Should I give up on CA Pharm?

[dori2048]

Hello guys!! Thanks for reading me ~

I am currently a junior Biological Sciences and Psychology major at a small private school in Pennsylvania.
My cumulative GPA right now is 3.45 (with 3 semesters completed so far)

I had to take a semester off because I broke my shoulder my Freshman Fall semester, and I bombed all my classes because this happened like 3 weeks before finals and I missed my classes and failed my exams. (I will explain this in my apps)

so my GPA for each semester:
Freshman fall: 2.4
Sophomore Fall: 3.8
Sophomore Spring: 3.8

my classes are:
Chem I: C/B (retook after getting C freshman fall)
Chem II: B
Chem Lab 1: A
OChem I: B
OChem II: A
OChem Lab: did not take yet
Bio I: B
Bio II: (taking right now, but will likely get a B)
Bio Lab: (taking right now, but will likely get a B)
Physiology: A
Biochemistry: B
Calc I: 5 on AP
Calc II: C/A (retook after getting C freshman fall)
Stat level I: A
Stat level II: A
Stat level III: taking right now
Physics I + Lab: A/A
Physics II + Lab: A/A

a lot of psych classes with 4.0 Psych GPA

I know my GPA isn't the best, and I'm not sure if my cumulative will go up much higher than 3.5 with future semesters.

I am volunteering in an in-patient pharmacy, and doing research on effects of stress on physiological responses in a Psych Research Lab.


I'm not sure if it's even worth trying to apply to CA pharm schools... I do not want to go out of state at all, because I am OOS for undergrad, and I HATE IT.
I would appreciate any advice from all of you!

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[pharmadentist]

From my research, CA seems to have a couple of public pharmacy schools firstly. Secondly, just doing research on the SDN thread you can see that you have a really good GPA for Pharmacy school. You've done very well in school, and have shown a strong upward trend. Your GPA is also a lot stronger than you think.

Another piece of advice I have is to try to transfer back in-state to a small public university in CA (I say small because at public universities like mines, teaching is hit and miss, and since you're coming from a small school, it'll be hard to adjust). From what I understand, Pharmacy school don't care about transferring or institution reputation as much as Medical and Dental schools do. Pharmacy schools look at GPA + PCAT. With your GPA trend, and hopefully a strong PCAT score, you should be fine. I only suggest transferring to get out of debt. Trust me, debt is miserable and you want to avoid it.

 

[dori2048]

Thanks for your reply!!

Ahhh, I would really love to transfer, but I am already a junior
My plan was to just finish the degree requirements here and graduate early + go back home to finish the pharm requirements..

 

[pharmadentist]

Thanks for your reply!!

Ahhh, I would really love to transfer, but I am already a junior
My plan was to just finish the degree requirements here and graduate early + go back home to finish the pharm requirements..

Oh I see. That sounds like a good plan. Or you can just apply now. You're already competitive enough haha. My advice to you now is (even though its late), read this post, and then go to the PharmCAS and fill out an application. There's a couple of CA schools that are public that require no PCAT, and so its worth a shot! Most of your pre-reqs are done anyways, and I feel there is a decent chance you'll get in!

But if not, rest assured that you have an impressive academic record, to feel really proud of. I would say look into Pharmacy schools in the midwest like Idaho state or South Dakota state (they are pretty cheap for OOS relativeley), and hey, they don’t require the PCAT! It's worth a try!

And once again....this is my key phrase, stay out of debt!

I wish you only the best!