Quite Frankly

[Donniecash]

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Hi, my names donte, I'm 18years old and a freshman attending Cabrini College in Radnor PA. I want to be a pharmacist.

My question is what are some of the the stats necessary to get into a pharm D program like upitt uconn uf or any other universities that of a pharm d. maybe i can get a few quick responses on what stats you might have had to transfer into these programs. eg. gpa / ec / LORs (from who)/ Pcat scores/ and maybe even some background info on the steps you took to get these colleges look at you. Cuz quite frankly, i'm doin a bunch of stuff right now (president of Resident Hall Association, Cross Country, Cheerleading, Track, some volenteer) and i feel like i should focus on like school and building up my resume towards pharmacy aka volunteer at a hospital, the pharm tech thing.. yeaa i dunno I'm new to this, but if i could get some feed back it would be greatly appreciated.


P.s. i just got my Chemistry Evaluation today... im schedule for an 81! haha u dont know how good that is, everyone else is like failing except sophmores, some losers and chem majors. first exam: class avg - 44%

 

[HaleyRX]

Cuz quite frankly, i'm doin a bunch of stuff right now (president of Resident Hall Association, Cross Country, Cheerleading, Track, some volenteer) and i feel like i should focus on like school and building up my resume towards pharmacy aka volunteer at a hospital, the pharm tech thing..

well quite frankly, most of us are doing a bunch of stuff too. most of us have classes, midterms, and work.
so for your questions regarding average GPA and PCAT info, as well as who your LOR need to be from, visit each school's website and look under the FAQ. you can also use the search function of these forums
it is good that you have extracurricular activities, and you should get some pharmacy experience..I would say pharmacy experience is more important, so if you have to give up something else to fit that in then I would advise it. That will help you decide if pharmacy is really what you want.

 

[Sulilina1]

this is off topic, but I just wanted to make a comment about something I read last night. PETA is actually going after Uconn and trying to get their schools certifications revoked. they've been cited over 200 times now for treating animals inhumanely in their labs (for example, they are/were performing surgery on cats with no anaesthetics and they would end up dying -- they've killed a ton of cats, i forget the exact number). I guess when it comes to ethics, I definitely wouldn't even consider uconn.

 

[Donniecash]

haha okay scratch off uconn..

the thing is i just wanna know how someone with a 2.5 gpa got into maryland when pharmacy is so competitive... what they have backing there subpar* gpa up, so then i can back up w/e gpa im going to get with maybe a portion of what they ha

 

[Donniecash]

thanks. i was pretty much just curious about that below median gpa portion of accepted students, ya know? like who out there had a below avg gpa got into a college they might have not thought possible. And what tools you used to back up your gpa with, since everyone is so unique 🙂

 

[Old Timer]

There are really three important things:

• Grades (Generally)
• Grades (Sciences specifically)
• Grades (PCAT's)

Grades are the key. There are probably more than 100 applicants for each seat in the incoming freshman class. It does not matter how much experience you have if your grades are not good enough. Once you make the cut, grade wise, then the pharmacy related experience is important.

 

[bigdogc]

There are really three important things:

• Grades (Generally)
• Grades (Sciences specifically)
• Grades (PCAT's)

Grades are the key. There are probably more than 100 applicants for each seat in the incoming freshman class. It does not matter how much experience you have if your grades are not good enough. Once you make the cut, grade wise, then the pharmacy related experience is important.

Don't forget experience as well. I had a friend in undergrad with a 95PCAT and 3.85GPA, but didn't get in because he had not worked in a pharmacy before.

 

[Old Timer]

Don't forget experience as well. I had a friend in undergrad with a 95PCAT and 3.85GPA, but didn't get in because he had not worked in a pharmacy before.

I understand that, but grades are what they use to weed people out. That's why I said grades first and experience second....

 

[Farmercyst]

Moved to Pre-pharm and merged

 

[binghamkid]

haha okay scratch off uconn..

the thing is i just wanna know how someone with a 2.5 gpa got into maryland when pharmacy is so competitive... what they have backing there suppar gpa up, so then i can back up w/e gpa im going to get with maybe a portion of what they have.

Lol, I suppose this is direct reference to me =P

My GPA was low, but I went back and retook every course I did poorly in. You can't erase the past, no matter how much you wish you could. The adcoms know that. They know I had to put in an extra year and countless hours of hard work to pull my GPA up even that far (and no matter how many A's I got, it only moved up a little bit). My extracurriculars were very comprehensive, and my LORs were definitely stellar (I was given a copy of every single letter to read, so I know that they were good). All of that was good enough to get me to an interview, but that's it. The interview is what makes or breaks any candidate. If you make it to an interview but you blow it (and it is very very easy to do so), then you're finished no matter if you have a 4.0 GPA and a 99 PCAT. If you barely make it to an interview with mediocre stats but you rock that interview like your life depended on it, then you're good to go. Remember, once you get to the interview, the school has deemed that you are qualified to be at that school. It is your job then to demonstrate you are the perfect candidate to FIT at that school.

Of course, maybe i'm just the lucky exception =P I'm probably the stupidest person on this forum =) I mean heck, I do have that subpar GPA, which must mean I'm a total incompetent

 

[Donniecash]

i just realized where the quote button was...

 

[Donniecash]

Lol, I suppose this is direct reference to me =P

My GPA was low, but I went back and retook every course I did poorly in. You can't erase the past, no matter how much you wish you could. The adcoms know that. They know I had to put in an extra year and countless hours of hard work to pull my GPA up even that far (and no matter how many A's I got, it only moved up a little bit). My extracurriculars were very comprehensive, and my LORs were definitely stellar (I was given a copy of every single letter to read, so I know that they were good). All of that was good enough to get me to an interview, but that's it. The interview is what makes or breaks any candidate. If you make it to an interview but you blow it (and it is very very easy to do so), then you're finished no matter if you have a 4.0 GPA and a 99 PCAT. If you barely make it to an interview with mediocre stats but you rock that interview like your life depended on it, then you're good to go. Remember, once you get to the interview, the school has deemed that you are qualified to be at that school. It is your job then to demonstrate you are the perfect candidate to FIT at that school.

Of course, maybe i'm just the lucky exception =P I'm probably the stupidest person on this forum =) I mean heck, I do have that subpar GPA, which must mean I'm a total incompetent

i definitely respect the hell out of you though haha.. if you are curious to know why i want to know this information, its because i never really applied myself in highschool. There was only one class i tried in which was considered an elective, and its the best decision i've ever made. A&P honors, i got a B in that class because i felt that was the one thing i really could use from highschool. And i had lost my first few years of it because i was stupid and did nothing with my spare time. I finished highschool with a gpa of 2.6 and an SAT score of 1020. 500 crit reading / 540 math (don't ask how i pulled of that math score, math always came to me, i just never did hw. but i was in algebra 2 at the time so i didnt know half the stuff i was doing). So to get to the point. When i found a college that would accept me, i realized i had to change my ways if i wanted to compete. And i sure as hell soon found out i picked a perfect major for competition. I just have never gotta good grades in school and it feels weird to finally be doing well and i feel like its supposed to get a lot hard and i might not be able to keep up. I think 2ppl i know are doing pharmacy might change their major already cuz chem did them in. So right now if my like 3.4 drops to a 2.9 over time i def wanna have something backing it up. So thanks for your input, i might have to redo che111 haha.. im project to have an 81 in the class but id rather get like an 84 atleast. i might be able to get tho

 

[mkassir]

Lol, I suppose this is direct reference to me =P

My GPA was low, but I went back and retook every course I did poorly in. You can't erase the past, no matter how much you wish you could. The adcoms know that. They know I had to put in an extra year and countless hours of hard work to pull my GPA up even that far (and no matter how many A's I got, it only moved up a little bit). My extracurriculars were very comprehensive, and my LORs were definitely stellar (I was given a copy of every single letter to read, so I know that they were good). All of that was good enough to get me to an interview, but that's it. The interview is what makes or breaks any candidate. If you make it to an interview but you blow it (and it is very very easy to do so), then you're finished no matter if you have a 4.0 GPA and a 99 PCAT. If you barely make it to an interview with mediocre stats but you rock that interview like your life depended on it, then you're good to go. Remember, once you get to the interview, the school has deemed that you are qualified to be at that school. It is your job then to demonstrate you are the perfect candidate to FIT at that school.

Of course, maybe i'm just the lucky exception =P I'm probably the stupidest person on this forum =) I mean heck, I do have that subpar GPA, which must mean I'm a total incompetent

funny dude, i have a 3.7 gpa had 5 c's i retook and got A's, i posted something here and you replied saying i need to reconsider what i want ... its just ironic how YOU would say that lol gl man ... people need to becareful of WHO they ask for advice ... lesson learned

 

[Donniecash]

haha i would retake stuff just to get better grades. i always do better after i learn from my mistakes, thats why math is cool.

 

[CaliCPhT]

i definitely respect the hell out of you though haha.. if you are curious to know why i want to know this information, its because i never really applied myself in highschool. There was only one class i tried in which was considered an elective, and its the best decision i've ever made. A&P honors, i got a B in that class because i felt that was the one thing i really could use from highschool. And i had lost my first few years of it because i was stupid and did nothing with my spare time. I finished highschool with a gpa of 2.6 and an SAT score of 1020. 500 crit reading / 540 math (don't ask how i pulled of that math score, math always came to me, i just never did hw. but i was in algebra 2 at the time so i didnt know half the stuff i was doing). So to get to the point. When i found a college that would accept me, i realized i had to change my ways if i wanted to compete. And i sure as hell soon found out i picked a perfect major for competition. I just have never gotta good grades in school and it feels weird to finally be doing well and i feel like its supposed to get a lot hard and i might not be able to keep up. I think 2ppl i know are doing pharmacy might change their major already cuz chem did them in. So right now if my like 3.4 drops to a 2.9 over time i def wanna have something backing it up. So thanks for your input, i might have to redo che111 haha.. im project to have an 81 in the class but id rather get like an 84 atleast. i might be able to get tho

You know, statistically speaking, students who were mediocre/average performers often go on to college and do wonderfully. all you need to do is truly apply yourself and you'll make good grades. Now that you're in college, your high school grades don't matter as much (if at all) anymore. Is 81 a B- or is it considered a B? Then I would suppose an 84 is a B? (forgive my ignorance - I did the vast majority of undergrad at a school which was not on the +/- system).

 

[Donniecash]

its a B- haha.. its truly an awesome story, i couldnt help but dance around. So you know how i wanted to lose my old highschool ways... well i soon came to realize that those ways that i went by help me tremdously in college. For some reason my attention spand is ridicously and my memory has always been naturally good. So going to any lecture i consume all the material like cheesecake. Chemistry was an acception so i thought since it was more math. My first exam, 56%. I was kinda devasted seeing that prior to that i recieved my bio exam that i got a A- on and i had high hopes. Class average was a 44%. So i thought what the heck im just gonna have to apply myself more. So thats just what i did, and we get to drop our lowest grade, and i got a 79% on the test i got back today, and its projected i will get an 81% for the class guesstimating i get an 85 on my lab. Keep in mind, i studied for bio for an hour.. chem i went to a tutor to get clarifacation on the formulas and did the homework the day before as my form of study haha.. (not very smart seeing that the test had no math in it too) haha

edit: chemistry takes lives at my school.. i cant wait til i get the stats on how many ppl will withdrawl and have to switch their major. i just makes me feel like im one step closer, but then again i'm walking on a stairway to heaven. My sympathy to the ppl that couldn't make it pass the first step 🙁

 

[rx27563]

lol general chem was a dream compared to organic...i hated organic when i was taking it but now i love it..im helping out my former organic chem professor with some experiments and stuff just for fun.....i started out college loving biology and despising chem but now its the opposite i just hate how bio is nothing but memorization and people who dont even understand the concepts get A's on exams...but in organic you have to LEARN the mechanisms and apply them to different situations...a completely different animal. its definitely a long road...and not to mention a bumpy one. 🙂 but im still here 104 credits later.

 

[Donniecash]

well lets just hope my car came with shocks huh? haha

 

[Toomeke]

What LAME schools allow you to retake and REPLACE grades??? LOL. Wish my school had done that with my grades. That's just pathetic...you don't do good the first time so you get to retake and replace? That school's accreditation should be burned.

Science GPA should be above 3.5
Other prereqs GPA should be above 3.2
Cumulative GPA should be above 2.8


More pharmacy schools are migrating towards a more balanced approach for admissions: Grades, PCAT score, work experience (especially within the pharmacy field) are the top three factors...but there are other factors. As one dean said: "If you don't like working with people, helping people, can't communicate, or are not a friendly person, this is NOT for you."

You could have a 4.0, but if you don't like talking to people, how are you helping that patient? Or if you "don't play well with others", how do you expect to survive, let alone succeed, in a team-oriented profession? These are the types of questions admissions want answered...they want to see if you are a good fit...not just a great student.

 

[rx27563]

actually i know of a lot of schools that do grade replace....but as we all know it doesnt really matter b/c pharmcas averages them anyway. i think the science GPA is a little high - heck i know people who got in pharmacy school with MUCH less! grades will def. make the road easier but depending on the school you go to, this isnt an easy task. some are notoriously harder than others so i think some consideration is given to WHERE you did your undergrad.