Well Rounded Pre Reqs??

[Sana101]

Hi,


I've noticed a lot of people mention that they're applying to multiple schools. I was just wondering how you guys do pre reqs for so many schools. I'm doing the pre reqs for KU right now, but when I try to search similar pre reqs for other schools than there's always really different (ex: at KU u only need anatomy but at other schools u may need Anatomy w/ lab or at KU u just need Calc 1/ but for other schools u need Calc II too).

I want to (& need to) apply to more schools than KU to keep my chances open for getting accepted somewhere, any advice or how u guys r able to find schools with similar pre reqs, or should I take pre reqs for different schools too??

Here r the pre reqs for KU:
Year 1 - Fall

High School or College Physics

ENGL 101 3 Composition (General Study)

CHEM 184 5 Foundations of Chemistry I

BIOL 150 4 Principles of Molecular & Cellular Biology

MATH 115 3 Calculus (General Study)

3 General Studies (Humanity or Social Science)

Y1F Sem Total = 18 Cum. Tot. = 18


Year 1 - Spring

ENGL 102 3 Composition & Literature (General Study)

CHEM 188 5 Foundations of Chemistry II

BIOL 240 3 Human Anatomy Lecture

6 General Studies (Humanity or Social Science)

Y1S Sem Total = 17 Cum. Tot. = 35


Year 2 - Fall

CHEM 624 3 Organic Chemistry I

CHEM 625 2 Organic Chemistry I Lab

BIOL 400 3 Microbiology

BIOL 402 2 Microbiology Lab

COMS 150 or 130 3 Personal Communication (General Study)

3 General Studies (Humanity or Social Science)

Y2F Sem Total = 16 Cum. Tot. = 51


Year 2 - Spring

CHEM 626 3 Organic Chemistry II

CHEM 627 2 Organic Chemistry II Lab

BIOL 646 4 Mammalian Physiology Lecture

BIOL 647 2 Mammalian Physiology Lab

6 General Studies (Humanity or Social Science)

Y2S Sem Total = 17 Pre-Pharmacy Tot. = 68

Thanks!!

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[SoCalPharmGal]

i applied to all CA schools (and looked at some out of state ones but chose not to apply because of PCAT) and prerequisites are very similar - most require anatomy, physiology, orgo chem (1 year), biochem, microbio, and physics. then there are units required from genetics, cell bio, etc. all sciences generally need a lab. nonsciences such as calculus, econ, humanities/liberal arts generally don't need a lab. at my undergrad university many of the science courses included a lab (other than bio chem and orgo chem) so it wasn't an issue.

if you want to apply to multiple schools make sure you take labs for all science classes and find the pharm school with the longest/strictest prereqs and make sure you meet those. it's easy to make a list of all the prereqs that are required for the pharm schools you're interested in (there will obviously be a ton of overlap) and just make sure you meet them all.

 

[Rockinacoustic]

Just from a brief glance at your list you should be able to apply to many other schools with those courses. pharmcas has links to what each school requires: http://www.pharmcas.org/collegesschools/directoryalphastate.htm

Some schools don't use pharmcas, so you'll have to check their websites directly for a list of pre-reqs.

As for taking additional courses, if you can you definitely should. Not only will it make you stick out of the application pool, but most importantly they will prepare you for Pharmacy School curriculum (i.e. Biochem, Immunology, Pharmacology, etc...)

 

[Tinkerbell22]

A lot of people also get their bachelor's degree so they have 4 years to complete all the pre-reqs (including the "non science-y" ones like economics and public speaking). Students also take summer classes, and a somewhat large amount of us also take classes post-bac to meet specific school requirements.

 

[phathead]

You're kinda diving head first into things your first semester. You want to be careful to not burn yourself out too quickly, college work vs. high school work is not of the same caliber.

A lot of schools prefer a full year of general bio as well, not just a semester.

Take your time getting through your pre-reqs, there's no reason to rush through them. Quality over quantity is the way to go. It's not hard to nail the majority of pre-reqs over 4 years.

If you're aiming for 2 years... well that just isn't going to work. Most schools either officially, or unofficially, require a degree to be almost completed prior to admission.

 

[rxlea]

You're kinda diving head first into things your first semester. You want to be careful to not burn yourself out too quickly, college work vs. high school work is not of the same caliber.

A lot of schools prefer a full year of general bio as well, not just a semester.

Take your time getting through your pre-reqs, there's no reason to rush through them. Quality over quantity is the way to go. It's not hard to nail the majority of pre-reqs over 4 years.

If you're aiming for 2 years... well that just isn't going to work. Most schools either officially, or unofficially, require a degree to be almost completed prior to admission.

I second this.

 

[nicolemsm]

First off, a 2 yr plan is setting yourself up for burnout. Trust me. I'm taking 20 credits and 14 in the summer so by the time i'm done w/ my freshman yr I'll have 54 credits..... don't let anyone fool you, overloading on prereqs and getting them done faster is not the important thing. Doing them correct and grabbing the A's in what matters most.

So here's some advice I have:
If I were you, I'd knock all the easy stuff out. You want to boost your GPA early on so you have something to fall back on.... My advice is to start knocking out all the humanities, econ, social behaviors, and English out then add sciences so if say you got a B your GPA wouldn't immediately plummet. Start by doing this, first in the summer (if you can still sign up for summer courses) i'd recommend taking summer classes... they're very effective in getting classes out of the way.

So for example, take in Summer before Freshman yr:
PSY 101 (important but easy class)
and
ENG 101(taking these two will set you ahead of the game)

Then in Fall, take:
ENG 102
Speech
Any humanity- i'd recommend a philosophy class
SB - preferably sociology (you'll use some of the concepts in later classes so knock it out early on)
and CHM 154

------ that's 16 credits and should give you a solid idea what you'll be taking on... and plus you wont be swamped in sciences first semester.

Then 2nd semester / Spring take:

BIO 150
MAT 115
Humanity
CHM 188
Anatomy 1

------------------- that's 19 credits... slowly build the credits up

Summer before sophomore yr take
ECN - microecon
and Human Anatomy 2

Fall Sophomore
Bio 2
Microbiology
Organic 1
(then fill with easy electives)
--------------------fill to 15 credits

Spring Sophomore
Organic 2
Physics
(fill with easy electives)
--------------------fill to 15 credits

Summer b4 junior
Physics 1
(start applying to pharm schools)

Fall Junior
Physics 2
(sit back and watch acceptances come through )

 

[Tinkerbell22]

I actually wouldn't wait and take all of the classically "harder" or upper level science classes later (Orgo and Physics for example). As someone who had a very strong GPA my first 2 years and a tab lower GPA my last years I would honestly give slightly different advice and start off with an equal load of sciences. One reason is that you never know what is going to happen later on. Everyone is unique, but if you purposefully "save" harder classes it might be difficult if you end up needing to work more, get more pharm experience, hold down a technician job, pay bills, etc.

Another reason is that pharmacy schools "reportedly" are more forgiving on a upward trend GPA than a downward trend (I took most pre-reqs back when I had awesome grades luckily so it didn't hurt me as much because I didn't save them for later), but if you wait and take key classes like Orgo and don't do well then it will be harder to redeem them if you're already later into your college career.

Admittedly... some people need a semester or two to get use to the college studying and teaching style, so I wouldn't jump right in head first, but I would maybe start off with two general science classes.

 

[Sana101]

Thank you guys so much!!! It was all very VERY helpful!

And thanks so much for making that schedule, I'm actually a freshman in my 2nd semester, I wish I could go back and do that though, but I'm definitely going to keep that in mind going forward when setting up my schedule.

And I think I'm going to try to slow down and not try to shove all that in in 2 yrs. It was just so tempting to get done in 6 yrs, but I'm going to take it semester by semester and not mess up my gpa.

P.S. btw, I loved that last line "(sit back and watch acceptances come through )." haha. Hopefully it'll come true!!!!

Once again thanks for all the advice from all of u, I needed it!

 

[Sana101]

BTW that pharmcas Website rocks! Thanks!!

 

[renetto]

You're taking 18 hours your first semester out of high school?


...I'm not so sure about that.

 

[Sana101]

You're taking 18 hours your first semester out of high school?


...I'm not so sure about that.

I took Chem I, Comp I and II in high school so i didnt take those.