your honest opinion

[apothecarytech8]

i was a student at very well reputed undergrad college. there i earned my bs and minor in chemistry. when i finished my gpa was around 2.6. i learned alot and i have a very solid background in undergraduate biochemistry and molecular biology.

i became interested in doing Pharmacy a while ago. immediately when i began thinking of it i took the pcat, scoring in the 95th percentile. i enrolled in a aa program for biology. i am have nearly completed this program, with a current gpa of 3.87. I have earned a's in all of the prerequisite courses with the exception of one physics 2 lab, b+.

i would like to apply for admission within the next year and i am worried about how much my undergraduate work will affect my chances. i am a nationally certified technician, excellent test score, volunteer for habitat for humanity and a local blood bank when time permits, excellent recommendations from the former college president, a fav professor of bio and an R Ph. is the former undergrad work enough to sink my ship or does this seemingly well rounded application have a chance? Please be as honest as possible

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[AntiviralsRule]

Your stats look pretty darn good. AdComs will take into account the big upswing in grades. But you should also have an explanation for why your undergrad GPA was so low.

I'm in a similar situation -- relatively low undergrad GPA (3.0) but big upswing. I think we've got a shot! Good luck.

 

[StringTheorist]

I think you're fine as long as you explain yourself in your personal statement or something....good stats!

 

[Farmercyst]

i was a student at very well reputed undergrad college. there i earned my bs and minor in chemistry. when i finished my gpa was around 2.6. i learned alot and i have a very solid background in undergraduate biochemistry and molecular biology.

i became interested in doing Pharmacy a while ago. immediately when i began thinking of it i took the pcat, scoring in the 95th percentile. i enrolled in a aa program for biology. i am have nearly completed this program, with a current gpa of 3.87. I have earned a's in all of the prerequisite courses with the exception of one physics 2 lab, b+.

i would like to apply for admission within the next year and i am worried about how much my undergraduate work will affect my chances. i am a nationally certified technician, excellent test score, volunteer for habitat for humanity and a local blood bank when time permits, excellent recommendations from the former college president, a fav professor of bio and an R Ph. is the former undergrad work enough to sink my ship or does this seemingly well rounded application have a chance? Please be as honest as possible

2.6 is below most school's minimum for GPA. It'll have a lot to do with how much your 3.87 pulls your 2.6 up. If you can get to the 2.8-3.0 range, that'll help alot, but it's hard to lift a 2.6 based on 120+/- units with only an AA degree's units (~60.00) The numbers are rough, but as I say the cumulative will really be a factor.

 

[sdn1977]

I agree with the previous posters who mentioned your undergrad at a 4 yr institution in which you earned a BS is too low. You didn't mention what your BS was in, however.

The fact that you are receiving good grades in an AA bio program at a community college does not look as good as if you had done this first - before you had gone to a 4 yr university. What adcoms will wonder is - can you really handle the amount & depth of the material which is presented to you in a graduate program?

You seem to be going backward, although if you are retaking some of your courses, perhaps those will be looked at differently.

I would say your personal statement will have to be really, really good. Work on it awhile & have someone else read it for content & eloquence. Do not be apologetic, just be explanatory & succint.

Good luck!

 

[bananaface]

If you have an academic turnaround, some schools will look at you. I would focus on schools that do not favor GPA as a determining factor in the admissions process (the AACP site has a chart of all of the avg gpas for incoming classes at various schools), those with stated policies favoring academic turnaround, and those for which you qualify with your current overall GPA. If you have a CUM of 3.0 or over, your chances are alot better than just under, because a ton of schools have 3.0 cutoffs.

 

[apothecarytech8]

My undergrad degree was in biology, minor in chemistry, bio focus area was molecular biology. I've taken alot (at least 5)of graduate level courses such as neurobiology, molec bio, comparative and vertebrate anatomy, biochemistry...etc others. Each was fully armed with a suit of tortures such as personal research topics, composing journal style publishable works and the normal course work. alot of the courses are actually included in the curricula of some med and pharmacy schools.
I averaged B's and actually pulled off a's in two of the courses. The bad grades were mostly from general education options and math courses, two things i sucked at. I suffered terribly at presenting finished work, this cost me many points.

One of the postings makes a very good point. I wonder about the workload myself. i asked myself this question when i began considering pharmacy. Because i am very confident in my biochem background, i took most of the AA degree (56 cr)in 3 semesters. This was not intentional, but it does seemingly support the idea that i have grown to be able to handle an increased and stressful workload.

Along with the course work, with insights of my adviser, i organized 4 fund raising events. One of them didn't make that much money but thats ok, we learned alot. Then there is also the job at the pharmacy that sees so many prescriptions a day. I sometimes refer to it as the "animal house."

in short I did so many things to test my readiness for this as it is a big investment of time and money to merely apply. i've confirmed it, pharmcas is awful!

relative to the personal statement i have an awesome story to tell. It describes my motivation to pursue the profession of pharmacy. there are the personal history aspects also but i like the science more. It describes how i understand the profession all the way to down to the molecular perspective: inhibit an enzyme to slow the progress of reverse transcriptase, or synthetic insulin and or other protein hormones binding cell surface receptors, or high levels of cholesterol interfering with the signal transduction of blood sugar regulation...etc. this is medicine at the ground level. All the way up to one day hoping to be competent enough to explain to mrs joe schmoe why the pennicillin derivative may harm her children if joe has the allergy.

I'm still working on the who explanation of the undergrad work bit.

 

[Falokis]

Most schools will tell you that the minimum GPA isn't a hard and fast rule to weed out people. With a sub-3.0 GPA, they last 2 years will matter the most. If your up trend is strong enough, they will probably over look it. I wouldn't imagine you having a problem at all.

 

[uncinmyheart]

I think you have a pretty darn good chance of getting in. I noticed some of the earlier posts were a bit discouraging though. Sure, a 2.6 undergrad gpa is kinda low for some pharmacy schools, but I can tell you a lot of people have gotten into pharmacy school with a GPA like yours; and some admission officers will not only tell you that, but will ENCOURAGE you to apply even with that GPA. But those people who had those low GPAs had something to back it up with like a strong personal statement (like someone mentioned) or an awesome PCAT score (which you obviously have), or great volunteer/study abroad/field experiences, etc. Oh, strong reccommendations will really help too. Pharmacy admissions look at the whole package; basically a good well-rounded applicant, and to me, you seem like a well rounded applicant.
What I wanted to say was also, and what some of the earlier posts mentioned, fulfilling your pre-reqs at a 2-year college or a community college is not a bad thing. Community colleges get a bad rep because people think the courses offered there are easier, and they're not weighted as heavily as courses taken at a university. That is soo not true. I took more than half of my pre-reqs at a community college before i transfered to a 4-year university, and i excelled in those courses because i studied and worked hard, and at the time, they were not easy courses. You have to work hard in those science and math classes whether you take them at a community college or a university, and if you do great in community college, you'll do great in university and anywhere you go if you keep that same drive and determination. I think the fact that you've done so well in school this time around shows that you've improved, and admissions really look at that and take that into consideration.
So bottom line, i think you have a really good chance at pharmacy school. And you know what really determines whether you get in or not? The interview. If you look good enough on paper that you are called in for the interview, that is your time to SHINE. The interview is the major major key determinant, and your ultimate opportunity to win them over and show them how awesome you are and how bad you really want to get in their school. If you nail the interview, you're in.
Good luck!!

 

[uga2007]

You will be fine, schools are looking for the "complete package". You will have to explain the early low gpa, be ready for that question and if you get the chance lead into it with your answer from another question. For example: chances are they will ask you to tell them a little about yourself. As part of your answer you can bring the subject up yourself. I said something like this - one of my strengths was setting goals and having the drive to follow through and achieve them, just look at my original gpa...that was a student that did not know what he wanted, where he was going, or how he was going to get there. Now look at my gpa (4.0)...that is a student that knows exactly what he wants, exactly where he is going, and exactly what it takes to get there! That allowed me to answer a tough question on my terms (always an advantage). I also think that experience is very important or be ready to answer the "why pharmacy" question. Don't say to help people or you will get the so why not be a social worker, etc question. Lastly don't listen to the "I know someone that had 99 PCAT, 4.0, and was Mother Teresa" but didn't get in people. Most schools will post the class stats of their last class (UGA does). I have heard tons of people say that unless you have a 90 PCAT or better you won't get in to UGA, their official stats stated a PCAT range from 70 - 99!

I had 88, 3.8, 2 years pharmacy experience.

 

[ForcedEntry]

Honestly...your stats, all around, are great.