Where Do I Stand?

[hayesdj]

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First off, I'd like to say hello to all of you at SDN. I've been reading this forum for quite some time now, but haven't gotten around to creating an account until now. I am a Junior at my university, majoring in Biochemistry. I will be applying to pharmacy schools this fall (Early decision for Gatton College of Pharmacy at East Tennessee State University, if that doesn't work out then a few others). My current GPA is a 3.44, and I will be taking the PCAT in the summer, but score well above 70% on all practice tests I've taken. I am the scholarship chairman of my fraternity, and have held many other positions during my undergraduate career. I am graduating a year early (through summer courses and Dual Enrollment programs in high school). I have done a significant amount of research work during my undergraduate career, and will be working towards publishing my thesis in the spring of 2015. I am a member of the honors college at my university, and will be (hopefully) graduating as Cum Laude. I will be applying with a bachelors degree. Also, I currently work at CVS as a pharmacy technician, have a significant amount (>60) of volunteer/community service hours. I have a large amount of shadowing hours in a hospital setting, but they are shadowing under physicians (Was pre-med until I became so interested in pharmacy after working at CVS). Basically, I'm looking for opinions. Where do I stand in terms of likelihood of acceptance? What can I do to improve my resume? Is early decision a good move for me? (Gatton's average GPA is 3.4, and average PCAT is 60%) Thank you in advance for any input!

 

[blueheron]

Probably fine as long as you do halfway decent in the pcat. One thing about ETSU that I have seen is they are picky about selecting students and prefer the ones that either want to stay in Johnson City area or support rural Appalachian communities. I have seen several people get into other good schools and not get in there.

 

[hayesdj]

Probably fine as long as you do halfway decent in the pcat. One thing about ETSU that I have seen is they are picky about selecting students and prefer the ones that either want to stay in Johnson City area or support rural Appalachian communities. I have seen several people get into other good schools and not get in there.

Luckily I really wanna stay in the western NC area in a more rural area, so that may help me out. Also, my undergrad university is ETSU. Forgot to mention that. And I do part of my research at Gatton, just not my thesis work.

 

[hayesdj]

I'm just really stressed out because I really don't want to leave the Johnson City area. If I had to, I would probably go to Lipscomb or Belmont, but idk if I have all the pre reqs for those schools.

 

[Amicable Angora]

First off, I'd like to say hello to all of you at SDN. I've been reading this forum for quite some time now, but haven't gotten around to creating an account until now. I am a Junior at my university, majoring in Biochemistry. I will be applying to pharmacy schools this fall (Early decision for Gatton College of Pharmacy at East Tennessee State University, if that doesn't work out then a few others). My current GPA is a 3.44, and I will be taking the PCAT in the summer, but score well above 70% on all practice tests I've taken. I am the scholarship chairman of my fraternity, and have held many other positions during my undergraduate career. I am graduating a year early (through summer courses and Dual Enrollment programs in high school). I have done a significant amount of research work during my undergraduate career, and will be working towards publishing my thesis in the spring of 2015. I am a member of the honors college at my university, and will be (hopefully) graduating as Cum Laude. I will be applying with a bachelors degree. Also, I currently work at CVS as a pharmacy technician, have a significant amount (>60) of volunteer/community service hours. I have a large amount of shadowing hours in a hospital setting, but they are shadowing under physicians (Was pre-med until I became so interested in pharmacy after working at CVS). Basically, I'm looking for opinions. Where do I stand in terms of likelihood of acceptance? What can I do to improve my resume? Is early decision a good move for me? (Gatton's average GPA is 3.4, and average PCAT is 60%) Thank you in advance for any input!

If you apply to at least 8 schools (actually maybe even 5), I see you getting at least one acceptance.

 

[HuaFace]

I believe you can get an interview for sure! My first acceptance was for ETSU, and that was with a much lower GPA/PCAT than you had. Along with that I was an out-of-state applicant from California. If you are curious of my specifics just shoot me a private message and I'll try to help with any questions you have. I had a very good interview experience while I was there 🙂

 

[blueheron]

Prereqs are very similar. Hard to find a job out of those two though. My brother is a pharm tech in Nashville and said they struggle to find work. I would stick with UT or ETSU for TN schools. They find jobs much more easily, and UT is by far the cheapest. Completely different leagues of schools. Also, UT started a Nashville satellite campus so you can finish the last 3 there, Knox, or Memphis.

 

[hayesdj]

Will applying early decision make me more competitive, or hurt me in the long run?

 

[hayesdj]

Prereqs are very similar. Hard to find a job out of those two though. My brother is a pharm tech in Nashville and said they struggle to find work. I would stick with UT or ETSU for TN schools. They find jobs much more easily, and UT is by far the cheapest. Completely different leagues of schools. Also, UT started a Nashville satellite campus so you can finish the last 3 there, Knox, or Memphis.

So if I went to UT's Pharmacy school, I'd only have to stay in Memphis for a year, and I could go back to Knox? Im originally from Knox so that is definitely what I'll do assuming I don't get in at Gatton.

 

[blueheron]

Yes 9 months in Memphis is all you have to do. And schools prefer early decision and being #1 choice.

 

[hayesdj]

Is Gatton decently competitive in terms of finding a job post grad? Because I know it's quite expensive, and I've read all the horror stories about people having difficulties finding jobs.

 

[blueheron]

Yeah they should be fine. They have a good program and are respected in TN. I told the dean at my UT interview when they asked if I applied elsewhere I said no, but would only consider ETSU as a backup, and she concurred that it was way above the other 4 schools in TN.

 

[blueheron]

Just don't go to South College. But being from Knox I'm sure you are already all too familiar with how they operate.

 

[hayesdj]

Yeah, I'd move to somewhere in the midwest before I went to South college. Lol

 

[houston068]

You should totally Apply early!!

I applied last minute, deadline day & now I wish I submitted my PharmCAS & Supplemental applications earlier.

I also should have applied to more schools & did some research on every pharmacy school beforehand.

**Submitted my PharmCAS application in December for a couple of schools.

1) I interviewed at the end of February at one of the schools & I'm now on the wait-list.

2) I got wait-listed JUST to Interview at another school & my application is still pending till this day.
I emailed the school a few days ago, I got the same response once again: My application is still in "consideration."
Its pretty late in the game now, so I'm almost sure I'm going to get a rejection soon.

**Added 2 more schools on PharmCAS at the beginning of March.

1) A school emailed me for an interview mid-March. Somehow that email went to Spam & of course I would think to go through my Junk Folder 3 weeks later. I emailed the school back but it was too late to interview.
So make sure you always check your Junk folder!
I would even create a separate email for pharmacy schools only. [So you won't have to go through a bunch of junk.]

2) My application is still pending at a 4th school. My supplemental application wasn't available to access for a few days after I submitted my PharmCAS app. I contacted the school -- my fee was waived & they gave me a "generous" deadline extension until mid-April. I went ahead & did the supplemental essays right away though. According to the admissions personnel, they are behind in reviewing applications & offering interviews. [Possibly a positive.]

Anyways, sorry about my venting session.

The moral of this story....is to apply early! Good luck!! 🙂

 

[hayesdj]

You should totally Apply early!!

I applied last minute, deadline day & now I wish I submitted my PharmCAS & Supplemental applications earlier.

I also should have applied to more schools & did some research on every pharmacy school beforehand.

**Submitted my PharmCAS application in December for a couple of schools.

1) I interviewed at the end of February at one of the schools & I'm now on the wait-list.

2) I got wait-listed JUST to Interview at another school & my application is still pending till this day.
I emailed the school a few days ago, I got the same response once again: My application is still in "consideration."
Its pretty late in the game now, so I'm almost sure I'm going to get a rejection soon.
**Added 2 more schools on PharmCAS at the beginning of March.

1) A school emailed me for an interview mid-March. Somehow that email went to Spam & of course I would think to go through my Junk Folder 3 weeks later. I emailed the school back but it was too late to interview.
So make sure you always check your Junk folder!
I would even create a separate email for pharmacy schools only. [So you won't have to go through a bunch of junk.]

2) My application is still pending at a 4th school. My supplemental application wasn't available to access for a few days after I submitted my PharmCAS app. I contacted the school -- my fee was waived & they gave me a "generous" deadline extension until mid-April. I went ahead & did the supplemental essays right away though. According to the admissions personnel, they are behind in reviewing applications & offering interviews. [Possibly a positive.]

Anyways, sorry about my venting session.

The moral of this story....is to apply early! Good luck!! 🙂

Yeah, I plan on applying as soon as the application cycle opens. I have my personal statement done already, so I will mainly just have to fill everything else out. I've already spoken to all of my evaluators and made them aware of approximately when the evaluation email will come, and I will have to do the transcript requests for my school (shouldn't take too long). And like I said, I will be applying early decision to Gatton, so all of my application information will be due in early September. Hopefully It'll go well.

Good luck to you though!! At least you haven't been rejected yet. I'm sure with waiting at so many schools, you'll get one for sure.

 

[houston068]

Thank youuu!! Taking it a day at a time & i'm leaving it all up to fate! 🙂

Yay! You are ahead of the game at this point!! 👍 The only part of the app that is a bit tedious is having to post every single course taken + the grade. I tooo have a Bachelor's degree. It took me a couple of hours to complete -- but music was the motivator.

I know it will all go well! You have awesome credentials!! [Better than mine..to say the least. Lol.]

Good luck again & hope u have a great night!!!!