Volunteering, ECs, Shadowing...Are they that important?

[BestDoctorEver]

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My friend apply to only two pharmacy schools very late (the last week of the application process). He has no ECs, no shadowing, no volunteering of any sort. He got interview invite at both schools and after getting an acceptance, he declined the other interview. He has decent stats: BA in Chemistry , 3.5 cGPA, 3.35 sGPA and 70 PCAT composite. Also, I must say that he is a Registered Nurse. Does his RN degree pretty much help him overshadow the lack of these important aspect in his application? or Are they that important? Many people in SDN make people think that without ECs, Volunteering, and shadowing people have no chances of acceptance at Pharmacy school.

 

[delano2000]

My friend apply to only two pharmacy schools very late (the last week of the application process). He has no ECs, no shadowing, no volunteering of any sort. He got interview invite at both schools and after getting an acceptance, he declined the other interview. He has decent stats: BA in Chemistry , 3.5 cGPA, 3.35 sGPA and 70 PCAT composite. Also, I must say that he is a Registered Nurse. Does his RN degree pretty much help him overshadow the lack of these important aspect in his application? or Are they that important? Many people in SDN make people think that without ECs, Volunteering, and shadowing people have no chances of acceptance at Pharmacy school.

ECs, volunteering/shadowing sets you apart from your competition. It also shows that you are a well rounded student and are able to balance school with other activities. I am sure the fact that he had a BA and a RN license helped matters much. If your stats are mediocre then those will definitely come in handy and will help to balance out your abysmal GPA/PCAT scores.

 

[owlegrad]

Nope. Nether is GPA/course load/references/college attended/essays. Are you able to take out student loans to cover tuition? Then you're golden. 👍

 

[delano2000]

Nope. Nether is GPA/course load/references/college attended/essays. Are you able to take out student loans to cover tuition? Then you're golden. 👍

🙄

 

[lauradiddle]

I think the schools considered your friend's work as an RN as experience. They have to know a lot of drugs and often communicate with the pharmacy, so they at least can get an idea of what a pharmacist does. Plus if they were working full-time, it explains why they didn't have time for any ECs.