"Statute of Limitations" on coursework?

[NHSTeacher]

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Sorry that this is going to be a longish post, but I really need some help with this.

I have researched several pharmacy schools and it appears there is a time limit on the pre-pharmacy requirements. Are there any schools (that will take out-of-state applicants) that have no limits on how long ago the course was taken?

I have a BS in Biology from 1988. I have been teaching high school Biology for the last 13 years. I am planning to get some advice from the pharmacy school at my local U, but their policy is to only accept coursework from the last 5 years.

I will take all of this pre-pharmacy coursework if that is the only way, but I really do not want to take English Composition again. I have been writing grants and other professional papers for years and it seems a huge waste of time to repeat these types of courses. If I could get some type of exemption for at least the non-science coursework, I would be thrilled. Does anyone know of schools that waive the non-science requirements for candidates with a degree? I have only found one that puts this in writing on their website.

Also, I have already taken graduate-level courses in statistics, biochemistry, and biology - all of these were taken from 1994-9, though. I would be okay with taking all chemistry, physics, calculus, and the few non-science deficiencies, but the thought of taking undergrad biology seems silly when I have 50+ graduate hours in biology. Any thoughts?

If I could get the pre-requisites down to just the chemistry, physics, calculus, and the 2-3 non-science deficiencies, I could take all of the science during summer school and the others online (if acceptable to the pharmacy school). I would prefer to do this so I can keep teaching as long as possible due to financial commitments. I still have one child in college, so if I time this right, I could potentially enter pharmacy school just as he is finishing his degree.

Even if I have to take all of the chemistry and physics over, I already have credit in these, so I could take them out of order or take some concurrently (i.e both organics) to make it easier to schedule the courses around teaching.

Is there anyone who has experience with this scenario?

Thanks for any help or advice!

 

[rxlea]

This is going to vary with the school. What schools are you considering? I know that some schools waive the eng 101, 102 requirements for having a degree. Similarly, I imagine some schools will accept your social science/fine art courses. You will have to retake the science courses and if taking them concurrently is feasible, then I don't see pharm schools getting too hung up on it- just as long as you complete the courses with good grades. But, like I said, any "exemptions" will vary by school.

 

[delano2000]

This is going to vary with the school. What schools are you considering? I know that some schools waive the eng 101, 102 requirements for having a degree. Similarly, I imagine some schools will accept your social science/fine art courses. You will have to retake the science courses and if taking them concurrently is feasible, then I don't see pharm schools getting too hung up on it- just as long as you complete the courses with good grades. But, like I said, any "exemptions" will vary by school.

👍

I believe for the majority of schools, if your science courses are more than 5-7 years old, you may need to retake them.

 

[DrDrugs2012]

I disagree with the sentiment of the previous posters. I know that several schools will waive their "statute of limitations" (nice way to put it!) if you have been working with the science since you took the courses. One should assume that as a biology teacher, you have not simply been teaching material which was true 20 years ago, but have changed with the times with modern information (not that much has changed from the fundamentals basis).

Its a restriction in place more to require the people who took a couple random science classes as part of their finance degree before working on Wall Street for 15 years and then coming back to grad school in healthcare.

You should check with each school you are interested in applying to. Speak with their admissions counselors about the requirement. Be candid and be frank.

 

[rxlea]

I disagree with the sentiment of the previous posters. I know that several schools will waive their "statute of limitations" (nice way to put it!) if you have been working with the science since you took the courses. One should assume that as a biology teacher, you have not simply been teaching material which was true 20 years ago, but have changed with the times with modern information (not that much has changed from the fundamentals basis).

Its a restriction in place more to require the people who took a couple random science classes as part of their finance degree before working on Wall Street for 15 years and then coming back to grad school in healthcare.

You should check with each school you are interested in applying to. Speak with their admissions counselors about the requirement. Be candid and be frank.

I am pretty sure everything you said is pretty much what we were saying....

so I don't see how you are disagreeing?

 

[DrDrugs2012]

I am pretty sure everything you said is pretty much what we were saying....

so I don't see how you are disagreeing?

Because the person immediately before me said likely have to retake classes, and you said that schools will likely waive the social sciences but force a non-traditional applicant to retake the sciences.

Both of which I *know* are false for many, many, many schools (not limited to pharmacy).

Most schools will waive the courses which are relevant to the applicant's daily employment.

The only area where you and I agree is that it will vary by school and that the original poster should contact the schools s/he is interested in applying to and get a direct assessment from them directly.

 

[rxlea]

"Some schools accepting" courses is not equal to "likely waiving" classes... And what "many, many" schools are you referring to? Most schools say you have to retake science courses. And we are talking about pharmacy, not other schools.

 

[NHSTeacher]

Thanks for the help!

 

[delano2000]

"Some schools accepting" courses is not equal to "likely waiving" classes... And what "many, many" schools are you referring to? Most schools say you have to retake science courses. And we are talking about pharmacy, not other schools.

👍

 

[veyep]

Usually it is 5-7 years, however if you have constantly taken classes or taught and have been involve in education I believe that won't apply to you. I think the 5-7 years is for someone who took classes and went on selling cars for 10 years and now is going back to school. But if you have been involve in academia and have taken classes continously i believe it won't apply to you! I had to take a lot of classes that I thought it was waste of time, but that is part of the process unfortunately!

 

[DrDrugs2012]

My friend is a non-traditional applicant. He spent years working in pharmaceutical research and not a single school to which he applied (he applied to 20 schools) required him to retake a single science class despite the fact that he took some of the classes over a decade ago. He is currently a 3rd year and he took his general biology class in 1994!!! He did have to take additional courses that he had never taken, but he did not have to retake a single course.

He contacted the schools individually, asked them for waiving the course requirements on the basis that he was using those sciences on a daily basis in research and taking the courses would simply be an unjustified burden.

Had he not been using the sciences on a daily basis, then the requirement would not be waived. This is why I am confident that if the original poster contacts schools individually and explains his situation, that he will be granted a waiver for at least the biology courses (if not chemistry as well).

The rule is in place to require the people who have little chance of recalling any of their science education to retake their courses to refamiliarize themselves with the material (e.g. a finance major who took biology classes to fulfill his/her general education science electives... or a science major who worked in a non-science field for an extended period of time)

Having served on an admissions committee in the past, I can promise you this is true.

 

[delano2000]

My friend is a non-traditional applicant. He spent years working in pharmaceutical research and not a single school to which he applied (he applied to 20 schools) required him to retake a single science class despite the fact that he took some of the classes over a decade ago. He is currently a 3rd year and he took his general biology class in 1994!!! He did have to take additional courses that he had never taken, but he did not have to retake a single course.

He contacted the schools individually, asked them for waiving the course requirements on the basis that he was using those sciences on a daily basis in research and taking the courses would simply be an unjustified burden.

Had he not been using the sciences on a daily basis, then the requirement would not be waived. This is why I am confident that if the original poster contacts schools individually and explains his situation, that he will be granted a waiver for at least the biology courses (if not chemistry as well).

The rule is in place to require the people who have little chance of recalling any of their science education to retake their courses to refamiliarize themselves with the material (e.g. a finance major who took biology classes to fulfill his/her general education science electives... or a science major who worked in a non-science field for an extended period of time)

Having served on an admissions committee in the past, I can promise you this is true.

This may be so, but this is also why we advised the OP to CONTACT the schools that he/she is interested in for clarification since this is not a universal thing.😉

 

[DrDrugs2012]

This may be so, but this is also why we advised the OP to CONTACT the schools that he/she is interested in for clarification since this is not a universal thing.😉

You did not advise that. You said:

I believe for the majority of schools, if your science courses are more than 5-7 years old, you may need to retake them.

And that is the ONLY thing you have said to the OP. So, no, you didn't advise that. I did however state that I concurred with Veyep on the fact that OP should contact schools. Really... this is such a trivial sidebar.

 

[rxlea]

A trivial sidebar perhaps but we don't want would-be pre pharmers thinking that they don't have to retake science courses when in fact they do since the majority of the time that is the case. /thread

 

[All4MyDaughter]

Is it really the *majority* of schools requiring retake? I've attended two different schools without needing any retakes. I even used AP biology credit from high school in the 90's without issue. I agree with the "ask individual schools" approach, though.

 

[rxlea]

Lolz. Tell you what, I will go through the schools' websites and see- maybe not the majority but is it certainly enough. This will be my project tonight 😉

 

[delano2000]

You did not advise that. You said: And that is the ONLY thing you have said to the OP. So, no, you didn't advise that. I did however state that I concurred with Veyep on the fact that OP should contact schools. Really... this is such a trivial sidebar.

🙄

If you noticed my quote was in agreement with what rxlea said. She stated (not explicitly) that the OP should check with the schools he/she is interested in since it VARIES. Please read between the line. Nothing I said explicitly stated that EVERY school will require you to retake a science course, and if you looked carefully, you would have noticed that I started out by saying, "I believe for the majority of schools..." which implies some level of uncertainty in my comment, hence, the OP should double check with the school he/she is interested in.

 

[NHSTeacher]

Thanks for the information. I found the list of pre-professional requirements in a pdf link on another thread. Also, I found the pdf "book" that provides a two-page synopsis of the requirements for each school.

I will call the schools that interest me to double-check the requirements and time limits, I just needed to narrow my focus.

I was feeling discouraged at first due to the time-limit for coursework that I was reading on so many school sites. Due to some of the pdf links posted in another thread, I feel quite a bit better as there are some schools that will waive the non-science time limit and there are a few that have no time limit on any course and then there are the ones that do consider if the applicant has been working in a related field. (I teach AP Biology and it would be illogical for me to retake the equivalent in a college setting ---- am listed/payed as an adjunct by the local U because many of my students are taking this course for dual-enrollment credit).

I was just having a little trouble finding that information without having to go to each school website and read through all of the admissions policies.

So, thanks again for all of the help!

 

[delano2000]

Thanks for the information. I found the list of pre-professional requirements in a pdf link on another thread. Also, I found the pdf "book" that provides a two-page synopsis of the requirements for each school.

I will call the schools that interest me to double-check the requirements and time limits, I just needed to narrow my focus.

I was feeling discouraged at first due to the time-limit for coursework that I was reading on so many school sites. Due to some of the pdf links posted in another thread, I feel quite a bit better as there are some schools that will waive the non-science time limit and there are a few that have no time limit on any course and then there are the ones that do consider if the applicant has been working in a related field. (I teach AP Biology and it would be illogical for me to retake the equivalent in a college setting ---- am listed/payed as an adjunct by the local U because many of my students are taking this course for dual-enrollment credit).

I was just having a little trouble finding that information without having to go to each school website and read through all of the admissions policies.

So, thanks again for all of the help!

👍

 

[chemnerd99]

I am also a nontraditional student (PhD) and my coursework goes back to 1987 and never had to repeat one class. Pick up the anatomy and physiology that I never took in the first place, yes, but everything else nope. Actually I got credit for some undergrad prereq classes from a couple of my graduate level classes. Differential Equations > statistics.🙂