UF's Science only (not math) GPA vs. Cumulative GPA

[AniriW]

Alright, here's a doozy. One of the factors in the Univ. of Florida's admissions criteria is the science GPA (minimum of 2.5, avg. for 2009 was a 3.48). They say this is different than the cumulative GPA and also the overall math/science GPA. Am I correct in thinking that it's also different than the overall pre-req GPA? There's so many different ways pharmacy schools calculate this. I guess I'm posting this to give myself a bit of hope that despite the fact that my cumulative GPA isn't very competitive, I've been doing well enough in my science courses to meet their competitive SCIENCE gpa. If you could please help by correcting me if the above observation is wrong, that ALL they look at (besides PCAT, etc.) is the SCIENCE gpa? That would be amazing if that's how it really works.

Thank you in advance, here it is in their own words:
http://www.cop.ufl.edu/studaff/admission.pdf

My story is basically that my gen.ed courses are bringing my GPA down (I devote more time to my science courses and slack/get bored with my gen.ed courses, that's no excuse I know, just to give an explanation, not an excuse ) and I've been looking into UF's pharmacy program for a while now, hoping to apply, but started to get discouraged when I kept seeing my cumulative GPA go down. Then a few days ago I was reading their admissions criteria and I couldn't believe I'd missed this, and off to the SDN forums I go for confirmation


This was long. I'm done, I'm done!

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[PharmEXP]

Alright, here's a doozy. One of the factors in the Univ. of Florida's admissions criteria is the science GPA (minimum of 2.5, avg. for 2009 was a 3.48). They say this is different than the cumulative GPA and also the overall math/science GPA. Am I correct in thinking that it's also different than the overall pre-req GPA? There's so many different ways pharmacy schools calculate this. I guess I'm posting this to give myself a bit of hope that despite the fact that my cumulative GPA isn't very competitive, I've been doing well enough in my science courses to meet their competitive SCIENCE gpa. If you could please help by correcting me if the above observation is wrong, that ALL they look at (besides PCAT, etc.) is the SCIENCE gpa? That would be amazing if that's how it really works.

Thank you in advance, here it is in their own words:
http://www.cop.ufl.edu/studaff/admission.pdf

My story is basically that my gen.ed courses are bringing my GPA down (I devote more time to my science courses and slack/get bored with my gen.ed courses, that's no excuse I know, just to give an explanation, not an excuse ) and I've been looking into UF's pharmacy program for a while now, hoping to apply, but started to get discouraged when I kept seeing my cumulative GPA go down. Then a few days ago I was reading their admissions criteria and I couldn't believe I'd missed this, and off to the SDN forums I go for confirmation


This was long. I'm done, I'm done!

Do you mind sharing your stats? What year are you? Do you currently attend UF as an undergrad?

 

[leolanoles]

I believe this is the first application cycle in which UF has focused on the Science GPA so much. In previous years the UF website stated that the GPA they focused on was the pre-requisite GPA. However, currently, the science GPA is the "main" GPA they look at. Also keep in mind, they use the science GPA calculated by pharmcas which is usually a little bit lower for most people because the +/- system is different on pharmcas.

Having said that, I applied this cycle and have my interview tomorrow. When I previously spoke with Marcy (in the UF admissions office), she told me that yes, the science GPA is important. But she also said that they look at your overall GPA, your science GPA by year, your science GPA by course, your pre-requisite GPA, and your entire application as a whole. To sum it up, they look at everything. If you have a high science GPA, that's great. That will most likely help out a lot. However, if you have a high science GPA but low cumulative GPA, I'm not really sure how that would factor in, but I think it would factor in at some point, because as Marcy said, they look at everything.

 

[PharmEXP]

I believe this is the first application cycle in which UF has focused on the Science GPA so much. In previous years the UF website stated that the GPA they focused on was the pre-requisite GPA. However, currently, the science GPA is the "main" GPA they look at. Also keep in mind, they use the science GPA calculated by pharmcas which is usually a little bit lower for most people because the +/- system is different on pharmcas.

Having said that, I applied this cycle and have my interview tomorrow. When I previously spoke with Marcy (in the UF admissions office), she told me that yes, the science GPA is important. But she also said that they look at your overall GPA, your science GPA by year, your science GPA by course, your pre-requisite GPA, and your entire application as a whole. To sum it up, they look at everything. If you have a high science GPA, that's great. That will most likely help out a lot. However, if you have a high science GPA but low cumulative GPA, I'm not really sure how that would factor in, but I think it would factor in at some point, because as Marcy said, they look at everything.

Good luck tomorrow!

 

[leolanoles]

Thank you!!

 

[PharmGrrlJax]

I believe this is the first application cycle in which UF has focused on the Science GPA so much. In previous years the UF website stated that the GPA they focused on was the pre-requisite GPA. However, currently, the science GPA is the "main" GPA they look at. Also keep in mind, they use the science GPA calculated by pharmcas which is usually a little bit lower for most people because the +/- system is different on pharmcas.

Having said that, I applied this cycle and have my interview tomorrow. When I previously spoke with Marcy (in the UF admissions office), she told me that yes, the science GPA is important. But she also said that they look at your overall GPA, your science GPA by year, your science GPA by course, your pre-requisite GPA, and your entire application as a whole. To sum it up, they look at everything. If you have a high science GPA, that's great. That will most likely help out a lot. However, if you have a high science GPA but low cumulative GPA, I'm not really sure how that would factor in, but I think it would factor in at some point, because as Marcy said, they look at everything.

I actually inquired about this at the open house I went to in November because it was a change. According to person I talked to there she stated that was a misprint. The look at the pre-requisite GPA, all the classes listed as MUST haves for pharmacy school on this list: http://www.cop.ufl.edu/studaff/admission.pdf
She told me they do this to judge all possible students on a level playing field. A person that has taken a lot of "fluff classes" along with their pre-reqs would have a much higher overall GPA, than a person that took additional classes geared more toward their major. Because of that they choose those classes to use the GPA of. She did say they look at overall GPA and other factors as well, and I believe they may have a minimum overall GPA as well.

 

[AniriW]

Do you mind sharing your stats? What year are you? Do you currently attend UF as an undergrad?

As of now I have a 3.0 cumulative and I'm not positive about the science one, I have to calculate it separately, but I've gotten mostly A's and B's in my science classes, with the exception of Chem II, which I got a C in. I'm in my second year of community college, second year of pre-reqs, Im bilingual (don't know if they count that as a plus but might as well throw it in there), and I'm working on getting certified as a pharm tech. I'm hoping to apply for 2011, but if I don't get in then I'll go ahead and get a bachelor's and reapply.

PharmGrrlJax, so it was a misprint?? They focus more on the pre-req GPA? Wow, they should change that before someone like me gets too excited haha. That's not so bad I guess, most of the pre-reqs are science classes, and I haven't taken Calc I yet, which they list as a pre-req. Did you by any chance find out what the minimum overall GPA is? Thank you for the information you gave!


leolanoles good luck on your interview!!

 

[PharmGrrlJax]

As of now I have a 3.0 cumulative and I'm not positive about the science one, I have to calculate it separately, but I've gotten mostly A's and B's in my science classes, with the exception of Chem II, which I got a C in. I'm in my second year of community college, second year of pre-reqs, Im bilingual (don't know if they count that as a plus but might as well throw it in there), and I'm working on getting certified as a pharm tech. I'm hoping to apply for 2011, but if I don't get in then I'll go ahead and get a bachelor's and reapply.

PharmGrrlJax, so it was a misprint?? They focus more on the pre-req GPA? Wow, they should change that before someone like me gets too excited haha. That's not so bad I guess, most of the pre-reqs are science classes, and I haven't taken Calc I yet, which they list as a pre-req. Did you by any chance find out what the minimum overall GPA is? Thank you for the information you gave!


leolanoles good luck on your interview!!

It was a misprint, after the open house, I went up to talk to them, because they had eluded to the fact it was still the pre-reqs they looked at, but didn't outright say it was a misprint. So I asked, the person I asked was one of the Orlando campus directors and she was one of the interviewers/on admissions committee. So I took her word for it. They had several other misprints on this years list that were corrected by the open house (for example, it did say in the weeks leading to open house range for PCAT 80-99 with average of 80; obviously statistically not correct.)
I do know that when reviewing a candidate overall they do consider overall GPA as well. That helps to narrow the field once they get them sorted by GPA/PCAT.

 

[AniriW]

It was a misprint, after the open house, I went up to talk to them, because they had eluded to the fact it was still the pre-reqs they looked at, but didn't outright say it was a misprint. So I asked, the person I asked was one of the Orlando campus directors and she was one of the interviewers/on admissions committee. So I took her word for it. They had several other misprints on this years list that were corrected by the open house (for example, it did say in the weeks leading to open house range for PCAT 80-99 with average of 80; obviously statistically not correct.)
I do know that when reviewing a candidate overall they do consider overall GPA as well. That helps to narrow the field once they get them sorted by GPA/PCAT.

Oh I see, thank you for taking the time to answer! Congratulations on getting in, hopefully I'll be able to share the title of being a UF pharmacy student one day!

 

[PharmEXP]

As of now I have a 3.0 cumulative and I'm not positive about the science one, I have to calculate it separately, but I've gotten mostly A's and B's in my science classes, with the exception of Chem II, which I got a C in. I'm in my second year of community college, second year of pre-reqs, Im bilingual (don't know if they count that as a plus but might as well throw it in there), and I'm working on getting certified as a pharm tech. I'm hoping to apply for 2011, but if I don't get in then I'll go ahead and get a bachelor's and reapply.

I would say the GPA is a bit on the low side, but your science GPA seems to be pretty high. I'm not really sure how it works, but I know they admit very few non-FLA residents so, if you're out of state, you may want to reconsider. Otherwise, I would suggest the following:

• Do your best to bring your GPA up. Schools like to see an upward trend so it would be in your best interest to show improvement.
• Study hard for the PCAT and do well (They typically start to look at the 80-99 ranges before they look at other applicants with inferior stats)
• Don't overlook the fact that these ADCOM's don't just look at GPA and PCAT. They also take into heavy consideration (depending on the school) LOR's, Personal statement, supplemental essays, extracurriculars, etc. So make sure what you lack in some areas of your application you make up for in other areas.

I know I didn't really answer your original question, but I hope this helps.

 

[AniriW]

I would say the GPA is a bit on the low side, but your science GPA seems to be pretty high. I'm not really sure how it works, but I know they admit very few non-FLA residents so, if you're out of state, you may want to reconsider. Otherwise, I would suggest the following:

• Do your best to bring your GPA up. Schools like to see an upward trend so it would be in your best interest to show improvement.
• Study hard for the PCAT and do well (They typically start to look at the 80-99 ranges before they look at other applicants with inferior stats)
• Don't overlook the fact that these ADCOM's don't just look at GPA and PCAT. They also take into heavy consideration (depending on the school) LOR's, Personal statement, supplemental essays, extracurriculars, etc. So make sure what you lack in some areas of your application you make up for in other areas.

I know I didn't really answer your original question, but I hope this helps.

No, it definitely helped! Thank you for that information, and I didn't know they typically looked at applicants with 80-99 PCAT ranges first, although thinking about it, it makes sense. I am a FL resident, so at least I know I won't have to get a 99 PCAT to have a chance of getting in =O

About the personal statements and supplemental essays, do they give you a topic to write about, or is it just to explain extenuating circumstances? If one does have extenuating circumstances, how do you even go about stating that without making it seem like a sob story =/

That might be best for another thread specifically on application essays though, just wondering how UF goes about it, seeing that a lot of you are already accepted Congratulations, by the way! I really appreciate you all that have answered, I don't know how I'd get so much information without all the people on this site, other than calling the admissions office every other day with 10 million questions.

 

[PharmGrrlJax]

No, it definitely helped! Thank you for that information, and I didn't know they typically looked at applicants with 80-99 PCAT ranges first, although thinking about it, it makes sense. I am a FL resident, so at least I know I won't have to get a 99 PCAT to have a chance of getting in =O

About the personal statements and supplemental essays, do they give you a topic to write about, or is it just to explain extenuating circumstances? If one does have extenuating circumstances, how do you even go about stating that without making it seem like a sob story =/

That might be best for another thread specifically on application essays though, just wondering how UF goes about it, seeing that a lot of you are already accepted Congratulations, by the way! I really appreciate you all that have answered, I don't know how I'd get so much information without all the people on this site, other than calling the admissions office every other day with 10 million questions.

I had some bad circumstances, testing into a math class that was beyond my abilities at that moment, and not being bright enough at the time to withdraw. And moving, I thought I withdrew from my classes, and didn't. So I explained it all, but shed a positive light on it, show that you learned life lessons from it. That is what I did, plus, I was much younger when that all happened.

 

[PharmEXP]

About the personal statements and supplemental essays, do they give you a topic to write about, or is it just to explain extenuating circumstances? If one does have extenuating circumstances, how do you even go about stating that without making it seem like a sob story =/

That might be best for another thread specifically on application essays though, just wondering how UF goes about it, seeing that a lot of you are already accepted Congratulations, by the way! I really appreciate you all that have answered, I don't know how I'd get so much information without all the people on this site, other than calling the admissions office every other day with 10 million questions.

About the personal statement, there are many resources available on the internet pertaining to general guidelines as to how you should write your PS and what should be included. I think PharmGrrl nailed it right on the head in her last post...

I had some bad circumstances, testing into a math class that was beyond my abilities at that moment, and not being bright enough at the time to withdraw. And moving, I thought I withdrew from my classes, and didn't. So I explained it all, but shed a positive light on it, show that you learned life lessons from it. That is what I did, plus, I was much younger when that all happened.

The PS is your opportunity to explain any poor grades, but to not dwell on them but rather show how you've grown from your mistakes. As far as the supplementals go, they give you a bunch (12-15 i think) mini essays that you need to answer in 150 words or less. They are not difficult, but I would say apply as early as possible so you can view the supplemental questions and have adequate time to construct top-notch responses.

We are all very happy to help. Good luck!

 

[AniriW]

Thank you again PharmGrrlJax and PharmEXP! I wish you guys the best at UF!!!