So many pre-pharm students, so few spaces.

[TexasPharm]

Its almost as if everyone at my school is a pre-pharm student. So with 700-1000+ students applying to pharm schools and only 100 spots, im getting nervous. Is everyone smart, or do I just only bump into smart people? So far I am not doing so great. No experiance, take pcat in the sumer, a cumulative gpa of about 3.4 but a low sceince gpa. possibly 2.0 something range.

Can you guys reassure me that there are dumber pre-pharm majors, and that most people aren't serious?

Because with my low self confidense, I am really thinking about switching majors to a 4 year bachelors, instead of possibly wasting my time and taking O Chem next year when I am already doing bad with regular Chem.

Should I stick this out and do O chem and everything else next year, or should I really think about switching majors?

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[phuang06]

Its almost as if everyone at my school is a pre-pharm student. So with 700-1000+ students applying to pharm schools and only 100 spots, im getting nervous. Is everyone smart, or do I just only bump into smart people? So far I am not doing so great. No experiance, take pcat in the sumer, a cumulative gpa of about 3.4 but a low sceince gpa. possibly 2.0 something range.

Can you guys reassure me that there are dumber pre-pharm majors, and that most people aren't serious?

Because with my low self confidense, I am really thinking about switching majors to a 4 year bachelors, instead of possibly wasting my time and taking O Chem next year when I am already doing bad with regular Chem.

Should I stick this out and do O chem and everything else next year, or should I really think about switching majors?

First off, if you're going to go into pharmacy, you'd better be serious about it, or think about a different career path to take. Being good at science is also needed to be get into pharmacy school. Perhaps you should look into yourself instead of looking at others and see what YOU need to change either in your mindset of being serious or your study habits to be able to do well to raise your science GPA.

If you enjoy science, then stick it out and keep doing what you enjoy.

 

[labrat024]

If you really wanna do pharmacy then I would say that you have to buckle down and start really putting more effort into your chemistry courses. Chemistry comes quickly for few people. I know I had to read most chapters twice with a final review before a chem exam. I may have spent more hours than most people did...but I got the grades. Chemistry will become easier the more you work the problems....even repeat them until you are comfortable with all of the equations and formulas (gen chem). If you don't feel like doing that you probably won't get the grades....and therefore have a lesser chance of acceptance to a pharmacy school (of your choice). From what I hear chemistry does not go away after you start pharmacy school.

 

[TexasPharm]

Okay I want to clarify a few things. The 2.0 science gpa I pretty much threw out there because I am not sure what it is, but pretty much dont have a bio gpa based grades and was just mentioning my first chem semester, which I unfortunatly only made a C+ in and a B in the lab. My low grade in chem last semester was not due to not likeing Chemistry or understanding it but just bad test anxiety that I just have not been able to overcome yet since starting college, but am working on.

 

[Pharmee]

I have a family friend who sits on an admissions board for a pretty well known pharmacy school. I myself am a recently accepted pharm student without a bachelor's degree. I have a 4.0 GPA and still had problems getting into some pharm schools without a bachelors. More schools are looking for that now and if you have a less than perfect GPA (especially science) I would get my bachelors first. Just a bit of advice after forking out a bunch of money for worthless interviews just to be placed on the waiting list. Not to mention.... it will help to have extra time for the PCAT. Good luck and no matter what your past grades where don't give up hope.

 

[Ethyl Methyl]

Its almost as if everyone at my school is a pre-pharm student. So with 700-1000+ students applying to pharm schools and only 100 spots, im getting nervous. Is everyone smart, or do I just only bump into smart people? So far I am not doing so great. No experiance, take pcat in the sumer, a cumulative gpa of about 3.4 but a low sceince gpa. possibly 2.0 something range.

Can you guys reassure me that there are dumber pre-pharm majors, and that most people aren't serious?

Because with my low self confidense, I am really thinking about switching majors to a 4 year bachelors, instead of possibly wasting my time and taking O Chem next year when I am already doing bad with regular Chem.

Should I stick this out and do O chem and everything else next year, or should I really think about switching majors?

It seems to me that you are just starting out on your pre-pharm courses. If that is the case, don't despair. It is still early in the game and pulling up your GPA is still doable. You just need to concentrate on doing well on your classes.

If your school has a chemistry tutorial available, take advantage of it. Print out/ bring your homework and ask them to help you. Then, keep on working the problems until you get comfortable with them. The sciences are definitely weed out classes.

Remember most people in your class are either pre-pharm, pre-dent, pre-med and pre-opt students. All of them are vying for that spot in the professional school. Those who have good grades are not necessarily the smartest people in class. But they probably wanted at a shot at their dream so bad that they worked their butts off to get the grade. The question is do you want this BAD enough?

 

[TexasPharm]

I am trying to improve my own gpa and most likely will have a pre-pharm gpa of hopefully somwhere above a 3.5 when I am applying.

I guess my question really was about how many of those 700+ students who apply to pharm school, would you assume, are actually competitive applicants with 3.5+ gpa, good ECs, etc. Because I do encounter many students who are okay with getting Cs, and I am not one of them, even though I did make a C in one class. So if anyone could give me like a rough statistic of the gpa range of pharm school applicants I'd appreaciate it.

 

[Happy Hounds]

I'd say of the 700+ students who apply to UT, 500 or so are reviewed, and about 300 are interviewed. I'm sure many applications are thrown out initially based on not meeting the requirements for application (GPA below 2.5, etc.) and then the next batch (the ones that aren't interviewed) either botched their applications majorly somewhere or are like those people you mentioned who get lots of Cs but still have above a 2.5. The good news is if you have a lower GPA, you can compensate for it with lots of experience and volunteering, great letters of recommendation, strongly written and thoughtful essays, and a killer interview. For example, at UT, if you get the interview, your interviewers don't have any information about your grades or PCAT scores or anything except for your essays to avoid discrimination. So remember, GPA is important, but it's not everything!

 

[AbsoluteEthanol]

if you think pharmacy is bad, try to applying to medical school.

 

[genesis09]

if you think pharmacy is bad, try to applying to medical school.

I sometimes cut through the College Medicine, and I pass by the student affairs office. Next to the office, they show the breakdown of how many people apply, complete applications, interviewed, accepted, etc. They get 5000-6000 applications for 300 spots.

 

[AngelaCL]

Remember, since students apply to multiple schools (some as many as 40+!) the situation is not quite as dismal as 1000 applicants, 100 spots. Some students will get accepted but decide to go to another school, or don't get accepted at your school but do somewhere else. This means your chances of getting into pharmacy school in general are greater than 10%. From what I've gathered looking at an old table of # of pharmacy schools applied to vs # accepted, about 30% of applicants get accepted to at least one school.

GPA is important, but it's not everything. PCAT scores, volunteer work, pharmacy experience, letters of recommendation, personal statement, and interviews all are important too. Get a tutor for chemistry and work on all of these other areas starting now. If you are really determined to get into pharmacy school, you'll put in the effort and it will pay off.