UBC Pre-pharmacy 2010!

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bebeLnJ said:
will we be sent a paper letter from the pharmacy department about our acceptance? or are we supposed to print out the email for the bcpha registration?
Click to expand...

Proof of enrollment letters can be found here:

SSC> Grades and Records > Proof of enrollment letters > Download the one for 2010 Winter BSc Pharmacy
 
Members don't see this ad :)
RxRx said:
Proof of enrollment letters can be found here:

SSC> Grades and Records > Proof of enrollment letters > Download the one for 2010 Winter BSc Pharmacy
Click to expand...

I got a letter in the mail from UBC Enrolment Services today with my official offer of admission.
 
Ohhhh
mmmm I didn't get one yet.... :(
 
UBCmicrobi said:
No problem :) I definitely don't mind helping out, since I found SDN pretty helpful when I was an applicant. I'm not much of a joiner as far as pharmacy clubs and events go, so this is my way of contributing to the faculty :)

Now to answer your questions:

There's a fair bit of miscommunication going around here, so let me clarify for anyone who may peruse this forum:

Your admission GPA is based on the prerequisites AND any of the required upper year courses, if you have completed them Please note the distinction between pre-requisites and required courses.

In other words, if you have taken CHEM 233 & 235, OR CHEM 203 & 204, MICB 202, STAT 203, OR 200, OR BIOL 300, OR AGSC 252, BIOC 300 OR BIOC 303 OR BIOL 201 & BIOC 302, ANAT 390, 391, PHYL 301, OR BIOL 361 & 364 (or something equivalent at another school) it WILL count toward your admission GPA.

Taking any of the above courses is certainly a good way to "boost" your admission GPA, provided that you can fully commit to them and put the time and effort in to get a good grade. Plus once you are accepted into the pharmacy program, you'll have fewer courses to complete, which will make your life sooo much easier (but note that you CANNOT skip ahead a year/graduate early/take upper year pharmacy classes etc). But who doesn't want to make those 4 years easier, right?

For the sake of completeness, here are the "pre-requisite" courses:

BIOL 112 (or MICB 201), plus BIOL 121 and BIOL 140
CHEM 111 & 113, or CHEM 121 & 123
English 1st year (6 credits). ENGL 112 is recommended.
MATH 102 (recommended) or one of MATH 100, 104, 120, 180, or 184; plus MATH 103 (recommended) or MATH 101, 105, or 121
Physics PHYS 101

Here are the links:

Pre-req courses

http://www.pharmacy.ubc.ca/programs/degree-programs/BscP/academic-admission-requirements

Admission GPA and upper year courses:

http://www.pharmacy.ubc.ca/programs/degree-programs/BscP/pharmacy-academic-admission-average

As far as concerns over how many courses/semester or studying part time, I wouldn't worry about it. Anecdata: I was part-time at Langara, and by the time I transferred to UBC for 3rd year, I only took 4 courses/semester (a "light" course load by some people's standard, but granted in a fairly intense program as far as I am concerned) and a couple summer courses. That's just the way it worked out; I had all my credits to graduate, so I wasn't going to take extra courses just to impress anyone.

Please check out the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences website for additional info :) But otherwise let me know if you have any other questions.
Click to expand...

how is Phyl 301 as a course-tough? Has anyone taken Biol 364?
 
Pineapplesss said:
Hey bcpharmer, I did exactly this last year (I just finished my third year too). Yes they only look at your prereqs, and they won't think that you slacked. Which pharm courses are you planning on taking? I would stay away from Phyl 301 if I were you, it's a lot of material and quite a difficult course. I would recommend Stat 200 (it's equivalent to stat 203 and counts for science credits), and micb 202 (only in the summer though, I heard it's way easier in the summer). And also take the pharmacy-approved electives (it's going to cost you $200 more per course once you get into pharm)-see above post. I took 6 courses last year, focused on the PCAT in term 1, did my electives and now I only have the Phar courses for first year. :)
Click to expand...

thanks for your advice, i really appreciate that! I have already done my organic chem, stats and microbi for first year pharmacy and I will definately consider your advice.:)
 
UBCmicrobi said:
No problem :) I definitely don't mind helping out, since I found SDN pretty helpful when I was an applicant. I'm not much of a joiner as far as pharmacy clubs and events go, so this is my way of contributing to the faculty :)

Now to answer your questions:

There's a fair bit of miscommunication going around here, so let me clarify for anyone who may peruse this forum:

Your admission GPA is based on the prerequisites AND any of the required upper year courses, if you have completed them Please note the distinction between pre-requisites and required courses.

In other words, if you have taken CHEM 233 & 235, OR CHEM 203 & 204, MICB 202, STAT 203, OR 200, OR BIOL 300, OR AGSC 252, BIOC 300 OR BIOC 303 OR BIOL 201 & BIOC 302, ANAT 390, 391, PHYL 301, OR BIOL 361 & 364 (or something equivalent at another school) it WILL count toward your admission GPA.

Taking any of the above courses is certainly a good way to "boost" your admission GPA, provided that you can fully commit to them and put the time and effort in to get a good grade. Plus once you are accepted into the pharmacy program, you'll have fewer courses to complete, which will make your life sooo much easier (but note that you CANNOT skip ahead a year/graduate early/take upper year pharmacy classes etc). But who doesn't want to make those 4 years easier, right?

For the sake of completeness, here are the "pre-requisite" courses:

BIOL 112 (or MICB 201), plus BIOL 121 and BIOL 140
CHEM 111 & 113, or CHEM 121 & 123
English 1st year (6 credits). ENGL 112 is recommended.
MATH 102 (recommended) or one of MATH 100, 104, 120, 180, or 184; plus MATH 103 (recommended) or MATH 101, 105, or 121
Physics PHYS 101

Here are the links:

Pre-req courses

http://www.pharmacy.ubc.ca/programs/degree-programs/BscP/academic-admission-requirements

Admission GPA and upper year courses:

http://www.pharmacy.ubc.ca/programs/degree-programs/BscP/pharmacy-academic-admission-average

As far as concerns over how many courses/semester or studying part time, I wouldn't worry about it. Anecdata: I was part-time at Langara, and by the time I transferred to UBC for 3rd year, I only took 4 courses/semester (a "light" course load by some people's standard, but granted in a fairly intense program as far as I am concerned) and a couple summer courses. That's just the way it worked out; I had all my credits to graduate, so I wasn't going to take extra courses just to impress anyone.

Please check out the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences website for additional info :) But otherwise let me know if you have any other questions.
Click to expand...

Wow, thank you so much! My problem is that I go to UBC O and i've done all of the pre-reqs plus chem 203 and 204, Biol 202 (biometrics or stats), and biol 228 (microbi). our course numbers are different from vancouvers, but all of these did go towards my appliction score! I was on the ubc pharmacy page (the second link you posted) and I noticed that there are only two more courses I can take, Biol 311 and 319 (biochems) which i will take this upcoming year if I don't end up being accepted! So now I have to go to school and take these two course which will count, but also four others that don't count towards pharmacy and waste my money and time that I could be using to bring my pharmacy average up for applying next year! I have to take that four extra couses to be considered a full time student. I don't have as many options as UBC van students as far as additional courses go, but I will look into it! It just gets better, haha! I have a housing placement on campus in vancouver, but had to give up my spot in kelowna months ago due to not being able to have two housing placements for UBC at the same time. If I don't get in, I'll have to find a place to in kelowna, which isn't the end of the world. And hmmmm, how long do I wait before I give up my van housing spot due to my waitlist status.:confused:

thanks a lot for helping me out, if you have anymore great advice feel free to share!
 
flytotheblue said:
I want to know this as well. Anyone know where these labs are going to be?
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I think it's 24 people for lab and 48 people for problem session. Not 100% sure though.
And someone from a previous year told me they were in Cunningham, not sure if it'll be the same for us though.
 
Phar 202 is the pharmacy skills lab and Phar 299 is the problem-based learning (PBL) course, which has a lecture and a "lab" portion.

202 is held in the practice lab in Cunningham. It's set up sorta like a pharmacy, with a dispensary and "consultation booths". This is the class where you have to dress professionally and wear your lab coat. I think each lab session has about 25 students.

The 299 "lab" portion is held upstairs in Cunningham. You'll be assigned to a small group of 5-7 students (plus a 4th year tutor) and have group sessions working on pharmaceutical cases.

Thankfully, these are only every-other week! (but in the first couple of weeks of the semester you may have to go in for additional orientation sessions etc)
 
sinxcosx said:
I think it's 24 people for lab and 48 people for problem session. Not 100% sure though.
And someone from a previous year told me they were in Cunningham, not sure if it'll be the same for us though.
Click to expand...

For the problem session you'll be split up into smaller groups. When I was in 1st year, they made us do a "personality quiz" thing, to determine who would be in what group (kinda ridiculous in my opinion) but in second year it's just random.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Which one do you think requires more work? 202 or 299?
 
bcpharmer, that's too bad that you had to give up your housing!

Even though they won't count toward your admission GPA, I'd suggest taking some of the pharmacy-approved electives if there are any equivalents offered at UBCO. They will count toward your degree if you get into pharm and it'll lighten your course load too.

Here's a link to where you can find the pharmacy-approved electives:

http://www.pharmacy.ubc.ca/programs/degree-programs/BscP/undergraduate-student-information
 
UBCmicrobi said:
bcpharmer, that's too bad that you had to give up your housing!

Even though they won't count toward your admission GPA, I'd suggest taking some of the pharmacy-approved electives if there are any equivalents offered at UBCO. They will count toward your degree if you get into pharm and it'll lighten your course load too.

Here's a link to where you can find the pharmacy-approved electives:

http://www.pharmacy.ubc.ca/programs/degree-programs/BscP/undergraduate-student-information
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info i will wait for this lady to email me back to see if UBC O does have any equivalent courses, besides the two biochems that will go towards my gpa. Another decison i have to make is if I find out that there are no other pharmacy approved equivalent courses at UBC O, should I just take the two biochems and thats it, or should I still take a few more courses even though they have no benefit towards the pharmacy program. I noticed that on the second page of the application, you have to say what your major is. If I am only taking two courses I clearly am not working toward any sort of major so that might look really bad. I have been informed that my applictation and interview went really well, but my PCAT is a little low.

Also, from past threads many people have said that after the interview the PCAT is worth very little. Apparently, everything went well for me ( app. and interview) except my PCAT score, so i dont understand how that was the only factor that has landed me a spot on the waitlist rather than being accepted right away. I volunteer at two pharmacies, the hospital, ski hill, ironman and many first aid certs. (i am a lifeguard) and numerous scholarships and awards. I have many sports and EC in addition to all of this, so I know my app. was quite well done. Also, my lor's and ps's were quite well done as well! So, if you have any reasoning for me why this is, I would appreciate it. I'm open to anything at this point!

Thanks
 
Hey ubcmicrobi, thanks for that link, I think some of the courses at UBC O that I registered for may be equavalent to the list you gave me. I'll have to check. The course names are the same, just different numbers. Hopefully, this works out. At least I can take six courses that mean something. Hopefully I just get in off the waitlist and i wont have to worry. haha! have a great weekend!!
thanks for all your help!!
hope i have the pleasure of meeting you soon!
 
Does any one here have the Dr Collin's pcat book.I want to buy it?
 
bcpharmer said:
Thanks for the info i will wait for this lady to email me back to see if UBC O does have any equivalent courses, besides the two biochems that will go towards my gpa. Another decison i have to make is if I find out that there are no other pharmacy approved equivalent courses at UBC O, should I just take the two biochems and thats it, or should I still take a few more courses even though they have no benefit towards the pharmacy program. I noticed that on the second page of the application, you have to say what your major is. If I am only taking two courses I clearly am not working toward any sort of major so that might look really bad. I have been informed that my applictation and interview went really well, but my PCAT is a little low.

Also, from past threads many people have said that after the interview the PCAT is worth very little. Apparently, everything went well for me ( app. and interview) except my PCAT score, so i dont understand how that was the only factor that has landed me a spot on the waitlist rather than being accepted right away. I volunteer at two pharmacies, the hospital, ski hill, ironman and many first aid certs. (i am a lifeguard) and numerous scholarships and awards. I have many sports and EC in addition to all of this, so I know my app. was quite well done. Also, my lor's and ps's were quite well done as well! So, if you have any reasoning for me why this is, I would appreciate it. I'm open to anything at this point!

Thanks
Click to expand...

what is your PCAT
 
UBCmicrobi said:
Phar 202 is the pharmacy skills lab and Phar 299 is the problem-based learning (PBL) course, which has a lecture and a "lab" portion.

202 is held in the practice lab in Cunningham. It's set up sorta like a pharmacy, with a dispensary and "consultation booths". This is the class where you have to dress professionally and wear your lab coat. I think each lab session has about 25 students.

The 299 "lab" portion is held upstairs in Cunningham. You'll be assigned to a small group of 5-7 students (plus a 4th year tutor) and have group sessions working on pharmaceutical cases.

Thankfully, these are only every-other week! (but in the first couple of weeks of the semester you may have to go in for additional orientation sessions etc)
Click to expand...

so is both PHAR 202 and 299 held every other week?
 
So do we just mail the college our application?
and how long do we have to get all our vaccinations?
is there anything else we have to do?
 
haf u guys considered which sst to register for? i also neeed sst c/d due to work/family committments. and my registration isn't until tuesday. i just want to see if i can get an estimate on how many people are interested in those two ssts

thanks =)
 
JDbb said:
Which one do you think requires more work? 202 or 299?
Click to expand...

To answer your question, it's hard to say which requires more work/is harder, since different students will handle them differently. But here's my thoughts anyway.

As I said before, they are every other week. Depending on if you get put into group A or group B, some students will have them on the same week, and some students will have them on alternate weeks, and it can flip depending on the schedule and when holidays fall on the calendar.

299 (CAPS) requires quite a bit of work. You get a case, have 2 weeks to research it (called "learning issues") and bring back that info to the next PBL session. In most groups, you have to email your group members your learning issues the night before the next PBL session. Then you have one week to do the assignment (sometimes an individual assignment, sometimes a group assignment). So a lot of hours goes into the research and the assignments.

202 is the lab. In first year there is pre-lab homework (basically just looking at info in the lab manual and doing practice problems), and of course you have to come to the lab prepared for that day's activities. There are also quizzes (not quite every week if I remember correctly) on the drug names and math. I wouldn't put too much emphasis on memorizing the drug names, as it isn't worth too much of your grade, and it is something that you will learn over time. Sometimes you'll be given a problem, and you'll have to research it for the next lab.

The lab has an integrated exam at the end of the semester. It is integrated with 299, but the 299 part isn't something you can study for too much ahead of time, where as you do have to study for the 202 part.

Again, it is really hard to say which requires more work, but in the end it seems like you have to put more hours into 299 (researching the learning issues and writing up the assignments), but 202 is a bit more challenging/there is a bit more pressure to know what you are doing.

Both are 3 hour blocks. For 202 you are running around the lab, whereas for 299, you're sitting and having a group discussion with a small group of 5-7 students. 202 is definitely a lot more stressful, with all the various activities they cram into one lab, and don't forget to wear your professional attire and lab coat!

If you're the type of person that is likely to leave your learning issues to the last minute, you may want to schedule 299 the day after you have an early day/light day. If you're the kind of person who stresses out if they aren't prepared for labs, you may want to schedule 202 the day after you have an early day/light day.

For example this year, I chose to have CAPS/498 on Wed, and lab/404 on Friday, 'cause I don't have classes on Thurs, and I like to have the extra time on Thurs to prep for lab and study for the exam at the end of the semester.

But then again, some people like to have it the other way 'round.

Hope that helps a bit :)
 
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Hi everyone! :) I'm hoping to be able to get into the pharmacy next year, I'll be going into second year at UBC and I just have a question:

I know that to apply to the pharmacy program they require you to have completed at least 30 credits before; but I just wanted to double check if they require you to get x amount of credits in the year you're applying in since I'll be registering for 26 credits this coming winter term...
 
ginee said:
Hi everyone! :) I'm hoping to be able to get into the pharmacy next year, I'll be going into second year at UBC and I just have a question:

I know that to apply to the pharmacy program they require you to have completed at least 30 credits before; but I just wanted to double check if they require you to get x amount of credits in the year you're applying in since I'll be registering for 26 credits this coming winter term...
Click to expand...

I don't think they care how many credits you have the year you are applying, just that you have/will have completed all the pre-reqs (and therefore sufficient # of credits) by the time you start the program.

I had no credits the year I was applying, and still got in :p
 
Is anyone willing to sell the self study guide from Dr. Collins? I live in BC near Vancouver.

Thanks
 
oh no. stt C is already full and my registration time isn't until Tuesday 8:45. If it does fill up by then, is anyone willing to trade?

My main conflict is that i am responsible for driving my grandma to her dialysis sessions during the week:scared:
 
bumbleboo said:
oh no. stt C is already full and my registration time isn't until Tuesday 8:45. If it does fill up by then, is anyone willing to trade?

My main conflict is that i am responsible for driving my grandma to her dialysis sessions during the week:scared:
Click to expand...

You might want to post in the Facebook page if you haven't already. Someone might be willing to switch.
 
bcpharmer said:
Thanks for the info i will wait for this lady to email me back to see if UBC O does have any equivalent courses, besides the two biochems that will go towards my gpa. Another decison i have to make is if I find out that there are no other pharmacy approved equivalent courses at UBC O, should I just take the two biochems and thats it, or should I still take a few more courses even though they have no benefit towards the pharmacy program. I noticed that on the second page of the application, you have to say what your major is. If I am only taking two courses I clearly am not working toward any sort of major so that might look really bad. I have been informed that my applictation and interview went really well, but my PCAT is a little low.

Also, from past threads many people have said that after the interview the PCAT is worth very little. Apparently, everything went well for me ( app. and interview) except my PCAT score, so i dont understand how that was the only factor that has landed me a spot on the waitlist rather than being accepted right away. I volunteer at two pharmacies, the hospital, ski hill, ironman and many first aid certs. (i am a lifeguard) and numerous scholarships and awards. I have many sports and EC in addition to all of this, so I know my app. was quite well done. Also, my lor's and ps's were quite well done as well! So, if you have any reasoning for me why this is, I would appreciate it. I'm open to anything at this point!

Thanks
Click to expand...

Hey bcpharmer, am wondering how you found out which part of your application was weak? I am still on wait list too and would like to know where my app was weak too since I also though my interview went well and my pcat was ok too.

Did you email margaret for the info? Thanx
 
femmefatale said:
Hey bcpharmer, am wondering how you found out which part of your application was weak? I am still on wait list too and would like to know where my app was weak too since I also though my interview went well and my pcat was ok too.

Did you email margaret for the info? Thanx
Click to expand...
Hi there...I spoke to her last week .She was very busy and Just quickly let me know about my app and interview, which were good...my PCAT is not the greatest. We spoke about the PCAT it is also a big factor in the score's ..i mentioned also that I had heard it was only worth very little after the interview...well not true, so now I know.:confused:
 
did anyone register today who already was registered for the next winter session Bsc-did you manage to tranfer your courses to the Bsc pharmacy eligibility???I didnt want to lose my spot in courses Iam already registered in and wanted to transfer them over but how???!!!!

There is no switch/transfer button ???
 
XCPHARMACY said:
did anyone register today who already was registered for the next winter session Bsc-did you manage to tranfer your courses to the Bsc pharmacy eligibility???I didnt want to lose my spot in courses Iam already registered in and wanted to transfer them over but how???!!!!

There is no switch/transfer button ???
Click to expand...

That's not possible you can only drop the course and register in it again.
If its the first year pharmacy required courses this won't be a problem,
if its an elective then email the prof, or go to that course's faculty advising office and tell them your situation. usually they'll let you into the course.
 
bcpharmer said:
Hi there...I spoke to her last week .She was very busy and Just quickly let me know about my app and interview, which were good...my PCAT is not the greatest. We spoke about the PCAT it is also a big factor in the score's ..i mentioned also that I had heard it was only worth very little after the interview...well not true, so now I know.:confused:
Click to expand...

oh wow... good info to know though. Thanks for sharing. There's still hope for us!! maybe we'll find out for sure in the next coming days.
 
I'm stressed that STT-C is full. I really need to make sure I get STT-D now. I only have the pharm courses to take this year and I live about an hour drive away from UBC so I need to make sure that I only have to come to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays!!

My registration time is 7:15 am tomm morning. Does anyone know if there are earlier times than that for tomm?
 
canadianpharm87 said:
I'm stressed that STT-C is full. I really need to make sure I get STT-D now. I only have the pharm courses to take this year and I live about an hour drive away from UBC so I need to make sure that I only have to come to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays!!

My registration time is 7:15 am tomm morning. Does anyone know if there are earlier times than that for tomm?
Click to expand...

First registration time of the day is generally 7 am
 
So both the class AND wait list for ANAT 391 are full!!! I don't think they saved enough seats for pharms as half of us still need to register! what is the best course of action... email Shirley or Margaret?
 
Last edited:
femmefatale said:
oh wow... good info to know though. Thanks for sharing. There's still hope for us!! maybe we'll find out for sure in the next coming days.
Click to expand...
Yes it sure becomes stressful:confused: waiting...I am trying to get a back up plan in place and yourself ????
 
............and both STT-C and D are full by 7:05 am!!! I've never been so mad over registration.
 
canadianpharm87 said:
............and both STT-C and D are full by 7:05 am!!! I've never been so mad over registration.
Click to expand...



i know what you mean. i only needed the pharm courses this year, so I could've gotten away with only two days of school.

the worst part is, my grandma was relying on me to drive her to her dialyssi sessions during the weekdays. don't know what to do now =( :confused:
 
femmefatale said:
My only back up plan is to apply again next year... X( lol
Click to expand...
your not going back to school? did u get all the pre reqs and a few more first year Pharm courses done:eek:? Are you in B.C ? Am I asking to many questions hahah!!
 
bumbleboo said:
i know what you mean. i only needed the pharm courses this year, so I could've gotten away with only two days of school.

the worst part is, my grandma was relying on me to drive her to her dialyssi sessions during the weekdays. don't know what to do now =( :confused:
Click to expand...

oh no...thats horrible news :(
If I had C or D, I would have offered a trade, but unfortunately, I am in F.
I would suggest either asking for a trade with someone you know on facebook (there are like 80 people in our year inside the group) or e-mailing margaret directly about the problem (might be better to discuss this over phone or meet her personally) and she may help accomodate the issue.

I hope all goes well!
 
I got in off wait list... check your emails wait list people!!

So... I'm supposed to wait until getting the acceptance letter in the mail before I can register with the college?? But it says they take 20 business days to register someone... is there enough time?? am I freaking out?
 
femmefatale said:
I got in off wait list... check your emails wait list people!!

So... I'm supposed to wait until getting the acceptance letter in the mail before I can register with the college?? But it says they take 20 business days to register someone... is there enough time?? am I freaking out?
Click to expand...

Wow congratulations!
Just check your SSC everyday to see if there are any updates.
 
femmefatale said:
I got in off wait list... check your emails wait list people!!

So... I'm supposed to wait until getting the acceptance letter in the mail before I can register with the college?? But it says they take 20 business days to register someone... is there enough time?? am I freaking out?
Click to expand...
Hey congrats...I am very happy for you :) What time did you recieve your email , nothing for me so far :(
 
Thanks you guys, I got the email around 11 am today. I just accepted the offer on SSC, but I can't pay the registration fee yet and do not know when my reg date is either.

Well if you look at the STTs, there are still spaces left so don't be discouraged.
 
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