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sunshinee

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Hi Everyone,

As I noticed many of you are nervous or discouraged about getting in Pharm School as I am, I thought this may be the place to really have terms put into reality for me. I had decided I wanted to apply to Pharm School about a year+ ago. I am currently a Dietetic Science major (nutrition science basically). I will have a BS in Science, and much chemistry, biology, etc. However, I am missing certain classes such as Chem II, Calc, Physics, and a few more. I will be taking Pre-calc this fall as my school does not allow Calc I until the pre-calc is fulfilled. I also plan to take physics in the spring so I at least have a few more courses. I will be taking the PCAT's in October (it is the only date offered in my state before applications are due). My question to everyone is this ...do you think I have any chance what so ever of getting in with missing courses? My GPA is ~3.6 - 3.7 and hopefully going up a bit more as I am finishing a few summer courses as we speak. With a good GPA, hopefully good PCAT scores, and most of the class requirements (but organic II missing, chem II missing, Biology I missing). I have courses like Biochemistry, and Anatomy & Physiology, countless advanced nutrition courses, which are not necessarily required but still science related. Is anyone else in a some what similar boat? I feel just awful, as I know I can do it, but I do not know how the actual school will view me when I am simply a piece of paper to them. Any suggestions or comments would be great, the good or the bad. Thanks!
 
Hi Everyone,

As I noticed many of you are nervous or discouraged about getting in Pharm School as I am, I thought this may be the place to really have terms put into reality for me. I had decided I wanted to apply to Pharm School about a year+ ago. I am currently a Dietetic Science major (nutrition science basically). I will have a BS in Science, and much chemistry, biology, etc. However, I am missing certain classes such as Chem II, Calc, Physics, and a few more. I will be taking Pre-calc this fall as my school does not allow Calc I until the pre-calc is fulfilled. I also plan to take physics in the spring so I at least have a few more courses. I will be taking the PCAT's in October (it is the only date offered in my state before applications are due). My question to everyone is this ...do you think I have any chance what so ever of getting in with missing courses? My GPA is ~3.6 - 3.7 and hopefully going up a bit more as I am finishing a few summer courses as we speak. With a good GPA, hopefully good PCAT scores, and most of the class requirements (but organic II missing, chem II missing, Biology I missing). I have courses like Biochemistry, and Anatomy & Physiology, countless advanced nutrition courses, which are not necessarily required but still science related. Is anyone else in a some what similar boat? I feel just awful, as I know I can do it, but I do not know how the actual school will view me when I am simply a piece of paper to them. Any suggestions or comments would be great, the good or the bad. Thanks!

Absolutely not. You MUST take ALL required courses before matriculation (or by the date they require, it varies school by school) to matriculate. If you do not take those classes, you cannot enter pharmacy school. NO exceptions.
 
Absolutely not. You MUST take ALL required courses before matriculation (or by the date they require, it varies school by school) to matriculate. If you do not take those classes, you cannot enter pharmacy school. NO exceptions.


So it looks like, if anything, I should just apply for the full 6-year program?
 
Absolutely not. You MUST take ALL required courses before matriculation (or by the date they require, it varies school by school) to matriculate. If you do not take those classes, you cannot enter pharmacy school. NO exceptions.

I have read about exceptions right here on these forums. I wouldn't advise trying to get in without having all the pre-reqs complete but to say that there are no exceptions isn't completely accurate. Some schools do make exceptions in certain circumstances.
 
Like one of the posters said, you need to have completed all the courses by the time you matriculate. You can always contact the admissions dept to see what kind of exceptions can be made.
 
I wouldn't even ask about exceptions in advance. I'd find a way to get them done by either spring or summer depending on the school or wait until the next cycle to apply. I don't know why schools grant exceptions but I imagine it would be in cases where unforeseen circumstances come up that prevents someone from finishing. It is quite another matter if you are planning on not having the pre-reqs done.
 
I wouldn't even ask about exceptions in advance. I'd find a way to get them done by either spring or summer depending on the school or wait until the next cycle to apply. I don't know why schools grant exceptions but I imagine it would be in cases where unforeseen circumstances come up that prevents someone from finishing. It is quite another matter if you are planning on not having the pre-reqs done.


Good point.👍
 
Op, most 0-6 programs don't accept transfers (i.e., people who have had any college at all). They're designed for fresh high school graduates, and supply a bachelor's degree en route to the Pharm.D. Kaiter is in one right now, P1 this year I think.

I think you're asking if you can be accepted before you complete the other classes you're missing like Calculus and Physics. If that's the case, then absolutely yes. You'll be given a conditional acceptance, and your matriculation will depend on if you get those classes done by the Spring antecedent your classes starting (and sometimes the summer depending on your school).

Diastole has a memory like a sponge and can remember everything on this forum with rapt and rather frightening accuracy, but banking on a huge exception from a pharmacy school is a bad idea.

What classes exactly are you missing? And PCAT is just PCAT, it is not possessive, plural or anything else. It's not PCATs, PCAT's, PCATS', or anything else. PCAT.
 
Hi Everyone,

As I noticed many of you are nervous or discouraged about getting in Pharm School as I am, I thought this may be the place to really have terms put into reality for me. I had decided I wanted to apply to Pharm School about a year+ ago. I am currently a Dietetic Science major (nutrition science basically). I will have a BS in Science, and much chemistry, biology, etc. However, I am missing certain classes such as Chem II, Calc, Physics, and a few more. I will be taking Pre-calc this fall as my school does not allow Calc I until the pre-calc is fulfilled. I also plan to take physics in the spring so I at least have a few more courses. I will be taking the PCAT's in October (it is the only date offered in my state before applications are due). My question to everyone is this ...do you think I have any chance what so ever of getting in with missing courses? My GPA is ~3.6 - 3.7 and hopefully going up a bit more as I am finishing a few summer courses as we speak. With a good GPA, hopefully good PCAT scores, and most of the class requirements (but organic II missing, chem II missing, Biology I missing). I have courses like Biochemistry, and Anatomy & Physiology, countless advanced nutrition courses, which are not necessarily required but still science related. Is anyone else in a some what similar boat? I feel just awful, as I know I can do it, but I do not know how the actual school will view me when I am simply a piece of paper to them. Any suggestions or comments would be great, the good or the bad. Thanks!

It's not realistic in your position to expect schools to give you a break because you have a dietetics degree. At least for two reasons:

1. The science courses in dietetics major tend to be an overview-light courses compared to same courses science majors have to take. At my former school for example, a biochemistry course for dietetics major was a one semester overview course - completely different from the year long sequence for biochem majors.

2. I was in the same position where I was missing a general biology 2 course. At that point I was on a track to graduate with a physiology and a biochemistry major and completed nearly every single upper division science and biology course in both departments. Still all the schools I applied to required me to take course regardless, no exceptions.
 
Thank you everyone for your input, as honest as it was 🙂. I assume to be missing Organic Chemistry II, Biology I (although I have Microbiology and Anatomy & Physiology), and possibly General Chemistry II. I am taking Calculus next semester by course overloading my original schedule, and plan to take a Physics course in the spring, whether or not they will be transferable I do not know. At this point I am taking them for my own benefit, and not counting on them transferring. I sincerely want nothing more for the near future of my life than to head in the direction of being accepted to Pharmacy School (whether it be 4 years or 6 years). So I figure that by taking classes I will see again cannot really hurt. If for some reason 21 credits becomes too much (as I would not want it to hurt my GPA) I can always drop the course, but until then I'm going to do it.

Based on everyone's helpful responses you guys/gals have helped reiterate what I had originally thought, and that is, that I will never be able to get into and complete a PharmD program in 4 years. I think at first, it is hard to come to terms with how much more school is ahead! However, I am OK with that because I want to do this one way or another. Yes, it would be 2 more years of loans, but to me it is worth it in the end. I currently work as a Paralegal, have taken two summer courses with no break in between, commute to campus, and plan to take the 21 credits next semester. I am accustomed to working hard so that i can succeed, and hope to get into at least a 6 year program. Unfortunately, I do not have the luxury of having parents that support me financially, and they question my plan to go to Pharmacy School because of the cost of it, that's why I sometimes need outside help since it feels like no one understands or can really help guide me except myself. Do you think getting into a 6 year program will be possible?

***Sorry about the "PCAT" error, I guess I didn't even realize how I wrote that.***

Again, I appreciate everyone's opinions, feel free to be honest. Thanks.

-Sara Dawn
 
Do you think getting into a 6 year program will be possible?

No. Most likely, you cannot. You already are working towards a degree. a 6 year program is for high school students, as someone said earlier.

You are only missing 4 classes, right? You can squeeze that into a semester if you try hard or spread it out over a year if you want. It takes 2 years to finish ALL the prereqs, so I don't see why you keep going on about the extra 2 years to finish the 3-4 classes you have left.
 
Thank you everyone for your input, as honest as it was 🙂. I assume to be missing Organic Chemistry II, Biology I (although I have Microbiology and Anatomy & Physiology), and possibly General Chemistry II. I am taking Calculus next semester by course overloading my original schedule, and plan to take a Physics course in the spring, whether or not they will be transferable I do not know. At this point I am taking them for my own benefit, and not counting on them transferring. I sincerely want nothing more for the near future of my life than to head in the direction of being accepted to Pharmacy School (whether it be 4 years or 6 years). So I figure that by taking classes I will see again cannot really hurt. If for some reason 21 credits becomes too much (as I would not want it to hurt my GPA) I can always drop the course, but until then I'm going to do it.

Based on everyone's helpful responses you guys/gals have helped reiterate what I had originally thought, and that is, that I will never be able to get into and complete a PharmD program in 4 years. I think at first, it is hard to come to terms with how much more school is ahead! However, I am OK with that because I want to do this one way or another. Yes, it would be 2 more years of loans, but to me it is worth it in the end. I currently work as a Paralegal, have taken two summer courses with no break in between, commute to campus, and plan to take the 21 credits next semester. I am accustomed to working hard so that i can succeed, and hope to get into at least a 6 year program. Unfortunately, I do not have the luxury of having parents that support me financially, and they question my plan to go to Pharmacy School because of the cost of it, that's why I sometimes need outside help since it feels like no one understands or can really help guide me except myself. Do you think getting into a 6 year program will be possible?

***Sorry about the "PCAT" error, I guess I didn't even realize how I wrote that.***

Again, I appreciate everyone's opinions, feel free to be honest. Thanks.

-Sara Dawn

So you are missing five classes and you can't take them because you are finishing up your BS? Well it looks like you are going to have to apply next cycle. You can finish the pre-reqs at a CC and save some money. Like the others said, you can't get into a six year program but you can get into a three year accelerated program if you really want to get your PharmD in less time. You'll start school in 2011 and be done in 2014. Plus next year, you will only have to take three to five classes so you will have some extra time on your hands.
 
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