Taking Prerequisites at Community College

[ems087]

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Hello:
I have a BA in Business Management from the University of Pittsburgh and I am now planning on taking prerequisite courses at the local community college (which I should mention is an accredited college) to apply to Pharmacy school.

It may be hard to obtain additional loans to take prerequisite courses since I already have a bachelors, so I feel that this it is in my favor to take pre pharmacy courses at community college.

I was just wondering if anyone has taken their pre pharmacy prerequisite courses at community college; and if so what school have you been accepted into/interviewed.


Thank you so much for your feedback!

 

[Corpseman]

Hello:
I have a BA in Business Management from the University of Pittsburgh and I am now planning on taking prerequisite courses at the local community college (which I should mention is an accredited college) to apply to Pharmacy school.

It may be hard to obtain additional loans to take prerequisite courses since I already have a bachelors, so I feel that this it is in my favor to take pre pharmacy courses at community college.

I was just wondering if anyone has taken their pre pharmacy prerequisite courses at community college; and if so what school have you been accepted into/interviewed.


Thank you so much for your feedback!

I took mine at a CC and was accepted into the U of Arizona program.

 

[nynyny]

Hello:
I have a BA in Business Management from the University of Pittsburgh and I am now planning on taking prerequisite courses at the local community college (which I should mention is an accredited college) to apply to Pharmacy school.

It may be hard to obtain additional loans to take prerequisite courses since I already have a bachelors, so I feel that this it is in my favor to take pre pharmacy courses at community college.

I was just wondering if anyone has taken their pre pharmacy prerequisite courses at community college; and if so what school have you been accepted into/interviewed.


Thank you so much for your feedback!

I am applying to U of Pitt's early assurance program, but am also thinking about going the CC route as well to save money and stay closer to home.
Are you planning on applying to Pitt?
When I talked to them about my CC plan, they discouraged it. I'm wondering if they'll hold it against me if I don't start there as a freshman.

 

[yoloyolo]

Will the pharmacy schools rate community college students as less competitve? I'm wondering since CC is my only option right now. 🙁

 

[ems087]

I do know that Pitt is extremely tough to get into for pharmacy school. Pitt tends to "like" their own sciences but if you don't apply, you will never know what could have been. In any event, you should always have back up options.

 

[ems087]

Yoloyolo - I'm worried about that too..

 

[Corpseman]

Will the pharmacy schools rate community college students as less competitve? I'm wondering since CC is my only option right now. 🙁

Yes they will and anyone else who says otherwise is mistaken.

I had a stellar application both in my mind and the admissions people...my only downfall was that I had gone to a CC for my pre-reqs. I ended up only applying to one school and was accepted off the wait list on my first attempt.

If you go through the CC route, you must strengthen every part of your application. I had a 4.0, 2000 hours as a CPht, 6 years of combat medicine, 500+ hours of volunteering, decent enough PCAT 80% with a high Chem sub-score....and I still barely made it through off the wait list due to my CC background.

 

[kcwang]

I wouldnt say pharmacy schools rate CC less competitively. That is a very general statement you're making.

It really depends on the pharmacy schools. Some schools do look favorably on the reputation of the schools while others dont.

To the OP, I would use the search function on sdn to get more information. This topic has been discussed several times already.

 

[Lagunatic]

I was in a similiar position as you a few years ago. I graduated with high grades in biochemistry and began working at Fortune 100 pharma company. Somewhere along the way I decided to go back to school and get into healthcare so I took speech, anatomy, and physiology classes at a local CC. The hard work paid off and I received interviews to every school I applied to and I was accepted at UCSF for this fall.

Best of luck to you.

 

[owlegrad]

If you have no other choice but then to go to a community college it probably doesn't matter what our answers are. But no they are not looked down on in my experience.

 

[Lagunatic]

Yes they will and anyone else who says otherwise is mistaken.

I had a stellar application both in my mind and the admissions people...my only downfall was that I had gone to a CC for my pre-reqs. I ended up only applying to one school and was accepted off the wait list on my first attempt.

If you go through the CC route, you must strengthen every part of your application. I had a 4.0, 2000 hours as a CPht, 6 years of combat medicine, 500+ hours of volunteering, decent enough PCAT 80% with a high Chem sub-score....and I still barely made it through off the wait list due to my CC background.

I do agree that getting off the waitlist is cutting it close, but perhaps you would have had less problems if you had applied broadly to similar programs? Submitting only one application during a cycle seems quite risky regardless of stats and accomplishments. However, it does appear that the CC route paid off because you were accepted at the only school you applied to.

 

[deleted481886]

Will the pharmacy schools rate community college students as less competitve? I'm wondering since CC is my only option right now. 🙁

I do think that schools would look at it as being less competitive. Just imagine if there was a student with your exact same stats, equally positive interviews/letters/etc, but the other student got their degree at a four year university. In general, I would say that this gives the other student an advantage, because a particular GPA at a community college would certainly be considered less difficult to obtain than the same GPA at a university (though that also depends on the university, to some degree).
That being said, you application doesn't boil down to just this - if you have an otherwise sound application, that will serve you well. I don't believe that attending a community college will make or break you in the application process, and considering if was your only option, it is certainly the best way to go! Just prove that you ARE competitive by doing well in your classes, doing well on your PCAT, gaining experience, and just giving a well-rounded application. If you show potential, they will see it.

 

[yoloyolo]

Actually, it is not my only option. I can transfer into a university but I will have to delay the process of taking the prerequisites by 1 year. Should I wait 1 more year then take the prerequisites or should I just take it now? I want to finish schooling asap but I'm also afraid that I won't be getting accepted into any pharm.D program because they will see half of my prerequisites are taken at a CC (general bio + chem + cal sequence). I am 17 right now and pretty much confused of what I should do, if I wait then maybe next year I will have nothing to do. 🙁...If you guys are in my situation, what will you do?

 

[nynyny]

I do know that Pitt is extremely tough to get into for pharmacy school. Pitt tends to "like" their own sciences but if you don't apply, you will never know what could have been. In any event, you should always have back up options.

Transferring into Pitt may be extremely difficult, but the early assurance program is easy to get into-- just meet the required SAT score. Then you need to keep a minimum GPA-- I think it's around 3.2-- which can be tough.

I'd just rather live and go to school outside the city the first two years. But when I talked to Pitt about it, they basically said I'd better apply early assurance.

 

[AlPacino]

Yes they will and anyone else who says otherwise is mistaken.

I had a stellar application both in my mind and the admissions people...my only downfall was that I had gone to a CC for my pre-reqs. I ended up only applying to one school and was accepted off the wait list on my first attempt.

If you go through the CC route, you must strengthen every part of your application. I had a 4.0, 2000 hours as a CPht, 6 years of combat medicine, 500+ hours of volunteering, decent enough PCAT 80% with a high Chem sub-score....and I still barely made it through off the wait list due to my CC background.

This is false. Ive contacted to all pre-pharmacy advisors of schools I plan on applying on and they have said the same thing. They do not look down on that. What matters is that you get good grades on them, do well on PCAT, have a good personal statement and strong LORs. Volunteering and/or working in pharmacy is invaluable.

Might be just your school.

 

[Corpseman]

I do agree that getting off the waitlist is cutting it close, but perhaps you would have had less problems if you had applied broadly to similar programs? Submitting only one application during a cycle seems quite risky regardless of stats and accomplishments. However, it does appear that the CC route paid off because you were accepted at the only school you applied to.

I tailored my schedule to complete only my one school's reqs. I was planning to take more this next year to broaden my school list. I completely agree that my plan worked out, thankfully.

I do think that schools would look at it as being less competitive. Just imagine if there was a student with your exact same stats, equally positive interviews/letters/etc, but the other student got their degree at a four year university. In general, I would say that this gives the other student an advantage, because a particular GPA at a community college would certainly be considered less difficult to obtain than the same GPA at a university (though that also depends on the university, to some degree).
That being said, you application doesn't boil down to just this - if you have an otherwise sound application, that will serve you well. I don't believe that attending a community college will make or break you in the application process, and considering if was your only option, it is certainly the best way to go! Just prove that you ARE competitive by doing well in your classes, doing well on your PCAT, gaining experience, and just giving a well-rounded application. If you show potential, they will see it.

Exactly.

This is false. Ive contacted to all pre-pharmacy advisors of schools I plan on applying on and they have said the same thing. They do not look down on that. What matters is that you get good grades on them, do well on PCAT, have a good personal statement and strong LORs. Volunteering and/or working in pharmacy is invaluable.

Might be just your school.

Equal stats with the one exception being CC vs. University....well you know what goes next.

I am not saying it is impossible...far from that actually. I am just saying CC is not on an even playing field with University courses, nor should it be.

 

[AlPacino]

I tailored my schedule to complete only my one school's reqs. I was planning to take more this next year to broaden my school list. I completely agree that my plan worked out, thankfully.



Exactly.



Equal stats with the one exception being CC vs. University....well you know what goes next.

I am not saying it is impossible...far from that actually. I am just saying CC is not on an even playing field with University courses, nor should it be.

If you are going to take your pre-reqs in a CC, then you have to make sure is that you continue the pattern of high grades in a University during your last 2 undergrad years. So if you get an "A" in Organic 1 then go and get a "C" in Biochemistry, then the admissions office is going to get suspicious thinking that maybe that student is not equipped with the tools for the pharmacy curriculum.

Do well in your pre-reqs in CC, do well in your core at University = no worries
If you are going to just take your pre-reqs at CC and then jump straight into pharmacy school then you have to make sure you have a well-rounded application. Must get a high score on the PCAT along with showing interest in the field of pharmacy by working as a pharmacy technician, volunteering at a pharmacy, or shadowing a pharmacist. You could participate in student organizations as well as fund raisers they hold. Many things you can do to make your application stand out. Just put in the time and effort, and it will be worth it.

That is what I am doing, and what I was told by all my pre-pharmacy advisors. Take it for what it is.

 

[yoloyolo]

This is false. Ive contacted to all pre-pharmacy advisors of schools I plan on applying on and they have said the same thing. They do not look down on that. What matters is that you get good grades on them, do well on PCAT, have a good personal statement and strong LORs. Volunteering and/or working in pharmacy is invaluable.

Might be just your school.

May I ask what are the schools that you are applying to? And what is LORs?

 

[AlPacino]

May I ask what are the schools that you are applying to? And what is LORs?

Next year after I take my PCAT I will be applying to UF, Nova, Purdue, UK, Lecom, and UW. I hope to stay in Fl being that I am a resident and out of state tuition is not worth it. UF is my primary choice.

LOR = Letter of recommendation