should i get BS before applying to pharmacy school

[pharmacy studen]

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I will be done with my prepharmacy requirement this fall. i was wondering should i apply to pharmacy school right after or should i wait and get my bachelors in biology? To get my bachelors in bio will take one extra year, so is it worth it? my gpa right now is 2.95. Also, my friend suggested me to get Bachelor degree in non science field like art, business or psych to raise my gpa. So i was also thinking about getting a minor in non-science field. so my question is should i do psych or business as my minor to raise my gpa. which one is gonna be more useful in pharmacy profession?

ps. i am 21 right now. i wanna get done with school by the age of 26 or 27. is it possible if i get bachelors?

 

[30Percent]

A bachelors will definitely make you more competitive and will allow you to apply to more schools. You will need to buckle down and raise your GPA above a 3.0 with your last year. I don't know if getting a minor will make your more competitive, so maybe another member can chime in on that.

Its possible to finish by your timeline. You're 21 right now so you should finish your bachelors at 22. So even if you do a 4 year program you should finish by 27.

 

[metallideth]

absolutely. i got my bachelors in order to improve my gpa and it got me into pharm school. i'm 22 and i'll be done when i'm 26/27. getting your bachelors will make you competitive for pharm school.

 

[pharmacy studen]

absolutely. i got my bachelors in order to improve my gpa and it got me into pharm school. i'm 22 and i'll be done when i'm 26/27. getting your bachelors will make you competitive for pharm school.

what did you get your bachelors in? and what was ur gpa after finishing bachelors?

 

[rlau929]

Getting a BS will definitely give you a boost. It could also be a back up if you plan on changing careers or if you could not get into pharmacy school (in worse case scenario).

It's just one more year, what's the rush?

 

[ChemistWiz]

What everyone's been saying is true, get a bachelors. But get that idea of an "easy" major out of your head. Major in something you enjoy and you will get that GPA up. Plus changing your major now might ever add on a year or two. Art is a very difficult major, IDK where you got the idea that it was easy. Art requires so much time out of the classroom for you to complete things. Same with theatre, Sure after school finding jobs is more difficult than other majors, but in school it's about as difficult (If not more) than any other major to complete with a solid grade.

 

[xNeenax]

Hello,

Like everyone said, it's a better idea to get a BS to boost you gpa (a 2.95 is pretty low) and a BS can also make you look more competitive. If you just need a year to complete a Bio degree than I would do it. Getting a BS in art, psy, business would take time like maybe 3 more years? It depends on how much coursework you did for those majors.
I was told that a minor can make you look more competitive because it shows you are knowledgeable in other fields--how ever I guess it's not necessary.
Both a psyc and business minor seems pretty useful to me. It depends on your interest. Are you interested in retail pharmacy or pharmacies tied with business? Or would you like to know about internal processes of the brain because medications can also affect behaviors, habits, and perhaps memory, not just the body, so you can learn more at that end. Pick the one that is most useful for you.

I'm doing a BS in Biology and a minor in Psychology. I chose psychology because medication can have effects on the mind and I'm also interested in clinical psychology. A Psy minor should be about 12 hours but depending on the courses you took it might be less. I don't know about business minor though, might be more because I think the pre-pharmacy prereqs have lower level math courses, so those might not count for the minor. However, I'm not for sure, you should look it up.

 

[metallideth]

what did you get your bachelors in? and what was ur gpa after finishing bachelors?

1) bio
2) 3.26

 

[Notecard]

You could plan on getting your bachelors but apply to a few schools anyways. It's possible that you will get in. If you don't, the feedback from each school you apply to will definitely make you a stronger applicant for next time around. It's a few hundred dollars I know, but if you got in it would save an entire extra year of undergrad tuition

Just keep taking classes to get a B.S. in biology and if you get in next year, go for it.

 

[lilsweetpea01]

Yeah, I definitely agree with everyone on this page BUT you don't have to get a degree in bio if you don't even like it. It's frustrating to hear people say "a science degree will make you stand out the most since pharmacy is science." That's not true at all. Get a degree in something you like, and if it is bio then go for it.

 

[pharm0611]

Yeah, I definitely agree with everyone on this page BUT you don't have to get a degree in bio if you don't even like it. It's frustrating to hear people say "a science degree will make you stand out the most since pharmacy is science." That's not true at all. Get a degree in something you like, and if it is bio then go for it.

Hey Congrats on getting into UIC! Thats my first choice too Did you have a bachelors before applying? Do you mind sharing your stats? Do you have any comments/tips for me? Thanks a bunch in advance

 

[170]

I will be done with my prepharmacy requirement this fall. i was wondering should i apply to pharmacy school right after or should i wait and get my bachelors in biology? To get my bachelors in bio will take one extra year, so is it worth it? my gpa right now is 2.95. Also, my friend suggested me to get Bachelor degree in non science field like art, business or psych to raise my gpa. So i was also thinking about getting a minor in non-science field. so my question is should i do psych or business as my minor to raise my gpa. which one is gonna be more useful in pharmacy profession?

ps. i am 21 right now. i wanna get done with school by the age of 26 or 27. is it possible if i get bachelors?

A BS will probably help. But defiantly not in art,business or psych. That would be a waste of your time. Try biology or chemistry

 

[Rouelle]

Yeah, I definitely agree with everyone on this page BUT you don't have to get a degree in bio if you don't even like it. It's frustrating to hear people say "a science degree will make you stand out the most since pharmacy is science." That's not true at all. Get a degree in something you like, and if it is bio then go for it.

I agree with this. A bio or chem degree possesses the most overlap with pre-pharm coursework, but it's not the only possible route. Once you have completed the pre-reqs, you will have completed enough science for the adcoms to evaluate your scientific ability. Since the most common majors for pre-pharm are bio and chem, a degree in something else might actually make you stand out even more. In the end, get a degree in something you might want to do if pharmacy school doesn't work out.

 

[RickyRicardoFC]

I may not be entirely qualified to give advice on this, so keep that in mind. But someone said applying wouldn't hurt. I'd agree with them... if you don't get in you have your answer. Also, if not accepted, finishing your degree will not only make you more competitive, but give you more time to be competitive. Volunteering (try for pharmacy related things). Also, enjoy your youth (but of course STUDY HARD!!) before you have to go into the work force, get married, etc. Ask schools what you can do to make you more competitive when you do finish your degree and apply again, and commit to it! While I'm not entirely sure, but showing interest and contacting them couldn't hurt to show that you want to be committed to pharmacy.

 

[RickyRicardoFC]

I agree with this. A bio or chem degree possesses the most overlap with pre-pharm coursework, but it's not the only possible route. Once you have completed the pre-reqs, you will have completed enough science for the adcoms to evaluate your scientific ability. Since the most common majors for pre-pharm are bio and chem, a degree in something else might actually make you stand out even more. In the end, get a degree in something you might want to do if pharmacy school doesn't work out.

ALSO!! this is entirely true!! (at least for law school... or doing articling afterwords) My sister got a BS in I think biology.... so she stood out as different when she applied. It's also a niche to be filled.... Bio tech/research/ whatever need lawyers too!!! and VERY few people had her science background with a law degree!

 

[Trakker]

pharmacy schools give you extra points when you have a degree

 

[phathead]

A BS will probably help. But defiantly not in art,business or psych. That would be a waste of your time. Try biology or chemistry

Really? You do realize that business is highly integrated in pharmacy right? Everyone of the schools I interviewed at said one of the reasons they liked my app so much was because my BS was in Business.

 

[lilsweetpea01]

ALSO!! this is entirely true!! (at least for law school... or doing articling afterwords) My sister got a BS in I think biology.... so she stood out as different when she applied. It's also a niche to be filled.... Bio tech/research/ whatever need lawyers too!!! and VERY few people had her science background with a law degree!

The best thing to do when applying to any grad school is stick out. I majored in business as an undergrad just incase pharmacy didn't work out and I seriously believe that's what got me in.

Pharm0611, thanks a lot. My advice would be to make yourself different from the norm as much as possible by doing something other than pharmacy that you like. UIC definitely takes that into consideration. They would rather have a student with stellar grades as an art major than a student with mediocre grades who majored in bio or chem.