UCSF Supplemental Application

[crest29]

Hi!
I'm new to this website, but I found it to be really helpful at first glance.
I have a question about the Personal Statement for Pharmcas and the Supplemental Application Essay for UCSF. How are they different?

Should the essay for Pharmcas be a more general essay since it is being sent to all the schools? I'm having alot of trouble thinking of topics to write for my essay.

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[64microbus]

Crest, I don't remember the specific questions. Even if the questions are similar, write completely different essays. Put a lot of time and effort into your essays for UCSF - I got a sense that they're weighed heavily there. I didn't get that feeling from other schools I applied to. I found this forum invaluable when I was applying. If you haven't already, do a UCSF search. If you don't find what you're looking for, post a question - the UCSF nation is well represented on SDN.

Good luck, Microbus out

 

[Oneday_9]

Hi!
I'm new to this website, but I found it to be really helpful at first glance.
I have a question about the Personal Statement for Pharmcas and the Supplemental Application Essay for UCSF. How are they different?

Should the essay for Pharmcas be a more general essay since it is being sent to all the schools? I'm having alot of trouble thinking of topics to write for my essay.

For PharmCAS, I had a general essay about why I want to be a pharmacist, the essential broad explanation for going to school and what I wanted to do. What you'll find with the UCSF supp essays is that they are many small 250 word essays on a range of topics. I believe the first was comm service, then science related subjects you found interesting in school or research, then extracurriculars, then various essays relating to your socioeconomic status and family. It's about 6 short essays, and then one big essay about an event on your life that had a significant impact on you. So you don't have to worry about PharmCAS conflicting with your supp essay/ Jyst finish the PharmCAS now and then no worries.

I must have spent months on all of these and the PharmCAS. The important thing to remember is that it DOESN'T benefit you to send them in early to UCSF, so take your time from July until November, honing and honing the material. When I sent it in, I knew I had worked hard on them, and I think they were important in showing your writing skills, so focus on them.

Good Luck!!!

 

[neonam11]

Our year was the last year where the PharmCas was not required, but from reading Microbus' and Oneday's comments, it seems that for my essays, we had the exact two prompts--one on why you choose pharmacy and where you see yourself in the future in your new profession and the other one on a life altering event.

My advice for every prospective applicant, if you really want to get into your dream pharmacy school, is to focus on your strengths and explain how your classmates, collegues, and patients can benefit from this particular gift once you become a pharmacist. If you are a natural leader, explain how you can pull the class together to do special projects and fundraisers for the community (leave the part about throwing parties out) and once you become a pharmacist, become an advocate for equal access to healthcare, you get the idea.

For the second essay, yeah, focus on an event that defined who you are as a person and how it helped you to become a better person--qualities that would make an ideal friend, spouse, professional, and citizen. Remember, always bring it back to the profession and how you can contribute.

Well, the UCSF community is always here to help.

 

[Asnchic]

Hey Neonam, that was spectacular advice for admission material!

 

[farmgrl00]

Word. Thanks for all the great advice! I will surely work hard on them essays.