UBC class 2010-Guess what guys??---I got in

[AvaP]

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you should be able to get into a micb section because you're in the pharmacy program, and don't they have seats already reserved for pharm students? I'm taking the micb 202 course right now, so there should be some seats leftover.

 

[soccerdude604]

yeah 38 credits is ridiculous.. nevermind the 42 next year 😱 I'm thinking of taking an extra year to finish pharmacy and giving myself a decent shot at med school too. I just finished finished 1st year ubc science so time's on my side. Keeping my options open =)
Are all of you like taking 38 credits? That's like full courseload and then some!
Take it easy and enjoy your summers

 

[Jaquabeem]

right now im registered in 41 credit hours since i have to take biol 112 as well. however im confident that i'll be able to get exemption for stat 203. if not...

 

[Ninjagirl]

you should be able to get into a micb section because you're in the pharmacy program, and don't they have seats already reserved for pharm students? I'm taking the micb 202 course right now, so there should be some seats leftover.

How are you finding micb 202? Is there a lot of material or is it pretty easy? Has anyone here already taken anat or phys and if so are they killer courses? I'm just curious to know how crazy the first year is really gonna be.

 

[AvaP]

It's quite a bit of memorizing, can't say it's easy, I find the material is not quite so hard, but the exam questions are worded kind of tricky, it's similar to biol 112.
For example, they have a few questions like which of the following statements (A,B,C,D,E) are true? Then your choices are a) all of the above b)2 of the above c)3 of the above d) 4 of the above. Those kinds of Qs just freak me out.

I'm not taking the full 38 credits, I took chem 233/235 and micb 202 this summer, so thats 31 credits nxt yr, which is pretty good! 🙂 But I agree with 42 credits nxt year is way too much. I heard most people take bioc 300 in the summer after their pharm yr 1, so it's down to 36 credits.

Good luck to Jacquabeem, I don't doubt that u'll do well w/41 credits, but it's going to be a pretty tough courseload, Organic Chem is a toughie.

 

[RyanMaverick]

You shouldn't be using Pharmacy as a stepping stone to get into Med School, thats really frowned upon and what they want to discourage. I also think that you can't just "take an extra year", as those seats will be used up by next years class, the curriculum is supposed to be somewhat streamlined. Any dropouts from next years classes will more then likely be filled by people who need to retake a class in order to graduate. I think the website says something about only have a certain amount of time to complete the degree.

I'm currently registered in Micro 202 for Term 2 at the 9am slot I think, however I'll be getting an exemption so I'll be dropping it sometime into Term 1 which will open up a spot for somebody, hope that helps!

I've got exemptions for Stat, one Anat, Micro, both Chems, and BioCh (next year). I'm also taking a 6* Pharm elective (Psych 304 I think) to make my 3rd/4th year a bit easier, so I'll have 31 credits this year.

 

[soccerdude604]

You have about 8 years to finish your degree so you can take a year off. I chose pharmacy because i've done a lot of volunteer work in labs and at UBC hospital and my experiences have told me that I would love a career in healthcare. I'm working as a paid summer student at the Brain Research Center right now and trying to publish a paper. It's fascinating stuff. Much more interesting than the stuff I learn in school =). I am interested in medical school because MD's can practice medicine and conduct research. A pharmacist must get their Ph.D to do research. I've got the grades and the volunteer/lab experience so why shouldn't I keep my doors open? Guarantee at least 1/4 of the people in pharmacy who have 3.8-4.0 GPAs want to get into med school. Why do you think that they changed the pharmacy curriculum? I'm just being honest and open about my intentions even if it makes me unpopular. I even said during my interview that I was considering medical school. I'm still undecided where I will go. Both careers as a pharmacist or a physician would make me very happy.
Feel free to share your opinions i won't be offended or hold grudges 😀
The SDN meet and drink sounds great good call ryan

 

[vancouver]

Hey guys,

I know that the average score is 87, but I'm just curious to know whether if you or anyone you know who got accepted to UBC with the PCAT score in the mid-70's?
Thanks for all your responses. P.S: Congrads to all in the Class of 2010.

 

[vancouver]

From what I've read of your posts, you seem to be a very smart, driven-individual. I'm quite impressed that you are actually getting your name on a scientific paper---only in your first year!!! 👍
I know a few people in that category and I must admit that all got into their choice of medical schools. If a year later, after taking your MCAT, intership experience, etc... and you feel that being a pharmacist is not the right career for you--is still not too late to change your mind. You are more than qualified to get into med school.
Besides, doctors are highly respected, and are known for their status. For some reason, doctors are more respected than pharmacists. Strange how people are willing to spend 2 hours waiting to see their doctors, and couldn't even spare 10min to get their prescriptions filled--- 😡 You have plenty of time to decide which of the two pros/cons are better for you.

 

[RyanMaverick]

Fair enough soccer, I'll agree with your statement regarding the intentions of others, and it's good that you're being honest about yours. I'm really surprised you would say that during your interview however, they really frown upon that. Your stats must have been great otherwise. I have no idea where a good place to go drinking around UBC is, but the first round is on me when we all get together.

 

[soccerdude604]

so true. Pharmacists are just as skilled and just as important. 98000 deaths per year (in the US) are due to improper dosage or lethal drug interactions that a pharmacist could have prevented. That is 29 billion dollars US 😱 in legal and compensatory damage. So much cheaper just to hire a pharmacist... (80K a year). It would take 3.625 million pharmacists to = 29 billion lol. I say they triple the pay of pharmacists and save money and people in the process

I work in a lab so i got tons of time to blog... I should probably do some more extracellular field recordings lol...my deadline is the end of august!

ps: vancouver- flattered and embarrassed... I may have research experience but it's b/c i'm fortunate enough to have family friends who are professors/scientists. Pure roll of the dice.

 

[soccerdude604]

Hey man the pub just opened up near shoppers drug mart! What is it? Mahoney's? Irish pub! Problem is I don't turn 19 till October! I suck! 😡

 

[RyanMaverick]

Haha, we'll have to find a way past that then. Perhaps just wear the Pharm labcoat out to the bar, then you can even drop the ill-fated "want to go home with a pharmacist?" line. Its success rate isn't as bad as you might thik. I just turned 21 yesterday (July 24th) so now I'm legal everywhere!

By the way, I've never dropped that line but I have heard some other friends use it back at UofA.

 

[Seveneighty]

"want to go home with a pharmacist?"

As a certain famous celeb would say, "that's hot."

 

[AvaP]

using pharmacy as a stepping stone may be frowned upon, but it's really the smart thing to do. soccerdude must be rank #1, getting into pharmacology requires super high gpa, plus doing lab work and publishing a paper in yr 1 😱 .. quite impressive.

What's this white coat ceremony I hear about?

 

[Seveneighty]

^You wouldn't be confusing the pharm's (pharmacy and pharmacology), would you? That's a grievous error. 😉

 

[AvaP]

Haha of course NO!!!!
What I meant was Soccerdude mentioned he got into pharmacy as well as pharmacology, and I know that pharmacology only accepts high gpa students, so that's how I assumed that he has a high gpa. So I didn't mix up the 2. If I did, I shouldn't be in pharmacy.

 

[Seveneighty]

Oh so there IS a difference between the two..?

j/k. 😛

 

[AvaP]

Haha 😀
so what's everyone doing for the rest of the summer? enjoying the heat? it wasn't so bad today.

 

[soccerdude604]

There are plenty of smart kids at pharmacy... I wish I was #1...There are bigger fish in the sea 😛. I did great on everything except my interview which I got 86. Shouldn't have said I was thinking of med school! Anyways, I'm just slaving at the lab this summer but I'm going w/ my girlfriend and friends to Taste of the City (a food festival where they give you samples of all the best restaurants in Vancouver for pocket change!) and immediately after i'm going to watch the fireworks near English Bay.
Nothing incredible

 

[RyanMaverick]

Working almost steady in the lab at the Pulp Mill in my town. 50+ hour weeks most of the time, but I'll clear around 18K for the summer, I guess it's worth it! Other then that I split my time between hockey, baseball, and drinking with my buddies I rarely see.

 

[Ninjagirl]

I'm just working too. Planning a vacation for the last two weeks of August to go back home and visit family. I can't wait to be done of work!!! 😀

 

[soccerdude604]

I'm going on vacation for 1 week to Banff in Aug so that should be fun. Seems like most people are working. We're gonna need the money. I just noticed my tuition fee this year is 8000+ this year! 😱 ! Last year it was only 5000+!

Anyways anyone here play soccer? My soccer buds and I got a game going at my former high school Magee Secondary (West 49th and Maple). Just tossing it out there.

 

[Ninjagirl]

This might be a stupid question, but I see that Pharmacy students in the states need a bunch of vaccinations. Does anybody know if this is required at UBC? I hope not because needles suck!

 

[RyanMaverick]

I know that at UofA they had required immunizations and I assume its the same at UBC. I think that we get ours done at the school health clinic however sometime during Term 1 so we shouldn't need to worry about it during the summer. They would have sent out documentation if we did.

 

[Ninjagirl]

Thanks Ryan 🙂

 

[Katherinex]

Just checking, did anybody have their interview at 3:30pm Thursday, or 4pm Thursday? If so I was the good looking guy in the black suit.

My interview was Thusday 3pm.

Well...it was supposed to be at 3, but I didnt' go in till about 3:20

Lots of guys were in black

 

[Katherinex]

hey to those of you who have been admitted, can you maybe list your stats for those of us interested in ubc pharm? i'm applying for ubc pharm next year, and i've heard random things about ubc, so it'd be nice to have an idea as of what they're looking for. thanks! 🙂

Not sure if anyone still needs this, but here goes:

GPA - 3.9 (how i hate org chem...)
PCAT- 88
PCAT essay - 4 , btw, do they even look at the essay score?

Volunteer - way too many to count, I started in grade 10, and pretty much kept going. Nursing home, hospital, community center, exec in clubs, and some random stuff. I also included things like piano lessons and flute...experience (used to be in band).

I did two years of Science at UBC, so I finished some of the pharm courses - org chem, stats, microbio.

Good luck!
//Katherine

 

[Katherinex]

You have about 8 years to finish your degree so you can take a year off. I chose pharmacy because i've done a lot of volunteer work in labs and at UBC hospital and my experiences have told me that I would love a career in healthcare. I'm working as a paid summer student at the Brain Research Center right now and trying to publish a paper. It's fascinating stuff. Much more interesting than the stuff I learn in school =). I am interested in medical school because MD's can practice medicine and conduct research. A pharmacist must get their Ph.D to do research. I've got the grades and the volunteer/lab experience so why shouldn't I keep my doors open? Guarantee at least 1/4 of the people in pharmacy who have 3.8-4.0 GPAs want to get into med school. Why do you think that they changed the pharmacy curriculum? I'm just being honest and open about my intentions even if it makes me unpopular. I even said during my interview that I was considering medical school. I'm still undecided where I will go. Both careers as a pharmacist or a physician would make me very happy.
Feel free to share your opinions i won't be offended or hold grudges 😀
The SDN meet and drink sounds great good call ryan

Same here.

//kath

 

[AlanaUBC]

Just curious, how many of you that were accepted have already attended UBC? Since I moved here from another province to get a better chance of acceptance I will know absolutely no one when we start classes. Anyone else in the same boat?

Hey, I also am moving from a small town of 3000 people about eight hours away from Van. haha It will be such a change going from knowing everyone in my town to hardly knowing anyone out there - so exciting yet scary! I'm just really excited that I got into Pharmacy - I can't wait!

 

[RyanMaverick]

Any chance that town is in the central interior Alana?

 

[Ninjagirl]

Hey, I also am moving from a small town of 3000 people about eight hours away from Van. haha It will be such a change going from knowing everyone in my town to hardly knowing anyone out there - so exciting yet scary! I'm just really excited that I got into Pharmacy - I can't wait!

Hey, congratulations on getting accepted. I moved from the other side of the country (and a small town) to get into this school about a year and a half ago. I also can not wait to start! Is it really nerdy to be so excited about school??? 😀

 

[Ninjagirl]

Hey, I was just wondering how many of you got in on your first attempt? It took me two tries to get in, but I see that many of you have awesome GPA and PCAT scores, whereas my GPA was just average but I had a good PCAT score.

 

[soccerdude604]

It's not nerdy to be excited...i'm excited lol... I was lucky enough to get in on my first try. My chum Jamie Spring (just finished 1st year science) got into pharmacy too and he's from Port Alice (very small town on the island) ~ 800 people.

Congrats to all the new SDNers

 

[AlanaUBC]

Any chance that town is in the central interior Alana?

I'm actually from the West Kootenays. It seemed that at my interview, pretty much everyone was from Van. Although I know there is one other girl from around my area that got accepted. I was so hoping for that whole thing about "preference is given to well-qualified applicants from under-represented areas" to help me... which I really think it did! haha

 

[AlanaUBC]

Hey, I was just wondering how many of you got in on your first attempt? It took me two tries to get in, but I see that many of you have awesome GPA and PCAT scores, whereas my GPA was just average but I had a good PCAT score.

haha It's so nice to see other people as excited as me... usually all my friends bug me about being soo excited about school/Pharmacy Program. I've wanted to get in since I graduated in 2003 - but I went to U of A and my marks weren't the best. So for the past two years I've brought my marks up and I applied for the first time this year. It's funny, everyone seemed to do soo well on the PCAT (and gpa) but for me, my PCAT score wasn't that great (high 70s). My GPA, and the interview and all the volunteer/Pharmacy experience I think helped me get in. Did everyone that got in the 90s percentile take the PCAT more than once? You guys are amazing!

 

[Ninjagirl]

I got exactly a 90 on my PCAT the first time I wrote it and since I was currently in the third year of my biology program, I honestly didn't study a single minute for it. I was pretty certain that everything was quite fresh in my mind and I figured if I screwed up, I'd just retake it. Luckily, I did well. The math part is what really brought my mark down though, I could have used some serious practice on that area. 🙁 Oh well, it doesn't matter now! 😀

 

[RyanMaverick]

Remarkable. I was at the UofA for the last two years as well, and my grades suffered there too. I think we're all a little excited to be starting this program in the fall, whether we show it or not. The preference area definately helped me, I had a terrible GPA and a great PCAT. I got 99% on my first try at the PCAT and I was accepted on my first attempt to UBC (although I've completed 3 years of Sciences). It sure is great to see so many of us getting accepted and having a chance to talk before school starts, it's really nice for those of us going there for the first time who don't know anybody (like me) to talk with others.

 

[Ninjagirl]

That's an amazing PCAT Ryan. It's good to see such a variety of people get accepted too. It seems like a lot of people have their really strong areas and then some not too great ones. Of course, there's lots who are amazing all around too! So, Ryan and Alana, does UofA have a reputation for being really hard?

 

[RyanMaverick]

Depends on how you look at it. Almost every class is curved there (with humanites and a few other classes being the exception), and we all know that the curve can either really help or hurt you. Almost all of my classes had 400+ ppl in them so getting a good feel for the prof was tough. Depending on the class you could end up with 250 pre-med students (ala my Anatomy class) and there is only a set number of "A"s to be given out so you really have to compete for them. I'd say that its definately tougher to achieve exceptional grades, but the curve also means that you never really have to worry about getting some terrible grades (unless you really **** the bed of course).

 

[AlanaUBC]

Well Ryan pretty much answered the question and I totally agree about class sizes and everything. Also, I know this one girl who just graduated from Pharmacy at UofA this year and she was saying that UofA was really dry. They hardly had any extracurricular/fun events - like UBC I guess has a bunch of different social things to get to know the other students and Profs, etc. She also said that more people failed out of the Program as the Faculty didn't really try to keep and take care of the students as well as UBC. I don't know if this is true but the guy from UBC said that you can fail any PHARM class three times before you actually fail and they won't give you another chance or something??? I don't know if that's all true but at my visitation, they talked all about the differences in the Pharmacy programs. The guy from UBC had nothing but great things to say 😉