What ELSE can I do??

[HaleyRX]

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Okay, guys, need some input...
to make a long story as short as I can--
I graduated high school at the top of my class, tons of pressure to go out and do great things, blah blah..turns out I went to a really bad high school and was generally unprepared. GPA= starts out decent but not great
Next my parents, who did not go to college but always said they wanted me to, began to resent me for going to college..major occurences..cut me off financially, my mom called me threatening suicide several times, etc, etc.
Dealt with the fall-out from my parents' as well as breaking up with a long-time boyfriend = GPA drops a bit.
Lost my scholarship and worked multiple jobs to try to pay out-of-state tuition = GPA drops a lot.
With nowhere to turn and no money, I moved to a school where I could get cheaper tuition...I graduate with a bachelors in biology in December..
SO...what I have learned is..
-At one time I did have a passion but I have become quite jaded and resentful of life in general and it has sucked out the passion I once had, despite my best efforts.
-I don't think I will get into a pharmacy school anyways, as my GPA is a bit below 3.0 and I have had to retake/am retaking several classes.
-My main goal at this point is to be a good mom (I don't have kids but someday I plan to) to my children and make sure their life is better than mine has been..they will have my full emotional and financial support during college because I would never want them to deal with this..
-I had a wreck at the end of last semester, pretty bad one (none of the cars survived) and it made me realize that I was spared for a reason.. it is time to forget the past, let go of those who let me go already, and move on and make something of myself..it doesn't matter what tries to stop me, it only matters what I choose to let stop me..so I am working hard and determined to finish school..
SO MY QUESTION IS:
What are my options? What will lead me to a career that will let me send my kids to college? Would a MBA be a good option? MBA in healthcare admin, possibly? What else is out there...?

Thanks for the help---I am not trying to make excuses for my performance, I am just saying what happened..please don't turn this into a debate that I don't deserve a spot in pharmacy school..I know that already. Apparently I am not that great of a science student, and sometimes passion and hard work can't overcome lack of natural talent..and then when you lose your passion..you don't have much.
Thanks again! 😍

 

[mapileTree]

Did you take the PCAT? Administration isn't necessarily going to turn their back on you based on raw numbers...they WILL see improvements in transcripts as well as other positive aspects on your application. If you do fantastic on the PCAT and see that your grades have been going up, they'll take that into heavy consideration..especially if your personal statement expresses the hardships you've been through and how you recovered (when you recover) and what not.

If I were you, I wouldn't even be thinking about kids right now. Get your life together. Kids should/will come later.

Oh, and don't just get an MBA. And if you do, make sure you like the jobs that you're getting into with an MBA. And by that I don't mean go google job descriptions. Go out there and shadow if you cant find relevant work.

Good luck.

 

[missHuynh07]

I honestly think u still have a great chance of getting into a PharmD program. During my first two years in college, I did very bad just like u. However, after college I continued to take more classes to pull up my grades. You should do the same thing if u want to apply for pharm schools in the future. Also, participate in clubs and organizations on campus or volunteer in programs that meaningful to you. When you write urs personal statement, make sure to tell the admission the struggles that u had to overcome. I applied this year, and several schools offered me the interview, including UCSF. Don't feel so bad, those obstacles should make u stronger and wiser. don't give up!

 

[MBkidd]

Okay, guys, need some input...
to make a long story as short as I can--
I graduated high school at the top of my class, tons of pressure to go out and do great things, blah blah..turns out I went to a really bad high school and was generally unprepared. GPA= starts out decent but not great
Next my parents, who did not go to college but always said they wanted me to, began to resent me for going to college..major occurences..cut me off financially, my mom called me threatening suicide several times, etc, etc.
Dealt with the fall-out from my parents' as well as breaking up with a long-time boyfriend = GPA drops a bit.
Lost my scholarship and worked multiple jobs to try to pay out-of-state tuition = GPA drops a lot.
With nowhere to turn and no money, I moved to a school where I could get cheaper tuition...I graduate with a bachelors in biology in December..
SO...what I have learned is..
-At one time I did have a passion but I have become quite jaded and resentful of life in general and it has sucked out the passion I once had, despite my best efforts.
-I don't think I will get into a pharmacy school anyways, as my GPA is a bit below 3.0 and I have had to retake/am retaking several classes.
-My main goal at this point is to be a good mom (I don't have kids but someday I plan to) to my children and make sure their life is better than mine has been..they will have my full emotional and financial support during college because I would never want them to deal with this..
-I had a wreck at the end of last semester, pretty bad one (none of the cars survived) and it made me realize that I was spared for a reason.. it is time to forget the past, let go of those who let me go already, and move on and make something of myself..it doesn't matter what tries to stop me, it only matters what I choose to let stop me..so I am working hard and determined to finish school..
SO MY QUESTION IS:
What are my options? What will lead me to a career that will let me send my kids to college? Would a MBA be a good option? MBA in healthcare admin, possibly? What else is out there...?

I think the best thing to do now is to gain experience pharmacy experience and apply to pharmacy school. You can get an MBA or you can take a pharmacy technician class to become a Tech A. I think as a pharm tech you'll earn decent money as well as being able to see what a career in pharmacy is like. It seems like you're really interested in pharm school but is afraid that you won't get in so the route above would be beneficial for you. Go ahead and apply to pharm schools (many) both the ones with PCAT requirement and the ones that don't. (Schools in California, and a couple in the east coast) There are people who made it to pharm school with a sub 3.0 gpa so you can do it also. Right now, just focus on pharmacy, and strengthen your appliaction any way you can. I'm sure there are schools out there that will understand your situation.

P.S.

I agree with the above post, don't think about kids yet, it's time to build your career now, the other part can come later. Good Luck!👍

 

[socalpharm86]

SO MY QUESTION IS:
What are my options? What will lead me to a career that will let me send my kids to college? Would a MBA be a good option? MBA in healthcare admin, possibly? What else is out there...?

You don't necessarily need any kind of MBA or PhD degree to be a good role model for your children. A good parent is one that puts in the time and effort to raise their child properly. Just browse through SDN and you'll find lots of us here were raised just fine by a single parent working two jobs without even a high school education. Heck if I could be half the parent my mother was to me I'd consider myself a success.

Anyway, you should definitely continue towards a PharmD. You're making yourself out to be a bad candidate, but I think your credentials are fine, and they will only improve between now and the next application cycle if you continue to work at it. Just have some confidence in yourself!

 

[samurai361]

While I'm with everyone else and think everyone has a shot and you should apply, etc, I think that, being in the situation you are in with 0 financial support and a need to pay the bills, maybe you should invest some energy into getting an associate degree in nursing....look at it this way, it will get you an auto 50k a year job minimum after you're done, so it's not like a wasted effort at all, it's science related so it's not too far from what you are interested in, the classes are generally easy so it can boost your GPA and thus make your application to pharmacy schools a bit better, it will help you save money to live while you are in pharmacy school (v. hard to work full time and do a pharm.D full time), and it gives you some time to get your life together before you throw all of your last remaining resources into something that, statistically, only has a 55% chance of allowing you in.

Just my opinion. Good luck hun

 

[twinspharm]

You should apply,

Many pharmacy schools have a section on their sup. application that states "are your grades your best acheivement."

This is an opportunity to state any hardships you have overcome that may have affected your academics.

Score decent on the PCATS and I'm sure you have a shot at getting a PharmD.

 

[Niosh]

Executive summary: take a look at nursing, particularly MSN or DNP programs and don't give up on pharmacy yet.

Nursing is a pretty good path. I've considered becoming a murse every now and then. The great thing about it is you can start out with your ASN and become a LPN. Two years of school can get you a pretty decent job. From there it is easy to continue on to get your BSN and become a RN. Again, good paying job for just another two years of school. Even more still you could go for your MSN and take any one of the various nurse practitioner positions. Where would this chain be with out a grand finale? Plenty more choices in various DNP and PhD Nursing programs available. By far the best part of all of this is the fact you can pretty much start and stop at any tier. It's an extremely diverse field with more options than most know. If you're looking to send kids to college you'd probably want to go for the MSN or DNP level. The hospital that I work at is paying 70k-130k+ starting for this level of nursing (7 open positions at this moment, 13 in all areas of nursing, which is pretty good considering we had to fire ~200 people not long ago because of the economy). Best thing is you could take two years of school, work for a few years, go back to school for a few more while working, rinse and repeat and you'll have a DNP before you know it.

On the other hand, given you'll have a BS in biology soon you would look like a much better candidate than many of the other students with just the 2-years pre-pharm. Throw in a competitive PCAT score (80s maybe) and I doubt you'd have trouble getting interviews. I wouldn't cut out Pharmacy just yet. There are far far fewer 3.95/95's than this forum implies. Also, needs based scholarships shouldn't be hard to come by either.

 

[PharmyMen]

Get in touch with one of the pharmacy schools and ask them what to do. I screwed up big time in college and have found everyone I have contacted to be very helpful when i call and explain my situation. It might not get my in, but having the questions answered helps eliminate the worry.

 

[kitsune248]

I agree with Niosh! My local county college offers a great program straight to LPN and they take everyone if you're willing to work hard!

But honestly my GPA fell from a 3.6 to a 3.0 and I slavaged a 3.1 when I graduated and was just recently accepted to a school! It's not all about grades. You just have to at least maintain the minimum and in my case I wrote a stellar personal statement with great LOR's. The school that accepted me is new but the admissions director said they are looking for outgoing, compassionate people who have great will and drive and sometimes grades don't reflect that. He siad we can teach you all you need to know about pharmacy but there are somethings I can't change about "you" and thats what we're looking for!

I think you have a great story of trial and triumph. I'm in your boat. I moved out at 18 because I can't see eye to eye with my "prideful" father who can never admit he may be wrong. I've funded my college on my own and work close to 30 hrs a week doing so. Which caused my grades to sink a little because I'm responsible for all my own bills so its hard to just say yea i'll skip work to study. I incorperated that in my statement and if you can blow away the PCAT with a good score you have a decent chance trust me I know from experience!

 

[MrsAppleseed]

As someone who has struggled as you have, whose life went in a completely different direction than she had ever imagined, I agree with the PPs who suggested nursing. You seem to have an understanding and compassionate heart. Nursing will never go the way of pharmacy (greater independence and automation, etc.) and it does pay well. Your example and encouragement to your children is your greatest gift to them. I wish you the best of luck!

 

[HaleyRX]

Thanks for all of your encouragement and suggestions. I will be applying to several (carefully selected) schools and hoping for the best..nursing is also a good alternative, I will look into that as well. My school is known for a good nursing program.
I really appreciate all of the responses..this forum is a lifesaver.