University of Waterloo Application Thread

[livingonhope]

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My interview is on Nov 20th! Eep! One week!

Hey, when did you hear about your interview? did u receive an email? i havent heard anything yet

Congratulations and good luck with interview!!

 

[cm05qk]

I heard on Wednesday this past week, and yep, I got an email. Good luck!!

 

[prettysomnus]

Hey guys, I was going to apply for waterloo pharmacy as well and just wanted to know if most of the people have completed their pre-requisites yet? I still need to complete microbiology but it will be hard for me to complete it this year since it is a full year course at my uni (which is UTM) and I didn't take the course. I was thinking of taking it at UofT Scarborough Campus and wanted to know if BIOC17 is equivalent to the microbiology course at waterloo. If so, has anyone taken that course and know the it's difficulty?

Thanks and goodluck to everyone in the application procedure! 🙂

Hi, I took the course BIOC17 in UTSC, and yes, it is accepted as their pre-requirest for microbiology. The course is okay, not that hard. Good luck.

 

[spyder45]

Hey thanks for the reply guys! I do not think I will be able to take the microbiology course at UTSC since it is VERY far from my house and it sucks cause they have labs and lectures on different days 🙁

Has anyone taken the microbio course online at waterloo because I think they offer online courses? I think I will just take that during the summer.

 

[spyder45]

From past experience, having had such a high GPA and years of pharmacy experience, I wasn't accepted since I was missing 3 courses. Seeing as though you are only missing one, you may get away with it if other parts of the application are stronger (ie. lots of experience, high grades, etc).

If you email them, they will send you a full list of all the courses you need and their equivalences for UofT.

Good luck 🙂

Hey, I was actually talking to one of their pharmacy program advisors that came to UTM for the graduate school fair in October and he said that as long as you pass their minimum requirements (such as get a 3.0 gpa, complete the pre-requisite courses) you will get an interview. And after that, they do not even look at your marks and they just base their decision on your volunteer experience and leadership skills.

However, he said that if you are missing a pre-requisite course than they will only call me for me an interview if they do not have 172 students (or the amount of students they actually accept into the progran, can't remember the number) applying to the program that have completed their pre-requisites as well. So I am hoping most of the people applying have not completed all their pre-requisite courses lol.

 

[lllix]

Hey, I was actually talking to one of their pharmacy program advisors that came to UTM for the graduate school fair in October and he said that as long as you pass their minimum requirements (such as get a 3.0 gpa, complete the pre-requisite courses) you will get an interview. And after that, they do not even look at your marks and they just base their decision on your volunteer experience and leadership skills.

Wow, I really hope that this is true and totally false encouragement!

 

[Scigeek]

Hey, I was actually talking to one of their pharmacy program advisors that came to UTM for the graduate school fair in October and he said that as long as you pass their minimum requirements (such as get a 3.0 gpa, complete the pre-requisite courses) you will get an interview. And after that, they do not even look at your marks and they just base their decision on your volunteer experience and leadership skills.

However, he said that if you are missing a pre-requisite course than they will only call me for me an interview if they do not have 172 students (or the amount of students they actually accept into the progran, can't remember the number) applying to the program that have completed their pre-requisites as well. So I am hoping most of the people applying have not completed all their pre-requisite courses lol.[/QUOT

Hey!

So by completing the pre-requisite courses you mean having them done by the end of this school year (April 2011) right?......Or do you mean have them ALL of them done prior to February 2011 right when we send off our transcripts? I will be done my ALL courses by this April...so does that make me ok for "completing the the pre-requisites?

Thanks!!

 

[hurahman]

My interview is on Nov 20th! Eep! One week!

Hi, how are you preparing for the interview? Can you give us all pre-pharm advice?

Thankyou

 

[livingonhope]

I heard on Wednesday this past week, and yep, I got an email. Good luck!!

Hey, thanks for reply but i would like to know have you finished all pre-reqs?

hope you get in !

 

[cm05qk]

Hey guys!

Yeah I completed all the pre-reqs by June 2010. I actually had an interview last May, but blew it and didn't get in. I'm taking the round two opportunity to get in for Jan 2011 class start, since UW didn't fill all the spots and refuse to have a wait list.

I will let you know how this round goes as soon as I have it. If you have pharmacy, experience, use it!

And PREPARE for your interviews. Practice questions with people and infront of a mirror. There's no way of knowing what they will ask you exactly, but be sure you know yourself and your past experiences. There are a lot of great resources online (Youtube etc) to show what a good answer sounds like. Be yourself, be interesting and be enthusiastic! I wasn't any of these things the first time. I was timid and totally winged it, which is why I blew it.

 

[UWpharm12]

Hey guys!

Yeah I completed all the pre-reqs by June 2010. I actually had an interview last May, but blew it and didn't get in. I'm taking the round two opportunity to get in for Jan 2011 class start, since UW didn't fill all the spots and refuse to have a wait list.

I will let you know how this round goes as soon as I have it on Saturday. But yeah, they basically want to see you give concrete examples (without babbling!) of leadership. If you have pharmacy, experience, use it!

And PREPARE for your interviews. Practice questions with people and infront of a mirror. There's no way of knowing what they will ask you exactly, but be sure you know yourself and your past experiences. There are a lot of great resources online (Youtube etc) to show what a good answer sounds like. Be yourself, be interesting and be enthusiastic! I wasn't any of these things the first time. I was timid and totally winged it, which is why I blew it.

Hey,
Do you mind posting your GPA, as well as your pharmacy experience and your extra-curricular activities? Also do you go to waterloo?
Good luck today 🙂

 

[yazahra89]

Hello,

I have received many messages asking me how one can get a volunteer positions, so instead of answering each one separately, I think it is best to answer it here so that all of you may know. Honestly, before I got my position as a volunteer, it took me almost a year to keep asking the pharmacist there. She realized how determined I was on getting the position, so she finally gave in and allowed me. I know it's hard but you have to keep trying and let them know why you need it. Remember the pharmacists are human too, and they will know how hard it is to get these positions, because they probably went through the same thing. My advice to all is to keep trying if you haven't gotten a volunteer position yet, and if you do have one, DON'T TAKE IT FOR GRANTED.

 

[cm05qk]

I got in!!!! I start in January! Eeee!!!!!!

GPA - 80
Pharmacy experience - technican/assit. for 5+ years (since I was 18ish)
Volunteer/ECs - local cultural community, mentorship, dancing/teaching it

 

[yazahra89]

I got in!!!! I start in January! Eeee!!!!!!

GPA - 80
Pharmacy experience - technican/assit. for 5+ years (since I was 18ish)
Volunteer/ECs - local cultural community, mentorship, dancing/teaching it

Congrats!

I just wanted to know what you meant by GPA - 80? What was it on the 4.0 scale? Thank you!

 

[hurahman]

I got in!!!! I start in January! Eeee!!!!!!

GPA - 80
Pharmacy experience - technican/assit. for 5+ years (since I was 18ish)
Volunteer/ECs - local cultural community, mentorship, dancing/teaching it

Hey, i also got accepted and will be seeing you in January!!
my stats:

cgpa- 84-85% and have a degree!!
pahrmacy experience: 1 month when i applied
Ec:Medical imaging center, cancer center, Retirement home for 2 years, played sports for 4 years

 

[yazahra89]

Hey, i also got accepted and will be seeing you in January!!
my stats:

cgpa- 84-85% and have a degree!!
pahrmacy experience: 1 month when i applied
Ec:Medical imaging center, cancer center, Retirement home for 2 years, played sports for 4 years

Congrats!!

 

[1ive2die]

Hey, i also got accepted and will be seeing you in January!!
my stats:

cgpa- 84-85% and have a degree!!
pahrmacy experience: 1 month when i applied
Ec:Medical imaging center, cancer center, Retirement home for 2 years, played sports for 4 years

Was your reference from a pharmacist?

 

[hurahman]

Was your reference from a pharmacist?

no, my reference was from a MD.

 

[ratatat]

Hey everyone, we now have a forum for Canadian Pharmacy schools:

http://premed101.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=61

 

[RX24]

hey guys, to the people who are applying for admissions for the Jan 2012 cycle, has anyone received a confirmation email from Julie saying that she has received our reference letters?

 

[mochaswirl]

hey guys, to the people who are applying for admissions for the Jan 2012 cycle, has anyone received a confirmation email from Julie saying that she has received our reference letters?

Nope, are we supposed to?

 

[PhArMaCiSt1]

Nope, are we supposed to?

ya I got an e-mail from her saying she got mine so I suppose you will hear from her once she receives it.

 

[mochaswirl]

ya I got an e-mail from her saying she got mine so I suppose you will hear from her once she receives it.

Cool, I just got the same email as well. It's nice they don't keep us in the dark about these things! 🙂

 

[helloeveryone]

hey guys, to the people who are applying for admissions for the Jan 2012 cycle, has anyone received a confirmation email from Julie saying that she has received our reference letters?

Ya, I got an email from her shortly after they got my RL.

 

[helloeveryone]

I was just wondering: is it just me who's having trouble activating and using the quest account???

When I go to activate my account on "WatIAM" site, it says it's already activated... but when I go back to log-in it doesn't recognize my user ID... what' going on?

 

[pharmacy0]

I was just wondering: is it just me who's having trouble activating and using the quest account???

When I go to activate my account on "WatIAM" site, it says it's already activated... but when I go back to log-in it doesn't recognize my user ID... what' going on?

Hey, I just signed up for the Quest website this morning and had no problems.

The ID for login is not the waterloo ID number, did get another login ID.. it should be something like first initial and then a number followed by last name, for example, J4Doe

Did you ask Julie about it?

 

[helloeveryone]

Hey, I just signed up for the Quest website this morning and had no problems.

The ID for login is not the waterloo ID number, did get another login ID.. it should be something like first initial and then a number followed by last name, for example, J4Doe

Did you ask Julie about it?

oh I never got that ID thing!!!

 

[yazahra89]

oh I never got that ID thing!!!

Hi HelloEveryone! It's nice seeing you around here again.

You should email Julie soon! Let her know and she will help you or let someone who can email you back 🙂

Good luck!

 

[helloeveryone]

Hi HelloEveryone! It's nice seeing you around here again.

You should email Julie soon! Let her know and she will help you or let someone who can email you back 🙂

Good luck!

Hey Yazahra! Ya I'm glad I am back on SDN again after this long time 😀

I contacted Julie and we're trying to fix my quest account

how's your application process going so far?

 

[mochaswirl]

Does anyone know what would happen if you are unable to make the interview dates as outlined on the website? The dates are extremely limited (Apr 29-May 1st) and I have a commitment on that weekend that I cannot back out of.

Do they have alternative interview dates? If anyone with experience with such a matter could help out I'd really appreciate it!!

 

[PhArMaCiSt1]

Does anyone know what would happen if you are unable to make the interview dates as outlined on the website? The dates are extremely limited (Apr 29-May 1st) and I have a commitment on that weekend that I cannot back out of.

Do they have alternative interview dates? If anyone with experience with such a matter could help out I'd really appreciate it!!

In the acknowledgment e-mail they said that "With this advance notice, students must understand that only under very exceptional circumstances will interviews be held on another date. Travel plans are not a valid excuse for not being able to attend an interview at the assigned date/time."

So althought I can't tell you from personal experience, I think it would be best to e-mail them now and ask them if your situation falls under the 'very exceptional' criteria.

 

[mochaswirl]

In the acknowledgment e-mail they said that "With this advance notice, students must understand that only under very exceptional circumstances will interviews be held on another date. Travel plans are not a valid excuse for not being able to attend an interview at the assigned date/time."

So althought I can't tell you from personal experience, I think it would be best to e-mail them now and ask them if your situation falls under the 'very exceptional' criteria.

Hey, thanks very much. Can I just ask which email this was? I'm trying to search my inbox for this but cannot find it.


Edit: Found it! Thanks again for your help, I will email them asap.

 

[helloeveryone]

Does anyone know what would happen if you are unable to make the interview dates as outlined on the website? The dates are extremely limited (Apr 29-May 1st) and I have a commitment on that weekend that I cannot back out of.

Do they have alternative interview dates? If anyone with experience with such a matter could help out I'd really appreciate it!!

I agree that those dates are very limited... My last final exam is on the 28th and there's a high chance that I'll have my interview on 29th... so I won't even have time to move out nor practice for my interview 🙁

Those people who went to interviews last year: do you know if they assign dates randomly or they have a specific system?

 

[mochaswirl]

I agree that those dates are very limited... My last final exam is on the 28th and there's a high chance that I'll have my interview on 29th... so I won't even have time to move out nor practice for my interview 🙁

Those people who went to interviews last year: do you know if they assign dates randomly or they have a specific system?

Do you guys have your final exam sched already? That's extremely lucky, at Mac we are left in the dark till mid-semester - late feb/early march about our exams... 🙁

 

[pharmacy0]

Do you guys have your final exam sched already? That's extremely lucky, at Mac we are left in the dark till mid-semester - late feb/early march about our exams... 🙁

You are not alone, I'm left in the dark too!..

Is everyone done their application? and also, is anyone still missing prerequisites .. I am missing biochemistry .. hope that doesn't screw me over

 

[helloeveryone]

You are not alone, I'm left in the dark too!..

Is everyone done their application? and also, is anyone still missing prerequisites .. I am missing biochemistry .. hope that doesn't screw me over

Do you think that UofT will accept people this year who are missing a prerequisite??? I remember waterloo was very flexible a few years ago when they first started their program... I don't know if UofT is also going to be as flexible because of the huge change they made to prerequisites suddenly.

 

[helloeveryone]

Do you guys have your final exam sched already? That's extremely lucky, at Mac we are left in the dark till mid-semester - late feb/early march about our exams... 🙁

Yah, we're kinda lucky that Western gave out the schedule early this year 😛

 

[mochaswirl]

You are not alone, I'm left in the dark too!..

Is everyone done their application? and also, is anyone still missing prerequisites .. I am missing biochemistry .. hope that doesn't screw me over

I've been putting off the application, which is probably not a good idea 🙁 I've still got the 2 written answers to go. Hoping to do it this weekend.

Are you planning on taking the biochem in the summer?

I'm just finishing up pre-reqs this term with organic II (hate it).

 

[member87]

Do you guys know if anyone has been accepted without a Ref. letter from a pharmacist? I have a ref. from a past employer but not related to health care.

 

[PhArMaCiSt1]

Hey, thanks very much. Can I just ask which email this was? I'm trying to search my inbox for this but cannot find it.


Edit: Found it! Thanks again for your help, I will email them asap.

no problem.
good luck😀

 

[helloeveryone]

Do you guys know if anyone has been accepted without a Ref. letter from a pharmacist? I have a ref. from a past employer but not related to health care.

I know people who got in with references from a medical practitioner. I think you NEED to have a reference from someone in healthcare... This is what I read on Waterloo's website:

"This individual should preferentially be a Pharmacist, so that they can comment on your suitability for the profession. Alternatively, a Physician or Nurse may act as your reference. In any case, the individual completing this form cannot be a relative of yours."

 

[PhArMaCiSt1]

Do you guys know if anyone has been accepted without a Ref. letter from a pharmacist? I have a ref. from a past employer but not related to health care.

I hope they don't make a big deal about it if you reference isn't from a pharmacist. I got mine from a professor who I've known for 2 yrs and did research with because he knows me better than the pharmacist. I guess in the end, it all depends on what the referee writes in there lol

Edit= Actually, my friend applied last year with a reference from a uni prof and she did get an interview. So, I think after you get an interview, your acceptance is based on your interview performance and maybe your grades but I doubt they will look at your ref. afterwards.

 

[member87]

I hope they don't make a big deal about it if you reference isn't from a pharmacist. I got mine from a professor who I've known for 2 yrs and did research with because he knows me better than the pharmacist. I guess in the end, it all depends on what the referee writes in there lol

Edit= Actually, my friend applied last year with a reference from a uni prof and she did get an interview. So, I think after you get an interview, your acceptance is based on your interview performance and maybe your grades but I doubt they will look at your ref. afterwards.

Thanks! I hope it won't be a problem too.

 

[pharmacy0]

Do you think that UofT will accept people this year who are missing a prerequisite??? I remember waterloo was very flexible a few years ago when they first started their program... I don't know if UofT is also going to be as flexible because of the huge change they made to prerequisites suddenly.

Here's my complicated story. LOL, when I finally decided to pursue pharmacy I had a TON of prerequisites that I had to finish in about a year and half, since I'm a neuro student, I still had all the Waterloo upper level Bios to finish and some of the chem prerequisites on top courses to finish up my Bsc.

I managed to fulfill U of T's biochem prerequisite by taking it at scarborough campus (BIOB10/11) which is actually "cell and molecular biology "

but Waterloo requires BCH210 or BIOC12 "Biochemistry"

So yes, knowing that Waterloo is a little more forgiving, I still need to take Biochem this summer.

 

[yazahra89]

Hey Yazahra! Ya I'm glad I am back on SDN again after this long time 😀

I contacted Julie and we're trying to fix my quest account

how's your application process going so far?

The application process is LONG lol that's as much as I can say about that - my pharmacist referee said she's been busy and will mail the form out by monday the latest, do you think that is a bit late? She said she'll express it but I have to pay for it. 🙁

Does anyone know how long it takes for Julie to email the confirmation that she received our reference forms? Thanks!

 

[helloeveryone]

The application process is LONG lol that's as much as I can say about that - my pharmacist referee said she's been busy and will mail the form out by monday the latest, do you think that is a bit late? She said she'll express it but I have to pay for it. 🙁

Does anyone know how long it takes for Julie to email the confirmation that she received our reference forms? Thanks!

I don't think it's too late, and I'm pretty sure Julie sends you confirmation email the day the get it or maybe the next day (not a 100% sure on this)...

What I did was I went to post office and purchased a prepaid express envelope and filled up all the address information and gave it to my referee along with the reference forms... that way she didn't have to pay for it and I also got a tracking number to make sure it was posted.

 

[1ive2die]

Do you think that UofT will accept people this year who are missing a prerequisite??? I remember waterloo was very flexible a few years ago when they first started their program... I don't know if UofT is also going to be as flexible because of the huge change they made to prerequisites suddenly.

I strongly doubt it. U of T is not very flexible with ANYTHING. I know if I was missing the pre-req I wouldn't waste my money applying.

 

[helloeveryone]

I strongly doubt it. U of T is not very flexible with ANYTHING. I know if I was missing the pre-req I wouldn't waste my money applying.

Yah I totally agree... I mean from personal experience, they were not even flexible enough to consider people who were 1% below one cutoff for the PCAT even if other parts of application was strong 😡 oh well!

 

[chemtai]

Can dentist be my referee in Waterloo's application?

 

[chemtai]

What are the differences between U of T Experiential Education and Waterloo co-op? Will student get paid in co-op or experiential education?

How do you evaluate pharmacy school in U of Waterloo? To me, the impression of Waterloo's pharmacy school is that the program is newly established. I really have no idea the prestige of Waterloo's pharmacy program.