Those attempting to start in Fall 2008 and those who are already admitted

[MJ4eva14786]

I have joined this forum recently and have found tremendous wealth of information and have decided to discuss with others in this thread about chances of getting in and to those who are in, to give an insight to those like me who are attempting to start the College of Pharmacy in Fall 2008.

I am planning on attending East Tennesee State University's College of Pharmacy and these are my stats so far...

Fall 2006

Biology I with Lab--------B
Chemistry I with Lab-----A-
Calculus I-------------- A
General Speech---------B
English 1010------------CLEP Exam
-----------------
18 hours

Spring 2007

Biology II with Lab------B
Chemistry II with lab----B
English 1020------------A-
CSCI 1100--------------A
Probability and Statistics-A-
Badminton---------------A
---------------------------
18 hours

Summer 2007

Introduction to Religion--A
Introduction to Psychology--A
--------------------------
6 hours

Fall 2007

Organic Chemistry I with Lab (Struggling and attempting to bounce back)
Introduction to Microbiology with Lab (Currently sitting with a B/B+ range)
General Physics I with Lab (Currently sitting with a A)
------------------------------------
13 hours

Spring 2008

Organic Chemistry II with Lab
General Physics II with Lab
Introduction to Religion
Microeconomics
----------------------------
15 hours

Total of 69 pre-requisites hours for ETSU

I am currently at a GPA of 3.563 or so. I have not worked in a pharmacy setting though I will be getting a job at a pharmacy within this month or so. Currently I am tutoring subjects: Calculus I, Chemistry I and II.

ETSU's stats for the entering class of Spring 2007 was:

Average GPA: 3.5
Average PCAT: 70



I have done volumes of community and extracurricular activities.

I have taken the PCAT (requested scores to be submitted to ETSU, Mercer University and University of Texas at Austin) and am awaiting the results that ar due to arrive 3-4 weeks from now.

Feelings about PCAT:

Essay #1 - Wrote with ease. (Completed)
Verbal - Several words I did not know. (Completed)
Chemistry - Cruised through section without much halting. (Completed)
Essay #2 - Several points of stoppage but finished. (Completed)
Reading Comprehension - Eased through the section without stoppage. (Completed)
Quantitative - Felt pressured for time as I left 10 blank due to loss of time. (Incomplete)

This coming up weekend I will submit ETSU application (deadline: January 4th 2008) and PharmCAS application.

Do things seem right on track?

Please give me some input as each and every student's situation is different and I would appreciate the help.

Thanks for your time and efforts.

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[Pharmpills]

I have joined this forum recently and have found tremendous wealth of information and have decided to discuss with others in this thread about chances of getting in and to those who are in, to give an insight to those like me who are attempting to start the College of Pharmacy in Fall 2008.

I am planning on attending East Tennesee State University's College of Pharmacy and these are my stats so far...

Fall 2006

Biology I with Lab--------B
Chemistry I with Lab-----A-
Calculus I-------------- A
General Speech---------B
English 1010------------CLEP Exam
-----------------
18 hours

Spring 2006

Biology II with Lab------B
Chemistry II with lab----B
English 1020------------A-
CSCI 1100--------------A
Probability and Statistics-A-
Badminton---------------A
---------------------------
18 hours

Summer 2006

Introduction to Religion--A
Introduction to Psychology--A
--------------------------
6 hours

Fall 2007

Organic Chemistry I with Lab (Struggling and attempting to bounce back)
Introduction to Microbiology with Lab (Currently sitting with a B/B+ range)
General Physics I with Lab (Currently sitting with a A)
------------------------------------
13 hours

Spring 2008

Organic Chemistry II with Lab
General Physics II with Lab
Introduction to Religion
Microeconomics
----------------------------
15 hours

Total of 69 pre-requisites hours for ETSU

I am currently at a GPA of 3.563 or so. I have not worked in a pharmacy setting though I will be getting a job at a pharmacy within this month or so. Currently I am tutoring subjects: Calculus I, Chemistry I and II.

ETSU's stats for the entering class of Spring 2007 was:

Average GPA: 3.5
Average PCAT: 70



I have done volumes of community and extracurricular activities.

I have taken the PCAT (requested scores to be submitted to ETSU, Mercer University and University of Texas at Austin) and am awaiting the results that ar due to arrive 3-4 weeks from now.

Feelings about PCAT:

Essay #1 - Wrote with ease. (Completed)
Verbal - Several words I did not know. (Completed)
Chemistry - Cruised through section without much halting. (Completed)
Essay #2 - Several points of stoppage but finished. (Completed)
Reading Comprehension - Eased through the section without stoppage. (Completed)
Quantitative - Felt pressured for time as I left 10 blank due to loss of time. (Incomplete)

This coming up weekend I will submit ETSU application (deadline: January 4th 2008) and PharmCAS application.

Do things seem right on track?

Please give me some input as each and every student's situation is different and I would appreciate the help.

Thanks for your time and efforts.

i think u need a better PCAT score bc ur classes dont stand out. like have u taken imunology or biochem or is ur intro to microbio at the lower div or upper div? its not getting a 3.5 that counts its what classes u took to get it but u seem ok u just need a better pcat score. holycow did u say u left 10 blank for the pcat math. damn thats gonna bite u in the arse really really bad geesh u shouldve guessed C takes 10 freaking secs. goodluck

 

[MJ4eva14786]

i think u need a better PCAT score bc ur classes dont stand out. like have u taken imunology or biochem or is ur intro to microbio at the lower div or upper div? its not getting a 3.5 that counts its what classes u took to get it but u seem ok u just need a better pcat score. holycow did u say u left 10 blank for the pcat math. damn thats gonna bite u in the arse really really bad geesh u shouldve guessed C takes 10 freaking secs. goodluck

1. I took my first PCAT this October 20th 2007. That PCAT score you see posted above is ETSU's entering Spring 2007 class numbers.

2. I have not taken immunology or biochemistry as the amount of pre-requisites don't allow me time to take those. I will take those accordingly in the future.

3. It just says Introduction to Microbiology. Nothing else. No distinction between lower division and upper division though I think its upper division as many of the students are in the nursing program or some health field.

4. The proctors were sticklers and did not allow even one second above the time limit. There was nothing I could have done about guessing the last 10 problems on the quantitative section. The problems were lengthy in description and required some theoretical thinking as of course calculators were not required. Many others did not finish that section as well from what I have heard. Though thats not a good thing.

Here is also some further information about myself:

I graduated from high school in Spring of 2006 and went straight into college in Fall of 2006. I have completed so far 1.5 semesters of college (including summer;excluding Fall 2007)

I am a Sophmore currently.

 

[rXcmoney]

Get an A in O chem and you have a good shot. PCAT score is kinda weak

 

[MJ4eva14786]

Get an A in O chem and you have a good shot. PCAT score is kinda weak

Ok thanks for the Organic Chemistry advice.

As demonstrated by the above 2 posters who replied to my thread, it is obvious that you have not read my post(s) properly. The "Average PCAT: 70" score is not my score, it is the average score for the entering class. How many times do I have to explain that?!

Read the thread properly before replying.

 

[fenixtnlfan]

From what you posted, it sounds like you are about an average applicant for your school choice based on GPA. Having extracurriculars is always good. Sounds like you probably did well on the PCAT. You never know about the math section because that tends to be the hardest for everyone and hence is curved more. Really just finish your pre-reqs with about the same grades as you are getting. Even with all the information you typed out, it's hard for anyone to judge whether you will get in or not. These threads are really just to get a little reassurance.

If a class is a 300 level or above, it is upper-division. Obviously, just get your pre-reqs done and if you don't get in you can always take those upper-divisions then.

I want to know why my university doesn't have badminton like yours does! I would love to take badminton!

 

[MJ4eva14786]

From what you posted, it sounds like you are about an average applicant for your school choice based on GPA. Having extracurriculars is always good. Sounds like you probably did well on the PCAT. You never know about the math section because that tends to be the hardest for everyone and hence is curved more. Really just finish your pre-reqs with about the same grades as you are getting. Even with all the information you typed out, it's hard for anyone to judge whether you will get in or not. These threads are really just to get a little reassurance.

If a class is a 300 level or above, it is upper-division. Obviously, just get your pre-reqs done and if you don't get in you can always take those upper-divisions then.

I want to know why my university doesn't have badminton like yours does! I would love to take badminton!

1. Yeah I realize that its difficult to judge but as your saying, I wanted a little reassurance and so people voting and posting like your can give me an idea of where I am.

2. Introduction to Microbiology course is labeled as 2200.

3. As for badminton, I literally taught that class as I am a tournament player. I made the other students work hard and I knew I would pull an A anyway.
It was kind of funny that we had a midterm exam and final exam over history of the badminton game.

Thanks for your valuable posting time and great insight.

 

[CaliCPhT]

Well, I would say that your grades look decent and competetive from my perspective. You could try to find other ways to make yourself stand out from the rest of the applicant pool. GPA is important, though it's not everything. Do well on the PCAT (although at this point you've done all you can, now it's the awful waiting game). Asking other people on this board if you stand a chance of getting into pharmacy school is a waste of time (although admittedly I did it when I first joined too). I don't think there is anyone who knows what chances you have anymore than you or I do. This is an awesome place to talk to others about the processes for applying to schools, express frustration, help another out. I just wouldn't put too much weight into someone telling you you're a shoe-in, or you don't stand a chance into getting into the school of your choice. Good luck!!!

 

[MJ4eva14786]

Well, I would say that your grades look decent and competetive from my perspective. You could try to find other ways to make yourself stand out from the rest of the applicant pool. GPA is important, though it's not everything. Do well on the PCAT (although at this point you've done all you can, now it's the awful waiting game). Asking other people on this board if you stand a chance of getting into pharmacy school is a waste of time (although admittedly I did it when I first joined too). I don't think there is anyone who knows what chances you have anymore than you or I do. This is an awesome place to talk to others about the processes for applying to schools, express frustration, help another out. I just wouldn't put too much weight into someone telling you you're a shoe-in, or you don't stand a chance into getting into the school of your choice. Good luck!!!

Point taken and absorbed for future reference. Thank you very much.

 

[YouthHealth]

Not sure if this will be of any use (might just be a RARE case). My friend got into WSU pharmacy school last year and he started his first year this fall. He had 8 hours total shadowing a pharmacist, no bachelors, but he did TA for General Chemistry and Tutored Organic...

I'm amazed he even got an interview, my prepharmacy advisor said that most people had 150+ hours of pharmacy experience that received an interview. Those that had less than 150 hours was the group that did not get interviews, even with good GPAs.

Well anyways the kid that got in thinks his TA work with general chemistry and tutoring for organic chemistry helped out a lot...

 

[NewRx]

I have joined this forum recently and have found tremendous wealth of information.


Fall 2006

Biology I with Lab--------B
Chemistry I with Lab-----A-
Calculus I-------------- A


Spring 2007

Biology II with Lab------B
Chemistry II with lab----B
Probability and Statistics-A-

---------------------------


Fall 2007

Organic Chemistry I with Lab (Struggling and attempting to bounce back)
Introduction to Microbiology with Lab (Currently sitting with a B/B+ range)
General Physics I with Lab (Currently sitting with a A)
------------------------------------

Spring 2008

Organic Chemistry II with Lab
General Physics II with Lab
Microeconomics
----------------------------

I am currently at a GPA of 3.563. Currently I am tutoring subjects: Calculus I, Chemistry I and II.

ETSU's stats for the entering class of Spring 2007 was:

Average GPA: 3.5 (You have 3.5!!)
Average PCAT: 70 (hopefully that or above)

I have done volumes of community and extracurricular activities.

What else can you ask for ? You are a strong Candidate. You only need to perform in weed out classes such as organic chemistry and physics 2 (in your case, since you take it in Spring).

Feelings about PCAT:

I've only one question:

Chemistry - Cruised through section without much halting. (Completed)

How did you cruise through chemistry portion when you are taking organic 1 this semester? You could understand the concepts since August when the Fall semester started? But if you think you did well, more power to you. I am sure I did very well for both biology and verbal (~90th + %itle). Unfortunately, I'm worried about chemistry, math; reading is real hard to predict. You may think you have the main idea and then again, you may be wrong (just an example). By the way, I LEFT NOTHING BLANK!

 

[MJ4eva14786]

Feelings about PCAT:

I've only one question:

Chemistry - Cruised through section without much halting. (Completed)

How did you cruise through chemistry portion when you are taking organic 1 this semester? You could understand the concepts since August when the Fall semester started? But if you think you did well, more power to you. I am sure I did very well for both biology and verbal (~90th + %itle). Unfortunately, I'm worried about chemistry, math; reading is real hard to predict. You may think you have the main idea and then again, you may be wrong (just an example). By the way, I LEFT NOTHING BLANK!

1. The chemistry portion of the exam I had was mainly organic I and actually half a semester of organic I was enough for that portion on the exam. Maybe one question I didn't know on organic but everything else was known to me. We were in chapter 6 in Moores 7th Edition Organic Chemisty book when I took the PCAT. (Forgot the section title)

2. Yeah I guess I didn't manage my time well for the math section...it was quite odd as I thought I was going at a steady but decent pace. That might be the kicker..who knows... As for the reading, I agree with you, we never know...some things are not always as we perceive it to be.

So how many times have you taken the PCAT? This was my first time taking it. I should have taken a practice round in August to get the feel for it...Oh well... Good luck on your score and wish me well on mine.

 

[MJ4eva14786]

Not sure if this will be of any use (might just be a RARE case). My friend got into WSU pharmacy school last year and he started his first year this fall. He had 8 hours total shadowing a pharmacist, no bachelors, but he did TA for General Chemistry and Tutored Organic...

I'm amazed he even got an interview, my prepharmacy advisor said that most people had 150+ hours of pharmacy experience that received an interview. Those that had less than 150 hours was the group that did not get interviews, even with good GPAs.

Well anyways the kid that got in thinks his TA work with general chemistry and tutoring for organic chemistry helped out a lot...

This is useful information to a certain degree

Thanks for your input.

 

[JamesL1585]

Good luck

 

[MJ4eva14786]

Good luck

Ok thanks but i was looking for a bit more than that... lol

 

[MJ4eva14786]

Any others who have a good insight on such things like this?

 

[AngelaCL]

Have you gotten your PCAT scores yet? That kind of makes a big difference... Also, what about extracurriculars? Have you worked in a pharmacy? Done volunteer work?

 

[Rumplestiltazepam]

Get an A in Ochem and do very well on the PCAT, between grades and barely any experience in a pharmacy you need something that catches their attention.

 

[MJ4eva14786]

To update my situation on my Pharmacy situation.. I was denied as a applicant to ETSU..

At the end of Fall 2007, I ended up with a dreadful C- in Organic Chem 1 Lecture and B+ in Organic Chemistry 1 lab. It will look bad if I take Organic Chemistry I again...What should I do?

I then switched teachers and actually had the hardest teacher in the whole university for Organic Chemistry 2 and acheived a B+ in organic chem 2 lecture and yet again another B+ in organic chemistry 2 Lab.

My PCAT score was 67 and seemed to be unsatisfactory. I am currently taking a Quantitative Analysis Lecture and Lab class and so I wasn't able to take the June PCAT but have my eyes set on the one in August 2008.

This time i am going to apply early decision for ETSU again as my stats in Spring 2008 were the highest I ever had (3.64 GPA).

Now how fast does usually a Early Decision response take? I am going to submit the application sometime this week..I probably would need sometime just in case another rejection is in order lol.

 

[collegegirl247]

To update my situation on my Pharmacy situation.. I was denied as a applicant to ETSU..

At the end of Fall 2007, I ended up with a dreadful C- in Organic Chem 1 Lecture and B+ in Organic Chemistry 1 lab. It will look bad if I take Organic Chemistry I again...What should I do?

I then switched teachers and actually had the hardest teacher in the whole university for Organic Chemistry 2 and acheived a B+ in organic chem 2 lecture and yet again another B+ in organic chemistry 2 Lab.

My PCAT score was 67 and seemed to be unsatisfactory. I am currently taking a Quantitative Analysis Lecture and Lab class and so I wasn't able to take the June PCAT but have my eyes set on the one in August 2008.

This time i am going to apply early decision for ETSU again as my stats in Spring 2008 were the highest I ever had (3.64 GPA).

Now how fast does usually a Early Decision response take? I am going to submit the application sometime this week..I probably would need sometime just in case another rejection is in order lol.

I dont think that it ever hurts to re-take a class- its shows that you want to improve...good luck!