What are my chances?

[Jumbo2]

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So I am a former pre-med student who recently realized my calling in life is actually PHARMACY. I live in Worcester, so I want to get into MCPHS's Accelerated PharmD program in Worcester. They do NOT require PCAT.

My stats:

-B.A. in Bio-Psychology from Tufts University (My strongest attribute)
-3.05 GPA
-~2.7 sGPA (contains a D, a C-, and a couple C's)

I still have one year of college left to go, so I am going to re-take that class I got a D in and take some more science pre-reqs to boost up the sGPA.

In terms of EC's: NADA. I am going to become a certified EMT next year, but not in time to actually get in some hours to put down on my app.

Honestly, I am just banking on the strength of my undergraduate degree.

What say you?

 

[Corpseman]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=750492

 

[Sugoi Travis]

Applying to pharmacy schools that don't require the PCAT is a decision that could potentially haunt you, with that kind of GPA. I have a very similar GPA and I live in California, where none of the schools require the PCAT and even if I did take it (I actually did take the test), they wouldn't look at my scores.

IMO you need a...."second chance" in order to show pharmacy schools that there is a good reason why you had a low GPA. A low GPA is bad, no matter which school you come from. I come from UC Davis and depending on how you look at it, you could compare yourself to me. I had a 2.9 cumulative GPA when I applied to pharmacy school, but I took the PCAT and absolutely destroyed it (91 composite with a 98 in chemistry). My PCAT scores gave me some much-needed leverage in order to mitigate the harm that my low GPA dealt to my application.

To be honest, I'd take the PCAT and apply broadly if I were in your shoes. It ended up with me pigeon-holing myself into hoping that one school would send me an interview invite and also accept me (this was my top choice school btw). You don't want to put yourself into that situation. It's ridiculously stressful to put all of your eggs in a single basket and it makes you want to pull your hair out and cry yourself to sleep every single night.

However, take my advice with a grain of salt.

 

[88888888]

Yea man. Take the pcat. It's simple. I had a2.7 and got rejected from mcphs. Not even an interview. Got accepted to many top programs though like Minnesota, Iowa and Maryland. No pcat school, you better have a good GPA

 

[PharmDream309]

a. Schools you are applying to:
MCPHS-Worcester (No PCAT required )

b. Overall GPA: 3.77

c. Math/Science GPA: Science GPA: 3.97

d. Pre-Pharm GPA: 3.90

e. Complete PCAT scores (or just composite): none

f. Pharmacy experience obtained: none

g. Date of application submission (PharmCAS/primary and secondary): will submit next week or so

h. Number of LORs and source of LORs: 1 LOR from my Organic Chem Professor. 1 LOR from my Gen Bio Professor.

i. Non-pharmacy work and/or volunteer experience: None


j. Self-perception of interview skills: Never had an interview before

I have No BS/BA yet plus English is not my native language I did most of my courses at Community college. I still have 5 courses left Physic, Bio 2, microbiology, intro Sociology, and History to fill full the prerequisite. I'm going to take them at a 4 year school tho. I have AS but it's not related to pharmacy major(Accounting) I'm really worry since this is the first and only school that I will apply. Please give me some advice! Thank you!

 

[technician107]

So I am a former pre-med student who recently realized my calling in life is actually PHARMACY. I live in Worcester, so I want to get into MCPHS's Accelerated PharmD program in Worcester. They do NOT require PCAT.

My stats:

-B.A. in Bio-Psychology from Tufts University (My strongest attribute)
-3.05 GPA
-~2.7 sGPA (contains a D, a C-, and a couple C's)

I still have one year of college left to go, so I am going to re-take that class I got a D in and take some more science pre-reqs to boost up the sGPA.

In terms of EC's: NADA. I am going to become a certified EMT next year, but not in time to actually get in some hours to put down on my app.

Honestly, I am just banking on the strength of my undergraduate degree.

What say you?

I read your other posts earlier. I think you need to re-think about going into pharmacy before you apply. You're giving it a shot because you say your grades aren't good enough for med school. If you really want med school, keep trying and make your application better for med school. It took me 3 years after I tried law school out before I did my pharmacy pre-reqs because I wanted to make sure this is something that I want. It's huge commitment that you need to be happy with for the rest of your life. If you're doing it for the money/just to be in the health profession you may want to re-think it. Shadow a pharmacist or get some experience and see first hand what it's like. It may not be the career you wanted. I'm not trying to be mean - I just know pharmacists who have regretted their past decisions and if they had a do-over, they wouldn't have gone.

Honestly, you're undergrad degree isn't going to get you in alone. Although, your overall GPA isn't bad. I had a 3.2GPA with my pre-reqs/bachelors. My science was a 3.0. If you can bump up the science GPA to a 3.0 it would be a lot better. The others are right - you need to take that PCAT just to show SOMETHING to the review board since you're saying you don't have many ec's. Getting into pharmacy school isn't about the grades or where you went to school, it's the entire package of the person. Tell them you're going to be an EMT next year, you may not bank hours - but you're working toward something, and that shows dedication. That is something a review board would want to hear.