When to apply to pharmacy school?

[Ailiniel]

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It's the start of my junior year and I still need to finish my pre-reqs. I wanted to take the PCAT next summer so that I could apply to pharmacy school junior year but I'm afraid I'm not ready.
I also have no work experience because I was worried about keeping my grades up. But now my cumulative gpa has gotten down to a 3.5 and my science gpa is a 3.1 because I had a C+ in physics II and Ochem lab, so I am kind of worried. So I figured I need the time to get some experience. I've only shadowed a day for both retail and hospital pharmacy.

In conclusion I've decided maybe I should just wait until senior year to take the PCAT and then apply for pharmacy school. Is this a bad idea?
My senior year will be made up of pharmaceutical science core courses. I am hoping that I won't screw my gpa up after then.

In case you're wandering I am aiming to get into OSU pharmacy school.

 

[R2pharmD2]

It's the start of my junior year and I still need to finish my pre-reqs. I wanted to take the PCAT next summer so that I could apply to pharmacy school junior year but I'm afraid I'm not ready.
I also have no work experience because I was worried about keeping my grades up. But now my cumulative gpa has gotten down to a 3.5 and my science gpa is a 3.1 because I had a C+ in physics II and Ochem lab, so I am kind of worried. So I figured I need the time to get some experience. I've only shadowed a day for both retail and hospital pharmacy.

In conclusion I've decided maybe I should just wait until senior year to take the PCAT and then apply for pharmacy school. Is this a bad idea?
My senior year will be made up of pharmaceutical science core courses. I am hoping that I won't screw my gpa up after then.

In case you're wandering I am aiming to get into OSU pharmacy school.

Why wait? If you don't get in this year, you're in exactly the same position you'd be in (minus your PCAT and PharmCAS fees, of course) if you hadn't tried at all. At the very least, you could take the PCAT this summer and reevaluate your situation after.

Also, don't fixate on one school. It's great to have a first choice school that's your plan A, but make sure you apply to some backup schools in mind when the time comes too.

Finally, as a friendly reminder, this sort of topic comes up all of the time so you can find a lot of good information by using the search function.

 

[Ailiniel]

What do you mean that I'd be in the exact same position? Wouldn't it make me a better applicant if I gained more work experience before applying? What if I do bad on the PCAT? Is it bad to retake?

Yes I am also considering other schools.

Thank you! 😀

 

[owlegrad]

What do you mean that I'd be in the exact same position? Wouldn't it make me a better applicant if I gained more work experience before applying? What if I do bad on the PCAT? Is it bad to retake?

Yes I am also considering other schools.

Thank you! 😀

I think he meant not applying and being rejected have the same outcome - no admission to a COP. 😉

 

[R2pharmD2]

What do you mean that I'd be in the exact same position? Wouldn't it make me a better applicant if I gained more work experience before applying? What if I do bad on the PCAT? Is it bad to retake?

Yes I am also considering other schools.

Thank you! 😀

You would likely be a more competitive applicant next year but...

I think he meant not applying and being rejected have the same outcome - no admission to a COP. 😉

That's what I was getting at.

As far as I know, most schools just look at your highest PCAT composite so retakes shouldn't hurt you, but you would have to check with the schools you're interested in on that.