What Are My Chances?

[Jimmye]

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Hi I'm a rising Junior at Carolina and I was wondering what my chances are of getting into a Pharmacy program. I'm thinking about applying to the following: UNC , Campbell , UNL, Creighton, University of Maryland Baltimore, University of Rhode Island, Ohio State University, University of Illinois at Chicago, Mercer University, University of Connecticut , University of Colorado at Boulder (CU) College of Pharmacy.

I have a strong PCAT: 97%
VA: 78
Biology: 99
RC: 71
QA: 99
Chemistry: 93

I didn't focus on school as much as I should have and received a few C's in my prerequisite courses. I'm taking Biochemistry and Orgo 2 in the fall and I should do a lot better in those. My low GPA is worrisome, which is why I'm applying to 10 schools to maximize my chances. Are there certain schools that weigh the PCAT more heavily than a 2 year GPA?

I've worked at a Rite Aid Pharmacy for about a year now, I've volunteered at Duke Hospital a few summers ago, and I was a research assistant at the University of Nebraska Lincoln over the summer...

 

[Sailfastliveslow]

Hi Jimmye,
I'm was currently in your situation after my bachelor, I finished with a GPA of only 3,02/4,3 and I applied the the pharmacy school around me but I could not get anywhere with it. I decided to do a masters degree in a related field and got an average of 3,4/4,3 for about 30 credits. My PCAT was a less then your's when I applied (composite 85, VA55, Bio 97, CHEM 94, QA78), but I had a lot of pharmacy related experience (5 years in a retail pharmacy and 6 months in a hospital setting) and volunteer work (been on many committees at school, and I was also promoting sailing with a local organisation.) If I have an advice for you, is not to give up! Try as hard as you can to get your average up at school and focus on your strenght. Choose school that value more the PCAT score, the interview and the CV over grades. If you are taken to interviews, get as much info on it as possible and practice! You might have to do an extra year to get your grades up, but if you are willing it is possible. Myself I had to apply to almost all canadian schools, and to my surprise, I was taken almost everywhere I applied but except in my province. Unfortunatly, you can't really know in advance what are your chances before you apply.

Hope this helps and don't give up!
Best of Luck!

 

[HuaFace]

you should recheck those schools and their prerequisites, I feel that some of them may have a minimum 3.0 requirement and may automatically screen your application out !

 

[athin001]

Like HuaFace said, there are some schools that have a cutoff at 3.0. some have it at 2.75. make you double check before applying

 

[Jimmye]

bump

 

[oldstock]

Hi I'm a rising Junior at Carolina and I was wondering what my chances are of getting into a Pharmacy program. I'm thinking about applying to the following: UNC , Campbell , UNL, Creighton, University of Maryland Baltimore, University of Rhode Island, Ohio State University, University of Illinois at Chicago, Mercer University, University of Connecticut , University of Colorado at Boulder (CU) College of Pharmacy.

I have a strong PCAT: 97%
VA: 78
Biology: 99
RC: 71
QA: 99
Chemistry: 93

The problem is my terrible GPA: 2.8
I didn't focus on school as much as I should have and received a few C's in my prerequisite courses. I'm taking Biochemistry and Orgo 2 in the fall and I should do a lot better in those. My low GPA is worrisome, which is why I'm applying to 10 schools to maximize my chances. Are there certain schools that weigh the PCAT more heavily than a 2 year GPA?

I've worked at a Rite Aid Pharmacy for about a year now, I've volunteered at Duke Hospital a few summers ago, and I was a research assistant at the University of Nebraska Lincoln over the summer...

I agree with many excellent advice above, esp about checking out the minimum GPA requirement for application consideration.

One note about the schools on your list: many of them are top tier schools. While your PCAT is superb, your GPA is not. I am not saying that you have no chance at those schools, I am only saying I think your chances for those schools are low. If you read enough here on SDN, you probably see many got 90s+ PCAT and sporting 3.5+ GPA applying to the same schools you are applying.

So do apply to all the schools above but consider a couple of "safe schools", i.e. low tier/new schools for your safety/backup. GL !! 😉

 

[PromisedNeverland]

Hi I'm a rising Junior at Carolina and I was wondering what my chances are of getting into a Pharmacy program. I'm thinking about applying to the following: UNC , Campbell , UNL, Creighton, University of Maryland Baltimore, University of Rhode Island, Ohio State University, University of Illinois at Chicago, Mercer University, University of Connecticut , University of Colorado at Boulder (CU) College of Pharmacy.

I have a strong PCAT: 97%
VA: 78
Biology: 99
RC: 71
QA: 99
Chemistry: 93

I didn't focus on school as much as I should have and received a few C's in my prerequisite courses. I'm taking Biochemistry and Orgo 2 in the fall and I should do a lot better in those. My low GPA is worrisome, which is why I'm applying to 10 schools to maximize my chances. Are there certain schools that weigh the PCAT more heavily than a 2 year GPA?

I've worked at a Rite Aid Pharmacy for about a year now, I've volunteered at Duke Hospital a few summers ago, and I was a research assistant at the University of Nebraska Lincoln over the summer...

Which school did you get into ?