here and I'm already stressing!
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From what i understand, correct me if i'm wrong, is pharmcas takes a while to calculate your GPA. The more classes you've taken the longer to calculate. It's best to submit as early as you can so there is enough time to calculate your GPA. Then once your PCAT comes in they will update it. But, expect PCAT scores to take more like 6 weeks. I've taken it before and several of my friends, it always takes 6 weeks.
I wish pharmcas would open up already! I'm getting anxious too!
I wish pharmcas would open up already! I'm getting anxious too!
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I submitted my PharmCAS mid-August 2007 and it took them a week to calculate my GPA. The turnaround time for them to calculate your GPA correlates to your submission time. For instance, if you wait until October to submit, you should expect a much longer wait time.
However, this means all the course information you've inputted should be flawless. If there are multiple mistakes, PharmCAS may send your application back to you for correction. Save yourself the frustration, check and double-check everything before submitting.
My experience comes from applying to mostly CA schools. My advice is to avoid waiting until mid to late October to submit your apps for the November 1st deadline. If you wait until the last minute to submit your PharmCAS and supplemental to these CA schools, chances are the admissions staff may not even look at your file because all the early birds have already filled their seats.
However, this means all the course information you've inputted should be flawless. If there are multiple mistakes, PharmCAS may send your application back to you for correction. Save yourself the frustration, check and double-check everything before submitting.
My experience comes from applying to mostly CA schools. My advice is to avoid waiting until mid to late October to submit your apps for the November 1st deadline. If you wait until the last minute to submit your PharmCAS and supplemental to these CA schools, chances are the admissions staff may not even look at your file because all the early birds have already filled their seats.
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I turned in my summer course transcripts a little while after i e-submitted my pharmcas app and they didnt add my grades until academic update. That was what I was trying to say. Since my summer courses were not completed before sending in my app, they were not yet added to my gpa.
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I think you would benefit from reading through the PharmCAS site. Your questions are answered there.
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My app wasn't complete until late January (I submitted in Dec but didn't know there was a problem until later). I still got 9 interviews so I would say apply early if you can but I didn't and it didn't seem to affect me at all. In other words, don't stress yourself out, if you are a good candidate you should be fine. (just make sure you meed the deadline!)
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I think it's best you check with the schools you want to go to. Some schools will not consider your application complete until they receive everything from pharmcas including lor, pcat scores, and etc. So that means if you have a Nov 1st deadline and you submit June 1st but your lor people send the rec in nov 2nd, you are considered too late to meet the deadline. Some schools will consider your application complete but will not review your application until everything is received so if they receive the lor after a deadline it's ok as long as you do your part and turn in everything that you can at the moment. Which means submit the basic info and your coursework and lor, pcat scores can come later. Either way talk to the school you want to apply to.
