Hi, I am currently a junior in high school who lives in NJ. I have a gpa of 3.67 and I want to go to pharmacy colleges. However, I have few questions for you experts. first, as i was looking at some threads, i found PCAT. right now, I have so much work such as SAT II and ACT. so if the college that I want to apply (University of Michigan, Purdue, University of Illinois, Rutgers, etc) requires PCAT, is that mean I have to take PCAT as a high school student? Also, when people talk about admission process, do they mean by graduate school (after undergraduate) or undergraduate. Second, I have a question about 2+4 year pharmacy program and 0+6 year pharmacy program. What are those and which program do the colleges that I listed have? Lastly, I really want to go to University of Michigan Ann Arbor for my first choice. Those of who got accepted to the University of Michigan, any suggestions or tips? Thank you.
don't worry about the pcat right now. you won't need to take that test until you apply to the professional portion of these 2+4 or 0+6 year programs, if you even have to take it at all.
You don't take the PCAT until you getting ready to apply for pharm school. 0+6 programs are where you apply to a school and you are guaranteed a spot in their pharm program after completing certain pre-reqs and some other qualifications. You apply during HS. 2+4 is what most schools do, where you do 2 years of pre-reqs and then apply to pharm school. Now the amount of years it takes you to do your pre-reqs can vary. Doing it in 2 years is pretty tough. Undergrad is what you do straight out of HS to earn an associates or bachelors. You don't have to actually get one of the degrees though to get into pharm school, but it is becoming more common to get a bachelors. Graduate school is anything after this including masters, Ph.D.s, and professional programs like MD, PharmD, etc. These classes are taught at a higher level.
Information regarding 2+4 and 0-6 schools, and other stuff can be found here: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=198059 I would search this forum for answers relating to your questions. There is a ton of useful tips here. But you're doing the right thing starting as a junior and exploring your options!
If you are being accepted to a 0+6 pharmacy program you do not need a PCAT. They look at your high school grades and possibly SAT, best to check out their websites. Once you're accepted they have your courses planned out for you (usually the pre-reqs). And, as long as you pass all of the classes with a C (check out the GPA you have to maintain, might be more than a 2.0) you start the pharmacy program in your 3rd year.
