Should I take 1 or 2 gap years before pharmacy school?

[eaglesfan_9]

Hello everyone,

Recently I just graduated from Indiana University Bloomington with a Biology B.S. degree. Over the course of my undergraduate career, I had intentions of attending medical school and some of my activities included:

- Hospital Volunteer (~100 hours)
- Physician Shadowing (~30 hours)
- Food Bank Volunteer (~50 hours)
- Undergraduate Research Assistant in Cell Bio Lab (2 years)

After much thinking, I am looking to go to pharmacy school. I have intentions on working as a pharmacy technician at CVS for the time being. I still need to go back and complete 3 or 4 courses to finish the pharmacy school pre-requisites and need to take the PCAT. Currently my GPA stands at a 3.77. Do you think I should take 1 gap year and try to cram in everything (I won't be able to take the pre-req classes until spring 2017 so I will study for the PCAT this fall) or should I take 2 gap years and take my time to study, complete the classes, and work? Let me know what you think and thanks in advance!

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[epiclyjelly]

I had about the same amount of work left to do as you (4 classes, needed PCAT and pharmacy experience, applications) when I graduated and I took two years. One would have been pretty crazy, albeit I was also working full-time at the same time. If you're not in a rush, take two. It would also give you more time to think about whether this is what you want to do.

 

[ldiot]

If you only need 3-4 classes I don't see why you should need more than a year. You shouldn't need more than a month to study for the PCAT, especially with your GPA. The tech experience will also look good on your application and a year of experience is enough to become competent with the pharmacy workflow and familiarize yourself with the common drugs.