What can I do to get into top pharmacy schools like UCSF, Purdue, or university of Arizona?

[Sylvia]

Hi,

I am interested in entering the pharmacy profession and would like to go to a top tier school. The reason is because down the road I would like to obtain more of a leadership role in my profession and specialize in something such as nuclear medicine or HIV/AIDs. I would like to have a narrow focus but at the same time have a significant amount of responsibility and influence. It seems as if the top tier schools would provide the best preparation.

I honestly don't feel comfortable being apart of a class which has students with 2.8-3.0 GPAs. This does not sound promising to me. My GPA is ~3.4 for both science and cumulative, but I am willing to take extra classes to get a boost.

I am also willing to seek out more leadership and meaningful work experience to be a competitive applicant. Currently I have ~3 years of research experience, but I want to break out of this bubble and try something else. I am getting tired of it and I want to help out in other ways.

I am considering doing the peace corps since currently it is extremely difficult to find employment if you don't have strong connections. I don't want to waste my time applying for job positions for a year and not get any replies...Volunteering in a foreign country sounds more appealing because it would be a more flexible and creative experience, whereas in a typical job such as a pharmacy technician you would be stuck doing the same thing over and over again in your routine. On top of that, many work environments within community pharmacies are known to be toxic. For instance, drama between pharmacists, between pharm techs, etc etc...as well as other politics that I won't have a control over...I'm pretty nervous about entering the workforce if it wouldn't give me an opportunity to grow and expand my skills.

any suggestions on what I should do to get to my end goal?...

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[HuaFace]

I think volunteering in a pharmacy setting would definitely give a boost to your applications. As of right now the fact that you want to evade the pharmacy environment is kind of alarming, since your goal is ultimately pharmacy school. Not only would volunteering/working in a pharm show schools that you have experience, but it would also give you an edge when it comes to interview. You would gain a lot of insight on the inner workings of a pharmacy and patient interaction that is vital for your future as a pharmacist. Even though it's not your preferred choice, you should look into volunteering options (less stress than an actual job, only need to do a couple hours a week, probably more easily obtainable)

On your worry of drama, I think you may be freaking yourself out here. Even if that were to be a problem, you only would have to deal with these people ~once/week

 

[chemguy79]

Hi,

I am interested in entering the pharmacy profession and would like to go to a top tier school. The reason is because down the road I would like to obtain more of a leadership role in my profession and specialize in something such as nuclear medicine or HIV/AIDs. I would like to have a narrow focus but at the same time have a significant amount of responsibility and influence. It seems as if the top tier schools would provide the best preparation.

I honestly don't feel comfortable being apart of a class which has students with 2.8-3.0 GPAs. This does not sound promising to me. My GPA is ~3.4 for both science and cumulative, but I am willing to take extra classes to get a boost.

I am also willing to seek out more leadership and meaningful work experience to be a competitive applicant. Currently I have ~3 years of research experience, but I want to break out of this bubble and try something else. I am getting tired of it and I want to help out in other ways.

I am considering doing the peace corps since currently it is extremely difficult to find employment if you don't have strong connections. I don't want to waste my time applying for job positions for a year and not get any replies...Volunteering in a foreign country sounds more appealing because it would be a more flexible and creative experience, whereas in a typical job such as a pharmacy technician you would be stuck doing the same thing over and over again in your routine. On top of that, many work environments within community pharmacies are known to be toxic. For instance, drama between pharmacists, between pharm techs, etc etc...as well as other politics that I won't have a control over...I'm pretty nervous about entering the workforce if it wouldn't give me an opportunity to grow and expand my skills.

any suggestions on what I should do to get to my end goal?...

Seeing this post and your other thread (the two topics should be merged); I think that you are putting the cart before the horse and are a bit scattered with your thoughts and plan of attack; Get experience in a pharmacy setting before deciding that you want to have X, Y, and Z within that field. How does volunteering with the Peace Corps help you get to where you want to go with your career? You are worried about the petty squabbling in the field, but do you think that said petty squabbling doesn't occur among people who have leadership roles in the profession or pharmacists in a nuclear pharmacy, etc? I think that you should show an Ad Com that you know what you're getting into before you plan on accepting a significant amount of responsibility and influence within the field. I think that your goals could come across as naive to an admissions committee if you don't have any pharmacy experience.

 

[Sylvia]

Seeing this post and your other thread (the two topics should be merged); I think that you are putting the cart before the horse and are a bit scattered with your thoughts and plan of attack; Get experience in a pharmacy setting before deciding that you want to have X, Y, and Z within that field. How does volunteering with the Peace Corps help you get to where you want to go with your career? You are worried about the petty squabbling in the field, but do you think that said petty squabbling doesn't occur among people who have leadership roles in the profession or pharmacists in a nuclear pharmacy, etc? I think that you should show an Ad Com that you know what you're getting into before you plan on accepting a significant amount of responsibility and influence within the field. I think that your goals could come across as naive to an admissions committee if you don't have any pharmacy experience.

These are just personal goals I have for myself I don't necessarily tell others about it...I tell the adcom that I have leadership abilities because I showed this in my research lab, and I would like to develop these. I don't tell them that I wanna go into nuclear pharmacy just yet--rather I keep this in the back of my mind. That's just for the internet folks to know .