Should I even try?

[blueman]

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First off, HI! Im new on here and just have a quick question. Well, to put it bluntly, my first year and a half or so in a junior college really sucked. Like pretty darn bad grades. But since then I have been doing pretty well and have since transferred and everything. I have F's but none are in science classes and they have all been retaken, my grades show steady improvemnt and I am currently working at a pharmacy and love it. So my question is, should I not get my hopes up when I apply (this is for 2006) or does anyone know how schools look at students such as myself? Also, has anyone been in my situation and is there a way to increase my chances besides a good pcat score? thanks in advance.

 

[Caverject]

First off, HI! Im new on here and just have a quick question. Well, to put it bluntly, my first year and a half or so in a junior college really sucked. Like pretty darn bad grades. But since then I have been doing pretty well and have since transferred and everything. I have F's but none are in science classes and they have all been retaken, my grades show steady improvemnt and I am currently working at a pharmacy and love it. So my question is, should I not get my hopes up when I apply (this is for 2006) or does anyone know how schools look at students such as myself? Also, has anyone been in my situation and is there a way to increase my chances besides a good pcat score? thanks in advance.

Well, I can speak from personal experience that YES you can make it if you want it bad enough. I've had pretty darn bad grades too in my first year and a half of undergrad. Then finally I woke up and told myself that this was more important than paying for a newer car and working 40 hours a week to pay for it. Then at that point, I never got a grade lower than a B, and many of them A's. When I went to apply, I had a GPA just a shade under 3.0 at the time with a 99 pcat and was rejected at all schools. I went back and applied again with a GPA a shade over and got into two schools. It is not easy to get into given the current atmosphere of pharmacy education. A good to great PCAT score will help but a lot of schools are starting to discount the PCAT score and weighing your interview more. I would have to say that I agree with it by looking at the demographics in my class. The students in the top 15% of the class all scored less than an 80 on the pcat, except for one student. That however doesn't mean to blow off the PCAT cause it still counts and many schools still weigh it heavily. If you do not get in the first time and have over 90 credits at the Junior College level, I would highly suggest you start working on a microbio degree at a four year school. I hope this helps!

 

[Tuck]

I don't think it will be an easy task, but it is certainly doable. I got really sick and ended up withdrawing from school several terms in a row as well as getting some pretty bad grades. However, when I finally went back to school I buckled down and made a point of getting A's in all my pre-req classes for pharmacy school. I also incorporated a bit about why my grades and transcript looked so bad into my personal statement and how it helped me to gain focus on the field of pharmacy. In some respects, it actually helps if you mention that you have not "wanted to be a pharmasist since I was a small child." Most people read that and it comes across as meaningless diatribe. Showing how your life experiences have led to your decision to become a pharmacist will actually make you a stronger applicant, just be sure to take plenty of time to write and review your personal statement.

 

[blueman]

Hey thanks for the feedback. Yeah, I know its going to be a struggle, especially now since this field is growing, I have been doing well on my pharmacy prereqs but it was history and english classes that I just bombed big time. Does anyone know if you retake a class, will that affect your gpa (like will it replace it or just average in) when applying to schools? also, does your science gpa weight a lot more than overall?

 

[Caverject]

All schools average it in due to the new pharmcas formula. Your science GPA is more looked at than the overall