Worried about Pharmacy experience :(

[honurasp]

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Hi everyone!

I am applying to six different pharmacy schools around the country this year, and I was worried about having only 47 hours of experience volunteering in a pharmacy setting from over the summer. I have looked everywhere for more volunteer hours since returning to school (UofA), but unfortunately a lot of the positions are already taken.

I know the University of Arizona has a minimum 50 hours experience requirement and highly recommends extra volunteering, but I know other schools do not have the requirement. I guess I am just worried about my competitiveness! I have a 3.49 GPA (I am a junior) and scored 91st percentile on the PCAT but I feel my application will just be sort of ho-hum without stellar volunteer hours.

 

[Sugoi Travis]

I had only 100 hours being an undergrad intern at a retail location so don't worry too much about it. Keep on looking for volunteer opportunities and do the best you can. I personally don't see your lack of experience as something that will screw over your entire application. Then again, I'm in no position to say you lack experience because I didn't even have that much experience at the time I was applying haha.

 

[miscer]

I think you'll be fine. I'm also applying to UofA, I actually also scored in the 91st percentile, but my GPA is a little higher than yours. I think it should be okay since your PCAT is competitive and should help when they consider you.

I'm not sure how strict they are with the hour requirement; you're pretty close to it though. Just keep trying to see if you can find any spots or a technician job. I've been working at a retail chain since April but I have hardly any other volunteer experience in college. But at least UofA isn't on pharmCAS...last year they got like 200 something submitted applications, did 150 something interviews and 99 were admitted.

 

[Canes2014]

Hi everyone!

I am applying to six different pharmacy schools around the country this year, and I was worried about having only 47 hours of experience volunteering in a pharmacy setting from over the summer. I have looked everywhere for more volunteer hours since returning to school (UofA), but unfortunately a lot of the positions are already taken.

I know the University of Arizona has a minimum 50 hours experience requirement and highly recommends extra volunteering, but I know other schools do not have the requirement. I guess I am just worried about my competitiveness! I have a 3.49 GPA (I am a junior) and scored 91st percentile on the PCAT but I feel my application will just be sort of ho-hum without stellar volunteer hours.

I'm not sure about UofA specifically, but I have only been volunteering in a hospital pharmacy for a few months and have interviews at all of the schools I have submitted supplementals for. My GPA is about the same as yours and my PCAT was lower. You should be fine.