Pharmacy Struggling as a pre-pharmacy student. Do I have a chance at pharmacy school?

[BC_89]

Hello, I’m currently having a lot of difficulty in terms of preparing myself for pharmacy school. Currently, I am a junior and I am a Biology major. My cumulative GPA is 2.77 and has been that way since the first semester of my sophomore year. I understand that it is really easy to say that “it is not for me” but I don’t necessarily think it’s that it is too hard. I just don’t know what I’M DOING WRONG. I find myself consistently getting C’s in my prereq classes and I know that is not good. I haven’t taken the PCAT yet. I was planning to this fall, but I know I haven’t studied/reviewed enough to actually sign up.

Here is what I have so far:

Freshman year:
Introductory Bio: C (very close to a B but professor was not having it)
General Chem 1: B
General Chem 2: B (very close to an A)
General Chem Lab: B
Calculus: C

Sophomore Year:
introductory Biology 2 (Ecology based): C
Genetics: C
Orgs 1: I failed with a D the first time, then got a C the second time
Orgo 1 lab: C
Stat: C (but I am retaking it this Winter)
I took A&P one at Community college and got an A

In my junior year:
I’m currently taking Physics and Cellular Biology and a Bio lab. In the spring I will do Orgs 2 and Physics 2.

For my other non-stem classes I received A’s which is what is keeping me somewhat a float.

In terms of experiences, I am lacking a lot in this field as well. I have a PTCB certification that I have not been able to use it because no one will hire me because I don’t have much experience except that I extern a little bit at CVS. I also work as a general chemistry TA in my school. I really want to get into research. But I don’t know how to advocate for myself because I know my GPA is not competitive enough. I just feel stuck because I’m not sure how to help myself. I know I can improve on my classes but I’m not even sure what is going wrong in the first place. I also don’t know if I have messed up so badly either. Also, as you advance in the biology track in my school, you cannot retake. The only classes I can retake are Calc and Stat. As for orgo, I cannot retake it a third time. I just don’t know what to do because I am not this kind of student anyways. I am someone who takes pride in their work and I don’t like to back down, but honestly, I feel like I have nothing to prove that.

I don’t have a lot of guidance too. My university helps students that enroll in programs in my school, but if you are not in some program, the resources available to help you are non existent. I just want to know what I should do and how I should do it so that I can make changes, but it is honestly so difficult to find help these days. What can I do to improve my position and get into pharmacy school?

You are correct that some of your retakes are pretty rough (specifically Organic Chemistry). Retaking a "C" is something you should avoid. For example, if you were to get a C in Calculus, the best way to show you can hold your worth is to take Calculus II and get an A. Likewise with Molecular Biology. If you got a C take an advanced molecular bio course and get that A. You should really avoid retaking unless you straight up failed (ie D or F).

As for study habits, have you considered joining a study group? Offer pizza or snacks or whatever it takes but it sounds like you need to bounce ideas off of other students and see what it is you are doing wrong. If you do not have a specific TA for the science blocks, get with the professor as much as possible. If they have office hours be that person that will be there from open 'til close.

Lastly, although limited according to your research, Id still reach out to your writing and learning center and get help on taking notes and how to develop critical thinking skills. This is probably one of the best advices that can be given. Then take the PCAT (Pearson Review Exams, Kaplan, and Dr. Collins packet is what I highly recommend) and see how this is working for you. Pharmacy school itself can be rough and very fast pace. There is not such thing as do overs so really evaluate yourself and see if you are up for the challenges ahead. Also, consider other career paths and shadow different fields. Pharmacy is not looking to bright for many people so understand what it is you are really wanting. Here is an insert for your leisure. Good Luck.

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[Mr.Smile12]

Most undergraduate programs I know have a learning center which points out note-taking strategies and study skills that may help you. Have you gone there? What have they told you? How about your chemistry department, which usually will have TA's and supplemental instructors who are available during your classes?

In my opinion, you have probably baked an impression that you are not really ready for the academic rigor of pharmacy school. I don't know if being a pharmacy tech is something you have already pursued for a job during school, but they receive a fair amount of training which you may be happy with for now. Why are you intent on pursing things you struggle with rather than pursuing more things where you are doing well (A's in non-science classes)?

 

[lord999]

A couple of observations on history:
So, pharmacy school curriculum right now is not necessarily more difficult that what you are doing now, but it is more intense (it's a good 16 hours a term and usually more than that).

1. Your scores even if they were all rounded up do not bode well for pharmacy school. I can see problems with pathophysiology and medicinal chemistry already.
2. Even if your grades go up at this point, I agree with @BC_89 that I'm more concerned about future performance on first tries. While you can fail in pharmacy school, that is an extraordinarily expensive fail. For the core chemistries, pharmacy schools rarely consider retakes in the same light, but consider improvement over time with a higher weight.
3. If you passed the PTCB on the first try, you at least can do the mathematics at a competent enough level to be a pharmacist (the math does not change, just the responsibility).

I'm not going to mince words, your application would be marginal at best, but if you were in my office, I would probably say to consider a different career not just because pharmacy is going through some tough times now and in the near future, but more importantly, I have some doubts that you would be able to pass the curriculum at this point as grades tend to fall in pharmacy school. It's not one class, it's the trend that is worrisome. I suppose you could improve your study habits and trend up, that's the optimistic viewpoint. But what gives me pause is that you should have thought that there was a problem after the freshman year if not freshman semester. Possibly, you may want to spend some time in introspection as external help cannot necessarily correct what is within without you realizing it. In other words, I will turn the question around and ask "if you think you are doing it wrong, what am I doing right, and how can I translate that into what is going wrong." Possibly, you should consider your aptitudes are elsewhere (I would be a complete failure as an artist or a musician with zero aesthetic sensibility, so the artist life does not work for me). But if you intend to persist in science, your background needs work before advancing. You are stuck in a vicious cycle with poor background preparation leading to bad outcomes (Organic II really depends on your detailed understanding of the classical nucleophilic and elimination reactions).