Questions and worries regarding pre-pharm from a concerned high schooler

[merriere]

Hi everyone,

Hey! I'm currently a high school senior who has decided upon attending a two/three-year pre-pharmacy program (I am electing for the three years of undergrad). However, I have a great deal of concerns about my capacity to be able to be able to do well within pre-pharmacy and subsequently, pharmacy school.

Although I'm hard-working, science-oriented, and I believe I can appropriately handle the workload that pre-pharm/pharmacy school brings, I fear that I simply am not smart enough to do well. I struggle within math and have gotten a mix of A's and B's (two years of A's, two years of B's). Additionally, I have struggled within Physics and Chemistry as well, earning B's in both classes. However, I have greatly excelled in Biology, Anatomy, and Biomed. (honors, college, and AP) and I have always doubled up on science classes each year. I am also taking steps to remedy my difficulty with Chemistry via the Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, and AP Chemistry Courses provided by Khan Academy.

I am a 3.8 G.P.A student with an ACT score of 28, and will be graduating in the top 15% of my class (which may not be that impressive, haha) with the highest honors diploma. I have also accumulated over a hundred volunteering hours within a hospital setting and around fifty of interning/volunteering in a clinical pharmacy setting. I am extremely driven to become a pharmacist, but again I have doubts about whether or not I have the smarts to achieve it.

From my understanding of what pre-pharm entails, given the time constraints of only two/three years to complete all my prerequisites for pharmacy school, I am very, very concerned about how well I will fare with multiple tough classes within the year. I've always been warned to stay clear of taking hard classes like general/organic chemistry w/ lab and biology paired with classes like calculus within an academic year, as those are "weed-out" classes and intended to bring your GPA down. And given how integral chemistry and physics is within pharmacy, I am extremely concerned as I have not performed well in either. I greatly fear performing poorly in my first year and having an extremely difficult time improving upon my GPA after that.

So I suppose my questions would be:

How well would I be able to do within pre-pharm (and subsequently pharmacy school) given my background? Are my worries about tough classes such as org./gen. chemistry w/ lab and calculus being paired within the same year warranted? Are those classes (i.e. org./gen. chemistry and calculus) really as difficult as everyone says? Additionally, if you weren't particularly strong within chemistry/physics and math, how did pre-pharm and chemistrypharmacy go? Did you eventually come to a better comprehension of the subject despite it?

From the bottom of my heart, I would love nothing more than to become a pharmacist and be able to help others and improve the world in a wider, more effective range than I do now. I love pharmacology and I love interacting with people. I don't mind if I was even being paid peanuts to do it. However, again, I doubt if I am even smart enough for pre-pharm. It really, really breaks my heart to admit it, but should I just count my losses and forget about pursuing pharmacy?

Please feel free to correct/clarify if I have made a mistake regarding my conceptions of pre-pharm. I thank you all for your willingness to provide guidance and advice for my situation.

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[escanoke]

I was the same, bio came very easy for me (since it's all memorization) and chemistry I had to work a little harder and because of that I had similar doubts too. From your stats you seem that you have a capacity to do well in chemistry. Just keep working at it and try and find different ways to studying chemistry instead of what you've been normally doing. After chemistry II things began to click and become easier in understanding/retaining information. I think it's because at that point you've been hearing things over and over again and it all solidifies.

Chemistry is about having a good base and understanding the basics fully so that when it's being applied in later chapters you're not thinking wait what's an isotope again? Which column has a higher EN? What's van see waals interactions and how do they affect things?

Keep working at it and maybe try Kahn academy for videos after reading through chapters, it helped me a lot during my pre-req days


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[merriere]

I was the same, bio came very easy for me (since it's all memorization) and chemistry I had to work a little harder and because of that I had similar doubts too. From your stats you seem that you have a capacity to do well in chemistry. Just keep working at it and try and find different ways to studying chemistry instead of what you've been normally doing. After chemistry II things began to click and become easier in understanding/retaining information. I think it's because at that point you've been hearing things over and over again and it all solidifies.

Chemistry is about having a good base and understanding the basics fully so that when it's being applied in later chapters you're not thinking wait what's an isotope again? Which column has a higher EN? What's van see waals interactions and how do they affect things?

Keep working at it and maybe try Kahn academy for videos after reading through chapters, it helped me a lot during my pre-req days


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Thank you for the guidance and encouragement; I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate it and how much it reassures me. I'll definitely put it into practice and build a stronger foundation for myself within chemistry.

If I may ask, how rigorous was your pre-pharm experience? I'm also very concerned about difficult classes like organic chemistry and calculus being paired within the same semester as I've heard them being referred to as "weed-out" courses in which the aim was to lower your GPA due to their sheer difficulty -- especially put together.

 

[pms_testosterone]

Organic chem is the most difficult course, followed by calculus and then biochem. (Intro courses in bio and chem are time-consuming, but not actually difficult.) If possible, don't take organic and calculus in the same term, as they really are the weeder courses people say they are. Be reassured that one or two isolated poor grades won't hurt your chances for pharmacy much.

On the bright side, the chemistry and math involved in actual pharmacy school are not terribly difficult.

 

[merriere]

Organic chem is the most difficult course, followed by calculus and then biochem. (Intro courses in bio and chem are time-consuming, but not actually difficult.) If possible, don't take organic and calculus in the same term, as they really are the weeder courses people say they are. Be reassured that one or two isolated poor grades won't hurt your chances for pharmacy much.

On the bright side, the chemistry and math involved in actual pharmacy school are not terribly difficult.

Thank you so much! I truly appreciate the candor in your advice; you have been very insightful and kind in providing me with this information.

Very relieved to hear that a poor grade doesn't do too much damage (although I would try my very, very best to avoid that situation). I was discouraged by the fact that my effort may not be enough and fall through, and therefore completely wreck my chances for pharmacy school, haha.

If you don't mind me asking, how has the experience of pharmacy school been for you thus far? Harder than you expected? Easier? About what you expected? In addition, how is the curriculum and rigor compared to that of pre-pharm?

 

[pms_testosterone]

No problem. Pharmacy school is what I expected. There's a lot of material to keep up with, but none of it is especially difficult. Memorization skills will definitely come in handy.

 

[Letrie]

You will be fine. You are a pretty good hs student. I heard about classmates from high school who had 19 ACT scores and 3.0 high school gpa's getting into pharmacy school after graduating from a CC and a low tier undergrad university. If they can do it i'm pretty sure someone with your stats can.