Where should I apply with these grades?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Status
Not open for further replies.

Doctoor

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2011
Messages
118
Reaction score
2
I'm not sure if I should even bother applying but here's what I got:

cGPA: 2.98
sGPA: around 2.7
BS Biochemistry
Research for a year in chemistry
6 months clinical research volunteer at an ER
Worked at a hospital as a CNA for 6 years and counting
Took the PCAT recently and my scores are as follows:

TOPIC / SS / PR
Verbal / 390 / 30
Biology / 404 / 49
Reading / 388 / 29
QA / 413 / 72
Chemistry / 405 / 56
Composite / 400 / 45

Are there any pharmacy schools in the US that I would be able to get in if I applied to today?

I've been hearing that Albany wasn't so tough to get into.

I applied last year to schools that didn't require the PCAT and got rejected from all of them.. mostly CA schools, and also MCPHS were what I applied for since at the time I didn't take the PCAT

Members don't see this ad.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
:corny:

I'll let others reply since there are a million of threads and some like to troll/sarcasm a bit.

:thumbup:
 
Retake PCAT.
Retake pre-reqs at a community college and ace them if received a C- or lower.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Are you saying that I shouldn't bother applying?

Honestly, I don't know what the school is going to say.

Do you have any explanation for your low GPA? Do you have a clear reason why you want to go into pharmacy school in your personal statement? (Extreme cases you've faced?) Do you have leadership/volunteering experiences?

If you did all that in a satisfactory manner, you might get interviews at a few places.

http://www.aacp.org/resources/student/pharmacyforyou/admissions/Documents/Table 8.pdf

Look at this table, and see where you may fall under GPA wise. Schools like Harding, PCOM, CSU, Notre Dame and few others have average GPA applicant around 3.1 so...

Otherwise, your PCAT might be a little problem applying to these schools. If you get 80+ PCAT, your chances will increase quite a bit.
 
No they are saying that your grades and PCAT suck...bad. You scored sub-50 in 3/5 areas....Did you just show up for the exam thinking you would be good because you got a degree? It still pisses me off everytime I see a sub-50 reading score. If you have a degree or are in pursuit of a degree, then you should know how to read a brief bit of information and make some simple observations about it. Its not like they give you a journal article to analyze.

Yes you should go retake several basic science courses, then you should retake the PCAT. This will allow you to study for the PCAT and get a good score on it.


Also stickied posts are stickied for a reason, please take the time to view those before creating a new thread...ie we do not need 15 new threads asking about your chances for getting into school, especially when there is a massive thread just for this.
 
No they are saying that your grades and PCAT suck...bad. You scored sub-50 in 3/5 areas....Did you just show up for the exam thinking you would be good because you got a degree? It still pisses me off everytime I see a sub-50 reading score. If you have a degree or are in pursuit of a degree, then you should know how to read a brief bit of information and make some simple observations about it. Its not like they give you a journal article to analyze.

Yes you should go retake several basic science courses, then you should retake the PCAT. This will allow you to study for the PCAT and get a good score on it.


Also stickied posts are stickied for a reason, please take the time to view those before creating a new thread...ie we do not need 15 new threads asking about your chances for getting into school, especially when there is a massive thread just for this.

You need to relax and not be so uptight.

I did study pretty hard for the PCAT but I don't know why I did so bad. I took the MCAT before it and ended up with a 21 (8V, 7P, 6B), GRE was 1120 (690Q, 430V)
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
No they are saying that your grades and PCAT suck...bad. You scored sub-50 in 3/5 areas....Did you just show up for the exam thinking you would be good because you got a degree? It still pisses me off everytime I see a sub-50 reading score. If you have a degree or are in pursuit of a degree, then you should know how to read a brief bit of information and make some simple observations about it. Its not like they give you a journal article to analyze.

Yes you should go retake several basic science courses, then you should retake the PCAT. This will allow you to study for the PCAT and get a good score on it.


Also stickied posts are stickied for a reason, please take the time to view those before creating a new thread...ie we do not need 15 new threads asking about your chances for getting into school, especially when there is a massive thread just for this.

You remind me of this dick professor I had at UCLA, he was such a bitter old man. We don't need people like you around here. I am sure your going to be a great pharmacist yelling at people like that. People on this site joined it so that they may receive help. We don't all have the time to read every damn rule to post on a pharmacy thread. FYI I got a 51 on RC on the PCAT, got an 82 composite. I studied my ass off for all sections, I screwed up on RC, it happens, take a chill pill.

Btw, people's posts don't normally get answered in the WAMC thread. You will get at least 5 responses making your own thread, but you will be lucky getting one response in the WAMC thread.
 
Last edited:
You need to relax and not be so uptight.

I did study pretty hard for the PCAT but I don't know why I did so bad. I took the MCAT before it and ended up with a 21 (8V, 7P, 6B), GRE was 1120 (690Q, 430V)


Eh. maybe I am uptight, but I find the fact that you are trying to barely get in is stupid. No I am not calling you stupid, but you are hurting your chances by trying to meet the bare minimum. Yes it may waste some time and money to retake classes and the PCAT, but if you do and improve your GPA + PCAT score, then you will have more options. Of course you could just keep applying every year with a sub-3.0 GPA and sub-50 PCAT, but I will assume that you will have very limited chances of getting in. Some schools even limit the amount of time between the completion of a course and when you apply.
 
You need to relax and not be so uptight.

I did study pretty hard for the PCAT but I don't know why I did so bad. I took the MCAT before it and ended up with a 21 (8V, 7P, 6B), GRE was 1120 (690Q, 430V)

You don't have a great track record.

You need to figure out what you're doing wrong. Maybe get some guidance on how to prepare for standardized tests. Your GPA needs some work. What grades did you get in your pre reqs?

I have to agree on the reading comment, though. Did you not prepare for that section? I would start reading as much as possible and learn as many words as possible. Do you read for pleasure? There is no real good way to prepare for the verbal section aside from being exposed to new vocabulary. It's not just a matter of knowing the definition of the word, especially in the analogy section.
 
You remind me of this dick professor I had at UCLA, he was such a bitter old man. We don't need people like you around here. I am sure your going to be a great pharmacist yelling at people like that. People on this site joined it so that they may receive help. We don't all have the time to read every damn rule to post on a pharmacy thread. FYI I got a 51 on RC on the PCAT, got an 82 composite. I studied my ass off for all sections, I screwed up on RC, it happens, take a chill pill.

Btw, people's posts don't normally get answered in the WAMC thread. You will get at least 5 responses making your own thread, but you will be lucky getting one response in the WAMC thread.

Sorry I did not sugar coat it.

What bugs me about the RC portion is that I see many scores that go like this:

Chem: 80+
Bio:80+
QA:70+
RC: sub-50
Verbal:40-60

It bothers me because these are clearly fairly intellegent people, yet they are bombing the one part of the test that is very important to know. No one may care if you bombed the RC portion, but your ability to read information and gather ideas from it is something that you will use in any educated field. I guess it just bothers me that it is a general trend of people doing bad on it.

Who said I was yelling? Guess I used the "yelling" font w/o knowing it.


Also I see many very detailed posts in the WAMC thread...sorry that not everyone of them gets answered asap or to the degree the person wanted. Now if they posted there...they could always repost in the thread to garner some attention to their stats.
 
Sorry I did not sugar coat it.

What bugs me about the RC portion is that I see many scores that go like this:

Chem: 80+
Bio:80+
QA:70+
RC: sub-50
Verbal:40-60

It bothers me because these are clearly fairly intellegent people, yet they are bombing the one part of the test that is very important to know. No one may care if you bombed the RC portion, but your ability to read information and gather ideas from it is something that you will use in any educated field. I guess it just bothers me that it is a general trend of people doing bad on it.

Who said I was yelling? Guess I used the "yelling" font w/o knowing it.


Also I see many very detailed posts in the WAMC thread...sorry that not everyone of them gets answered asap or to the degree the person wanted. Now if they posted there...they could always repost in the thread to garner some attention to their stats.

:sleep:
 
Members don't see this ad :)
OP, your chances this cycle are very slim. A sub 3.0 GPA already disqualifies you from some schools, and the schools that it doesn't disqualify you from look at your PCAT as a saving grace, which frankly isn't going to be saving you from much.

With that BS, that tells me that you'd need at least a year of straight A's to get a 3.0. Also, retake that PCAT! You don't want to be sitting in the middle of the pack, you're already asking schools to take a gamble on you with that GPA.

Whatever you do, I wish you the best!
 
While your gpa is lower than average the thing you need to change is the PCAT score, which is one of the easiest parts of your applicaiton to change. You have a bs in biochemistry so biology and chemistry need to be in the 90+ percentile and math in the 80's. My advice would be to take a Kaplan live/online course to learn the test taking skills and patterns of the test.
 
Getting a 21 on the MCAT is not good...I wouldn't brag about that. Let me guess, you wanted to go to med school and can't get in so you are choosing pharmacy because it is "easier."
 
No they are saying that your grades and PCAT suck...bad. You scored sub-50 in 3/5 areas....Did you just show up for the exam thinking you would be good because you got a degree? It still pisses me off everytime I see a sub-50 reading score. If you have a degree or are in pursuit of a degree, then you should know how to read a brief bit of information and make some simple observations about it. Its not like they give you a journal article to analyze.

Yes you should go retake several basic science courses, then you should retake the PCAT. This will allow you to study for the PCAT and get a good score on it.


Also stickied posts are stickied for a reason, please take the time to view those before creating a new thread...ie we do not need 15 new threads asking about your chances for getting into school, especially when there is a massive thread just for this.

Well hello Mr. Fancy Pants!! I got news for you pal, your opinion means about two things right now - Jack and S***, and Jack left town.
 
Last edited:
I'm not sure if I should even bother applying but here's what I got:

cGPA: 2.98
sGPA: around 2.7
BS Biochemistry
Research for a year in chemistry
6 months clinical research volunteer at an ER
Worked at a hospital as a CNA for 6 years and counting
Took the PCAT recently and my scores are as follows:

Composite / 400 / 45

Are there any pharmacy schools in the US that I would be able to get in if I applied to today?

My answer to your question short and sweet and non-sugarcoated.

No, I wouldn't bother. You're just wasting money to get rejection letters. If you are serious, retake science classes and your PCAT. However, you seem like a guy that always wants the easiest way out of life. Good luck, "Doctoor."

You need to relax and not be so uptight.

I did study pretty hard for the PCAT but I don't know why I did so bad. I took the MCAT before it and ended up with a 21 (8V, 7P, 6B), GRE was 1120 (690Q, 430V)

Honestly, It's not hard to get an MCAT score of 21 at all. It's an unimpressive score even for DO schools. Therefore, your PCAT performance correlates well with your MCAT performance.


I would do the same if I saw an application like that for my school. :sleep:

Getting a 21 on the MCAT is not good...I wouldn't brag about that. Let me guess, you wanted to go to med school and can't get in so you are choosing pharmacy because it is "easier."

You hit the OP's plan dead on. I'm sure he was hoping no one would ever figure it out. :thumbup:

If the OP cannot get into a pharmacy or medical school, I'm guessing DNP or dental school is next.
 
Last edited:
I was halfway through OPs post and about to try and give him a little encouragement, his GPA isn't much worse than mine. And then I got to his PCAT score and was like no- you can maybe squeeze by on the lower end with one or the other.... but not with both. I read through the post history a bit and it seems like perhaps pharmacy isn't what you actually want to do, and while your determination to be in the healthcare field is admirable, perhaps the low scores and grades are telling you to reconsider what you want to do, or the path you take to get to it.
 
If you really wanna apply this cycle, look into university of manchester, and maybe cal northstate. Not saying these two schools are easy to get into, but out of all the schools that don't require PCAT, these two have relatively lower avg GPA's.
 
Dude. seriously?! Cali schools?! I would troll the crap out of you but this thread is already a troll post and you can't troll a troll.

Only if you are a troll jedi master.
 
You might be able to get into Hampton University pharmD program. They require a minimum of 2.75 GPA and a decent PCAT score. I had a 3.7 and a 412 pcat but I know some people that had 2.9 that got in, so you might.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top