Should I Give it a Shot?

[JBiz23]

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I'm currently a Bioengineering major and am about to finish my second year. Pharmacy has always been an option in the back of my mind for quite a while and I've decided to give it some real thought recently. However, my GPA is not looking very pretty. I''m currently looking at a 2.3 but I'm heavily determined to step up my game these next two years. From what I've read I understand that pharmacy schools not only look at overall GPA but science and math as well. Most of my classes from this point on are Bioengineering upperdivision courses so I'm not sure if they will help increase my science GPA. I figure if I do well over the next two years my overall GPA should be in the 2.8-3.2 zone.

I'm considering taking the PCAT this fall but I'm really concerned with my low grades in most of the prereq classes. Would I still have a shot if I boost my overall GPA and really nail the PCAT and try to get as much experience as possible? Or should I just give up now and save myself the time and money?

 

[nwandopriam]

I wouldn't give up. I am in a similar situation and I am applying for the 2015 cycle. A key thing to do would be to apply early. Also you should read this guy's story it really motivated me and showed me that I shouldn't give up:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/my-journey-motivation-for-applicants-with-low-gpas.976993/

 

[oldstock]

I'm currently a Bioengineering major and am about to finish my second year. Pharmacy has always been an option in the back of my mind for quite a while and I've decided to give it some real thought recently. However, my GPA is not looking very pretty. I''m currently looking at a 2.3 but I'm heavily determined to step up my game these next two years. From what I've read I understand that pharmacy schools not only look at overall GPA but science and math as well. Most of my classes from this point on are Bioengineering upperdivision courses so I'm not sure if they will help increase my science GPA. I figure if I do well over the next two years my overall GPA should be in the 2.8-3.2 zone.

I'm considering taking the PCAT this fall but I'm really concerned with my low grades in most of the prereq classes. Would I still have a shot if I boost my overall GPA and really nail the PCAT and try to get as much experience as possible? Or should I just give up now and save myself the time and money?

imho you should focus now on improving your GPA and making go above at the cutoff line for pharmacy school application. Avg cutoff line I think is ~ 2.5 - 2.75 GPA for an application to be considered.

You still have 2 years to make this grade improvement. If you could bring your GPA above the cutoff line (preferably > 3.0's) and pair it with a good to excellent PCAT ( > 70's percentile), you definitely have a chance to get accepted to pharmacy schools. No need to give up now. Plus as a better student you can learn more. You would need a decent GPA for any other career or job anyway.

But I am assuming things would be the same in the next 2 years. If there are 200 plus pharmacy schools by the time you graduate, they would probably accept anybody with any GPA or PCAT (sigh).

 

[oldstock]

deleted (duplicate)

 

[oldstock]

I wouldn't give up. I am in a similar situation and I am applying for the 2015 cycle. A key thing to do would be to apply early. Also you should read this guy's story it really motivated me and showed me that I shouldn't give up:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/my-journey-motivation-for-applicants-with-low-gpas.976993/

that is a great link there.

To the OP: that post/link also lists some schools with no minimal cutoff line for GPA. Check them out.