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- Pre-Pharmacy
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I graduated in 2014 with a B.S. degree in a non-science major that went from pre-med to pre-pharm during senior year of college. I took a year off to study abroad during the summer and then come back to the US taking more required science courses (Summer 2015-Present). There are family issues (still going on today but much better managed now that I'm in counseling) and that had an effect to an extent of how I'd done in college.
GPA is not very stellar (see attachment). I calculated it using PharmCAS' rules and how they classify their courses and the numbers are: cGPA=3.2795, sGPA 2.9697, nsGPA=3.477, mGPA=3.6875. The trend from freshman to post-bacc is slightly positive (3.09 -> 3.27). During undergrad I had 4 Cs in bio, gchem, ochem, and another science class, and a D in intermediate bio which I retook and got a C second time around. In post-bacc I took human anat&phys I-II, microbio, and biochem and received Bs on all 4 courses. I plan to take psychology and public speaking this summer.
In college I was very active in three student orgs (1 pre-med, 1 Asian-American, 1 classics/archaeology), becoming a newsletter co-chair in one of them (pre-med). I've been a peer mentor and a camp counselor at my university that worked to network and encourage students (mostly 1st gen college students and POC) in STEM majors for 2 years. I've worked as a lab technician assistant at the hospital, a research intern in a US research lab, a student archaeologist when I studied abroad, and was doing research during post-bacc for an advanced biochem lab. Right now I'm an undergraduate assistant for a disabled researcher.
Volunteering experience is pretty good: homeless shelter for almost 8 years, general hospital and children hospital for 1 year each, student volunteer to help a chronically-ill researcher for 1 year, and community outreach in a clinic that catered to low-class/income families. That said, I don't have pharm tech experience - I'm currently calling/looking around at various pharmacies, hospitals, clinics, to see if there's anything. I'm studying for the PTCE in case my applications for the pharm tech trainee fall through. I'm also looking in on volunteering at a hospital as a pharm tech or even shadow the pharmacists there. I'm volunteering as a pharm tech later on this summer for Mission of Mercy.
I have not taken the PCAT yet. I took a practice PCAT last week and scored in 60% percentile range with Verbal/Reading as highest (70-80%), bio and chem in the middle (50-60%), and math as the lowest (30%). Writing was a 4. I haven't taken madth in almost 4 years so I'm deeefinitely working on that as well as the other sections.
My questions/concerns:
1. I'm unsure of if I should re-take some of my Cs including chem and bio at a CC (re-applying as a special student is difficult in my uni) or consider taking advanced bio + chem courses in the spring once I've earned enough to pay for the credits.
1.5 Should I look into getting a master's instead and then work on PharmD afterwards?
2. Would it be a good idea to apply for the 2015-16 cycle, focusing solely on schools that don't require PCAT and have an acceptance rate on 3.0-ish GPA? Or, should I focus on being a more competitive applicant and apply in the 2016-17 or even in 2018?
I really, really want to become a pharmacist! (Regardless of the saturation/job pay/loans, I want to become one.) Thank you for reading this; I would truly appreciate any advice/input.
GPA is not very stellar (see attachment). I calculated it using PharmCAS' rules and how they classify their courses and the numbers are: cGPA=3.2795, sGPA 2.9697, nsGPA=3.477, mGPA=3.6875. The trend from freshman to post-bacc is slightly positive (3.09 -> 3.27). During undergrad I had 4 Cs in bio, gchem, ochem, and another science class, and a D in intermediate bio which I retook and got a C second time around. In post-bacc I took human anat&phys I-II, microbio, and biochem and received Bs on all 4 courses. I plan to take psychology and public speaking this summer.
In college I was very active in three student orgs (1 pre-med, 1 Asian-American, 1 classics/archaeology), becoming a newsletter co-chair in one of them (pre-med). I've been a peer mentor and a camp counselor at my university that worked to network and encourage students (mostly 1st gen college students and POC) in STEM majors for 2 years. I've worked as a lab technician assistant at the hospital, a research intern in a US research lab, a student archaeologist when I studied abroad, and was doing research during post-bacc for an advanced biochem lab. Right now I'm an undergraduate assistant for a disabled researcher.
Volunteering experience is pretty good: homeless shelter for almost 8 years, general hospital and children hospital for 1 year each, student volunteer to help a chronically-ill researcher for 1 year, and community outreach in a clinic that catered to low-class/income families. That said, I don't have pharm tech experience - I'm currently calling/looking around at various pharmacies, hospitals, clinics, to see if there's anything. I'm studying for the PTCE in case my applications for the pharm tech trainee fall through. I'm also looking in on volunteering at a hospital as a pharm tech or even shadow the pharmacists there. I'm volunteering as a pharm tech later on this summer for Mission of Mercy.
I have not taken the PCAT yet. I took a practice PCAT last week and scored in 60% percentile range with Verbal/Reading as highest (70-80%), bio and chem in the middle (50-60%), and math as the lowest (30%). Writing was a 4. I haven't taken madth in almost 4 years so I'm deeefinitely working on that as well as the other sections.
My questions/concerns:
1. I'm unsure of if I should re-take some of my Cs including chem and bio at a CC (re-applying as a special student is difficult in my uni) or consider taking advanced bio + chem courses in the spring once I've earned enough to pay for the credits.
1.5 Should I look into getting a master's instead and then work on PharmD afterwards?
2. Would it be a good idea to apply for the 2015-16 cycle, focusing solely on schools that don't require PCAT and have an acceptance rate on 3.0-ish GPA? Or, should I focus on being a more competitive applicant and apply in the 2016-17 or even in 2018?
I really, really want to become a pharmacist! (Regardless of the saturation/job pay/loans, I want to become one.) Thank you for reading this; I would truly appreciate any advice/input.
