Thinking about pharmacy school in NC - Would like advice/input

[teethies]

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Hi guys!

I recently graduated from college in NC, and I am thinking about making the jump from being pre-dent to being pre-pharm. For a variety of reasons, I no longer think that dentistry is for me. I'm kind of concerned, however, because I have a B.A., and I have no idea how non-science majors are received by pharm schools. Thanks to being pre-dent for so long, I do have a minor in Chem, and I have also taken Anatomy & Physiology and a year of Physics. While my overall GPA is between a 3.5 and a 4.0, my science GPA is closer to a 3.0. I have a great deal of experience working/volunteering in a variety of health care settings, but I have never worked in a pharmacy. There are a few more classes I would need to take for the pharm schools in NC, and I have not even thought about the PCAT.

I would really appreciate any advice or input. If I decide to apply to pharm school, UNC would be my first choice. I really wanted to meet with someone at UNC to talk things over, but it says on the website that they don't meet with prospective applicants. If I take the few other classes I need at N.C. State, would this be frowned upon? How does the PCAT compare to the DAT? Anybody out there with a B.A. who's now in pharm school? I'm a bit overwhelmed. Thank you for any help!

 

[Jabberwocky12]

Hi guys!

I recently graduated from college in NC, and I am thinking about making the jump from being pre-dent to being pre-pharm. For a variety of reasons, I no longer think that dentistry is for me. I'm kind of concerned, however, because I have a B.A., and I have no idea how non-science majors are received by pharm schools. Thanks to being pre-dent for so long, I do have a minor in Chem, and I have also taken Anatomy & Physiology and a year of Physics. While my overall GPA is between a 3.5 and a 4.0, my science GPA is closer to a 3.0. I have a great deal of experience working/volunteering in a variety of health care settings, but I have never worked in a pharmacy. There are a few more classes I would need to take for the pharm schools in NC, and I have not even thought about the PCAT.

I would really appreciate any advice or input. If I decide to apply to pharm school, UNC would be my first choice. I really wanted to meet with someone at UNC to talk things over, but it says on the website that they don't meet with prospective applicants. If I take the few other classes I need at N.C. State, would this be frowned upon? How does the PCAT compare to the DAT? Anybody out there with a B.A. who's now in pharm school? I'm a bit overwhelmed. Thank you for any help!

I'm an NC resident applicant for UNC so I'm probably going to be your guy. UNC has a microbiology requirement as well as A&P. Here are the pre-reqs.

http://pharmacy.unc.edu/admissions/...icants-who-entered-college-fall-2006-or-after

The PCAT focuses on chem, bio, math (calculus and a little bit of stats) reading comprehension and essay. So there is a good bit of overlap in the DAT and you can study the DAT and still have a good bit of stuff for the PCAT. Get some pharmacy experience, how do you know you want to do pharmacy without it? Depending on the reasons find places that back that up or validate them (grass is always greener syndrome). BAs are good in pharmacy school since some people don't have degrees since pharmacy doesn't technically require it for many schools.

I'd suggest taking economics and public speaking so you can apply to campbell and wingate and other schools. Many schools want those courses and you will be more successful in the long run with them. I still use those courses to this day outside of academia.

Do some searches online here as well for more information but that should get you started. Good luck and welcome to the world of pre-pharmacy. Send a PM to me or someone else if you have any questions that don't really show up on the forums but there is a good bet your thoughts have been taken by someone else as well.

 

[Jabberwocky12]

Also, what attracts you to UNC for pharmacy school? This is everything from location to reputation and price to curriculum and ECs. Some people I know hated going to UNC because it wasn't their type of environment. A lot of them would have preferred wingate or campbell.

University of Tennessee, University of SC, and the like are also really good as well. Just make sure to look around for a few more. UNC is in my top 3 schools but I would be okay going other places as well. I don't know how important dental school rankings are but pharmacy it's not a SUPER BIG deal.

 

[teethies]

Wow, thank you for replying so fast! Yeah, I know I would need to take Micro and Statistics for UNC, and I need to research Campbell and Wingate. I know more about UNC because I went there for undergrad, and that's why I'm attracted to it for pharm school. I really just love Chapel Hill... the school has a great rep and you've got to love that in-state price, ha ha. And yes, I definitely need to shadow/work in a pharmacy to see if I even like pharmacy! I'm looking into some pharmacy tech jobs, and do I just call pharmacies and ask if I can shadow if those jobs don't pan out? Also, will it look bad if I take Micro and Stat (and whatever else) at another school (not UNC)? Or does it really matter since I've graduated? Sorry to bombard you with random questions!

 

[Jabberwocky12]

Wow, thank you for replying so fast! Yeah, I know I would need to take Micro and Statistics for UNC, and I need to research Campbell and Wingate. I know more about UNC because I went there for undergrad, and that's why I'm attracted to it for pharm school. I really just love Chapel Hill... the school has a great rep and you've got to love that in-state price, ha ha. And yes, I definitely need to shadow/work in a pharmacy to see if I even like pharmacy! I'm looking into some pharmacy tech jobs, and do I just call pharmacies and ask if I can shadow if those jobs don't pan out? Also, will it look bad if I take Micro and Stat (and whatever else) at another school (not UNC)? Or does it really matter since I've graduated? Sorry to bombard you with random questions!

It's very similar to dental school so whatever research you did for that profession will have a lot to carry over here. The school doesn't matter so much for UNC nor does it super matter if it is summer or not, from what I understand. Look in the overall tri-state area and other schools as well. But the pricing is definitely a big ol' plus as well as in-state residency status.

Why are you wanting to switch to pharmacy if you still are shadowing/working to see if you even like it? It seems like a reverse thing to do or else you will be spending a lot of time looking at different professions. What about densitry interested you and what about it didn't? Maybe optometry would be better for you? Or med school? Or maybe PT or NP? Make sure this is what you want to do first before worrying about being accepted.

Almost all of the entrance exams- PCAT, MCAT, DAT, OAT, etc. are all similar in content. So don't fret about that until you know it's what you want to do...

 

[teethies]

I know it sounds like I've just pulled pharmacy out of a hat, but I promise I haven't (I'm just trying to prevent this from getting super personal by going into a lot of my background, ha ha). I was pretty preoccupied with stuff in school, so this is the first chance I've gotten to explore the profession more (and why I haven't worked as a tech or shadowed yet). I'm not in any rush.

Right now I'm just enjoying a break from school and trying to gauge what my next step will be if I decide on pharm for sure - looks like shadowing and taking the pre-reqs I still need will be first on the list. Hopefully it won't be frowned upon if I decide to take them at State (I just live closer to State than Chapel Hill, so it would be nice to take the pre-req stuff there). Thanks again for the input!